and that one-third of its revenue would belong to Nur al-Din. (1) Accordingly, he dispatched an army with him, placing Asad al-Din Shirkuh ibn Shadhi at its head.

When they entered Egypt, the garrison forces there marched out to confront them, and a most ferocious battle ensued. Asad al-Din routed them, killing multitudes; (2) he slew Dargham ibn Suwar, and his head was paraded (3) throughout the provinces.

Shawar’s position in the vizierate was thus secured and his affairs firmly established. Later, al-ʿĀḍid and Shawar made common cause against Asad al-Din, and Shawar (4) reneged on the pledge he had given to Nur al-Din, ordering Asad al-Din to withdraw. He refused, ravaged the countryside, seized large sums of money, and captured numerous towns in the Eastern Province and elsewhere.

Shawar therefore sought aid against him from the Frankish king stationed at Ascalon, whose name was Mari; (5) the king came with a great host. Asad al-Din withdrew to Bilbays, having fortified it and stocked it with weapons, equipment, and supplies, and they besieged him there for eight months. Asad al-Din and his men resisted with the utmost tenacity.

While this was taking place, news arrived that King Nur al-Din had taken advantage of the Franks’ absence: the armies (6) had marched into their territories, killed great numbers of them, captured Ḥarim, and inflicted further casualties upon the Franks. He then advanced on Banias, and the Franks’ position in Egypt weakened, so they (7) sought terms from Asad al-Din; (8) he agreed, received sixty thousand dinars from Shawar, and he and his army (9) departed for Syria in Dhū al-Ḥijjah of that year.

[The Battle of Ḥarim]

The capture of Ḥarim (10) took place in Ramaḍān of this same year. Nur al-Din had appealed (11) to the Muslim armies, and they came to him from every distant pass (12) so that he might avenge himself upon the Franks. He met them at Tall Ḥarim, dealt them a crushing defeat, and captured Prince Bohemond (13), the lord of Antioch, together with the count of Tripoli.