Then he set out for Hama, [seized the city and its lord surrendered it to him] (1); its ruler was ʿIzz al-Dīn Jardīk (2). He asked him to serve as his envoy between himself and the people of Aleppo, and he agreed. He therefore went to them and warned them (3) of Saladin’s might, but they paid him no heed [nor did they rely on his counsel] (4). Instead, they ordered that he be imprisoned and detained, confining him together with the Banū al-Dāyah in the very well where they were held. When no reply reached Saladin (5), he wrote to them (6) an eloquent letter, rebuking them for their dissension and failure to unite. They returned the worst of answers, sharper than spears, so he sent again, reminding them of the days he, his father, and his uncle had spent in the service of Nūr al-Dīn, in those praiseworthy stands to which the people of faith bear witness.

He then marched on Aleppo and encamped (7) on Mount (8) Jawsan; every mail-clad warrior trembled at his onslaught. A proclamation was issued for the inhabitants of Aleppo to assemble in the square of Bāb al-ʿIrāq, and they gathered. The son of King Nūr al-Dīn appeared before them, courted their favor, wept in their presence, and urged them to fight Saladin—this at the prompting of the leading emirs. The townspeople replied that obedience to him was incumbent upon everyone.

The Rāfiḍīs (Shiʿite dissenters) among them stipulated that the call to prayer be restored with the phrase ḥayya ʿalā khayr al-ʿamal (“Come to the best of deeds”); that it be proclaimed in the markets; that they be allotted the eastern side of the congregational mosque; that the names of the Twelve Imams be recited before funeral processions; that five takbīrs be pronounced over the dead; and that their marriage contracts be placed in the hands of the sharif Abū Ṭāhir ibn Abī al-Makārim Ḥamza ibn Zuhra al-Ḥusaynī (9). All of this was granted, and the call to prayer in the great mosque and throughout the city included the phrase “Come to the best of deeds.”

The townspeople, however, were unable to withstand al-Nāṣir, and they employed every stratagem (10) in plotting against him. First they sent to [Sinān, leader of the Ḥashīshiyya] (11), who dispatched a band of his followers [to assassinate al-Nāṣir] (12). They accomplished nothing; instead they killed some of the emirs, after which they were discovered and slain to the last man. Praise and thanks belong to Allah.