They thereupon entered into correspondence with the Count, the Frankish lord of Tripoli (1), promising him lavish sums of money if he would draw Sultan al-Nāṣir away from them. This very Count had once been captured by Nūr al-Dīn and kept in confinement (2) for ten years, after which Nūr al-Dīn ransomed him (3) for one hundred thousand dinars and one thousand Muslim prisoners; the Count never forgot that favor of Nūr al-Dīn—may Allah have mercy on him. The Count—may Allah curse him—then rode out from his city of Tripoli with his army, yet he did not dare confront the Sultan in battle (4). Instead he headed for Ḥims, hoping to seize it by surprise. Sultan al-Nāṣir (5) set out against him, while dispatching a raiding party to Tripoli (6); they killed, captured, and carried off booty. When al-Nāṣir drew near, the Count turned on his heels and retreated to his own land, convinced that he had done for them what they had requested (7).

When Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn returned to Ḥims (8) he had not, on his earlier march, taken its citadel; he now resolved to capture it. He set up his mangonels against it—engines that had become his by forcible possession and had crushed its inhabitants into submission (9)—and then wheeled back toward Aleppo. On this second advance Allah granted him the very objective he sought. When he encamped before the city, al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil, writing on the Sultan’s behalf, composed for them a letter surpassingly eloquent and polished (10). It was delivered by the preacher Shams al-Dīn (11) and read (12):

“Once the obligation of greeting has fulfilled the right of meeting, and sincerity has summoned the utmost earnestness in supplication, let a man reckon (13) and recall the happenings that have passed (14)—events too real to be forged. Let him bring to light the collateral matters—though he speak at length, far more has already transpired. Let him open his breast to them [perhaps they will open his breast] (15) and clarify the scattered circumstances, for Allah is not worshipped in secret.

[From al-Kāmil]

Among the marvels is that wondrous things traverse the earth while the one they are meant for remains unaware:
Like camels whose thirst is keenest when their throats resound with empty echoes, yet the water they crave is borne upon their very backs.”