For we were the ones who kindled the fire with our own hands while others merely basked in its light; who drew water forth with our own arms while others drank their fill. The arrows (1) were received by our throats while others were satisfied to portray them in pictures; we met the flashing swords with our breasts while others claimed to stand in the vanguard. Our very bodies reclaimed our property at the tribunal of justice where the usurped is restored; our obedience now stands manifest, so we take our share of men’s tongues just as we took possession of their hearts. [Nothing held matters back save that we were awaiting an initiative of grace from the noble side—one to match our initiative in service, and a birth of justice to parallel our precedence in valor] (2).

At the outset we were in Syria, opening (3) the gates of victory in person (4), fighting the unbelievers at the head of our armies—ourselves, our father, and our uncle. Whatever (5) city was conquered, fortress captured, enemy host broken, or battlefield where Islam drew its sword, no one is unaware of our deeds, nor will any foe deny that we endured the burning ember (6), mastered the counter-charge (7), led the ranks (8), arrayed the warriors, and directed the formations until the marks we left in Syria became evident. The reward for those deeds is ours, and it harms us not that others receive the fame.

He then went on (9) to recount what they had accomplished in Egypt: the shattering of unbelief, the removal of wrongdoing, the suppression of the Franks, the demolition of the innovations that had taken root there; the spread of justice, the extension of bounty (10), and the institution of the Abbasid khuṭbah (11) in the lands of Egypt, Yemen, Nubia, Ifrīqiyah, and elsewhere—all expressed in clear and graceful language.

When the letter reached them, their reply was discourteous.

They had already written to the lord of Mosul, Sayf al-Din Ghazi ibn Mawdud (12), brother of Nūr al-Din Maḥmūd ibn Zanki, who dispatched to them his brother Masʿūd (13), titled ʿIzz al-Din, at the head of his troops; he advanced upon them (14) with his detachments, and so he was added to their forces (15).