The Aleppans then marched against Hama during the Sultan’s absence (1), for he was occupied with the citadel of Homs and its reconstruction. When news of their advance reached him, he set out toward them with only a small detachment of troops. He came upon them while they were massed in great divisions; they confronted him and, seeing how few were with him, grew overconfident and were about to engage him. He therefore began to maneuver and invite them to reconciliation, hoping that the rest of his army would catch up.

Among the things he said to them was: “I am content with Damascus alone; I shall have the khuṭbah there pronounced for al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Ismāʿīl, and I will relinquish everything else in Syria.” Yet the eunuch Saʿd al-Dawla Kumashtakīn (2) refused any settlement unless he were also given (3) al-Raḥba, which was in the hands of his cousin Nāṣir al-Dīn ibn Asad al-Dīn (4). He replied, “I do not possess it, nor have I the power to grant it.” They therefore rejected peace and moved to do battle. He drew up his army (5) in a single kurdus, and on Sunday, the nineteenth of Ramadan, at the hills of Hama, he showed remarkable endurance.

In the midst of the encounter his nephew Taqī al-Dīn ʿUmar ibn Shāhinshāh (6) arrived, together with his brother Farukhsā (7) and a contingent of troops. The balance thereupon tipped in his favor and his terror (8) fell upon them; they turned and fled in rout. Some of their leaders were taken captive, but he proclaimed that no fugitive was to be pursued and that no wounded man was to be finished off (9). He then released all who had fallen into his hands.

Without delay he marched on Aleppo; fortune now turned against them and they came to a sorry end. Only yesterday he had sought peace and conciliation from them, whereas today they were begging him to desist and withdraw (10), on the condition that al-Maʿarra, Kafr Ṭālib (11), and Bārīn (12) should be his (13) in addition to the territories of Hama, Homs, and Baalbek that he already held together with Damascus. He accepted their offer (14) and spared them, swearing that henceforth he would wage no war against al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ and that the khuṭbah for him would be delivered from the pulpits of all his realms.

At the intercession of his brother Majd al-Dīn he also secured the release of the Banū al-Dāyah from prison. Having accomplished this, he returned triumphant and victorious, safe and gladdened.