against the Franks (1).

Taqi al-Din ‘Umar arrived from Egypt, accompanied by the qadi (2) al-Fadil, and from Aleppo came (3) Abu Bakr al-‘Adil. The rulers of al-Jazirah, Sinjar, and the surrounding regions and districts (4) likewise presented themselves. He incorporated all of them (5) into his own host and set out for al-Karak. On the fourteenth of Jumada I they closed in around the fortress, positioned the mangonels (6)—nine in number—and opened the siege. He deemed its capture at that moment more advantageous to the Muslims than any other objective, for its garrison used to cut off the roads of pilgrims and merchants on land and at sea (7).

While he was thus engaged, news reached him that all the Franks—cavalry and infantry alike—had mustered to deny him al-Karak. He therefore broke camp, advanced against them, and encamped at Hisban (8) opposite their lines; then he moved on to the waters of ‘Ayn (9). The Franks thereupon fled toward al-Karak, and he sent detachments after them that wrought a great slaughter. The sultan next ordered the armies to raid the coastal districts, which were devoid of fighting men, so Nablus and the neighboring villages (10) and rural estates were plundered.

The sultan then returned to Damascus and granted the contingents leave to depart for their various (11) homelands. He instructed his nephew Taqi al-Din ‘Umar (12) al-Malik al-Muzaffar to go back to Egypt with his force (13), and likewise ordered his brother al-‘Adil to return to al-Shahba. The sultan (14) remained in Damascus to fulfill the obligation of the fast, to rest (15) the horses, and to hone the swords. Ceremonial robes (16) from the caliph (17) then arrived for the sultan; he donned his own and vested his brother al-‘Adil and his cousin Nasir al-Din Muhammad (18) b. Shirkuh, after which he bestowed further robes