The sultan returned from this campaign and entered Damascus in Rabīʿ al-Awwal (1)—a day long remembered (2). The Muslims rejoiced, the drums of victory were beaten, and the city was adorned. Ṣafī ibn al-Qānṣ (3), the deputy of the treasury, had built for the king a vast residence (4) within the Citadel overlooking the southern battlements; the sultan grew angry with him (5) and stripped him of his fief. He declared, “We were not created to take up residence in Damascus—nor in any other land—(6); we were created only to worship Allah, exalted is He, and to strive in His path. What you have done merely weakens resolve and holds people back from the purpose for which they were made.”
The sultan then sat in the Dār al-ʿAdl, where the judges and men of merit (7) assembled before him. He visited al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil in his orchard (8) on the heights of Jawmuk ibn al-Farrāsh, recounted to him what had occurred (9), and sought his counsel on the important duties and campaigns he intended to pursue (10).
He departed Damascus with his forces, crossed Mount Yabūs (11), entered the Biqāʿ (12), encamped at Baalbek, and marched on to Homs and Ḥamāh. While he was by the Orontes, the troops (13) of al-Jazīrah joined him. From there he advanced to the Syrian coast (14), captured Antartus (15) and other strongholds, and took Jabala and Latakia, both of which were among the finest (16) of cities in architecture, marble, and handsome quarters (17),
(1) In manuscript B: “al-Ghazwa al-Saʿīda” (the Happy Expedition); in the al-Amākin edition: “wa lammā rajaʿa al-sulṭān min hādhihi al-ghazwa ilā Dimashq wajada…” (and when the Sultan returned from this expedition to Damascus, he found…).
(2) Only in manuscript B.
(3) His biography will appear under the events of 587 AH in this volume.
(4) The printed edition reads “banā lahu dāran” (he built a house for him).
(5) Manuscripts A and B read “fataghḍab” (and he became angry).
(6) Only in the printed edition.
(7) The printed edition reads “faḥaḍarat” (and she attended).
(8) The printed edition reads “fī bustānihi” (in his garden).
(9) The printed edition reads “mā jarā” (what happened).
(10) The printed edition reads “yafʿal” (he does).
(11) Yabus: the name of a mountain in ash-Shām, in Wādī al-Taym near Damascus (Muʿjam al-Buldān, s.v. “Yabus”). Note: Today there is a small village on the road between Damascus and Beirut on the Syrian–Lebanese border called Jadīdah Yabus, presumably named for its location at its foot.
(12) The printed edition reads “wa qaṣada” (and he headed).
(13) The printed edition reads “wa jā’at al-juyūsh min al-Jazīrah” (and the armies came from the Jazīrah).
(14) The printed edition reads “ash-shamāliyya” (the northern).
(15) Anṭarṭūs (Antartus): a town on the shore of the Levantine Sea; it is the last coastal district of Damascus and the first of Ḥimṣ. Abū al-Qāsim al-Dimashqī says: “It belongs to the Tripoli district, overlooking the sea east of ʿArqā, eight farsakhs apart” (Muʿjam al-Buldān). Note: Today it is one of the governorates of the Syrian Arab Republic on the Mediterranean, now called Ṭarṭūs.
(16) The printed edition reads “min aḥṣana” (from the strongest).
(17) The printed edition reads “wa muḥālan” (and impossible).