for he knew (1) how weary the fighters and auxiliaries with him had grown. The truce was therefore concluded for seven months, the Sultan’s aim (2) being to grant the armies respite from their toil and to let spirits recover from their hardship. He dispatched an envoy to receive the captives, for the Christians’ dominion had already slipped away. (3)

The Sultan then set out. His son al-Ẓāhir asked him to pass through Aleppo, and he granted the request; (4) he stayed in its citadel for three nights. (5) Next his nephew Taqī al-Dīn summoned him to Ḥamāh, so he lodged in its citadel (6) for a single night—one of the nephew’s greatest wishes and aspirations—and that very night he granted him (7) Jableh and Latakia as fiefs.

He moved on and halted at the citadel of Baalbek, where he entered its bathhouse. Thereafter he returned to Damascus, divinely aided and victorious, joyful and delighted. This was in the early days of Ramadan, a day long remembered and an arrival much praised.

The Capture of al-Karak at the Hands of the Muslims (8)

Glad tidings (9) reached him that al-Karak had been taken by the Muslims who were besieging it. Allah thus relieved that region of their menace and smoothed its rugged paths for travellers—merchants, warriors, pilgrims, and ‘umrah-goers alike: “So the last remnant of the people who did wrong was cut off, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.” [al-Anʿām: 45]

Section on the Capture of Ṣafad and the Fortress of Kawkab

The Sultan remained (10) in Damascus only a few days before he set out with his army for the territory of Ṣafad. He invested it during the middle ten days of Ramadan, bombarding it with mangonels (11) and courageous men. The cold was intense, and in the mornings the water would be frozen solid. He persisted until he secured its surrender by treaty on the eighth of Shawwāl—praise belongs to Allah in every circumstance. He then proceeded (12) to Ṣūr (Tyre).