and Samisāṭ and other districts; he also undertook (1) to pay fifty thousand dinars in ready cash. His request was granted: a deed of investiture (2) was written for him, a banner was conferred upon him, and the lands he relinquished were annexed to the dominion of King al-Muẓaffar Taqī al-Dīn ʿUmar, the nephew of Sultan Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn—Allah, exalted is He, knows best (3).

Section

At that time al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil, who was in the Egyptian territories (4), was administering those lands and sending the Sultan whatever he required of provisions, funds, and expenditures. He oversaw the fleet (5) and the revenues needed for it, while the Sultan’s official letters (6) reached him continually, consulting him about whatever would set right the affairs of the Muslims; likewise, al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil’s own eloquent letters arrived at the Sultan’s camp unceasingly. Among these (7) was a letter in which he wrote that the reason the siege was taking so long was the multitude of sins and the violation of sacred limits among the people (8). In one passage he said:

“Nothing that is with Allah can be attained except through obedience to Him, and no hardship is removed except by returning to Him (and complying with the commands of His sharīʿah). How, then, could the siege fail to be prolonged when acts of disobedience are openly practiced everywhere and injustices are rampant in every place (9)? What has risen up to Allah from such deeds bodes nothing thereafter but that from which we seek refuge (10).”

He added that news had reached him that Jerusalem had become rife with reprehensible acts, indecencies, and oppression throughout its lands—matters that could not be remedied except at great cost (11).

Another of his letters (12) stated: “We have been struck only because of our own selves. Had we been truthful with Him, He would have hastened (13) for us the good outcome of our sincerity; had we obeyed Him, He would not have punished us through our enemy; and had we carried out to the limit of our ability that which He commands, He would have accomplished for us what none but He can accomplish. Therefore…”