from him. The King of England (2) then sent (1) a message to the Sultan, saying: “This war has dragged on too long; both Franks and Muslims have been destroyed. Our aim is only three things and nothing else: the return of the Cross, the coastal territories (3), and Jerusalem. We shall not relinquish these three so long as an eye of ours can still blink (4).”

The Sultan replied to him (5) with the sternest response and the harshest letter.

The Franks—may Allah curse them—then resolved (6) to march on Jerusalem, so the Sultan advanced with his army to the Holy City (7), entered it, and lodged in the priests’ residence near Qumamah during Dhu al-Qaʿdah. He immediately set about strengthening the city’s defenses (8) and deepening its trenches, working there himself together with his sons and emirs, while the judges, scholars, and Sufis also laboured with their own hands. It was a memorable time (9). Forward pickets (yizk) ringed the city on the side facing the Franks, and at every opportunity they gained the upper hand, killing, capturing, and taking spoils from them (10). Praise and thanks belong to Allah for that favour. The year ended with affairs in that condition.

In this same year, according to Imad the secretary, Qadi (11) Muhyi al-Din Muhammad ibn al-Zaki assumed the judgeship of Damascus.

Also this year: (12) the Emir of Mecca, Daʾud ibn ʿIsa ibn Fulayta ibn Qasim (13) ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Hashim al-Hasani (14), overstepped all bounds. He seized the property of the Kaʿba, even removing a silver band that had encircled the rim of the Black Stone to mend the damage inflicted when that Qarmatian had struck it with a mace. When word of his conduct reached the Sultan from every side, the Sultan deposed him and appointed his brother Mukaththir (15) in his place, and he demolished the fortress that his brother had built on Mount Abu Qubays. Daʾud remained at Nakhlah (16) until he died there in the year 589 AH (17).