for we implore Allah to envelope them in His mercy and bless them (1) and to cause the weapons of war to fall silent between them and him. He acceded to what they asked, yet only in the manner he himself saw fit, not in the way they desired. This, too, was part of the mercy with which the believers have been singled out (2), for before many years had passed the realm came into the hands of his brother, Abū Bakr al-ʿĀdil, through whom the Muslims were exalted and the unbelievers abased. He—may Allah have mercy on him—was generous, [open-handed and modest] (3), cheerful-faced and constantly smiling; he never wearied of any good deed he performed and showed the utmost perseverance and persistence in works of righteousness and obedience. May Allah have mercy on him and lodge him in the Gardens. Shaykh Shihāb al-Dīn Abū Shāma (4) has recorded a worthy portion of his conduct and his days, and of the justice he displayed both in private and in public, as well as in his rulings. [Section] Sultan al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn had partitioned the dominions among his sons: – The Egyptian territories to his son al-ʿAzīz ʿImād al-Dīn ʿUthmān Abū al-Fatḥ. – Damascus and its environs to his son al-Afḍal Nūr al-Dīn ʿAlī, the eldest of them all. – The kingdom of Aleppo to his son al-Ẓāhir Ghāzī Ghiyāth al-Dīn. – To his brother al-ʿĀdil he assigned al-Karak, al-Shawbak, the land of Jaʿbar, and many towns across the Euphrates. – Ḥamāh, together with another district, to al-Malik al-Manṣūr Muḥammad ibn (5) Taqī al-Dīn ʿUmar, the Sultan’s nephew. – Ḥimṣ, al-Raḥba, and other places to Asad al-Dīn Shīrkūh (6) ibn Nāṣir al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Asad al-Dīn Shīrkūh the Elder, the brother of his father Najm al-Dīn Ayyūb—may Allah be pleased with them all. – Yemen, with all its fortresses and provinces, remained in the grasp of Zuhayr al-Dīn Sayf al-Islām Ṭughtakīn ibn Ayyūb, under the sovereignty of Sultan Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn. – Baʿlabakk and its dependencies were granted to al-Amjad Bahrāmshāh ibn Farrūkhshāh. – And Buṣrā with its districts to al-Ẓāfir ibn al-Nāṣir.