his investiture was void, for it had been forced upon him⦗1⦘. Thereupon the Sultan summoned the emirs and called on them to swear allegiance to him. They refused, so he alternated inducements with threats and declared:

“You have heard the ruling of the scholars, the imams, and the jurists. You also know that the frontiers of the Muslims cannot be guarded by little children; they are protected only by great kings⦗2⦘.”

At this they yielded and pledged allegiance to him, and, after him, to his son al-Kāmil. The preachers announced the caliph’s confirmation of both in the Friday sermon, and coin was minted in their names. Damascus was assigned to al-Muʿaẓẓam ʿĪsā ibn al-ʿĀdil, just as Egypt belonged to al-Kāmil⦗3⦘.

In Shawwāl the amir Falak al-Dīn Abū Manṣūr Sulaymān ibn Sharwah⦗4⦘ ibn Jandar—half-brother of Sultan al-ʿĀdil through their mother and founder of the Falakiyyah school inside Bāb al-Farādis, where he is also buried—returned to Damascus. He remained there, honored and esteemed, until he passed away in this same year, may Allah have mercy on him.

In this year⦗5⦘ and the one that followed, Egypt was ravaged by a severe famine that claimed the lives of rich⦗6⦘ and poor, great⦗7⦘ and small alike. People fled toward Syria, yet only a few groups arrived, for the Franks waylaid them on the roads, lured them off guard, and killed them for a meager morsel of food. By contrast, the lands of Iraq enjoyed abundance and low prices, an ease both pleasant and satisfying. To Allah belong judgment and wisdom, morning and evening.

Ibn al-Saʿī relates in his History: “In this year a rooster laid an egg in Baghdad; I asked⦗8⦘ several people about it and they confirmed the report.”

Among the notable deaths of this year was that of Sultan ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Khwarazmshāh⦗9⦘ ibn Takash ibn Alp Arslān⦗10⦘ ibn Atsinar, a descendant of Ṭāhir ibn al-Ḥusayn: