Also, “To Him ascend wholesome words” (35:10); and, in negation, “There is nothing like unto Him” (42:11) and “Do you know of any who is His namesake?” (19:65).

[Then the year 607 AH began.]

Shaykh [Shihab al-Din (1) in his Dhayl] (2) relates that in this year the kings of the Jazirah joined forces—the ruler of Mosul, the ruler of Sinjar, the ruler of Irbil, and [together with them his nephew] al-Zahir, the ruler of Aleppo, as well as the king of Rum—to oppose al-ʿAdil, break with him, fight him, and wrest sovereignty from his hand. They further agreed that the Friday khuṭbah [in their lands] should be delivered for King Kaykhusraw ibn Qilij Arslan, the ruler of Rum. They sent word to the Georgians to come and lay siege to Khilāṭ [and seize it from the hand] (3) of al-Malik al-Awhad Najm al-Din Ayyub, son of al-ʿAdil, promising them victory and assistance.

I say: this is tyranny and aggression that Allah forbids. The Georgians therefore came, under their king (4) Ivane, and besieged Khilāṭ. Al-Awhad was sorely pressed and said, “This is a grievous day.”

By Allah’s decree, on Monday, the nineteenth of Rabiʿ al-Ākhir, their siege of the town intensified, and their king Ivane (5), who was riding his horse while drunk, fell with his mount into one of the pits that had been prepared as a stratagem around the city. The townsmen hastened to him and captured him as a contemptible prisoner. The Georgians were dumbfounded. When he was brought before al-Awhad, the latter released him, bestowed favor upon him, [honored him] and treated him kindly. He ransomed him for two hundred thousand dinars, the release of two thousand Muslim captives, the surrender of twenty-one fortresses adjoining al-Awhad’s territories, the marriage of Ivane’s daughter to al-Awhad’s brother al-Ashraf Musa, and a pledge that Ivane would aid him against anyone who fought him (6). Ivane accepted all of this, and oaths (7) were taken from him.

Al-Awhad then sent to his father (8) seeking permission for all these terms, while al-ʿAdil (9) was encamped outside Ḥarrān, in the utmost perplexity (10) over the grave danger that had overtaken him. While he was in that state, this news reached him—an awe-inspiring turn of events and a stratagem from Allah, the Almighty, the All-Wise,