, killing them (1) until he reached Rayy. When word reached him that a detachment had set out with the intention of attacking him, he halted and lay in wait for them; what happened between him and them will be related under the events of the year twenty-five. (2)

In the same year: The armies of King al-Ashraf ibn al-ʿAdil entered Adharbayjan, captured many of its towns, and seized abundant spoils. They also carried off Jalal al-Din’s wife, the daughter of Tughril, (3) who hated and opposed him; they lodged her in the city of Khilat, (4) and what ensued will be recounted in the following year.

In the same year: An envoy of the Emperor (5) of the Franks across the sea arrived before al-Muʿaẓẓam, (6) demanding the coastal territories that his uncle, the Sultan (7) al-Malik al-Nasir Salah al-Din, had conquered. Al-Muʿaẓẓam answered him sternly, saying, “Tell your master: all I have for him is the sword.” Allah knows best.

In the same year: Al-Ashraf dispatched his brother Shihab al-Din Ghazi on pilgrimage in a magnificent maḥmal whose baggage required six hundred camels. With him were fifty hajīn mounts, each ridden by a slave. He set out by way of Iraq, received gifts from the caliph en route, and returned (8) by the same road on which he had travelled to the ḥajj.

In the same year: Najm al-Din Abū al-Maʿālī ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muqbil al-Wāsiṭī (9) was appointed Chief Judge in Baghdad. He was invested with robes of honor, as is customary for judges, and the day was one long remembered.

In the same year: A severe rise in prices struck the lands of al-Jazīra, and meat became scarce. Ibn al-Athir (10) relates that on certain days in Mosul only a single sheep was slaughtered, even though it was springtime.

He adds: On the tenth of Adhār (March) heavy snow fell twice in al-Jazīra and Iraq, destroying blossoms and other plants. He further remarks: “Such a thing had never been witnessed, and the greatest wonder is that in Iraq, with all its intense heat, something like this should occur.”