Kiss his hands—may you never be bereft—and say to him, on my behalf, with gracious kindness and gentle courtesy;
(1)
Should your peer die in the near future, you will meet him only between the keen edge of an Indian blade and a polished lance;
or, if you delay in coming to his aid, your meeting with him will be on the Day of Resurrection, in the broad plain of the Gathering.

Account of what took place after his death

He had appointed his son al-ʿAdil—still a minor—to govern Egypt and the Damascene territories, and his son al-Ṣāliḥ Ayyūb to rule the lands of al-Jazīrah. The emirs ratified this arrangement. Concerning Damascus, however, the emirs there split their loyalties between al-Malik al-Nāṣir Dāwūd ibn al-Muʿaẓẓam and al-Malik al-Jawād Muẓaffar al-Dīn Yūnus ibn Muʿdūd ibn al-Malik al-ʿĀdil (2). ʿImād al-Dīn Ibn al-Shaykh inclined toward al-Jawād, while others favored al-Nāṣir, who was staying in the Dār Sāmah. Al-Jawād’s position solidified, and a message was sent to al-Nāṣir ordering him to leave the city. He therefore mounted from Dār Sāmah, the common folk following behind him (3) toward the Citadel, certain that he would be invested with the kingdom. He headed for the Citadel, but when he had passed al-ʿAmādiyyah he turned his horse toward Bāb al-Faraj. The populace cried out, “No! No! No!” He continued on until he reached al-Qābūn at the descent of Barzah. Some of the Ashrafiyyah emirs resolved to seize him (4); so he pressed on, spent the night at the Palace of Umm Ḥakīm, and, with his pursuers close behind, made for ʿAjlūn, where he fortified himself and found safety (5).

As for al-Jawād (6), he rode forth in the full pomp of kingship, lavishing money and robes of honor upon the emirs. Al-Sibt (7) reports that he distributed six million dinars and five thousand robes, abolished customs duties and the sale of wine, expelled the khawāṭiʾ, and his rule in Damascus became firmly established. The Syrian and Egyptian emirs rallied to him, while al-Nāṣir Dāwūd departed ʿAjlūn for Gaza and the coastal districts (8) and took control of them. Al-Jawād thereupon set out in pursuit, accompanied by the Syrian and Egyptian armies. He said to the Ashrafiyyah, “Write to him and entice him.” When their letters reached al-Nāṣir he was tempted to come to terms, so he turned back with seven hundred horsemen to Nablus. Al-Jawād then advanced against him while he was encamped at—