and the mangonels for Homs, for its lord, al-Malik al-Ashraf (1) Musa ibn al-Mansur ibn Asad al-Din Shirkuh (2), had bartered the city for Tal Bashir with the ruler of Aleppo, al-Nasir Yusuf ibn al-Aziz. When the people of Aleppo learned that the Damascenes had set out, they too advanced with a mighty host (3) to keep them from Homs. At that point Shaykh Najm al-Din al-Badhra’i (4), lecturer at the Nizamiyya in Baghdad, arrived on a diplomatic mission; he reconciled the two sides and sent each force back to its camp—praise be to Allah.

In that year: a young Turkish mamluk killed his master’s servant-boy because the latter shoved him (5) away when the master attempted a lewd act with him. The boy was crucified, nailed to a stake; he had been exceedingly handsome, and the people grieved for him because he was (6) young, oppressed, and comely. Many lamented him in verse, among them Shaykh Shihab al-Din Abu Shamah, who in his “Dhayl” (7) recounts the story at great length.

Also in that year: an ancient Roman bridge in the Flour Market (8) of Damascus, near the Palace of Umm Ḥakīm, collapsed, destroying a great number of houses and shops; its fall occurred in broad daylight.

On the night of Sunday, the twenty-fifth of Rajab, a fire broke out in the eastern minaret, burning (9) all of its interior. Its stairways were wooden scaffolds, and many deposits people had placed there were lost. Allah preserved the Great Mosque—praise be to Him. A few days later the sultan arrived in Damascus and ordered the minaret rebuilt exactly as it had been.

I say: It burned again and collapsed completely in the year 740 AH; it was then rebuilt more splendidly than before—praise be to Allah. From that time the White Eastern Minaret of Damascus has remained, just as the hadith affirms concerning the descent of Jesus [son of Mary] (peace be upon him) upon it (10); its explanation and verification will be given in due course, Allah Most High willing.