The situation had become dire, so the Mongols hurriedly brought up their mangonels (1), the horses dragging them while the riders stayed mounted, their weapons loaded upon numerous oxen. They positioned the mangonels (2) against the citadel from the west, demolished many surrounding walls, stripped them of their stones, and hurled these at the fortress in a relentless barrage, like a steady, driving rain. Much of its upper structure and battlements was shattered and began to crumble, whereupon, toward the end of that very day, the governor offered to negotiate a settlement (3). They opened the gates, yet the invaders levelled every hefty wall within and the tops of its towers. This took place in mid-Jumada al-Ula of that same year (4). They killed the governor, Badr al-Din ibn Qaraja, along with its naqib, Jamal al-Din ibn al-Sirafi al-Halabi, and delivered the city and the citadel to one of their emirs named Ibl Siyan—may Allah curse him—who was a great admirer of the Christian faith. Their bishops and priests gathered around him; he honored them exceedingly and visited their churches, so that through him they gained power, scope, and boldness. A group of Christians then set out to Hulagu, taking with them gifts and presents; they returned bearing an imperial safe-conduct from him. Entering through Bab Tuma (5) they carried a raised cross over the people’s heads, shouting their slogans and proclaiming, “The true religion has prevailed—the religion of the Messiah!” At the same time they reviled the religion of Islam (6) and its followers. They had vessels filled with wine, and no mosque doorway did they pass without sprinkling wine upon it. They also carried flasks brimming with wine, splashing it over people’s faces (7) and garments, and ordered everyone they met in the lanes (8) and markets to rise for their cross. They came by Darb al-Hajar, halted at the hospice of Shaykh Abu al-Bayan (9), and poured out wine there as well (10), doing likewise at the doors of both the small and the large mosques of Darb al-Hajar. Moving on through the bazaar they reached Darb al-Rayhan (11) or nearby, whereupon a large number of Muslims converged on them and drove them back to the market in front of the Church of Mary. Their preacher then mounted the bench of a shop in a side alley of the market, lauding the Christian faith (12) and denouncing Islam and its people. Indeed, to Allah we belong and to Him we return.