enter the lands of Egypt (after they had secured their dominion in Syria)(1). He therefore anticipated them before they could anticipate him, advanced against them, and pressed forward before they could press against him. He set out with his armies(2), the ranks united behind him, until—with that victorious host—he reached Syria. The Mongol force, commanded by Kitbugha Noyan, roused itself to confront him. At that time Kitbugha was in the Beqaa Valley, and he consulted al-Ashraf, the ruler of Homs(3), and al-Mujir ibn al-Zaki(4). They advised him that he had no power to withstand al-Muzaffar unless he first sought reinforcements from Hulagu, but he refused all counsel except to engage at once. They therefore marched toward him, and al-Muzaffar marched toward them; the two armies met(5) at ʿAyn Jalut(6) on Friday, the twenty-fifth of Ramadan. They fought a tremendous battle, and—praise be to Allah—the victory belonged to Islam and its people. The Muslims routed them in a crushing defeat and killed the Mongol commander, Kitbugha Noyan(7), together with several members of his household(8). It is said that the one who struck down Kitbugha was the emir Jamal al-Din Aqūsh al-Shamsi. The Muslim army pursued them, striking them down wherever they were found(9).

King al-Mansur of Hama fought side by side with al-Muzaffar in this encounter, as did the emir Faris al-Din Aqṭāy al-Mustaʿrib, who was the army’s atabeg(10). Among Kitbugha’s party they captured al-Malik al-Saʿid ibn al-ʿAziz ibn al-ʿAdil, and al-Muzaffar ordered his execution. Al-Ashraf, the lord of Homs—who had been with the Tatars and whom Hulagu Khan had appointed governor over the whole of Syria—sought safe-conduct; al-Muzaffar granted him amnesty and restored Homs to him. Likewise he returned Hama to al-Mansur and even added Maʿarrat al-Nuʿman and other towns to his domain, and he granted Salamiyya to the emir Sharaf al-Din ʿIsa ibn Muhanna ibn Maniʿ, chieftain of the Arabs.

Emir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari and a band of brave men chased after the Tatars, killing them wherever they went, until they reached them as far as Aleppo. Those Tatars who were in Damascus fled(11) on Sunday, the twenty-seventh of Ramadan(12). The Muslims of Damascus pursued them, killing them and freeing the captives from their hands. Thus the glad tidings arrived—praise be to Allah, Who restored them by His grace—and the drums of victory in the Citadel answered the news, and the believers rejoiced.