on a Friday in Ramadan (1), and in that very month the victory of Islam was accomplished.

When he reached Damascus in Shawwal he established justice there, set affairs in order, and sent Baybars in pursuit of the Tatars to force them out of Aleppo (2). He promised him the deputyship of the city but did not carry it through [having deemed that more expedient] (3); estrangement therefore arose between the two of them. On his return to Egypt the emirs conspired against him with Baybars and killed him (4) between al-Ghurabi (5) and al-Ṣāliḥiyya. He was buried in the Citadel, and people used to visit his grave; but when al-Ẓāhir firmly seized the throne he had the grave removed from public view, after which its location was no longer known. He was slain on Saturday (6), the sixteenth of Dhu al-Qaʿdah—may Allah have mercy on him.

Shaykh Qutb al-Din al-Yūnīnī (7) relates in his Appendix to “The Mirror” that Shaykh ʿAlāʾ al-Din ibn Ghānim (8) narrated from Mawlā Tāj al-Din Aḥmad ibn al-Athīr, the confidential secretary in the days of al-Nāṣir, lord of Damascus. He said:

While we were with [the Sultan] al-Nāṣir at the encampment of Barza, couriers arrived bearing news that Qutuz had assumed the throne in Egypt (9). I read this to the Sultan, who said, “Go to So-and-so and So-and-so and inform them of this.” As I left his presence a trooper met me and asked, “Has news reached you from Egypt (10) that Qutuz has taken power?” I replied, “I know nothing of it—how do you know?” He said, “Indeed, by Allah, he will take the kingdom and he will crush the Tatars.” I asked, “How do you know that?” He replied (11): “I used to serve him when he was a boy; he was crawling with lice and I would delouse him, belittle him, and speak ill of him. One day he said to me, ‘Woe to you! What do you want me to give you when I rule the lands of Egypt (12)?’ I answered, ‘You are mad!’ He said, [By Allah,] ‘I have seen the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in a dream, and he told me: “You will govern the lands of Egypt and shatter the Tatars” (13). The word of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, is unquestionably true.’ So I said to him then—and he was truthful—‘I want from you the command of fifty horsemen (14).’ He said, ‘Yes; rejoice.’” Ibn al-Athīr added, “When he told me this I said, ‘These must be the dispatches from the Egyptians…’”