together with the victorious armies. During that year the Islamic state took complete possession of the land of Sis (1) and of many Frankish strongholds. He dispatched troops ahead of him to Gaza, while he himself turned aside toward the district of al-Karak to examine its condition. When he reached the Zizi pool (2) he went hunting there, fell from his horse, and broke his thigh. He remained there (3) for several days receiving treatment until he could ride in a covered litter, after which he set out for Egypt. On the way his leg healed and he was able to mount a horse unaided.

He entered Cairo in magnificent pomp and splendid display. The city had been festively decorated; the populace welcomed him with an elaborate celebration and rejoiced greatly at his arrival and recovery.

Then, in the month of Rajab of that same year, he returned from Cairo to Ṣafad, dug a moat around its citadel—working in it himself together with his emirs and troops—and raided the environs of Acre, killing, capturing, plundering, and returning safely. The good-news drums were sounded in Damascus in celebration.

On the twelfth (4) of Rabiʿ al-Awwal al-Ẓāhir led the Friday prayer in al-Azhar Mosque. The Friday service had not been held there (5) since the days of the ʿUbaydid dynasty, even though it was the first mosque to be built (6) in Cairo. It had been erected by Jawhar the Commander (7), who originally established the Friday prayer there; when al-Hakim built his own congregational mosque he transferred the service to it, leaving al-Azhar without a Friday prayer. Consequently it came to be treated like any neighborhood mosque, its state became shabby, and its affairs declined. The sultan therefore ordered its restoration, whitewashing, and the reinstatement of the Friday service. He also ordered the construction of the Husayniyyah Mosque, which was completed in 667, as will be mentioned, if Allah Almighty wills.

In that same year al-Ẓāhir decreed that none of the resident lodgers was to spend the night inside the Great Mosque of Damascus. He ordered that the storerooms and private compartments within it—nearly three hundred (8) in all—be removed. They were found to contain flasks of urine, bedding, and numerous carpets. Thus the people—and the mosque—were relieved of that clutter, and the space opened up for the worshippers.

He likewise commanded the repair of the walls of Ṣafad and its citadel, and that the following be inscribed upon them:

“We have already written in the Zabur, after the Reminder, that the earth shall be inherited by My righteous servants” (al-Anbiyaʾ 105);

“Those are the party of Allah; truly, the party of Allah—they are the successful” (al-Mujadilah 22).