Consequently, the khawāṭiʾ were plundered and stripped of everything they possessed until they were compelled to marry (1). A circular was dispatched to all the provinces to that effect, the taxes (2) that had been levied on the practice were abolished, and those whose stipends had depended on that revenue were compensated from other sources—praise and thanks belong to Allah.
The sultan then returned with his forces to Egypt. While on the road, at a place called Khirbat al-Luṣūṣ, a woman approached him and complained that her son had entered the city of Ṣūr (Tyre) and that its Frankish ruler had treacherously killed him and taken his money. The sultan at once mounted, launched a raid on Tyre, seized abundant booty from it, and slew many of its inhabitants. Its king sent to ask, “What is the reason for this?” He replied by recounting his treachery and deceit toward the merchants.
The sultan then said to the commander of the armies, “Make the people think that I am sick and that I am being carried in a litter (3). Summon the physicians and ask them what remedies suit someone with such-and-such an illness; when they prescribe something, have the medicines brought to the litter while you continue the march.” Thereupon the sultan mounted a post horse, sped off [until he entered Egypt], inspected the condition of his son and the state of affairs there after his departure, then hurried back to the army, sat in the litter, and they announced his recovery, rejoicing at it. This was an act of remarkable daring and formidable courage.
In the same year:
Sultan al-Malik al-Ẓāhir performed the ḥajj, accompanied by Amīr Badr al-Dīn al-Khuzandār, the chief judge Ṣadr al-Dīn Sulaymān al-Ḥanafī (4), Fakhr al-Dīn Ibn Luqmān, Tāj al-Dīn Ibn al-Athīr, about three hundred mamluks, and troops from the victorious corps (5). He travelled by way of al-Karak, examined its conditions, then proceeded to the Prophetic City, where he treated its inhabitants graciously and looked into their affairs. From there he went on to Mecca, gave alms to those residing near the sanctuary, stood at ʿArafah, performed the ṭawāf of ifāḍah, and the Kaʿbah was opened for him; he washed it with rose-water and perfumed it with his own hand. He then stood at the door of the Kaʿbah, taking the people’s hands so they might enter the House while he was among them. Afterwards he returned, stoned the jamarāt, hastened in the dispersal, and went back to al-Madīnah, where he visited the Noble Grave a second time [may the best and most complete blessings and peace rest upon its inhabitant, and upon his pure and noble family and companions, altogether, until the Day of Judgment] (6).
He then journeyed to al-Karak, entering it on the twenty-ninth of Dhū al-Ḥijjah, and sent a courier to Damascus announcing his safe arrival. Amīr Jamāl al-Dīn Aqūsh al-Najībī (7), the city’s deputy-governor, set out on the second of Muḥarram to receive the courier—only to find that it was the sultan himself, riding across the Green Parade Ground, having outstripped everyone.