You crossed the Euphrates at the head of an army whose very advance was sped along by the river’s waves, just as the chroniclers relate. (1)
Its surging waters bore you aloft—and who has ever seen a sea, other than yourself, that rivers could carry? (2)
The enemy ranks were cut apart and scattered, for at that moment their only towering rampart was your rolling host. (3)
One of those who witnessed the event (4) recited, in the ṭawīl metre:
When our cavalry drew near the Euphrates,
we made it drunk on our lances and swords, (5)
so the current ceased its flowing (6)
until we returned laden with riches and spoils.
Another poet—whose verses are by no means inferior—(7) composed, in the sarīʿ metre: (8)
Al-Malik al-Ẓāhir is our sultan;
for him we would ransom wealth and family.
He plunged into the water to cool
the fire in his heart kindled by the Mongols. (9)
On Tuesday, the third of Rajab, he bestowed robes of honor on all the amirs of his personal retinue, the commanders of the ḥalqah corps, and the dignitaries of state, giving each man the horses, gold, and ceremonial sashes (10) appropriate to his rank. The total outlay on that occasion amounted to about three hundred thousand dinars. (11)
In Shaʿbān the sultan dispatched magnificent gifts to Mankutamur. (12)
(1) Variant of the couplet in ms. b and in the supplement (dhayl) to al-Mirʾah and al-Nujūm: b reads “khadt al-wara bisābih aqsā minnī … hawaja al-ṣabā min fiʿlihi al-athār.” The A manuscript’s reading is: “khadt al-furāt bisābih afḍā bihi … mawju al-ṣabā min fiʿlihi al-athār.”
(2) This verse appears in Abʿad immediately following it.
(3) Afterwards, in the supplement to al-Mirʾah there are four verses prefaced by “wa-minhā,” and in al-Nujūm (vol. 7, p. 160) four verses linked to the preceding text.
(4) The couplet is attributed to Nāṣir al-Dīn Ḥasan ibn al-Naqīb al-Kinānī in the supplement to Mirʾat al-Zamān (3/4) and in al-Nujūm (7/160).
(5) In b: in the supplement to al-Mirʾah the readings are “bi-l-qawā” and “al-qawādim,” whereas in al-Nujūm they appear as “bi-l-qawā” and “al-qawāʾim.”
(6) In A: the reading is “walijnā waladan waqafa al-ṭayyār ʿan jaryānih.” This variant does not occur in the supplements to Mirʾat al-Zamān or al-Nujūm.
(7) It is attested in t only.
(8) The couplet in the supplement to al-Mirʾah and in al-Nujūm al-Zāhirah (7/160) is attributed there to al-Muwaffaq ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar al-Anṣārī.
(9) In A: the phrase “min al-ghill.” By al-maghl it is understood that he means the Mongols or Tatars.
(10) al-ḥawāʾiṣ: By sultanic custom, when the ruler mounted to play ball in the field, he distributed ḥawāʾiṣ (gold presents) among certain leading amirs. (Gloss on al-Nujūm, 7/73.)
(11) In b: concerning the ḥawāʾiṣ and the garments, the total disbursed amounted to some 300,000 dinars.
(12) In b: described as “magnificent and with numerous precious objects.”