—a particularly splendid one. He donned it, led the Friday prayer wearing it, and then greeted the emirs, who honoured (1) and exalted him. The people were overjoyed at his presence and at the pardon that had been bestowed upon them.
As for Sunqur al-Ashqar, once the royal troops set out in pursuit of him, he parted company with Emir ʿIsa ibn Muhanna (2) and made for the coastal regions, seizing many fortresses: Ṣahyūn, where his children and valuables were kept; Balāṭnus (3); Barziya; Acre; Jableh; Latakia; al-Shughr (4); Bakkās (5); and Shayzar. He placed them all under the authority of Emir ʿIzz al-Din Izdumur al-Ḥajj (6).
Sultan al-Mansur then dispatched a detachment of the army to besiege Shayzar. While they were thus engaged, the Tatars (7) appeared, having heard of the disunity among the Muslims (8). People fled headlong before them (9)—from every region to Syria, and from Syria on to Egypt. The Tatars reached Aleppo, where they slew great numbers of people and carried off vast plunder (10).
They had supposed that Sunqur al-Ashqar’s army would join them against al-Mansur, but events proved otherwise. Al-Mansur had written to Sunqur: “The Tatars have advanced against the Muslims, and the prudent course (11) is that we unite against them lest the Muslims be destroyed between us and them. Should they conquer the lands, they will leave none of us alive.” Sunqur replied with obedience and loyalty, left his fortress, and pitched camp with his forces so as to be ready to answer whenever summoned. His deputies descended from their fortresses (12) and remained prepared to fight the Tatars. King al-Mansur himself set out from Egypt in the latter part of Jumada al-Akhira (13), accompanied by the armies.
(1) B reads: “He honored him and held him in high esteem, and the people rejoiced at the pardon shown to them and their being allowed to remain in their homelands. Praise be to God.”
(2) B reads: “As for Sunqur al-Ashqar, when the Buraydiyya expedition set out to capture him, Emir Sharaf al-Din ’Isa ibn Mihna broke away from him.”
(3) Edition reads “Balatis,” which is a corruption. The correct form is Balatunus (with ḍamma on the t, n, and s)—a fortified castle on the Syrian coast opposite Latakia (Mu‘jam al-Buldan 1:478; al-Nujūm al-Zāhira 7:298).
(4) al-Shughr (with ḍamma on the first letter, sukūn on the second, and ending in r) is a fortified castle facing another called Bākas, located on the crests of two mountains with a trench-like valley between them, near Antioch (Mu‘jam al-Buldan 3:352; 1:474).
(5) In all the manuscripts it appears as “al-Shughr Bākas” without conjunction, as if a compound name. Bashar remarks that the correct reading is “al-Shughr wa Bākas.” Ibn ’Abd al-Ḥaq explains in Marāṣid al-Iṭṭilāʿ (1:213): “Bākas (with a light k) is a fortress near Aleppo, facing another called al-Shughr; between them lies a trench-like valley known as al-Shughr wa Bākas, since they are seldom mentioned separately.”
(6) Some of his accounts and his death will appear in the annals for the year 680 of this volume.
(7) A reads: “the Tatars from every direction as soon as they heard [it].”
(8) B reads: “and amid them the people were panic-stricken.”
(9) A reads: “from their hands,” B reads: “the people in their hands.”
(10) Edition reads: “and they plundered a large army.”
(11) A and B read: “that we agree.”
(12) B reads: “their fortresses accordingly.”
(13) B reads: “and he set out for the sultan in the late days of Jamādā al-Ākhirah from the diyar of Egypt, accompanied by the troops.”