summoning him to his side as a relief force; he therefore came to render his service, whereupon the Sultan received and honored him, showed him due respect, and arranged suitable lodgings for him. All the armies then mustered under al-Malik al-Manṣūr, firmly resolved, with pure intent, to meet the enemy without fail.
After the Sultan’s departure (1) the people gathered in the Great Mosque of Damascus and placed the muṣḥaf ʿUthmānī—the ‘Uthmānic Qurʾan codex—before them (2). They fervently implored Allah Most High to grant victory to Islam and its people over the adversaries. Still holding the Qurʾan above their heads, they went out to the open prayer-ground, supplicating, pleading, and weeping (3).
Meanwhile the Tatars advanced little by little. When they reached Ḥamāh (4) they burned the king’s orchard, his palace, and the surrounding dwellings, while Sultan al-Manṣūr was encamped at Ḥimṣ with contingents (5) of Turks, Turkmans, and others—a host (6) of exceedingly great number. The Tatars pressed on with one hundred thousand combatants, or more. Indeed, to Allah we belong and to Him we return; there is no might nor power except with Allah.
[The Battle of Ḥimṣ]
On Thursday, the fourteenth of Rajab, the two forces met at sunrise and drew up for battle. The Tatar camp (7) numbered one hundred thousand cavalry, whereas the Muslim army was half that—or a little more. They were deployed along the stretch from the shrine of Khālid ibn al-Walīd to al-Rastan. A mighty engagement ensued, the like of which had not been seen for many generations. Early in the day the Tatars gained the upper hand, broke the left wing, and threw the right into disorder—Allah alone is the One whose help is sought.
They also shattered the left flank of the center (8), yet the Sultan (9) remained magnificently steadfast with only a small band around him. Many of the Muslim troops had already fled, and the Tatars pursued them as far as Lake Ḥimṣ and reached Ḥimṣ (10) itself, whose gates were shut. There they killed many commoners and others, and the Muslims stood on the brink of grievous destruction (11). Then the leading emirs—brave warriors such as Sunqur al-Ashqar, Baysarā (12), and Ṭaybars (13)—consulted among themselves