and personally directed affairs, until his wife (1) arrived from Egypt and told him how straitened their circumstances were and how scant the household funds had become (2).

Account of the Sultanate of al-Malik al-Muzaffar Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Jashnakir (3)

When al-Malik al-Nasir had settled in al-Karak and resolved to remain there, he sent a letter to Egypt in which he deposed himself from the throne. The document was formally registered before the judges in Cairo and then forwarded for ratification to the judges of Syria. On Saturday afternoon, the twenty-third of Shawwal, the amir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Jashnakir was given the pledge of allegiance for the sultanate (4) in the house of the amir Sayf al-Din Salar. The leading figures of the realm—amirs and others—gathered there, pledged allegiance to him, and addressed him as al-Malik al-Muzaffar. He then mounted for the Citadel, the dignitaries walking before him, seated himself upon the throne, the celebratory kettledrums were beaten, and mounted couriers carried the news to every province (5).

On the first of Dhu al-Qaʿda the amir ʿIzz al-Din al-Baghdadi (6) reached Damascus. In the Qasr al-Ablak he met with the deputy sultan, the judges, the amirs, and the notables, and read out al-Nasir’s letter to the Egyptians stating that he had abdicated and withdrawn from rule. The judges recorded it, but the Hanbali jurist (7) refused, saying, “No one abandons the throne of his own accord; had he not been under compulsion he would never have left it.” He was therefore dismissed and another appointed in his stead (8). The assembly was then sworn to the new sultan, al-Malik al-Muzaffar; his emblem was affixed to the Citadel, his titles were adopted throughout the realm, the kettledrums were beaten, and the city was festooned with decorations. When al-Nasir’s letter was read to the amirs in the palace and contained the words, “I have kept company with men for ten years and have now chosen to dwell in al-Karak,” many of the amirs wept and pledged allegiance as though under duress.

The post formerly held by the amir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Jashnakir passed to the amir Sayf al-Din Targhili (9), and in place of Targhili (10).