Account of the appearance of the misguided “Mahdī” in the region of Jableh (1)

In this same year the Nusayriyyah threw off obedience and set up (2) from among themselves a man whom they called Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan, “the Mahdī, the one acting by Allah’s command.” At times he claimed to be ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Creator of the heavens and the earth—exalted is Allah far above what they say (3)—and at other times he asserted that he was Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allah, master of the land. He openly pronounced the Muslims unbelievers (4) and proclaimed that the Nusayriyyah alone were upon the truth. Captivating the minds of many of the leading Nusayrī deviants, he assigned each of them a retinue of a thousand men, along with numerous districts and deputyships. They then advanced upon the city of Jableh, entered it, and killed a number of its inhabitants.

As they left the city they chanted, “There is no deity but ʿAlī; there is no veil but Muḥammad; there is no gate but Salmān.” They reviled the two Shaykhs, and the townspeople cried, “O Islam! O Sultan! O Commander!” Yet that day they had neither helper nor rescuer; they wept and implored Allah—exalted is He. The misguided impostor gathered the wealth and divided it among his companions and followers—may Allah disfigure them all. He said to them, “No renown or dominion remains for the Muslims; were only ten men to stay with me, we would conquer all the lands.”

He proclaimed throughout those regions that taxation would be levied only at the rate of a tithe (5), so as to entice the peasants (6). He ordered his followers to demolish the mosques and convert them into taverns. Whenever they captured a Muslim they would say, “Say: There is no deity but ʿAlī, and prostrate yourself to your god, the Mahdī who gives life and causes death, so that your blood may be spared and a decree be issued for you.” They equipped themselves and devised a matter of great magnitude, but troops were dispatched against them; they were routed, a vast multitude of them was killed, and the pretended Mahdī who had led them astray was slain. On the Day of Resurrection he will precede them to the punishment of the Blaze,

as the Exalted One says: “Among mankind is he who disputes about Allah without knowledge and follows every rebellious devil (3); it is decreed for him that whoever takes him as an ally—he will mislead him and guide him to the punishment of the burning Fire (7).” ⦗al-Hajj 3–4⦘.

That same year the amir Ḥusām al-Dīn Muhannā performed the pilgrimage along with his son Sulaymān at the head of six thousand men, and his brother Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā with four thousand. Muhannā met none of the Egyptians or the Syrians (8), even though among the Egyptians were Qajlis and others. Allah knows best.