On the eleventh of the month it became widely known that ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Altonbughā had reached al-Qasṭal (1). He sent out his vanguards, which met those of al-Fakhrī; no fighting took place between them—praise and gratitude belong to Allah. Al-Fakhrī then summoned the judges, their deputies, and a group of jurists. They set out, but the Shāfiʿī judge turned back midway. When the delegation arrived, al-Fakhrī ordered them to mediate between him and Altonbughā, to persuade Altonbughā to side with al-Fakhrī and to swear allegiance to al-Nāṣir ibn al-Nāṣir. Altonbughā refused, sending them back more than once, and on every occasion he rejected their proposals.
On Monday, the fourteenth of the month, at the ʿAṣr hour, a courier from al-Fakhrī reached the city governor with orders to close the gates; the gates were therefore shut, for the two armies had moved out and were arrayed for battle. “Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we shall return.”
Learning that Qutlubghā’s force was positioned at Thaniyyat al-ʿUqāb, Altonbughā skirted the crest from the side of al-Muʿaysara and brought his troops that way. Emir Sayf al-Dīn Qutlubghā al-Fakhrī wheeled round with his men, barred his path, and blocked him from reaching the city. The populace were thrown into great alarm; the qaysariyyas and markets were closed, and people feared looting. The city governor, Emir Nāṣir al-Dīn ibn Bikbāshī, rode out with his sons, deputies, and foot soldiers, made a tour of the city, calmed the people, and they prayed for him. Near sunset he opened Bab al-Jābiya (the Jābiya Gate) so that townsfolk might enter; it is said that a tremendous crush occurred there, and that night the troops vented their anger on the populace. It also happened to be the Night of the Nativity, and the Muslims passed the night in distress (2) because of the armies and their discord. On Tuesday morning all the city gates remained closed except Bab al-Jābiya, and the situation was unchanged.
That afternoon the two armies drew near; Altonbughā and his emirs gathered, and the Damascene emirs—indeed the majority of those with him—agreed that they would neither fight a Muslim nor draw a sword against al-Fakhrī and his men. The Syrian judges had gone to him repeatedly seeking peace, but he persisted in refusing them, his confidence only increasing. Allah—glorified and exalted—is the One who knows best what is right.
[A Marvel of the Age]
The two sides spent that night facing each other, only two or three miles apart. It was a rainy night. At dawn it was found that many from Altonbughā’s force—soldiers of the allied regiments, emirs, and notables—had gone over to al-Fakhrī. When the sun had risen a little, Altonbughā sent the judges and some emirs to al-Fakhrī, threatening and warning him, bolstering his own resolve against him. Yet scarcely had they left when the troops advanced from the right and left wings, from the center, from every side, converging upon al-Fakhrī. They were driven by straightened circumstances: the shortage of food and fodder, the heavy costs upon them. Seeing that matters would only drag on, they grew utterly disgusted with their situation. Their hearts—and those of the others, together with the townsfolk—were united in loathing for him, for he was emboldening himself in a cause that would benefit neither them nor him.