al-Karak and informed him of all that had happened with the emirs and with Altonbughā. Al-Fakhri rejoiced at the news, and Qumārī told him that the Sultan himself was on the way; the people were delighted, made ready the trappings of sovereignty, and he redoubled his demands upon the wealthy and upon the ahl al-dhimma for the jizya.

On the first of Rajab that year, al-Fakhri rode in state upon the viceregal throne in the Triumph Procession—his first time to mount it. Qumārī rode at his side, clad in a splendid robe of honour, and the people’s prayers for al-Fakhri multiplied that day. It was a memorable occasion.

That same day a party of commanders of a thousand set out for Karak to inform the Sultan’s son of what had taken place. Among them were Taghrudamur, Aqbughā ʿAbd al-Wāḥid, the cup-bearer (1), Mankulī Bughā (2), and others.

On Saturday, the third, al-Fakhri summoned the Shāfiʿī judge and pressed him to produce the books kept in the judicial recess (3)—books that had been taken from Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) from the Citadel al-Manṣūrah in the days of Jalāl al-Dīn al-Qazwīnī. After much effort and resistance the judge brought them, fearing for his safety. Al-Fakhri took the volumes from him in the palace and dismissed him, yet remained angry and even considered removing him from office for his reluctance.

Someone remarked, “Those books contain discussion of the question of visitation.” Al-Fakhri replied, “The Shaykh knew Allah and His Messenger better than you do.” Delighted at their recovery, he summoned the Shaykh’s brother, Zayn al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, together with Shaykh Shams al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, whose efforts had been commendable. He congratulated them, kept the books that night in his own treasury for blessing, prayed the Maghrib prayer in the palace behind Shaykh Zayn al-Dīn, and honoured him lavishly out of his love for the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him).

On Sunday, the fourth, the drums of glad tidings were beaten in the Citadel and at Bāb al-Maydān when a courier arrived with news that Qawsun had been arrested in Egypt. People gathered and many rejoiced. A band of emirs then proceeded to Karak to pledge allegiance to al-Nāṣir ibn al-Nāṣir, meeting the Syrian emirs outside the fortress. They asked him to descend to them, but he refused, suspecting the entire matter to be a plot to seize him and hand him over to Qawsun. He requested that they look into his case and sent them back to Damascus.

During these days, and in the days immediately before and after, al-Fakhri collected a full year’s zakāt from a number of merchants in the markets and elsewhere, amounting to more than 107,000. From the ahl al-dhimma he seized a similar sum in addition to the jizya that had already been taken from them in advance for three years. Then, on Monday the twenty-first of the month, a proclamation issued by al-Fakhri was cried through the city announcing the removal of grievances and fiscal demands, and the cancellation of the remaining zakāt and confiscations, except