—until Monday, the first of Dhu al-Qaʿdah. On Sunday, the twenty-third of that same month, the city was festooned with decorations, and the people celebrated joyfully.
On the aforesaid Thursday, Emir Sayf al-Din Al Malik (1), one of the prominent grandees of Egypt, arrived in Damascus seeking the deputyship of Ḥamāh—may Allah Most High safeguard it.
When Friday came, after the congregational prayer, an express courier reached Damascus from Egypt bringing word that Tashtamur al-Ḥummuṣ al-Akhḍar (the Green Chick-pea) had been arrested. The populace was greatly astonished at this event (2). Consequently, the leading emirs then in Damascus—among them the commander of the Hajj caravan—left the city and encamped on the plain of Barzah. An emir who had already set out with the pilgrimage was informed of the news, and, by order of the sultan, they appointed him acting governor of Damascus until a royal edict should arrive clarifying upon whom the commander of the Hajj was to rely. He consented and rode in the official procession on Saturday, the sixth of that month.
As for al-Fakhri, once he caught wind of this news and was certain of it while at al-Zaʿqah (3), he fled with a party of about sixty—or more—of his mamluks, cutting across the land and traveling at break-neck speed. A force of about one thousand cavalry was dispatched in pursuit from Egypt under the command of the two emirs Altanbugha al-Mardani (5) and Yalbugha al-Yahyawi (6), but he outpaced them and escaped. The deputy of Ghura attempted to intercept him with his troops but failed; they then loosed the tribal bands upon him to plunder him, yet they succeeded only in taking a trifle, and he killed a number of them. He then, it is said, made for his ally Emir Sayf al-Din Aydughmush, deputy of Aleppo, hoping for his support and agreement with his enterprise. Upon his arrival Aydughmush honored him, lodged him, and he spent the night there; but at dawn Aydughmush arrested him, shackled him, and sent him by express courier back to Egypt together with dispatches from himself and other emirs (7).
On Monday (8), the last day of Dhu al-Qaʿdah, Sultan al-Malik al-Nāṣir Shihāb al-Din Aḥmad ibn al-Nāṣir Muḥammad ibn al-Manṣūr set out from Egypt at the head of a detachment of troops, bound for the well-guarded al-Karak. He carried with him large sums of money, stores, and many other items. He entered the fortress on Tuesday in Dhu al-Ḥijjah, accompanied by Tashtamur—borne in a litter, for he was ill—and by al-Fakhri in chains. Both were confined in the fortress of al-Karak. The sultan then requested beams and other wooden materials, along with blacksmiths, craftsmen, and the like, to repair essential equipment in al-Karak; he also demanded many other items from Damascus, and they were duly forwarded to him (9).