and they remained deeply unsettled and hesitant about the whole affair. Some paid lip-service to the cause while inwardly withholding their support. They declared, “We will neither listen nor obey until he returns to Egypt and sits upon the throne of sovereignty.” The sultan’s letter reached them, censuring and rebuking them, but to no effect. Al-Ahmadi mounted in the ceremonial procession, with the emirs riding to his right and left, and they accompanied him to the palace, greeted him, and rendered their service. Nevertheless, the situation worsened and the crisis grew grave. The emirs were filled with anxiety, fearing that he might depart for Egypt, where the Egyptians would rally around him and destroy the Damascenes. People bore the weight of these worries, and Allah alone is asked to grant a good outcome.
On Sunday, 26 Muharram, the chief courier arrived bearing letters from the Egyptians. They wrote that, once news of the Syrians reached them, their own grievances against the sultan were many times greater than those of the Syrians. They therefore hastened to carry out the plan they had long resolved upon, though they had previously hesitated for fear that the Damascenes might oppose them and march with the sultan to fight them. Once reassured of the Syrians’ position, they acted decisively: they deposed al-Nasir Ahmad and enthroned his brother al-Malik al-Salih Ismaʿil ibn al-Nasir Muhammad ibn al-Mansur—may Allah make him a blessing for the Muslims. He was seated upon the throne on Tuesday, 20 Muharram. His letter then arrived conveying greetings to the emirs and commanders of Syria, and letters from the Egyptian emirs reached their Syrian counterparts with salutations and news of the event. The Muslims—Syrian emirs, notables, and common folk alike—rejoiced immensely. Drums announcing the glad tidings were beaten that day in the Victorious Citadel, and orders were issued to decorate the city, so the people adorned it on the morning of Tuesday, 27 Muharram.
On Friday, the last day of Muharram, the Friday sermon in Damascus was delivered in the name of al-Malik al-Salih, ʿImad al-Dunya wa-l-Din Ismaʿil ibn al-Nasir ibn al-Mansur (1).
On Thursday, 6 Safar, our colleague, the eminent scholar Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub al-Zuraʿi, the imam of al-Jawziyyah, delivered a lesson in the Sadrīyah (2). Present were Shaykh ʿIzz al-Din ibn al-Munajja (3), who had surrendered the chair to him, together with a number of distinguished scholars.
On Monday, 16 Safar, Emir Sayf al-Din Taqzdamur (4) arrived from Egypt in Damascus on his way to assume the deputy-governorship of protected Aleppo; he encamped at al-Qabun.
On Tuesday, 18 Safar, the shaykh, imam, learned, devout, and ascetic ʿAbd Allah (5) ibn Abi al-Walid passed away.