—Ṣaydā (1). They had come in seven ships, killed a number of its inhabitants, looted vast amounts of property, and carried off many captives as well. At dawn on Friday they fell upon the people, but the Muslims killed large numbers of them and smashed one of their vessels. On the eve of Saturday, shortly before the ʿAsr prayer, the Franks returned, and the city’s governor arrived grievously wounded. The viceroy of the sultanate thereupon ordered an army to be readied for that region, and they set out that same night—praise be to Allah. The chief of the chamberlains rode ahead of them, and the deputy of Ṣafad, Emir Shihāb al-Dīn ibn Ṣubḥ, hurried down to join them, outstripping the Damascene force. He discovered that the Franks, together with the spoils and captives they had taken, had already withdrawn to an island off Ṣaydā in the sea.
During the fighting the Muslims had captured two of their nobles—a venerable elder and a youth—and this had hampered the enemy’s escape. The army then opened negotiations for the release of the Muslim prisoners in Frankish hands; the Franks quickly agreed to ransom each captive for 500, so 30,000 were taken from the Prisoners’ Bureau, and—praise be to Allah—none of our people remained in their custody. The Frankish boy stayed on with the Muslims, embraced Islam, and the wounded elder was handed back to them. The Franks suffered extreme thirst and tried to drink from a nearby river, but the army reached it first and denied them a single drop; so on the night of Tuesday they retreated in haste with whatever booty they still possessed. The heads of a group of Franks killed in the battle were dispatched to Damascus and mounted upon the citadel.
At that same time news arrived that Ayās (2) was surrounded by the Franks: they had taken al-Rabīḍ (3), were besieging the fortress where the town’s deputy remained, and were said to have slain great numbers of its inhabitants—innā lillāh wa-innā ilayhi rājiʿūn. The ruler of Aleppo marched against them with a large host, and we ask Allah, by His might and power, to grant them victory. A rumour also spread among the common people that Alexandria was under siege; this has not yet been confirmed. Allah is the One whose help is sought.
On Saturday, the 4th of Jumādā II, the heads of some thirty-odd slain Franks arrived at Ṣaydā and were set up on the battlements of the fortress; the Muslims rejoiced at this, and all praise is due to Allah.
On the night of Wednesday, the 22nd of Jumādā II, a great fire broke out inside Bāb al-Ṣaghīr (4) in the Sugar Kitchen located at the little market adjoining the Mosque of the Shanāshīn. The kitchen and everything around it burned to the Ḥammām of Abū Naṣr; the blaze spread to the suwayqa in question and the surrounding places, and it was nearly—if not more—devastating than the recent fire outside Bāb al-Faraj. Innā lillāh wa-innā ilayhi rājiʿūn. The viceroy of the sultanate was present, for it occurred at the time of the ʿIshāʾ prayer, but the wind was fierce—by the decree of the Almighty, the All-Knowing.
Shaykh ʿIzz al-Dīn Muḥammad (5) ibn Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUmar al-Ḥamawī, one of the eminent transmitters, passed away on the night of Tuesday.