The arrest of Manjak and the manner in which he was discovered—he had been hiding in Damascus for about a year (1).
On Thursday, 27 Muḥarram, an informer came to the deputy of the sultanate, Emir Sayf al-Dīn Asandamur, and told him that Manjak was in a house in the Upper Sharaf quarter. The deputy immediately dispatched several chamberlains and a few of his closest attendants to the house; they brought the fugitive before him under very tight guard, one of them even seizing him from behind and pinning his arms (2). When the deputy confronted him, he honored and welcomed him, seated him beside him on his own cushion, spoke kindly to him, gave him something to drink and treated him as a guest.
It is said that Manjak had been fasting, and so he broke his fast in the deputy’s presence. The deputy then gave him some of his own garments, placed him in irons, and that very night—the night before Friday—sent him off to the sultan with a detachment of soldiers and several emirs, among them Ḥusām al-Dīn, the amir ḥājib. Earlier that day the deputy had already dispatched his own son carrying Manjak’s sword.
The people were greatly astonished by the affair. Most had assumed that Manjak had perished somewhere in a distant land and never imagined that he was in the very heart of Damascus, walking among them in disguise. It was reported that he would attend the Friday prayers in the Great Mosque and mingle with the worshippers, disguised in both dress and appearance. Yet vigilance is of no avail against destiny, and for every appointed term there is a decree.
The Commander of the Emirs sent on Manjak’s sword and the garments in which he had disguised himself, while he himself, together with a group of emirs, chamberlains and a large force, escorted the prisoner—shackled and under heavy guard—to the Egyptian domains. The commander’s son returned with gifts, presents, robes of honor and royal favors for his father and for the ḥājib al-ḥujjāb. The emirs donned those robes on Friday, and the populace celebrated with candles and other displays.
Before long, reports spread that Manjak had presented himself to the sultan, who pardoned him, bestowed upon him a full robe of honor, restored to him his keen sword, pedigreed horses, splendid garments, money and a guarantee of safety, while emirs and high dignitaries offered him every kind of gift.
(3) Emir ʿAlī (4) arrived from Ṣafad on his way to Ḥamāh to assume its deputyship. He lodged in the Ablaq Palace on the night of Thursday, 4 Ṣafar, and departed on the night of Sunday, the 7th.
On Thursday, 18 Ṣafar, Qāḍī Bahāʾ al-Dīn Abū al-Baqāʾ (5) arrived from Tripoli bearing a royal decree permitting him to return to Damascus and resume the stipends and duties that had remained in his name. His son Wali al-Dīn had been acting in his stead. Many people went out along the road to greet him, and the Chief Judge, Tāj al-Dīn (6), rode out to meet him at Harastā. The populace then came to his house to congratulate him, rejoicing at his return to his homeland.