On the morning of Sunday, the 16th of Shaʿbān, the Commander of the Emirs abolished the maks (customs levy) that had been taken on salt, annulled the levy on wedding festivities, and forbade any woman to sing before men or any man before women—a reform of the highest order and of universal benefit.
On Tuesday, the 18th of the month, the deputy of the sultanate, Sayf al-Din Baydamur, set about installing manjaniqs (trebuchets) on the summits of the citadel’s towers. Four were raised on its four sides, and I was informed that another was erected on the ground by the basin. He then set up yet another, and another, until the people beheld six trebuchets crowning the turrets. He dismissed the old garrison and quartered within the fortress a host of Kurds, Turkmans and other valiant men. Into it he conveyed plentiful supplies of grain, foodstuffs, merchandise and military equipment, making ready for a siege in such a way as to outlast any blockade.
When the orchard dwellers saw the trebuchets mounted on the citadel they grew alarmed; most moved from their gardens into the city, and some entrusted their valuables and belongings to townspeople. The ultimate outcome rests with Allah Most High, and—if He wills—it will be for the good.
A request for a formal legal opinion (fatwa) reached me in the following words:
“What do the learned scholars say about a king who bought a slave, treated him kindly, bestowed gifts upon him and advanced his rank, whereupon the slave attacked his master, killed him, seized his property, denied it to the heir, and assumed control of the realm? He has now summoned one of the provincial deputies to appear before him in order to kill him. May that deputy lawfully refuse? If he defends his own life and wealth and is killed, will he be deemed a martyr, or not? And is the person who strives to secure for the slain king’s heirs their rights of retribution and property to be rewarded? Please issue us a fatwa, and may you be rewarded.” (1)
I replied to the messenger who had brought it on the emir’s behalf: “If his purpose is to clear his conscience before Allah Most High, then he himself best knows the intention that lies behind his request; one must not pursue a specific right when that pursuit would lead to a harm outweighing the benefit, and the claim should be deferred until it can be sought in the proper way. But if his object in seeking this fatwa is to strengthen his hand in rallying the state and the emirs against the man in question, then the senior judges and shaykhs must first place their written opinions upon it, after which the remaining muftis may do so in due order. Allah alone grants success to what is right.”
By now all the emirs of Syria had gathered around the deputy of the sultanate; it was even said that among them were seventeen provincial deputies. All of them attend his imposing processions, accompany him down to the Dār al-Saʿāda, and he lays out banquet tables for them and eats with them. News arrived that Emir Manjak al-Tarjāqsi, resident in Jerusalem, had likewise declared for the deputy. An envoy named Jibrīl was dispatched to him and returned confirming his support: he had taken control of Gaza and its deputy, mustered and arrayed troops, pressed various groups into service, and now held the main highway, allowing no one to pass without searching his belongings, lest letters be carried from one side to the other. Despite all this, justice there remains perfectly intact and security prevails—no one is afraid. The same holds true in Damascus and its environs: no one is molested, no one wrongs another, and no one plunders another’s property—praise be to Allah. Only some of the orchard folk grew apprehensive; they rode into the city, deposited some of their valuables for safekeeping, and settled there.