their withdrawal from Aleppo—when their senior commander Ghāzān returned with his men—was on Monday, the eleventh or twelfth of Jumādā al-Ūlā, the day the army—the Muslim army—entered well-guarded Egypt. The supplicant met with them and addressed them concerning this matter.
When Allah, glorified and exalted is He, instilled such concern and determination in the believers’ hearts, He instilled terror and the desire to withdraw in their enemies’ hearts.
In the year of the Trench, there was intense cold and a fierce, dreadful wind through which Allah drove the confederates away from Medina, as He, exalted is He, said:
“So We sent against them a wind and armies you did not see.”
Likewise, this year Allah sent unusually abundant snow, rain, and cold, until most people came to resent it. We would tell them: “Do not resent it, for Allah has wisdom and mercy in it.” This was among the greatest means by which Allah drove the enemy away. Snow, rain, and cold descended upon them so heavily that as many of their horses perished as Allah willed, and as many of their men also perished as Allah willed. Cold and hunger brought such weakness and incapacity upon them and their remaining horses that they realized they could no longer fight.
I even received word that one of the senior commanders in Syria had said: “May Allah not brighten our faces! Is our enemy up to their hair in snow while we sit idle and do not seize them?” They even realized that they were prey for the Muslims, if only the Muslims would hunt them down. Yet there was great wisdom in Allah’s postponement of their capture.