At the beginning of this year, the caliph of the Muslims, their sultans, the deputy of Egypt, the deputy of al-Sham, the judges in Damascus and Egypt, were the same persons mentioned in the previous year. Sultan Malik ʿĀdil Kutbuġā had gone hunting near Homs. Accompanying him were the deputy of Egypt Laçin, the senior ʿumaraʾ (commanders), and the deputy of Damascus Emir Sayf al-Dīn Gurlu al-ʿĀdilī. On the second of Muharram, Wednesday, Sultan Kutbuġā arrived in Damascus. He performed the Friday prayer in his own special sultan’s gallery. He also visited the tomb of the Prophet Hud and prayed there. He listened to the grievances of the people. On Saturday, he sat in the palace of justice. He sought solutions to the problems of the people. In this matter, he made decisions together with Jazm Fahreddīn al-Ḥalīlī. During this month, Shihābuddīn b. Ibn al-Nahḥās was present at his father’s madrasas, Reyḥāniyya and Zāhiriyya. Some people from the public also came to him. Then on Tuesday, the sultan descended to the palace of justice. He performed the Friday prayer in his own special gallery. On the same day, he went to visit Maġārat al-Damm and prayed there. He distributed some alms. Vizier Ḥalīlī came to the mosque after ʿIshāʾ on the night of the thirteenth of Muharram, a Sunday. He sat near the window of the Kāmiliyya. The qurrāʾ (Qurʾān reciters) recited the Qurʾān before him. He ordered the completion of the furnishings inside the mosque. This order was fulfilled. After two months of work, the task was completed. It returned to its former state.
On the morning of the thirteenth of Muharram, Judge Shamsuddīn b. Ḥarīrī gave a lesson at the Kaymāziyya Madrasa in place of Ibn al-Nahḥās — this was the result of an agreement among them — and a group was present at his lesson. Then Sultan Kutbuġā performed the Friday prayer the following week in his own gallery together with his vizier Ibn Ḥalīlī. Due to illness, weakness appeared in his body.
On the seventeenth of Muharram, Malik Kāmil b. Malik Saʿīd b. Ṣāliḥ Ismāʿīl b. ʿĀdil was appointed as the commander of the tabīlhāna (military stable) and was given the serpuş (turban). He entered the fortress. A kettle drum was played for him at the gate. Then Sultan ʿĀdil Kutbuġā left Damascus on Tuesday morning, the twenty-second of Muharram, together with his soldiers. His vizier also set out with him. They stopped at the Dar al-Ḥadīs. They visited the relics of the Prophet, peace be upon him. Shaykh Zaynuddīn al-Fāriqī welcomed him. The sultan orally informed him of his appointment to the teaching position at al-Nāṣiriyya. Upon this order, Zaynuddīn al-Fāriqī left the teaching position at the Shāmiyya al-Barrāniyya Madrasa. Judge Kamaluddīn b. Sharīshī was appointed there. It is related that the vizier gave the teacher some worldly goods and he accepted them. Similarly, the servant of the sacred relics, Muʿīn Ḥaṭṭāb, was also given some worldly goods. To bid farewell to the sultan, the vizier, together with notable members of the urban elite and judges, also went outside the city. That day heavy rains fell, which comforted the hearts of the people. The dirt and filth left by the soldiers were thus washed away and the place was cleaned. After bidding farewell to the vizier, Taqī Tawba returned to the city. The vizier had appointed him as treasurer. Nāṣir Shihābuddīn b. al-Nahḥās was dismissed from his position in the treasury. Shaykh Nāṣiruddīn also gave a lesson at the Nāṣiriyya al-Jawwāniyya Madrasa on the last day of Muharram, Wednesday, replacing Judge Badruddīn b. Jamāʿa.
On the same day, people began to talk among themselves about disputes among the soldiers and unrest in the army. The gate of the fortress facing the city was locked. Ṣāḥib Shihābuddīn Huha entered the fortress. The naʾib and the ʿumaraʾ prepared themselves. A group of soldiers stood at Bab al-Naṣr. At ʿAṣr time, Sultan Malik ʿĀdil Kutbuġā came to the fortress with five or six of his slaves. He entered. The ʿumaraʾ came before him. He summoned Badruddīn b. Jamāʿa and Ḥusāmuddīn al-Ḥanafī to the presence. They proposed to the ʿumaraʾ that they should give bayʿa (allegiance) to the sultan a second time. The ʿumaraʾ renewed their bayʿa to the sultan on the proposal of these two judges. The sultan clothed them with the khilʿa (robe of honor). Emir Ḥusāmuddīn Laçin was ordered by the sultan to be arrested and for his property and possessions to be confiscated. He himself resided in the fortress during those days. On the ninth of Muharram, Monday, a dispute occurred between the sultan and Emir Ḥusāmuddīn Laçin in the valley of Fahma. Emir Ḥusāmuddīn Laçin, secretly conspiring with a group of ʿumaraʾ, had prepared a plot against Sultan Malik ʿĀdil Kutbuġā. He had obtained promises from the ʿumaraʾ in this regard.
When Sultan Malik ʿĀdil Kutbuġā was about to depart from Damascus, Emir Ḥusāmuddīn Laçin advised him to take the treasury with him so that if Sultan Kutbuġā escaped the plot and returned to Damascus, at least he would be deprived of the treasury there. In the assassination attempt he planned on the way, Ḥusāmuddīn Laçin would benefit from this treasury and gain strength.
When they arrived at the mentioned place, Ḥusāmuddīn Laçin killed Emir Sayf al-Dīn Beyḥās and Pektut, who were supporters of Sultan Malik ʿĀdil Kutbuġā. He took the treasury with him, gathered soldiers under his command, and thus headed towards Egypt. When Sultan ʿĀdil Kutbuġā heard of this, he came out of the corridor and returned with the cavalry of Damascus and, as we related in the previous section, entered Damascus. His slaves Gūzīnduddīn Gulbek and others returned to him. Shihābuddīn al-Ḥanafī remained in the fortress to administer the country.
Ibn Sharīshī gave a lesson at the Shāntiṭa al-Barrāniyya Madrasa on the morning of Thursday at the beginning of Safar of this year. At that time, affairs were very confused. The sultan had shut himself in the fortress and did not go outside. He abolished many heavy taxes and unjust levies. He wrote and signed decrees regarding this and announced them to the public. Prices had truly risen very high; a sack of wheat was sold for 200 dirhams. The situation had become very difficult and the calamity had grown. "Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return" (al-Baqara 2:156).