A previous article tackled the rule of King Al-Adel, the sultan of Egypt and the Levant (596-614 AH) (1200-1218 AD), his unification of the country, and his policy with the Franks, which tended to compromise; he held a number of truces, the last of which ended with the movement of the Franks towards Acre, so he went out with his soldiers to fight them. Then the Franks moved to Damietta, where they managed to seize the Damietta Tower; This saddened King Al-Adel so much that he fell ill and died in 615 AH (1218 AD), he was buried in Damascus, ending a period of ruling Egypt and the Levant for almost 19 years.
King Al-Kamel, the son of King Al-Adel, ruled over Egypt. It is noteworthy that King Al-Adel divided kingdoms among his children during his life, so Egypt went to the share of King Al-Kamel, he would rule it independently.
King Al-Kamel (615- 635 AH) (1218- 1238 AD)
King Al-Kamel Mohammed, the son of King Al-Adel Sayf Al Din Abu Bakr Mohammed bin Ayub bin Shady, his eldest son second to Mawdud. Historians mentioned that he was characterized by courage, acumen, and intelligence, with a clear mind, correct opinion, and justice towards the subjects. He was a lover of scholars and their councils, and used to submit problems to them in order to seek their opinions. Ibn Taghri mentions: “He was a sultan of great value, of great remembrance, loving for scholars, adhering to the Sunnah, maintainer of good belief, companion of the people of virtue, firm in his affairs, putting things in their proper places without extravagance or stinginess. Every Friday, a group of virtuous people used to stay with him, sharing discussions, and asking about problematic issues in every field, and he was as one of them…”
With the beginning of the rule of King Al-Kamel, some princes joined his brother, King Al-Faez and showed intentions to depose him and assign the rule to King Al-Faez. King Al-Kamel wisely was patient with them, as he focused on facing another enemy; the Franks who raided Damietta; until his brother, King Al-Muazzam Issa arrived to Egypt and supported him. The governance affairs were settled and he managed to send away his brother Al-Faez, as well as the head of the princes called Emad al-Din Ahmed ibn al-Mashtoub. During the raid of the Franks on Damietta, King Al-Kamel led a long journey in combating and confronting them, and it is mentioned about him: “He had remarkable stances in fighting in Damietta for a long time, he spent a lot of money, and he fought the defeated enemy by land and sea, day and night…”. When the Franks seized Damietta, they went out seeking Cairo and Egypt, camping at Ras al-Jazeera, which is the area occupied by the central city of Faraskur and some cities of Al-Mansoura. At the same time, King Al-Kamel and his soldiers camped on the other side in the village of Al-Mansoura, separated by Ashmoum Sea, and they remained camping until King Al-Kamel achieved victory, and peace was concluded between the two parties. Afterwards, the Franks left the country after they had resided in Egypt for forty months and fourteen days. As soon as the Frankish war ended, King Al-Kamel turned his face to the conspiring princes. Ibn Taghri mentions: “When King Al-Kamel was finished with facing the enemy (the Franks), he devoted himself to the princes who were prejudiced against him, so he exiled them from the country and dispersed their unity and displaced them. He entered Cairo and began restoring the country and generating money from its organizations”.
It came to happen after the death of King Al-Muazzam Issa, the ruler of Damascus, that King Al-Kamel left Egypt intending to seize Damascus. When he seized it, he gave it to his brother Al-Ashraf, and took in return Haran, Al-Raha, Suruj, Al-Raqqa, and Ras Al-Ayn. When Al-Ashraf died, King Al-Kamel seized many lands, including Damascus. Then he divided the rule of the country among his sons: King Al-Saleh Najm al-Din Ayoub took over the eastern countries, Amed and those regions, his youngest son, King Al-Adel Sayf al-Din Abu Bakr took over Egypt, while his eldest son, King Al-Massoud, he directed him to Yemen, so he ruled Mecca, the lands of Hijaz and Yemen until he died during the life of his father, and…stories about beautiful Egypt never end!
The General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
العربية
