The previous articles talked about Pope Kyrillos III (Ibn Luqluq) until his death in 1242/1243 AD; he was a contemporary of King Al-Kamel who ruled the country for nearly twenty years and witnessed events, including: the expansion of his rule until it covered Damascus, the eastern countries, Mecca and the countries of Hijaz and Yemen, his attempts to seize the land of the Romans, the spread of a great epidemic throughout Egypt that killed thousands of people, the plague outbreak in the following year, the Tatars threatened cities and countries. King Al-Kamel died in 635 AH (1238 AD), and his son, King Al-Adel Junior succeeded him.
King Al-Adel Junior (635- 637 AH) (1238- 1240 AD)
King Al-Adel Abu Bakr, son of King Al-Kamel. He ruled Egypt although he was the youngest son of King Al-Kamel. Historian Ibn Taghri mentions: “The reason for his dominance and his superiority over his older brother, Najm al-Din Ayyub, is that when his father, King Al-Kamel Muhammad, died… his son, King Al-Saleh Najm al-Din Ayyub – the eldest son – was the deputy of his father for the east and the territory of Diyar Bakr, while the youngest son, King Al-Adel Abu Bakr was his father’s deputy for Egypt. When Al-Kamel died, the princes sat down to consult around whom among his son would be chosen a king. An agreement was reached after disputes… Al-Adel would assume the sultanate of Egypt and the Levant, having his cousin King Jawad Yunis as a deputy in Damascus. The eldet brother King Al-Saleh Najm Al-Din Ayyub would continue managing the kingdoms of the East. This was accomplished, and King Al-Adel came to power at the end of 635 AH and he was described as Al Adel Saif al-Din, being named after the title of his grandfather…” However, his brother, King Al-Saleh Najm al-Din, was upset as he was the eldest son, so he led his soldiers to Damascus, and entered it in 636 AH (1239 AD), he settled in the castle after he bartered with Jawad, the deputy of King Al-Adel and presented him with Sinjar in exchange for Damascus. Then King Al-Saleh Najm al-Din went to Nablus and conquered it; so its ruler, Al-Nasser Dawoud went to Egypt to support King Al-Adel Junior
While King Al-Saleh Najm al-Din was settled in Nablus, waiting for his uncle, King Al-Saleh Ismaeel to head to Egypt, his uncle headed to Damascus and attacked it, accompanied by Asad Al-Din Shirkuh, the governor of Homs, they seized the city and divided it equally between them. They arrested King Al-Mughith Umar, the son of King Al-Saleh. When King Al-Saleh learned of what had happened, he went to Damascus with a group of his family, and when they learned of the capture of Damascus Citadel, they left King Al-Saleh Najm al-Din alone with his servants and his maidservant, Shajar al-Durr; So he decided to return to Nablus and met the military of King Al-Nasser Dawoud who left Egypt to Karak without the advice of King Al-Adel. When King Al-Nasser learned about the return of King Al-Saleh to Nablus, he sent 300 horsemen to him, and they showed their obedience and service to him, they settled around the house, until they sounded the horn, warning of the arrival of the Franks. So the people and the Mamluks of King Al-Saleh fled to Sebastia; As for them, they took King Al-Saleh to Al-Karak. Abu Al-Muzaffar states the following: “When I met with him (meaning Al-Saleh) in 639, he reported to me the picture of the situation. They rode me on a mule without a spur (iron in the back of the rider’s shoe to prod the animal or prick it with) and without a hammer (to hit the animal), they marched to Al-Mawta (a village of Al-Balqa’ on the borders of the Levant) in three days, I swear I spoke not a word to any of them, nor did I eat food for them until the preacher of Al-Mawta came to me with a cloak with a chicken on it. So I ate from it. They stayed with me in Al-Mawta for two days. I don’t know what they meant. So, they want (to) take a bad that requires that I not get out of Karak confinement, and then they took me to Al-Karak at night, according to the horoscope that was the cause of my happiness and their misfortune.” In Karak they put a rude and harsh Mamluk with King Al-Saleh, and he remained there in confinement for seven months until his news reached his brother, King Al-Adel Junior in Egypt. And… stories about beautiful Egypt never end!
General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
