Part 95

The Fatimids and Egyptian troops at that time exchanged many messengers and letters with the Franks.673 6Salah ad-Deen's policy during this period, if one of his helpers had some doubts about some group, was to arrest them, and if he could not prove anything at all against them, he would let them go, but this pardon only increased them in viciousness, and kind treatment only increased them in hardheartedness.674 7At the same time, the conspirators made contact with Shaykh alJabal Sinan (the "Old Man of the Mountain"),675 the leader of the Nizari Ismailis of Syria, seeking his help on the basis that their cause was the same and there should be unity, and that the differences between them should not cause division or make them refrain from supporting one another.676 They asked him in particular to assassinate the "kings" as was their custom, or to plot against them. The messenger who went to them was the maternal uncle of Ibn Qarjalah,677 one of the former officials of the Fatimid state. It seems that both men were with Shaykh al-Jabal when the conspiracy was discovered, and they sought refuge with the Crusaders.678 8We do not know whether the conspirators contacted the king of Sicily to send the fleet directly, or via the king of the Crusaders, but the fleet came to Alexandria after the conspiracy had failed; it was composed of 200 ships which were carrying a large number of cavalry and infantry, and was subjected to heavy losses, especially since King Amalric did not come by land as agreed because the conspirators had all been captured.679 9On the final occasion, George brought a letter to the court of Salah ad-Deen and a letter came to the intelligence department, from a trusted Crusader source, mentioning that he (George) was a messenger of deceit and not a messenger of diplomacy. Salah ad-Deen's officials took the appropriate precautions and kept watch on him without him realizing, and without them making him feel that he was under any suspicion. George started contacting the group from the Fatimid palace, conspirators and commanders of the former Fatimid troops, and some of the Christians and Jews. Then the officials of Salah ad-Deen's state managed to plant a spy in their group, one of their sect who was an insider,680 and he began to "transmit information to us about them and keep us up to date about their situation."681 10Rumours began to spread among the people about the conspiracy and Salah ad-Deen's officials were worried that the matter would be discovered and the main players would flee, so they decided to arrest them. Then they were brought before Salah ad-Deen, one by one. He asked them to admit what they were doing, and they admitted it, giving as their excuse the fact that their provision had been stopped and their wealth taken away.682 11It became clear — from investigations and confessions — that they had appointed a caliph and vizier, and that there was a dispute among them about the caliph and vizier (whether or not they should be from the family of Ruzayk or the family of Shawar). 12Salah ad-Deen consulted the scholars about them, and they ruled that they should be executed. When Salah ad-Deen hesitated to carry out this ruling, the muftis and consultants asked him to hasten the execution. So he issued orders that they be killed and crucified, "so they were hung at the gates of their palaces and crucified on trees in front of their houses."683 Among the well known people who were executed were the poet 'Amarah ibn 'Ali al-Yamani, 'Abd as-Samad al-Katib, al-Qadi al-'Uwayris and the chief preacher Ibn 'Abd al-Qawy. Al-Qadi al-Fadil made a sincere effort to intercede with Salah ad-Deen for 'Amarah, despite the previous enmity that had existed between them, but 'Amarah thought it was a trick and refused to accept it, so he was crucified like the others.684 13The people of the palace were arrested initially, then transferred to various locations, and he gave the palace to his brother al-'Adil. That was because Salah ad-Deen thought that "so long as they stayed there, the palace would become a symbol that raised their hopes and a focal point for the misguided, and a concealed place for swearing allegiance to innovation (bid'ah)."685 14The Ismaili sect was banished from Egypt. As for the others involved, it was announced in Cairo that all the troops and courtesans of the palace and the Sudanese troops were to be exiled to the farthest region of Upper Egypt.686 15Research and investigation into this issue has shown that there was a preacher called Qudayd al-Qaffas in Alexandria, where most of the population was Sunni.