When Nur al-Din saw the Franks were active and heard of their descent on Damietta, he purposed to distract their hearts,
so he put Kerak under siege in Sha`ban of this year [April-May 1170]. When the Franks on the coast moved against him,
he raised the siege and marched to meet them but they did not stand to face him.
Then he was informed of the death of Majd al-Din Ibn al-Daya
l in Aleppo, which took place in the month of
Ramadan of the year 565 [May-June 1170]. He was deeply distressed because Majd al-Din had been his leading
supporter. He set out to return to Damascus and then
he heard of the earthquake in Aleppo which ruined much
of the region. It occurred on 12 Shawwal [29 June], when he was at `Ashtar
2. He set out to go to Aleppo,
but news came to him of the death of Qutb al-Din, his brother, in Mosul.
Footnotes
1 The Ibn al-Daya brothers were an influential family who held many castles. Majd al-Din
Abu Bakr was Nur al-Din's foster-brother, hence the family name `son of the wet-nurse'.
2 In the Hawran, south of Nawa (Yaqut, iii, p. 679).
