Al-Moʿizz had left his successor a difficult problem in Syria. From the first Syria was the hardest burden which the Fatimids had to assume by their entry into the heritage of Egypt, and it is worth remembering that, of the three pieces of advice which Ibn Killis gave to the Khalif as the great wazir was on his death bed, the two first were, try to keep peace with the Greeks, and “be content if the Hamdanids of Aleppo mention your name in the Friday prayer and put it on their coinage.” The ambition to control Syria has always been the fatal temptation of the sovereigns of Egypt, in the days of the ancient Pharaohs as at every period of subsequent history, and the great minister was undoubtedly wise in advising the Khalif not to seek more than a formal recognition of suzerainty. At this moment, however, it was no matter of choice. The Qarmatians had threatened the gates of Cairo, and were now in alliance with Haftakin, who had ejected the Fatimid governor from Damascus: it seemed that the prestige, and perhaps the existence of the Fatimids, depended on their dealing with Haftakin. Al-ʿAziz entrusted the problem of Syria to the general Jawhar who was put at the head of a large army. The news of his approach found the Qarmatians at Ramla, and Haftakin encamped before Acca. The Qarmatians fell into panic when they heard of Jawhar’s coming, fled from Ramla and allowed him to take possession of the town. Some of the Qarmatians retired to their own territory of al-ʾAhsa in the Bahrayn, whilst others dispersed in all directions. Haftakin heard of this and saw himself deprived of his allies, and so retired to Tiberias where he rallied round him some of the scattered Qarmatians and then, helped by his own Turkish levies, prepared to give battle to Jawhar. First he raised supplies from the Hauran and from Bathniyya, one of the districts near Damascus and then, having provisioned the city for a siege, determined to wait the Egyptian general there. Towards the end of the month of Dhu l-Kaada Jawhar arrived and pitched camp before Damascus, surrounding his camp with a deep trench and making regular openings for his men to pass in and out. Haftakin entrusted one Qassam Sharrab a leader of the local irregular force which had evidently been revived in the city, with the task of arranging sorties and attacks on Jawhar’s camp, and these went on until the 11th of Rabiʿ II. of 366, when the local captain became disheartened as these sorties did not produce any favourable results, and Haftakin himself was beginning to consider the expediency of attempting to escape from the city. Before abandoning Damascus, however, he made every effort to obtain assistance, and at last was cheered by the news that the Qarmatian Hasan b. Ahmad was marching to his relief. When Jawhar heard this he thought it prudent to propose terms to Haftakin, the more so because his own supplies were running short and, to Haftakin’s great