The battle of al-Arak (Alarcos)

al-Maqqari relates that when the truce term ended, a group of the Franks went out into the lands of the Muslims and plundered them. The Almohad sultan Yaqub al-Mansur crossed into al-Andalus in 591 AH. ²

The encounter took place north of Cordoba, near the fortress of Rabah, on Thursday, the ninth of Sha'ban 591 AH. al-Maqqari says that Yaqub placed in his own position under the banners the elder Abu Yahya ibn Abi Hafs. The Franks made for the banners, thinking that the sultan was beneath them, and a great number were martyred. Then Yaqub looked down on them and routed them, and Alfonso fled with a small group. ²

al-Maqqari mentions that the armour of the Franks that came into the treasury was sixty thousand, and that some historians counted it greater than the battle of al-Zallaqa. ²

al-Maqqari relates that Yaqub besieged the fortress of Rabah until he took it, then besieged Toledo. He pardoned the women of Alfonso when they asked him to spare the city for their sake. ³

Ibn al-Athir relates that Alfonso wrote a challenging letter to Yaqub, and Yaqub answered him with the verse written at the top of the letter, and gathered his armies. ⁴