easily run into dangerous channels. But the commander knows when to indulge and when to restrain, when to draw the reins and when to loosen them, and never lets them go altogether until the ferment subsides and the spirit of peace takes possession even of the devotee. To help toward this went the two hundred and twenty thousand dinars received in ransoms, all spoil for the Sultan, but of which he retained none. Quite a few went to the " jurists, doctors of law and dervishes." Over the great Mihrab (the niche indicating the direction of holy Mecca, toward which the faithful make their prostrations) in el-Aksa was placed this inscription: " In the name of Allah the Compassionate, the Merciful! Hath ordered the repair of this holy Mihrab, and the restoration of the Aksa Mosque -— which was founded in piety — the servant of Allah, and his regent, Yusuf ibn Ayyub Abu Ί Mudhaffer, the victorious king, Salah ad Dunya wa ad Din, after that Allah had conquered [the City] by his hand during the month of the year 583. And he asketh of Allah to inspire him with thankfulness for this favor, and to make him a partaker of the remission of sins through His mercy and forgiveness."