However, Abd al-Malik managed to escape from Oran in 1573 and travelled back to the Ottoman Empire.

In January 1574, while in Constantinople, French physician Guillaume Bérard saved Abd al-Malik's life during an epidemic.

[3] Following this success, he again visited Constantinople, and obtained from the new Ottoman ruler Murad III an agreement to help him militarily regain the Moroccan throne.

According to Richard Hakluyt, as quoted by Edmund Hogan, ruler "Abdelmelech" bears "a greater affection to our Nation than to others because of our religion, which forbids the worship of Idols".

The battle ended after nearly four hours of heavy fighting and resulted in the total defeat of the Portuguese and Abu Abdallah's army leaving 8,000 dead, including the slaughter of almost the whole country’s nobility, with 15,000 taken as prisoners.

Other accounts, mainly by Moroccan historians, claim that he had been poisoned by some of his officers of Turkish background as part of an Ottoman conspiracy, similar to what had happened to Muhammad al-Shaykh in 1557.

[10]: 214 [11] While plausible, this account may also have reflected anti-Ottoman attitudes that were present in the court of Ahmad al-Mansur, who succeeded his brother to the throne and ruled from 1578 to 1603.