Though his army was defeated, al-Azma became a national hero in Syria for his insistence on confronting the French despite their clear military superiority and his ultimate death in the ensuing battle.

Laila was a young child when al-Azma died, married Cevad Asar, an Istanbul-based Turkish merchant with whom she had a son named Celal.

[3] Al-Azma graduated from the Istanbul-based Ottoman Military Academy in 1906 and was a member of the underground reformist Committee of Union and Progress.

[6] That month, Damascus was captured by the Arab Revolt's British-backed Sharifian Army led by Hussein's son Emir Faisal.

[1] He joined al-Fatat, an Arab nationalist secret society founded in 1911,[8] though it is not apparent when, and became a personal chamberlain of Emir Faisal.

[1] Unlike other ex-Ottoman officers from the empire's Arab lands who had hailed almost exclusively from modest upbringings, al-Azma came from the upper urban class.

[10] Al-Azma's Damascene roots and reputation as a local and decorated Ottoman wartime general made him "an obvious choice for minister of war", according to Provence, despite having fought against the Arab Revolt months prior.

[9] During his time in office, al-Azma established the foundations and hierarchy of the modern-day Syrian Army, according to historian Sami Moubayed.

[9] In June 1920, al-Azma toured northern Syria to recruit more soldiers into the nascent Arab Army and establish connections with the Anatolian insurgency.

[13] On 13 July, al-Azma declared emergency measures in the Syrian National Congress, including press censorship, the power to seize civilian vehicles for military use and a call for militias across the country to support the army.

[15] According to Provence, both al-Azma and al-Hashimi "complained bitterly that they faced an impossible task in organizing defense, made all the more difficult by Faisal's refusal to seriously contemplate and prepare for military confrontation".

[16] In the struggle against France, both officers sought to implement the model of Kemal's Anatolian insurgency while Faisal continued, in vain, to seek an intervention by his erstwhile British allies.

[1] On 18 July, King Faisal and the Syrian cabinet met and all ministers except for al-Azma agreed not to enter into war with the French.

[17] After King Faisal ratified the cabinet's decision, al-Azma withdrew his troops from Anjar, the hills overlooking the Beqaa Valley from the east, and the Beirut-Damascus road.

[17] On 20 July, six hours prior to the ultimatum's deadline, King Faisal informed the French liaison in Damascus of his acceptance of Gouraud's terms.

[18] When news of Faisal's submission to the French and his disbandment of Arab Army barracks in Damascus reached the populace, outrage ensued.

[17] A riot by soldiers and residents angry at King Faisal's decision was violently put down by Emir Zeid, resulting in some 200 deaths.

[20] About 12,000 French troops consisting of ten infantry battalions as well as cavalrymen and artillerymen backed by tanks and fighter bombers, began their advance on Damascus on 21 July.

"[20] Al-Azma's refusal to surrender to the French, his insistence on entering battle with inferior forces and his death commanding the Syrians in Maysalun made him a hero in Syria and the Arab world.

[25] According to historian Tareq Y. Ismael, the defeat of al-Azma and the subsequent French takeover of Syria contributed to popular attitudes in the Arab world—that exist to the present day—which hold that "the West is not honorable in its commitments, speaks with a forked tongue about issues of democracy ... and will oppress anyone who stands in the way of its imperial designs".