Unlike other provinces that Mehmed Ali conquered, there are various incidents that show the Pasha’s very early interest in Syria, and there is enough evidence to show that out of all the provinces he eventually occupied, Syria was the one he most coveted and that he had his eye on it, as it were, right from the beginning of his career. Indeed, one can view the enormous military build-up since the early 1820s as preparing the way for the invasion of Syria, an operation that, by its own nature, had to wait for the opportune moment to be launched.

Pays off: "Mehmed Ali's denied Syrian reward precipitated his military seizure."

Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed…, loc. 208