Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (18/428)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Ibn Yāsīn that their weaker members should travel to the Sūs region (1) and collect the zakāt. Seven hundred of them reached Sijilmāsa (2) and asked for the alms; the townspeople gathered a sum for them and they returned with it.

The Sahara then became too confining for them, and they decided to proclaim the truth openly and march to al-Andalus for jihad. They made for the Sūs, whose inhabitants fought them; ʿAbd Allah b. Yāsīn was killed and Abū Bakr b. ʿUmar was put to flight. He soon mustered and assembled his forces, advanced, met them in battle, and was victorious, seizing their goods and bolstering his own morale.

He next encamped before Sijilmāsa and demanded zakāt from its people. The local ruler, Masʿūd, came out to fight him; war flared between them repeatedly until Masʿūd was killed and Sijilmāsa fell. Abū Bakr appointed his cousin Yūsuf b. Tāshfīn to govern the city, and he ruled well. That took place in 453 AH.

King Abū Bakr then returned to the desert, later came back to Sijilmāsa, had the Friday sermon delivered in his own name, installed his nephew there, and dispatched the army under Ibn Tāshfīn, who conquered the Sūs. Ibn Tāshfīn was a man of imposing bearing, brave and politically astute (3).

King Abū Bakr al-Lamṭūnī died in the Sahara in 462 AH (4); after him Ibn Tāshfīn assumed power, and the nations submitted to him (5).

Among the Berber tribes the first to rule were the Ṣinhāja, then the Kutāma, followed by the Lamṭūna, the Maṣmūda, and finally the Zanāta.

Ibn Durayd reports that the Kutāma, the Lamṭūna and the Hawwāra were of Ḥimyarite stock, whereas the rest were from

(1) A district (kura) in the Maghrib whose chief town is Tangier; likewise Sous al-Aqsa is another district whose capital is Tarqala, the two being roughly two months’ journey apart. See Muʿjam al-Buldan. (2) A city in southern Maghrib located about ten days south of Fas (Fez). Muʿjam al-Buldan. (3) See al-Kamil, vol. 9, pp. 621-622; al-Mukhtasar, vol. 2, p. 175; Wafayat al-Aʿyan, vol. 7, p. 113. (4) Ibn Kathir gives his date of death as 480 AH, which is incorrect; the same error is repeated by Zambaur in Muʿjam al-Asrat al-Hakima and by al-Zirikli in Aʿlam. (5) Al-Kamil, vol. 9, p. 622.

ابْنُ يَاسين ضعفَاءهم بِالمَسِيْر إِلَى السُّوس (١) وَأَخْذِ الزَّكَاة، فَقَدم سِجِلْمَاسَة (٢) مِنْهم سَبْعُ مائَة، وَسَأَلُوا الزَّكَاة، فَجمعُوا لَهم مَالاً، فَرجعُوا بِهِ، ثُمَّ ضَاقت الصّحرَاءُ بِهِم، وَأَرَادُوا إِعلاَنَ الحَقِّ، وَأَن يَسيرُوا إِلَى الأَنْدَلُسِ لِلغَزْو، فَأَتوا السُّوسَ، فَحَارَبَهم أَهْلهَا، فَقُتِلَ عَبْدُ اللهِ بنُ يَاسِيْنَ، وَانْهَزَم أَبُو بَكْرٍ بنُ عُمَرَ، ثُمَّ حَشَدَ وَجَمَعَ وَأَقْبَلَ، فَالتقَوهُ فَانْتصرَ، وَأَخَذَ أَسلاَبهُم، وَقويّ جَأْشُه، ثُمَّ نَازل سِجِلْمَاسَة، وَطَالبَ أَهْلهَا بِالزَّكَاةِ، فَبرز لحرَبّهم مَسْعُوْدٌ الأَمِيْر، وَطَالت بَيْنهم الحَرْبُ مَرَّاتٍ، ثُمَّ قتلُوا مسعُوْداً، وَمَلَكُوا سِجِلْمَاسَة، فَاسْتنَاب أَبُو بَكْرٍ عَلَيْهَا يُوْسُف بن تَاشفِيْن ابْنَ عَمِّهِ، فَأَحُسْن السِّيْرَةَ، وَذَلِكَ فِي سَنَةِ ثَلاَثٍ وَخَمْسِيْنَ وَأَرْبَعِ مائَة وَرجع المَلِكُ أَبُو بَكْرٍ إِلَى الصّحرَاء، ثُمَّ قَدِمَ سِجِلْمَاسَة، وَخَطَبَ لِنَفْسِهِ، وَاسْتَعْمَلَ عَلَيْهَا ابْنَ أَخِيْهِ، وَجَهَّزَ جَيْشه مَعَ ابْنِ تَاشفِيْن، فَافْتَتَحَ السُّوس، وَكَانَ ابْنُ تَاشفِيْن ذَا هيئَةٍ شُجَاعاً، سَائِساً (٣) . تُوُفِّيَ الْملك أَبُو بَكْرٍ اللَّمْتونِي: بِالصّحرَاء فِي سَنَةِ اثْنَتَيْنِ وَسِتِّيْنَ وَأَرْبَعِ مائَة (٤) ، فَتملك بَعْدَهُ ابْنُ تَاشفِيْن، وَدَانت لَهُ الأُمَم (٥) . فَأَوّل مَنْ كَانَ فِيهِم الْملك مِنَ البَرْبَر صِنْهَاجَةُ، ثُمَّ كُتَامَة، ثُمَّ لَمْتُونَة، ثُمَّ مصْمودَة، ثُمَّ زنَاتَة. وَقَدْ ذَكَرَ ابْنُ دُرَيْد أَنَّ كُتَامَة وَلَمْتُونَة وَهَوَّارَة مِنْ حِمِيْر، وَمَنْ سِوَاهُم، فَمِنَ

(١) هي كورة في المغرب مدينتها طنجة، وهناك السوس الاقصى، كورة أخرى مدينتها طرقلة، وبينهما مسيرة شهرين. انظر " معجم البلدان ". (٢) مدينة في جنوبي المغرب بينها وبين فاس عشرة أيام تلقاء الجنوب. " معجم البلدان ". (٣) انظر " الكامل " ٩ / ٦٢١ - ٦٢٢، و" المختصر " ٢ / ١٧٥، و" وفيات الأعيان " ٧ / ١١٣. (٤) وقد أورد ابن كثير وفاته سنة ٤٨٠ وهو خطأ، وتابعه على ذلك زامباور في " معجم الاسرات الحاكمة " والزركلي في " أعلامه ". (٥) " الكامل " ٩ / ٦٢٢.