“Tears welled up in my eyes,” she said, “and he murmured in a faint voice:
Spare your tears—do not let them be drained,
For before you lies a long, unending grief. (1)
He died in Rabīʿ al-Ākhir (2), in the year 484 AH.
Among his viziers was the man of letters Abū Bakr ibn al-Ḥaddād.
A host of master-poets (3) composed odes in his praise.
314 – al-Muẓaffar ibn al-Afṭas*
Sovereign of the northern frontier of al-Andalus, with his capital at Badajoz.
He stood at the forefront of learning, literature, courage, and political acumen. He kept up an unrelenting contest (4) with the Romans, a thorn lodged in their throats: he granted them no breathing space and left them no path by which to overcome him. His writings would sally forth like raiding squadrons, capturing maidens of meaning that—
(1) The report is recorded in al-Dhakira 1/2/734, al-Maghrib fi hulla al-maghrib 2/196, Wafayat al-ayan 5/44, and al-Wafi bi-l-wafayat 5/46, where the word “yadayka” (your two hands) has been miscopied as “yadi” (my hand).
(2) The base manuscript gives only “Rabi al-…”. We have supplied “Rabi al-Awwal” on the basis of al-Hulla al-sira 2/84; both Wafayat al-ayan and al-Shadharat state that he died in Rabi al-Awwal.
(3) See al-Hulla al-sira 2/82‒83 and Wafayat al-ayan 3/41‒43.
(*) Further notices appear in: al-Dhakira, quire 2, fasc. 2, pp. 640–646; al-Kamil 9/288; al-Muʿjib 127; Takmila Ibn al-Abar 128; al-Maghrib 1/364; Wafayat al-ayan 7/123; al-Bayan al-maghrib 3/220, 236; al-Wafi bi-l-wafayat 3/323; Tarikh Ibn Khaldun 4/159–160; Aʿmal al-aʿlam 212; Kashf al-zunun 2/1722; Hadiyat al-arifin 2/72; Muʿjam al-ansab wa-l-usarat al-hakima 89. His full name is Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Maslama al-Tujibi. Some sources omit the second “Muhammad”; al-Kamil and al-Maghrib read Salama instead of Maslama; Tarikh Ibn Khaldun further corrupts the name as Abu Muhammad Abd Allah ibn Maslama.
(4) I.e. meant to enrage them.