Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (19/405)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

and took it by the sword, while Arsuf and Haifa were admitted on terms of safety, and Caesarea was captured by storm (1).

In the year 495 AH al-Mustaʿlī, ruler of Egypt, died and al-Āmir succeeded him. Fighting broke out between the two brothers Barkyāruq and Muḥammad, bringing with it hardship and siege. The Franks invested Tripoli, whereupon the armies of Damascus and Ḥimṣ marched to relieve it but were routed. The Muslim force later encountered Baldwin, defeated him, and only a few of his renowned knights escaped. Three Batinis overpowered Janāḥ al-Dawla, lord of Ḥimṣ, and killed him inside the congregational mosque. The Franks then approached the city; they were bought off for money, and Shams al-Mulūk took possession of it. The Batinis also assassinated al-Aʿazz, Barkyāruq’s vizier. Karbughā, lord of Mosul, died at Khoy after having seized most of Azerbaijan.

Sanjar had the Friday sermon in Khurasan proclaimed for his brother Muḥammad. He fought Qadrkhān, the ruler of Transoxania, captured and executed him, and appointed Bughrājān’s son as governor of Samarqand. The Muslims laid siege to Valencia and recovered it from the Franks after the latter had held it for eight years, though it slipped from Muslim hands again in the year 636 AH (2).

In the year 496 AH Shams al-Mulūk marched, besieged al-Raḥba and took it. The Egyptian army arrived and met the Franks at Jaffa; the Franks were defeated. Barkyāruq and his brother concluded a peace, grew weary of war, and entered into an alliance. The Frankish siege of Tripoli dragged on; they seized Jubayl, then Acre, and advanced upon Harran. The Muslim army came up, battle was joined, victory was bestowed, the accursed enemy were annihilated, and it reached

(1) See Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, vol. 10, pp. 324–325. Saruj is a town near Harran in the Jazira region, and Arsuf is a coastal city on the Mediterranean between Caesarea and Jaffa. (2) See Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, vol. 10, pp. 328–344.

بِالسَّيْف، وَأَرْسُوفَ وَحَيْفَا بِالأَمَان، وَقَيْسَارِيَّةَ عَنْوَةً (١) . وَفِي سَنَةِ (٤٩٥) مَاتَ المُسْتعلِي صَاحِبُ مِصْر، وَوَلِيَ الآمِرُ، وَكَانَتْ حُرُوْبٌ بَيْنَ الأَخوينِ بَرْكْيَارُوْق وَمُحَمَّد، وَبلاَءٌ وَحصَار، وَنَازلت الفِرَنْجُ طَرَابُلُس، فَسَارَ لِلْكشف عَنْهَا جُنْدُ دِمَشْقَ وَحِمْصَ، فَانكسرُوا، ثُمَّ التَقَى العَسْكَر، وَبغدوين، فَهَزمُوْهُ، وَقَلَّ مَنْ نَجَا مِنْ أَبْطَاله، وَظَفِرَ ثَلاَثَةٌ مِنَ البَاطِنِيَّة عَلَى جَنَاحِ الدَّوْلَة صَاحِب حِمْص، فَقَتَلُوْهُ فِي الجَامِع، فَنَازلتهَا الفِرَنْجُ، فَصُولحُوا عَلَى مَال، وَتَسَلَّمهَا شَمْسُ المُلُوْك، وَقَتلَتْ البَاطِنِيَّة الأَعزَّ، وَزِيْر بَرْكْيَارُوْق، وَمَاتَ كُربوقَا صَاحِبُ المَوْصِلِ بِخَوَيّ، وَقَدِ اسْتولَى عَلَى أَكْثَر أَذْرَبِيْجَانَ. وَخَطَبَ سَنْجَرُ بِخُرَاسَانَ لأَخِيه مُحَمَّد، وَحَارَبَ قدرْخَان صَاحِبَ مَا وَرَاء النَّهْر، فَأَسره سَنْجَر وَقتله، وَملَّكَ ابْنَ بغرَاجَان سَمَرْقَنْدَ، وَنَازل المُسْلِمُوْنَ بَلَنْسِيَةَ، وَاسْتَرجَعُوهَا مِنَ الفِرَنْجِ بَعْدَ أَنْ تَمَلَّكُوهَا ثَمَانِيَة أَعْوَامٍ، ثُمَّ رَاحت مِنَ المُسْلِمِينَ فِي سَنَةِ (٦٣٦) (٢) . وَفِي سَنَة سِتٍّ وَتِسْعِيْنَ سَارَ شَمْسُ المُلُوْك، فَحَاصَر الرَّحْبَة، وَأَخَذَهَا، وَجَاءَ عَسْكَرُ مِصْر، فَالتَقَوا الفِرَنْجَ بِيَافَا، وَخُذِلَتْ الفِرَنْجُ، وَتَصَالَحَ بَرْكْيَارُوْقُ وَأَخُوْهُ، وَملُّوا مِنَ الحَرْب، وَتَحَالفُوا، وَطَال حِصَارُ الفِرَنْج لِطَرَابُلُس، وَأَخَذُوا جُبيلَ، وَأَخَذُوا عكَّا، وَنَازلُوا حَرَّانَ، فَجَاءَ العَسْكَر، وَوَقَعَ المَصَافُّ، وَنَزَلَ النَّصْرُ، وَأُبيدتِ الملاعِينُ، وَبلغت

(١) انظر " الكامل ": ١٠ / ٣٢٤، ٣٢٥، وسروج بلدة قريبة من حران من بلاد الجزيرة، وأرسوف: مدينة على ساحل بحر الشام بين قيسارية ويافا. (٢) انظر " الكامل لابن الأثير ": ١٠ / ٣٢٨ - ٣٤٤.