He died in 515 AH at the age of eighty-two.
254 – Ilghazi, Najm al-Din ibn Artuq ibn Aksab al-Turkmani
The ruler Najm al-Din, son of the emir Artuq ibn Aksab al-Turkmani, lord of Mardin. He and his brother, the emir Suqman, were among the commanders of Taj al-Dawla Tutush, the ruler of Greater Syria, who granted the two of them Jerusalem as a fief; many exploits are related about them. Ilghazi later seized Mardin.
He possessed courage, keen judgment, imposing presence, and wide renown. He fought the Franks on more than one occasion, captured Aleppo after the sons of Ridwan ibn Tutush, and a year before his death took Mayyafariqin and other towns. Thereafter he set out to relieve the people of Tbilisi (1) together with his son-in-law, the Arab king Dubays al-Asadi. They were joined by Tughan, lord of Arzan, and by Tughril, brother of the Seljuk sultan Mahmud. Advancing without proper formation, they were suddenly attacked by David, the tyrant of the Georgians (2), who fell upon them, routed them, and then besieged and took Tbilisi—the accursed one prevailing.
Your name—its mis-copy is etched upon my heart, and within its letters lies the cure for my pain.
Return my greeting, for of my soul nothing is left but its very lifeblood.
Be gentle with a lover who comes in humility, having mingled despair with hope.
Harsh estrangement has exhausted him in love until he is as delicate as the air.
* Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil fi al-tarikh, vol. 10, pp. 604, 592, 531 (see also the index); al-Dhahabi, Tarikh al-Islam, 4/222/1; Ibn al-Jawzi, Duwal al-Islam, 2/43; al-Dhahabi, al-Ibar, 4/36; Ibn al-Imad, Tatimmat al-Mukhtasar, 2/50; Ibn Wasil, Uyoon al-Tawarikh, 13/416; Sibt ibn al-Jawzi, Mirat al-Zaman, 8/56, 63; al-Nujum al-Zahira, 5/223; Shadharat al-Dhahab, 4/48.
(1) Tbilisi: a town on the outer frontier of Armenia, the capital of the district of Jurzan near Bab al-Abwab. It was conquered by the Muslims during the caliphate of Uthman and remained under their control until 515 AH / 1121 CE.
(2) Yaqut writes: al-Kurj (the Georgians) are a Christian people who dwelt in the Caucasus Mountains; their might grew until they captured the city of Tbilisi. They possess a province named after them, a king, a distinct language, considerable power, and large numbers.