Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (19/572)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

with knives, and every one of them was executed afterwards.

It was also said that he had first been given poison; he was then buried in the Old City, in a chamber that Niẓām al-Mulk had built. When news reached his uncle al-Muqtafī, they observed mourning for him for a single day ⦗1⦘.

ʿAbd al-Jalīl Kutāh adds that he was interred beside the congregational mosque in the city of Isfahān.

Ibn al-Najjar relates: I visited his grave in Jayy ⦗2⦘; it is a carved wooden cenotaph draped in a black cloth embroidered with a silk inscription. There are custodians and servants in attendance, and his descendants were still there until the end of the year 600 AH.

I say: When al-Rāshid first succeeded to the caliphate, Sultan Masʿūd sent to harass him, demanding large sums of gold. The atabeg Zangī ⦗3⦘ and others then arrived and urged him to fight Masʿūd. Al-Rāshid was courageous, and they feared him. Later Zangī turned against him, and King Dāwud ibn Maḥmūd came to al-Rāshid; together they advanced against Sultan Masʿūd. Masʿūd approached from another direction, encamped before Baghdad, and laid siege to it. His troops plundered Wāsiṭ and al-Nuʿmāniyyah and finally took control of Baghdad.

(1) Ibn al-Jawzi, in Al-Muntazam, 10/76, lists three explanations for the death of al-Rashid: (a) he was poisoned on three separate occasions; (b) he was killed by a group of farraashin (palace attendants) who served him; (c) he was assassinated by the Batiniyya (Ismailis), who were themselves slain afterward. (2) Yaqut notes that Jayy—pronounced with an open first syllable followed by a doubled y—is the name of a town in the old district of Isfahan. It is now almost in ruins and stands apart; the Persians call it Shahristan, while hadith scholars simply refer to it as al-Madina (“the city”). The scholar al-Madini, originally from Isfahan, derived his nisba from this place. The tomb of al-Rashid b. al-Mustarshid is located in Jayy. (3) Atabeg is the title of the person entrusted with the upbringing and supervision of princes, the sons of kings and sultans. In Turkish, ata means “father” and beg means “prince,” so the compound atabeg combines these two meanings. See Ibn Khallikan, 1/365.

بِالسَّكَاكين، وَقُتِلُوا بَعْدَهُ كُلُّهُم. وَقِيْلَ: كَانَ قَدْ سُقِيَ سُمّاً، ثُمَّ دُفِنَ بِالمَدِيْنَةِ العَتِيْقَة فِي حُجْرَة مِنْ بِنَاء نِظَام الْملك، وَجَاءَ الخَبَرُ إِلَى عَمِّه المقتفِي، فَعقدُوا لَهُ العزَاء يَوْماً وَاحِداً (١) . وَقَالَ عبدُ الجَلِيْل كوتَاه: دُفِنَ بِجنب الجَامِع بِمدينَة أَصْبَهَان. قَالَ ابْنُ النَّجَّار: زُرتُ قَبْره بِجيَّ (٢) ، وَهُوَ خشب مَنْقُوْش، وَعَلَيْهِ ستر أَسودُ، فِيْهِ كِتَابَةٌ مِنْ إِبرِيسَم، وَلَهُ فَرَّاشُوْنَ وَخَدَمٌ، وَعَقِبُه باقٍ إِلَى آخِرِ سَنَةِ سِتِّ مائَةٍ. قُلْتُ: لَمَّا اسْتُخْلِفَ الرَّاشدُ، بَعَثَ إِلَيْهِ السُّلْطَانُ مَسْعُوْد يَتعنَّتُه، وَيطلُب مِنْهُ ذهباً كَثِيْراً، ثُمَّ قَدِمَ الأَتَابِكُ (٣) زنكِي وَغَيْرُهُ، فَحسَّنُوا لَهُ القِتَالَ لِمَسْعُوْدٍ، وَكَانَ شُجَاعاً، فَخَافُوهُ، ثُمَّ تَغَيَّر عَلَيْهِ زنكِي، فَقَدِمَ الْملك دَاوُدُ بنُ مَحْمُوْدٍ إِلَى الرَّاشد، وَقصدُوا السُّلْطَان مسعُوْداً، فَسَارَ مَسْعُوْدٌ مِنْ جِهَةٍ أُخْرَى، فَنَازل بَغْدَاد يُحَاصِرُهَا، وَنهب عَسْكَرُه وَاسطاً وَالنُّعْمَانِيَة، وَتَملَّك بَغْدَاد.

(١) يقول ابن الجوزي في " المنتظم ": ١٠ / ٧٦: في سبب موت الراشد ثلاثة أقوال، أحدها: أنه سقي السم ثلاث مرات، والثاني أنه قتله قوم من الفراشين الذين كانوا في خدمته، والثالث: أنه قتله الباطنية، وقتلوا بعده. (٢) قال ياقوت: جي، بالفتح ثم التشديد: اسم مدينة ناحية أصبهان القديمة، وهي الآن كالخراب منفردة، وتسمى الآن عند العجم شهرستان، وعند المحدثين المدينة، وقد نسب إليها المديني عالم من أصبهان، وفي جي مشهد الراشد بن المسترشد. (٣) الاتابك: هو الذي يتولى تربية أولاد الملوك والسلاطين، ويقوم برعايتهم، فإن " أتا " بالتركية هو الاب و" بك " هو الأمير، فأتا بك مركب من هذين المعنيين. ابن خلكان: ١ / ٣٦٥.