Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (20/363)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

his father had marched off to fight the Byzantines. Sanjar was reared in the land of Khuz (Khuzistan); later he settled in Khurasan and made Marw his seat.

Ibn Khallikan (1) states: He acted as deputy for his brother, Sultan Barkyaruq, in 490 AH, and then took the throne independently in 512 AH.

Al-Samʿani adds: During his brother’s lifetime he bore the title al-Malik al-Muzaffar. When his brother Muhammad (2) died in Iraq at the close of 511 AH, Sanjar assumed the sultanate. He inherited the realm from his forefathers, outstripped them in power, ruled the provinces, subdued the populace, and the Friday sermon was delivered in his name from most of the pulpits of Islam.

He was dignified and shy, generous and munificent, compassionate, sincere toward his subjects, and greatly inclined to pardon. He sat upon the royal throne for nearly sixty years.

He (al-Samʿani) recounts: “I once entered, together with my brother Muhammad, upon the Caliph al-Mustazhir billah. When we stood before him, he took me to be the sultan and began addressing me. I rendered service and said, ‘Our master, he is the sultan,’ pointing to my brother. Thus the Caliph invested him with the sultanate and appointed me as his heir-apparent (3).”

Abu al-Hasan ʿAli ibn Ahmad al-Madini granted Sanjar an ijaza for the traditions he had heard; I then recited to him some of those hadiths, for his hearing had grown weak.

Ibn al-Jawzi (4) relates: Sanjar fought the Ghuzz—before the year 550 AH—so they captured him, but he escaped after a time.

And Ibn Khallikan (5) says: He was among the most ambitious of kings and the most liberal in giving,

(1) Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-aʿyan, vol. 2, p. 428. (2) His biography has already been noted in vol. 19, no. 293. (3) See Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Muntazam, vol. 10, p. 178. (4) Ibid., vol. 10, p. 178. (5) Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-aʿyan, vol. 2, p. 427.

تَوجّه أَبُوْهُ لِغزوِ الرُّوْم، وَنَشَأَ بِبلاَد الخوزِ، ثُمَّ سَكَنَ خُرَاسَانَ، وَتَديَّر مَرْو. قَالَ ابْنُ خَلِّكَانَ (١) : وَلِي نِيَابَةً عَنْ أَخِيْهِ السُّلْطَان بَرْكِيَارُوْق سَنَة تِسْعِيْنَ وَأَرْبَعِ مائَةٍ، ثُمَّ اسْتَقلَّ بِالملك فِي سَنَةِ اثْنَتَيْ عَشْرَةَ وَخَمْس مائَة. قَالَ السَّمْعَانِيُّ: كَانَ فِي أَيَّامِ أَخِيْهِ يُلَقَّبُ بِالملك المُظَفَّر إِلَى أَنْ تُوُفِّيَ أَخُوْهُ مُحَمَّد (٢) بِالعِرَاقِ، فِي آخِرِ سَنَةِ إِحْدَى عَشْرَةَ، فَتسلطن، وَرِثَ الْملك عَنْ آبَائِهِ، وَزَادَ عَلَيْهِم، وَملك البِلاَد، وَقهر العبَاد، وَخُطِبَ لَهُ عَلَى أَكْثَر مَنَابِر الإِسْلاَم. وَكَانَ وَقُوْراً حَيِيّاً، كَرِيْماً سخياً، مُشفِقاً، نَاصحاً لِرَعيَّتِهِ، كَثِيْر الصَّفْحِ، جَلَسَ عَلَى سَرِيرِ الْملك قَرِيْباً مِنْ سِتِّيْنَ سَنَةً. قَال: وحكَى وَأَنَّهُ دَخَلَ مَعَ أَخِيْهِ مُحَمَّد عَلَى المُسْتظهر بِاللهِ، قَالَ: فَلَمَّا وَقفنَا ظَنَّنِي السُّلْطَان، فَافْتَتَحَ كَلاَمه مَعِي، فَخَدَمْتُ، وَقُلْتُ: يَا مَوْلاَنَا، هُوَ السُّلْطَان، وَأَشرتُ إِلَى أَخِي، فَفَوض إِلَيْهِ السّلطنَة، وَجَعَلنِي وَلِيّ عَهْدِهِ (٣) . أَجَازَ أَبُو الحَسَنِ عَلِيُّ بنُ أَحْمَدَ المَدِيْنِيّ لسَنْجَر مَسْمُوْعَاته، فَقَرَأْت عَلَيْهِ بِهَا أَحَادِيْث، وَقَدْ ثقل سَمْعُهُ. قَالَ ابْنُ الجَوْزِيِّ (٤) : حَارب سَنْجَر الغُزَّ -يَعْنِي: قَبْلَ سَنَةِ خَمْسِيْنَ وَخَمْسِ مائَةٍ- فَأَسَرُوهُ، ثُمَّ تَخَلَّص بَعْد مُدَّة. وَقَالَ ابْنُ خَلِّكَانَ (٥) : كَانَ مِنْ أَعْظَمِ المُلُوْكِ هِمَّة، وَأَكْثَرهِم عَطَاء،

(١) في " وفيات الأعيان " ٢ / ٤٢٨. (٢) مرت ترجمته في الجزء التاسع عشر برقم (٢٩٣) . (٣) انظر " المنتظم " ١٠ / ١٧٨. (٤) في " المنتظم " ١٠ / ١٧٨. (٥) في " وفيات الأعيان " ٢ / ٤٢٧.