Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (20/364)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

it is reported that for five consecutive mornings he held banquets, displaying every conceivable form of generosity: in ready money alone he bestowed seven hundred thousand dinars, not counting the robes of honour and the horses.

He (1) also said: His treasurer remarked, “So much wealth accumulated in his coffers as has never been heard of in a king’s treasury. I once said to him, ‘A thousand brocaded satin garments have been stored away in your vaults; I would like you to see them.’”

He remained silent, so I had every last robe brought out. He praised Allah, then said, “It would ill-become someone like me if people were to say that he is attached to wealth.”

He thereupon allowed the emirs to enter and distributed the garments among them.

He added: Jewels weighing a little over one thousand ratls (roughly pounds) had also accumulated in his possession, and nothing approaching that had ever been reported in the hands of any monarch.

Ibn Khallikan (2) states: His fortune went on increasing until the Ghuzz overran him in 548 AH, in the famous battle during which the jurist Muhammad ibn Yahya was martyred. They routed him, the fabric of his kingdom came apart, they seized Nishapur, killed great numbers of people, captured the Sultan (3), and struck off the heads of several of his commanders. Then they kissed the ground before him and said, “You are our Sultan.”

He remained among them like an ordinary trooper, riding a pack animal and at times going hungry. They brought him along and entered Marw with him. Their chieftain, Bakhtiyar, asked him to grant the city to him as a fief. He replied, “How could that be? This is the seat of sovereignty!”

They placated him and laughed, whereupon he abdicated the throne and withdrew to the khanqah of Marw. The Ghuzz perpetrated atrocities in Khurasan such as even unbelievers would not commit. The armies rallied and enthroned Sanjar’s mamluk, Ayaba, and calamities descended upon Khurasan. He remained in their captivity for three years and four months, then escaped from them and returned to Khurasan,

(1) Wafayat al-Ayan, vol. 2, pp. 427–428; see also Mukhtasar Tarikh Dawlat Al-Saljuq, pp. 251–252. (2) Wafayat al-Ayan, vol. 2, p. 428. (3) The text in Wafayat al-Ayan, vol. 2, p. 428, ends here.

ذكر أَنَّهُ اصْطَبَحَ خَمْسَة أَيَّام مُتوَالِيَة، ذهب بِهَا فِي الجُود كُلَّ مَذْهَبٍ، فَبَلَغَ مَا وَهب مِنَ العَيْنِ سَبْع مائَة أَلْف دِيْنَار سِوَى الْخلْع وَالخيل. قَالَ (١) : وَقَالَ خَازِنُهُ: اجْتَمَع فِي خَزَائِنه مِنَ الأَمْوَال مَا لَمْ يُسْمَعْ أَنَّهُ اجْتَمَع فِي خَزَائِن ملك، قُلْتُ لَهُ يَوْماً: حَصَلَ فِي خَزَائِنك أَلف ثَوْب دِيبَاج أَطلس، وَأُحبُّ أَنْ تَرَاهَا. فَسَكَتَ، فَأَبرزت جَمِيْعهَا، فَحَمِدَ الله، ثُمَّ قَالَ: يَقبح بِمثلِي أَنْ يُقَالَ: مَال إِلَى المَال. وَأَذِنَ لِلأُمَرَاء فِي الدّخول، وَفرَّق عَلَيْهِم الثِّيَاب. قَالَ: وَاجْتَمَعَ عِنْدَهُ مِنَ الجَوَاهِر أَلف رَطْل وَنَيِّف، وَلَمْ يُسْمَعْ عِنْد ملك مَا يُقَارب هَذَا. قَالَ ابْنُ خَلِّكَانَ (٢) : لَمْ فِي يَزل فِي ازديَادٍ إِلَى أَنْ ظَهرت عَلَيْهِ الغُزّ فِي سَنَةِ ٥٤٨، وَهِيَ وَقْعَة مَشْهُوْرَة، اسْتُشْهِدَ فِيْهَا الفَقِيْه مُحَمَّد بن يَحْيَى، فَكسروهُ، وَانحل نِظَام ملكه، وَملكُوا نَيْسَابُوْر، وَقتلُوا خلقاً كَثِيْراً، وَأخذُوا السُّلْطَان (٣) ، وَضَرَبُوا رقَاب عِدَّة مِنْ أُمَرَائِهِ، ثُمَّ قَبَّلُوا الأَرْض، وَقَالُوا: أَنْتَ سُلْطَاننَا. وَبَقِيَ مَعَهُم مِثْل جندِي يَرْكُب اكديشاً، وَيَجوع وَقتاً، وَأَتَوْا بِهِ، فَدَخَلُوا مَعَهُ مَرْوَ، فَطَلَبَهَا مِنْهُ أَمِيْرُهُم بختيَار إِقطَاعاً، فَقَالَ: كَيْفَ يَصِيْر هَذَا؟! هَذِهِ دَار الْملك. فَصفَى لَهُ، وَضحكُوا، فَنَزَلَ عَنِ الْملك، وَدَخَلَ إِلَى خَانْقَاه مَرْو، وَعملت الغُزّ مَا لاَ تَعْمَلُه الكُفَّارُ مِنَ العظَائِم، وَانضمت العَسَاكِر، فَمَلَّكُوا مَمْلُوْك سَنْجَرَ أَيَبَه، وَجَرَتْ مصَائِب عَلَى خُرَاسَانَ، فَبقِي فِي أَسرهِم ثَلاَث سِنِيْنَ وَأَرْبَعَة أَشْهُرٍ، ثُمَّ أُفلت مِنْهُم، وَعَاد إِلَى خُرَاسَانَ،

(١) في " وفيات الأعيان " ٢ / ٤٢٧، ٤٢٨، وانظر " مختصر تاريخ دولة آل سلجوق ": ٢٥١، ٢٥٢. (٢) في " وفيات الأعيان " ٢ / ٤٢٨. (٣) إلى هنا ينتهي النص في " وفيات الأعيان " ٢ / ٤٢٨.