Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (20/411)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Ibn al-Athīr (1) reports: the Khurāsānī Ismāʿīlīs met their downfall. They came down, one thousand seven hundred strong, and seized a Turkmen river-boat (2). The Turkmen gathered their forces, charged, and put them to the sword; only nine of the Ismāʿīlīs escaped.

A great engagement was then fought between the Ghuzz and the amirs of Khurāsān. The battle line held for two days, after which the Ghuzz were victorious, became well supplied, and even introduced a measure of justice.

In that same year the Egyptians met the Franks in Palestine and utterly overran them.

That year as well Nūr al-Dīn confronted the Franks; his army broke and fled, yet Nūr al-Dīn himself escaped, and the enemy also withdrew.

During the year the ruler of Constantinople advanced at the head of the Byzantine armies, and their vanguard raided the districts of Antioch (3).

In 554 AH Nūr al-Dīn fell ill and, anticipating his demise, appointed his brother Mawdūd as heir. He made peace with the emperor of Constantinople and released to him two leading Frankish prisoners, whereupon the emperor sent Nūr al-Dīn gifts and presents. Once recovered, Nūr al-Dīn set out, occupied Ḥarrān, and spread a banquet for his brother Mawdūd the like of which had never been heard.

In that same year disorder caused by the Ghuzz was rampant. The caliph marched to Wāsiṭ, while ʿAbd al-Muʾmin, sultan of the Maghrib, besieged al-Mahdiyya for seven months and took it on terms of safety. The city contained a large Christian population and had been in their hands for twelve years. Before that he had also captured Tunis.

(1) Al-Kamil, vol. 11, p. 238. (2) Al-Kamil: “They fell upon the Turkmen but found no men, for the latter had already left their homes; so they plundered the wealth, took the women and children captive, and burned whatever they could not carry away …” (3) The name is written with an initial l; it denotes a large town in present-day Turkey.

قَالَ ابْنُ الأَثِيْرِ (١) : كَانَ مصرع الإِسْمَاعِيليَة الخُرَاسَانِيين، نَزلُوا وَكَانُوا أَلْفاً وَسَبْع مائَة، فَأَخذُوا زَوَّقَ تركمَان (٢) ، فَتنَاخت التُّرُكْمَان، وَكَرُّوا عَلَيْهِم، وَوضعُوا فِيهِم السَّيْف، فَمَا نَجَا مِنْهُم إِلاَّ تِسْعَة أَنْفُس. وَكَانَتْ ملحمَة كُبْرَى بَيْنَ الغُزّ وَبَيْنَ أُمَرَاء خُرَاسَان، وَدَام المَصَافّ يَوْمَيْنِ، وَانتصرت الغُزّ، وَاسْتَغْنَوْا، وَشرعُوا فِي العَدْل قَلِيْلاً. وَفِيْهَا: التَقَى المِصْرِيّون وَالفِرَنْجُ بِفِلَسْطِيْن، فَاسْتُبيحت الفِرَنْج. وَفِيْهَا: التَقَى نُوْر الدِّيْنِ وَالفِرَنْج، فَانْهَزَم عَسْكَرُهُ، وَنَجَا نُوْرُ الدِّيْنِ، وَانْهَزَمَ العَدُوُّ أَيْضاً. وَفِيْهَا: أَقْبَل صَاحِب قُسْطَنْطِيْنِيَّة فِي جُيُوْش الرُّوْم، وَأَغَار أَوَائِلُهُم عَلَى بِلاَدِ أَنطَاكيَة (٣) . وَفِي سَنَةِ ٥٥٤: مرض نُوْر الدِّيْنِ، وَعهد بِالمُلك بَعْدَهُ لأَخِيهِ مَوْدُوْدٍ، وَصَالَحَ صَاحِبَ القُسْطَنْطِيْنِيَّة، وَأَطلق لَهُ مُقدَّمين مِنْ أَسرَى الفِرَنْج، فَبَعَثَ هُوَ إِلَى نُوْر الدِّيْنِ هدَايَا وَتحفاً، وَسَارَ نُوْر الدِّيْنِ، فَتَمَلَّكَ حرَان، وَمد سِمَاطاً لأَخِيه مَوْدُوْد لَمْ يُسْمَعْ بِمِثْلِهِ. وَفِي سَنَةِ ٤: كَانَ الفَسَاد بِالغز عَمَّالاً، وَسَارَ الخَلِيْفَة إِلَى وَاسِط، وَسَارَ عَبْد المُؤْمِنِ سُلْطَان المَغْرِب، فَحَاصَر المهديَة سَبْعَة أَشهر، وَأَخَذَهَا بِالأَمَان، وَبِهَا خلق مِنَ النَّصَارَى، وَكَانَتْ بِأَيْدِيهِم مِنِ اثْنَتَيْ عَشْرَةَ سَنَةً، وَافتَتَح أَيْضاً قَبْلهَا تُوْنُس.

(١) في " الكامل " ١١ / ٢٣٨. (٢) في الكامل ": فأوقعوا بالتركمان، فلم يجدوا الرجال، وكانوا قد فارقوا بيوتهم، فنهبوا الاموال، وأخذوا النساء والاطفال، وأحرقوا ما لم يقدروا على حمله ... (٣) هي باللام، بلد كبير في تركيا اليوم.