He died on the twenty-sixth of Dhū al-Qaʿdah, 568 AH. With him the summit of elevated isnāds came to an end.
340 – Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn Maḥmūd ibn Zangī al-Turkī
Lord of Syria, the Just King, Light of the Faith, Champion of the Commander of the Believers, the most God-fearing of monarchs, the Lion of Islam—Abū al-Qāsim Maḥmūd, son of the atabek Qasīm al-Dawlah Abū Saʿīd Zangī, grandson of the great amir Aq-Sunqur the Turk, of the Sultanic, Malikshāh line.
He was born in Shawwāl 511 AH.
His grandfather was appointed deputy governor of Aleppo by Sultan Malikshāh ibn Alp Arslān al-Seljuq.
Qasīm al-Dawlah was reared in Iraq. At the prompting of the caliph al-Mustarshid, Sultan Maḥmūd ibn Muḥammad ibn Malikshāh dispatched him to rule Mosul, Diyār Bakr, and the Syrian territories. His gallantry, imposing dignity, and valor soon became evident. He advanced on Damascus, his dominions widened, but he was killed while besieging Jaʿbar Fortress in 541 AH (1). His son—this very Nūr al-Dīn—then took possession of Aleppo, and his son
(*) Selections from Kitab al-Tarikh by Shahanshah, p. 268; Ibn al-Qalanisi, History (see the index); al-Muntazam, vol. 10, pp. 248-249; Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, vol. 11, pp. 402-405 (his news is recorded under the events of 542-569 H); Mirat al-Zaman, vol. 8, pp. 187 and 191-205; Abu Shama, al-Rawdatayn fi Akhbar al-Dawlatayn al-Nuriyya wa-l-Salihiyya, vol. 1, pp. 48-230; Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-Ayan, vol. 5, pp. 184-189; Ibn Wasil, Mufarrij al-Kurob, vol. 1, p. 109 ff.; al-Mukhtasar, vol. 3, p. 83; al-Ibar, vol. 4, pp. 208-209; Duwal al-Islam, vol. 2, p. 83; Tatimmat al-Mukhtasar, vol. 2, pp. 127-128; Amara’ Dimashq fi-l-Islam, p. 147; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa-l-Nihaya, vol. 12, pp. 277-287; al-Jawahir al-Mudiyya, vol. 2, p. 158; Ibn Khaldun, Tarikh, vol. 5, p. 253; Ibn Qadi Shuhba, al-Kawakib al-Durriyya fi-l-Sira al-Nuriyya, ed. Mahmud Zayd; al-Nujum al-Zahira, vol. 6, p. 71; al-Dariss, vol. 1, pp. 99 and 331; Shadharat al-Dhahab, vol. 4, pp. 228-231.
Dr. Imad al-Din Khalil has also written a monograph entitled “Nur al-Din Mahmud,” and Ibn Asakir’s biography of him has been published by the Institut Français under the editorship of Nikita Elisseeff.
(1) His biography has already appeared in the present volume under no. 123.