Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (20/537)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Sibṭ al-Jawzī (1) said: He kept a handful of old women; he would sew kawāfī caps and make sakākir (2), they sold them for him on the quiet, and he would break his fast with whatever their sale brought in.

Ibn Wāṣil said: He was among the stoutest of men, in courage and in physique alike. No rider was ever seen who sat a horse more solidly—one would think he had been created on the saddle, so still did he sit. He was also one of the finest polo players: his horse would be at full gallop, yet he would snatch the ball out of the air and fling it with his hand to the far end of the field; he would even catch the jūkān (3) with the cuff of his sleeve, making light of the whole affair. He used to say, “I have sought martyrdom time and again, yet have never attained it.”

I say: He did attain it—on his very death-bed; and people commonly call him “Nūr al-Dīn the Martyr.” What he abolished of the levies in his territories I have set out in detail in my Great History: their annual total reached five hundred thousand dinars, plus eighty-six thousand more, and seventy-four dinars—in all, 586,074 dinars of Syrian coin. Of that, al-Raḥba accounted for 16,000 dinars, Damascus for a little over 50,700, Mosul for 38,000, and Jaʿbar for somewhat more than 7,000.

The decree read: “Be certain that this favor is a perpetual bounty for the ages, abiding until the Day of Resurrection; so, ‘Eat of the provision of your Lord and give thanks to Him: a good land and a Forgiving Lord’ (Sabaʾ 15). ‘Whoever alters it after hearing it—its sin rests only on those who alter it’ (al-Baqarah 181).”

Written in Rajab, 567 AH.

(1) Mirat al-zaman, vol. 8, p. 197. (2) The classical lexicons define sukr as any structure that blocks the flow of a river or the like—such as a dike or embankment—and, more generally, anything used to seal a fissure or water outlet; its plural is sukur. The term can also denote the wooden bar set behind a door as a latch, a meaning still current in greater Syria. Mirat al-zaman adds: “and he would fashion the kasaakir for the doors.” (3) Jawkan is a Persian word designating the club used in the game of golf (and, by extension, any bent stick). Its Arabised forms are al-suluj and al-sulujanah. See: Muʿjam al-alfaz al-farsiyyah al-muʿarrabah, p. 109.

قَالَ سِبْط الجَوْزِيّ (١) : كَانَ لَهُ عجَائِزُ، فَكَانَ يَخِيطُ الكوَافِي، وَيَعْمَلُ السَّكَاكِرَ (٢) ، فَيَبِعْنهَا لَهُ سرّاً، وَيُفْطِر عَلَى ثمنهَا. قَالَ ابْنُ وَاصِلٍ: كَانَ مِنْ أَقوَى النَّاس قَلْباً وَبدناً، لَمْ يُرَ عَلَى ظهر فَرَس أَحَد أَشدَّ مِنْهُ، كَأَنَّمَا خلق عَلَيْهِ لاَ يَتحرك، وَكَانَ مِنْ أَحْسَن النَّاس لعباً بِالكرَة، يَجرِي الفرسُ وَيَخطِفهَا مِنَ الهوَاء، وَيَرمِيهَا بِيَدِهِ إِلَى آخِر المَيْدَان، وَيُمْسِك الجُوْكَانَ (٣) بِكُمِّه تَهَاوُناً بِأَمره، وَكَانَ يَقُوْلُ: طَالمَا تَعرضتُ لِلشَّهَادَة، فَلَمْ أُدْرِكْهَا. قُلْتُ: قَدْ أَدْركهَا عَلَى فِرَاشه، وَعَلَى أَلسَنَة النَّاس: نُوْر الدِّيْنِ الشَّهِيْد، وَالَّذِي أَسقط مِنَ المُكُوْس فِي بِلاَده ذكرتُه فِي (تَارِيْخِنَا الكَبِيْر) مفصَّلاً، وَمَبْلَغُه فِي العَامِ خَمْسُ مائَةِ أَلْفِ دِيْنَارٍ، وَسِتَّةٌ وَثَمَانُوْنَ أَلفَ دِيْنَارٍ، وَأَرْبَعَة وَسَبْعُوْنَ دِيْنَاراً مِنْ نَقد الشَّام، مِنْهَا عَلَى الرّحبَة سِتَّةَ عَشَرَ أَلفَ دِيْنَار، وَعَلَى دِمَشْقَ خَمْسُوْنَ أَلْفاً وَسَبْعُ مائَةٍ وَنَيِّف، وَعَلَى المَوْصِل ثَمَانِيَة وَثَلاَثُوْنَ أَلْفَ دِيْنَار، وَعَلَى جَعْبَر سَبْعَة آلاَف دِيْنَار وَنَيِّف، وَفِي الكِتَابِ: فَأَيقنُوا أَنَّ ذَلِكَ إِنعَام مُسْتمر عَلَى الدّهور، باقٍ إِلَى يَوْم النُّشُوْر، فَـ ﴿كُلُوا مِنْ رِزْقِ رَبِّكُم وَاشْكُرُوا لَهُ، بَلْدَةٌ طَيِّبَةٌ وَرَبٌّ غَفُوْر﴾ [سَبَأُ: ١٥] ، ﴿فَمَنْ بَدَّلَهُ بَعْدَ مَا سَمِعَهُ، فَإِنَّمَا إِثْمُهُ عَلَى الَّذِيْنَ يُبَدِّلُوْنَهُ﴾ [البَقَرَةُ: ١٨١] . وَكَتَبَ فِي رَجَبٍ، سَنَةَ سَبْعٍ وَسِتِّيْنَ وَخَمْسِ مائَةٍ.

(١) في " مرآة الزمان " ٨ / ١٩٧. (٢) في كتب اللغة: السكر: ما يسد به النهر ونحوه والمسناة، وكل ما يسد من شق أو بثق والجمع سكور، وقد يكون المراد المزلاج الذي يوضع خلف الباب لاغلاقة، ولا زال أهل الشام إلى يومنا هذا يستعملون كلمة السكر للمزلاج. وفي مرآة الزمان: ويعمل الكساكير للابواب. (٣) الجوكان: كلمة فارسية، وهي عصا لعبة الكولف، وكل عصا معكوفة، وتعريبها: الصولج والصولجانة. انظر " معجم الألفاظ الفارسية المعربة " ١٠٩.