Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (21/100)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

‘I then realized that he possessed a prodigious memory the like of which I would never have imagined in any scholar. He continued to put me at ease until I spoke, whereupon he ordered that a robe of honour, a sum of money, and a mount be given to me. (1)’

His brother ʿUmar acted as his vizier for a few days, (2) after which the caliph dismissed him from the vizierate and appointed Idrīs ibn Jāmiʿ, until he eliminated him in 577 AH. Thereafter his son Yaʿqūb (3)—who would later become sultan—served as his vizier. He had, in all, sixteen sons. (4)

Mid-way through his reign Sabʿ ibn Ḥayyān and Mazzazdagh (5) in the district of Ghumāra (6) rebelled against him; he fought them and took them captive. In 567 AH he entered al-Andalus for jihad, harbouring the intention of seizing the rest of the peninsula. He dispatched the army against Muḥammad ibn Saʿd ibn Mardanīsh; they met near Murcia, and Muḥammad was routed. The Almohads then kept him under pressure in Murcia for a time, until he died and Abū Yaʿqūb annexed his territory.

He next marched on the city of Wabdha (7) and besieged it for several months; its inhabitants were on the verge of surrender from thirst. They then prayed for rain—may Allah curse them—and were granted it; their reservoirs filled, so he lifted the siege. He concluded a truce with Alfonso (8), resided in Seville for two and a half years, (9) and al-Andalus acknowledged his authority. He then returned to the Sous.

(1) Al-Muʿjib, pp. 314-315. Al-Dhahabi abbreviates ʿAbd al-Wahid’s report and recasts it in his own wording. (2) See Al-Muʿjib, p. 316. (3) It remained in place until his death in 580 AH. (4) Al-Muʿjib, p. 317, which also states that he had eighteen male children. (5) The name appears here with two letters zay; Al-Muʿjib has Marzadagh (ra then zay). He was the brother of Sabʿ already mentioned. (6) The tribe in which Sabʿ b. Hayyan rebelled. ʿAbd al-Wahid remarks: “That tribe is so numerous that it can scarcely be counted or delimited” (p. 325). (7) Al-Muʿjib reads wabadha; the vocalisation we retain is found in the base manuscript as well as in Yaqut and Ibn ʿAbd al-Haq. (8) Al-Muʿjib has al-adhfansh, i.e. Alfonso. (9) The base manuscript reads wa-nisf (“and a half”).

فَرَأَيْت مِنْهُ غَزَارَة حَفِظ لَمْ أَكن أَظنّهَا فِي عَالِم، وَلَمْ يَزَلْ يَبسطنِي، حَتَّى تَكلّمت، ثُمَّ أَمر لِي بخِلْعَة وَمَالٍ وَمركوبٍ (١) . وَزر (٢) لَهُ أَخُوْهُ عُمَر أَيَّاماً، ثُمَّ رفع مَنْزِلته عَنِ الوزَارَة، وَوَلَّى إِدْرِيْس بن جَامِعٍ، إِلَى أَنِ اسْتَأْصَلَهُ سَنَة ٥٧٧، ثُمَّ وَزَرَ لَهُ وَلدُهُ يَعْقُوْب (٣) الَّذِي تَسَلْطَنَ، وَكَانَ لَهُ مِنَ الوَلَدِ (٤) سِتَّةَ عَشَرَ ابْناً. وَفِي وَسط أَيَّامِه خَرَجَ عَلَيْهِ سَبُعُ بنُ حَيَّانَ، وَمَزَزْدَغْ (٥) فِي غُمَارَةَ (٦) ، فَحَارَبَهُمَا، وَأَسَرَهُمَا، وَدَخَلَ الأَنْدَلُس فِي سَنَةِ سَبْعٍ وَسِتِّيْنَ لِلْجِهَاد، وَيُضمر الاسْتيلاَء عَلَى باقِي الجَزِيْرَة، فَجَهَّزَ الجَيْش إِلَى مُحَمَّدِ بنِ سَعْدِ بنِ مَرْدَنِيْش، فَالتَقَوْا بِقُرْبِ مُرْسِيَةَ، فَانْكَسَرَ مُحَمَّد، ثُمَّ ضَايقه الموحّدُوْنَ بِمُرْسِيَة مُدَّة، فَمَاتَ، وَأَخَذَ أَبُو يَعْقُوْبَ بلاَده، ثُمَّ سَارَ فَنَازَلَ مَدِينَةَ وَبْذَى (٧) ، فَحَاصَرَهَا أَشْهُراً، وَكَادُوا أَنْ يُسلموهَا مِنَ العَطشِ، ثُمَّ اسْتَسْقَوا -لَعَنَهُمُ اللهُ- فَسُقُوا، وَامْتَلأَتْ صَهَارِيجُهُم، فَرَحَلَ، وَهَادَنَ الفُنش (٨) ، وَأَقَامَ بِإِشْبِيْلِيَةَ سَنَتَيْنِ وَنِصْفاً (٩) ، وَدَانت لَهُ الأَنْدَلُس، ثُمَّ رَجَعَ إِلَى السُّوس

(١) (المعجب) : ٣١٤ - ٣١٥ وقد لخص الذهبي كلام عبد الواحد وصاغه بأسلوبه. (٢) انظر (المعجب) : ٣١٦. (٣) وبقي إلى حين وفاته سنة ٥٨٠. (٤) (المعجب) : ٣١٧ وفيه أن أولاده الذكور ثمانية عشر ذكرا. (٥) كذا هي بزايين، وفي (المعجب) : (مرزدغ) براء ثم زاي، وهو أخو سبع المذكور. (٦) اسم القبيلة التي ثار فيها سبع بن حيان، وقال عبد الواحد: (والقبيلة المذكورة لا يكاد يحصرها ولا يحدها حزر لكثرتها) (ص: ٣٢٥) . (٧) في (المعجب) : (وبذة) وما قيدناه ورد في أصل النسخة وعند ياقوت وابن عبد الحق. (٨) وفي (المعجب) : (الاذفنش) وهو (ألفونس) . (٩) في الأصل: (ونصف) .