Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (21/222)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Al-Mundhirī (1) said: A group of our colleagues heard ḥadith from him; he committed a great deal to writing, and his calligraphy was of outstanding quality. He held the Dīwān al-Naẓar (the Supervisory Bureau) in the Egyptian administration, moved through a succession of appointments, and lived for eighty-nine years.

Al-Muwaffaq ʿAbd al-Laṭīf said: He was brown-skinned, tall, slight of build, refined, and skilled in epistolary style. He was master of the bureau, and the celebrated jurist al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil was among those who frequented his door, praised him, and boasted of having gained access to him. When the Ṣalāḥid regime assumed power, al-Fāḍil said, “This man enjoys great standing; he ought to be granted a stipend sufficient for his needs and allowed to remain in his home.” So it was done.

Afterwards he set out for Yemen, where he served as vizier and corresponded with Baghdad; there he was held in high honor and esteem. When I later reached Egypt I found Ibn Bunān in dire straits, burdened by a heavy debt that led the governor to confine him in the congregational mosque. He used to disparage al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil and regarded him with the same old eye (2); consequently al-Fāḍil fell short in assisting him.

The debt was owed to a foreigner. The creditor climbed up to him on the roof of the mosque, insulted him, seized his beard, and struck him. Ibn Bunān fled, threw himself from the roof, was shattered, and was carried to his house, where he died a few days later. Al-Fāḍil sent fifteen dinars with his son for the shrouding and funeral expenses, and three days after that al-Fāḍil himself died suddenly.

Ibn Bunān passed away on the third of Rabīʿ al-Ākhir in the year 596 AH.

…“a large crowd of the people of Baghdad gathered, although I myself was not in the city that day” (al-Dhail, fol. 110). His arrival in Baghdad took place in 582/1186, a date also given by Ibn al-Dubaythi. (1) Al-Takmila, entry 525. Al-Dhahabi, following his usual practice, alters the wording; among his additions is the remark, “and he lived eighty-nine years.” Al-Zaki al-Mundhiri never wrote this. He only stated that the shaykh was born in Cairo in 507/1113 and died on the night of 3 Rabi al-Akhir 596/January 1200. Al-Dhahabi deleted these lines, calculated the age himself, and then ascribed the figure to al-Mundhiri—typical of his method. (2) I.e., when Ibn Bunan held political power in the Egyptian state.

وَقَالَ المُنْذِرِيّ (١) : سَمِعَ مِنْهُ جَمَاعَة مِنْ رُفقَائِنَا، وَكَتَبَ الكَثِيْر، وَخطُّه فِي غَايَة الجوْدَة، وَلِيَ دِيْوَان النَّظَر فِي الدَّوْلَة المِصْرِيَّة، وَتَقَلَّب فِي الْخَدَم، وَعَاشَ تِسْعاً وَثَمَانِيْنَ سَنَةً. قَالَ المُوَفَّق عَبْد اللَّطِيْفِ: كَانَ أَسْمَر، طُوَالاً، رقيقاً، لَهُ أَدب وَترَسُّل، وَكَانَ صَاحِبَ الدِّيْوَان، وَالقَاضِي الفَاضِل مِمَّنْ يغشَى بَابَه، وَيَمتدحه، وَيَفخَرُ بِالوُصُوْل إِلَيْهِ، فَلَمَّا جَاءت الدَّوْلَة الصَّلاَحيَّة، قَالَ الفَاضِل: هَذَا رَجُل كَبِيْرَ القَدْرِ، يَنْبَغِي أَنْ يُجرَى عَلَيْهِ مَا يَكفِيه، وَيَجْلِس فِي بَيْته. فَفُعَل ذَلِكَ، ثُمَّ تَوجّه إِلَى اليَمَنِ، وَوزر بِهَا، وَترسّل إِلَى بَغْدَادَ، فَعظّم، وَبجّل، وَلَمَّا صرت إِلَى مِصْرَ، وَجَدْت ابْنَ بُنَانٍ فِي ضَنْك، وَعَلَيْهِ دَيْن ثَقِيل، أَدَّى أَمره إِلَى أَنْ حَبسه الحَاكِم بِالجَامِع، وَكَانَ يَنْتقص بِالقَاضِي الفَاضِل، وَيَرَاهُ بِالعين الأُوْلَى (٢) ، فَقَصَّر الفَاضِل فِي حقّه، وَكَانَ الدَّيْن لأَعْجَمِيّ، فَصَعِدَ إِلَيْهِ إِلَى سطح الجَامِع، وَسفّه عَلَيْهِ، وَقبض عَلَى لِحْيته وَضَرَبَه، فَفَرّ، وَأَلقَى نَفْسه مِنَ السّطح، فَتهشّم، فَحُمِلَ إِلَى دَارِهِ، وَمَاتَ بَعْدَ أَيَّام، فَسيّر الفَاضِل لِتجهيزه خَمْسَةَ عَشَرَ دِيْنَاراً مَعَ وَلده، ثُمَّ إِنَّ الفَاضِل مَاتَ بَعْدَ ثَلاَثَة أَيَّام فُجَاءةً. مَاتَ ابْن بُنَانٍ: فِي ثَالِث رَبِيْع الآخر، سَنَة سِتٍّ وَتِسْعِيْنَ وَخَمْسِ مائَةٍ.

= خلق من أهل بغداد ولم أكن بها يومئذ) (الذيل، الورقة: ١١٠) ، وكان قدومه إلى بغداد في سنة ٥٨٢ ذكر ذلك ابن الدبيثي أيضا. (١) (التكملة) ، الترجمة: ٥٢٥ وتصرف في النص على عادته ومنها قوله: (وعاش تسعا وثمانين سنة) فإن الزكي المنذري لم يذكر مثل هذه العبارة، بل ذكر أنه ولد بالقاهرة سنه ٥٠٧، وأنه توفي في ليلة الثالث من شهر ربيع الآخر سنة ٥٩٦ فطرح الذهبي ذلك من هذا، واستخرج عمره، ونسبه إلى المنذري! وهذه طريقته ﵀. (٢) يعني حينما كان ابن بنان صاحب سلطان بالدولة المصرية.