Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (21/238)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

seventy, and he seized Homs. The people of Aleppo thereupon sided with Masʿūd; when Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn learned of this he set out, meeting them on the Heights of Ḥamā. Envoys were exchanged in hopes of a truce, but Masʿūd refused, imagining he could defeat Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn. Battle was joined, Masʿūd was routed, and several of his emirs were taken captive during Ramadan, though they were afterwards released.

Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn then returned and encamped before Aleppo, where he concluded peace with Nūr al-Dīn’s son on condition that al-Maʿarra, Kafr Ṭāb, and Bārīn be ceded to him. He thereupon withdrew.

Masʿūd next assumed the sultanate in Mosul. When Nūr al-Dīn’s son lay dying he bequeathed Aleppo to his cousin Masʿūd and appointed him his successor. Masʿūd hastened to the city, entered it in Shaʿbān of the year 577 AH, consolidated his authority, and married al-Ṣāliḥ’s mother. He remained about two months, but then grew fearful of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn, and the emirs pressed him for fiefs, so he left Aleppo, deputising Muẓaffar al-Dīn, the son of the lord of Irbil (1), to govern it.

He subsequently met his brother Zankī (2); they exchanged Aleppo for Sinjār and swore an alliance. Zankī came and took possession of Aleppo in Muḥarram of the year 578 AH. Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn had meanwhile set out for Egypt, but when the news reached him he turned back. He also learned that Masʿūd had written to the Franks urging them to attack him. Angered, he marched and besieged Aleppo in Jumādā al-Ūlā of the same year 578 AH, yet withdrew after three days. Muẓaffar al-Dīn, the son of the lord of Irbil, now defected to him and encouraged him to strike at the provinces of the Jazīra. Crossing the Euphrates, he captured Raqqa, Edessa, Nisibis, and Saruj. He then laid siege to Mosul in Rajab but, finding it strongly fortified, moved on to Sinjār, invested it for a few days, and took it, granting it to Taqī al-Dīn ʿUmar, the ruler of Ḥamā.

Afterwards he returned and besieged Mosul again in 581 AH. Masʿūd’s mother came down to him with a group of women, but he gave them no reply—something he later regretted. The people of Mosul fought with extraordinary determination for several nights, and just then word reached him of the death of the lord of Khilāṭ.

(1) The ruler of Irbil at that time was Zayn al-Din. After his father’s death, Muzaffar al-Din inherited the emirate of Irbil; he was renowned and was also called Muzaffar al-Din Kawkabri. (2) That is a reference to Imad al-Din Zanki.

سَبْعِيْنَ، وَأَخَذَ حِمْص، فَانضمّ الحلبيّون مَعَ مَسْعُوْد، وَعَرَفَ بِذَلِكَ صَلاَح الدِّيْنِ، فَسَارَ، فَوَافَاهُم عَلَى قرُوْنَ حَمَاة، فَترَاسلُوا فِي الصُّلح، فَأَبَى مَسْعُوْد، وَظَنّ أَنَّهُ يهْزم صَلاَح الدِّيْنِ، فَالتَقَوا، فَانكسر مَسْعُوْد، وَأُسِرَ عِدَّة مِنْ أُمَرَائِهِ فِي رَمَضَانَ، وَأُطلقُوا، وَعَاد صَلاَح الدِّيْنِ، فَنَزَلَ عَلَى حلب، فَصَالَحَ ابْن نُوْر الدِّيْنِ عَلَى بذل المَعَرَّة وَكفرطَاب وَبَارِيْنَ، فَترحّل، ثُمَّ تَسَلَّطن بِالمَوْصِل مَسْعُوْد، فَلَمَّا احتُضر وَلد نُوْر الدِّيْنِ، أَوْصَى بِحَلَبَ لمَسْعُوْد ابْن عَمِّهِ، وَاسْتخلف لَهُ الأَمْرُ، فَبَادر إِلَيْهَا مَسْعُوْد، فَدَخَلهَا فِي شَعْبَان سَنَةَ ٧٧، وَتَمَكَّنَ، وَتَزَوَّجَ بِأُمِّ الصَّالِح، وَأَقَامَ بِهَا نَحْو شَهْرَيْنِ، ثُمَّ خَاف مِنْ صَلاَح الدِّيْنِ، وَأَلحّ عَلَيْهِ الأُمَرَاء بِطَلب إِقطَاعَات، فَفَارق حلب، وَاستنَاب عَلَيْهَا مُظَفَّرَ الدِّيْنِ ابْن صَاحِب إِرْبِل (١) ، ثُمَّ اجْتمع بِأَخِيْهِ زَنْكِي (٢) ، فَقَايضه عَلَى حلب بِسِنْجَار، وَتحَالفَا، وَقَدِمَ زَنْكِي، فَتملّك حلب فِي المُحَرَّم سَنَةَ ٧٨، وَردّ صَلاَح الدِّيْنِ إِلَى مِصْرَ، فَبلغَتْهُ الأُمُوْر، فَكرّ رَاجِعاً، وَبَلَغَهُ أَنّ مسعُوْداً رَاسل الفِرنْج يَحثّهُم عَلَى حَرْب صَلاَح الدِّيْنِ، فَغَضِبَ وَسَارَ، فَنَازل حلب فِي جُمَادَى الأُوْلَى سَنَةَ ثَمَانٍ، ثُمَّ ترحّل بَعْد ثَلاَث، فَانحَاز إِلَيْهِ مُظَفَّر الدِّيْنِ ابْن صَاحِب إِرْبِل، وَقوَّى عَزْمه عَلَى قصد مَمَالِك الجَزِيْرَة، فَعدَّى الفُرَات، وَأَخَذَ الرَّقَّة، وَالرُّهَا، وَنَصِيْبِيْن، وَسَرُوج، ثُمَّ نَازل المَوْصِل فِي رَجَبٍ، فَرَآهَا منِيعَة، فَنَزَلَ عَلَى سِنْجَار أَيَّاماً، وَافْتَتَحَهَا، فَأَعْطَاهَا لِتقِيّ الدِّيْنِ عُمَر صَاحِب حَمَاة، ثُمَّ نَازل المَوْصِل فِي سَنَةِ إِحْدَى وَثَمَانِيْنَ، فَنَزَلت إِلَيْهِ أُمّ مَسْعُوْد فِي نِسْوَة، فَمَا أَجَابهنّ، ثُمَّ نَدِم، وَبذلت الموَاصِلَةُ نُفُوْسهُم فِي القِتَال ليَالِي، فَأَتَاهُ مَوْتُ صَاحِب خِلاَط

(١) صاحب إربل آنذاك هو زين الدين، وقد تولى مظفر الدين إمارة إربل بعد أبيه وكان مشهورا وعرف بمظهر الدين كوكبري. (٢) يعني عماد الدين زنكي.