Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (21/283)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

His great encounter in Egypt was with the Sudanese troops, who numbered about two hundred thousand. God granted him victory over them, and he slew the greater part of their host.

In those very days the king of the Khazars seized Dvin and killed thirty thousand Muslims.

Salah al-Din was struck by fever. Someone with no medical skill opened a vein; his strength ebbed, and he died. The people mourned him as they mourn the prophets. I have never seen a king whose passing evoked such sorrow, for he was loved alike by the pious and the profligate, the Muslim and the unbeliever. After his death his sons and followers scattered like the dispersed folk of Sheba and were torn apart.

Al-Imad spoke truly when he praised him, saying:

Through the victorious king al-Nasir Salah
mankind finds rectitude and a mighty triumph.
He is the sun, whose spheres course through every land,
whose dawn breaks from the flash of saddle and throne.
When he attacks, bestows, or seats himself in state,
no lion, no Hatim, no Mount Thabir can rival him.

Ibn Khallikan (1) relates: “I have been told that Salah al-Din’s father brought him while he was still an infant, and the father served as deputy in Baalbek until Atabeg Zangi (2) took the city. It is also said that they left Tikrit on the very night Salah al-Din was born and regarded that as an ill omen, whereupon Shirkuh—or someone else—remarked, ‘Perhaps there is good in him, though you do not perceive it…,’ until he went on to say (3):

Shirkuh in fact held the higher rank with Nur al-Din, for he was commander of his armies.”

(1) Wafayat, vol. 7, pp. 143–145. (2) The original wording in Ibn Khallikan states: “When Imad al-Din Zanki captured Baalbek, he appointed Najm al-Din as its dizdar.” The Persian term dizdar means “keeper of the citadel,” i.e., the governor; al-Dhahabi, however, renders it here as “deputy” (naib). (3) Wafayat, vol. 7, p. 146 ff. Al-Dhahabi has reworked the passage extensively—abridging, altering, and rearranging it, as is his custom—while still preserving the overall meaning. This method, may Allah have mercy on him, is characteristic of him, though somewhat bewildering.

وَكَانَتْ وَقعته بِمِصْرَ مَعَ السُّودَان، وَكَانُوا نَحْو مائَتَيْ أَلف، فَنُصِر عَلَيْهِم، وَقَتَلَ أَكْثَرهُم. وَفِي هَذِهِ الأَيَّام اسْتولَى ملك الخَزَر عَلَى دُوِيْن، وَقتلَ مِنَ المُسْلِمِيْنَ ثَلاَثِيْنَ أَلْفاً. حُمَّ صَلاَح الدِّيْنِ، فَفَصده مَنْ لاَ خَبَرَة لَهُ، فَخَارت القُوَّة، وَمَاتَ، فَوَجَد النَّاسُ عَلَيْهِ شبيهاً بِمَا يَجدُوْنَهُ عَلَى الأَنْبِيَاء، وَمَا رَأَيْتُ ملكاً حَزِنَ النَّاس لِمَوْتِهِ سِوَاهُ، لأَنَّه كَانَ مُحببّاً، يُحِبُّه البِرّ وَالفَاجر، وَالمُسْلِم وَالكَافِر، ثُمَّ تَفرّق أَوْلاَده وَأَصْحَابه أَيَادِي سَبَأ، وَتَمزّقُوا. وَلَقَدْ صدق العِمَاد فِي مَدحه حَيْثُ يَقُوْلُ: وَلِلنَّاسِ بِالمَلِكِ النَّاصِرِ الصَّلاَ ... حِ صَلاَحٌ وَنَصْرٌ كَبِيْرُ هُوَ الشَّمْسُ أَفلاَكُهُ فِي البِلاَ ... دِ وَمَطْلَعُهُ سَرْجُهُ وَالسَّرِيْرُ إِذَا مَا سَطَا أَوْ حَبَا وَاحْتَبَى ... فَمَا اللَّيْثُ مِنْ حَاتِمٍ مَا ثَبِيْرُ قَالَ ابْنُ خَلِّكَانَ (١) : بَلَغَنِي أَنّ صَلاَح الدِّيْنِ قَدِمَ بِهِ أَبُوْهُ وَهُوَ رضيعٌ، فَنَاب أَبُوْه بِبَعْلَبَكَّ إِلَى آخذهَا أَتَابك زَنْكِي (٢) ، وَقِيْلَ: إِنَّهُم خَرَجُوا مِنْ تَكرِيت فِي لَيْلَةِ مَوْلِد صَلاَح الدِّيْنِ، فَتطيَّرُوا بِهِ، فَقَالَ شِيرْكُوْه أَوْ غَيْره: لَعَلَّ فِيْهِ الخَيْر وَأَنْتُم لاَ تَعلمُوْنَ ... ، إِلَى أَنْ قَالَ (٣) : وَكَانَ شِيرْكُوْه أَرْفَع مَنْزِلَةً عِنْد نُوْر الدِّيْنِ، فَإِنَّهُ كَانَ مُقدَّمَ جيوشِهِ.

(١) (وفيات) : ٧ / ١٤٣ - ١٤٥. (٢) أصل الخبر عند ابن خلكان: (فلما فتح عماد الدين زنكي بعلبك، جعل نجم الدين دزدارها) والدزدار كلمة أعجمية بمعنى حافظ القلعة، وهو الوالي، فجعلها الذهبي هنا (نائب) . (٣) (الوفيات) : ٧ / ١٤٦ فما بعد، وقد تصرف الذهبي بالنص تصرفا كبيرا، فلخص، وغير وقدم وأخر على عادته، لكنه احتفظ بالمعنى، وهذه طريقته، ﵀، وهي طريقة مربكة.