Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (22/117)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

of the pens and closed the gaps in discourse (1); for this witticism the servant accepts full liability, and the tongue of the pen allowed itself no pause.

I add: He was a consummate statesman, sound in judgment and blessed with good fortune. He brought territories under his sway, his days were long, and he ruled the Ḥijāz, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, much of al-Jazīra, Diyār Bakr, and Armenia.

He was truly fit for kingship—handsome in appearance, imposing, forbearing, and devout, marked on the whole by chastity, clemency, and generosity.

During part of his reign he abolished wine and open vice, and in Egypt’s famine he gave away great quantities of gold, so much so that it was said he had provided shrouds for three hundred thousand of the deceased—the report rests with Sibt al-Jawzī in this matter (2).

His dealings with his brother’s sons are well known. He kept maneuvering against them, setting them at odds until he pushed them aside, consolidated his position, and seized his brother’s dominions. He banished al-Afdal to Samosata, spared al-Ẓāhir and refrained from breaking with him (3) because the latter had married his daughter; he dispatched to Yemen his grandson al-Masʿūd Aṭsuz (4) son of al-Kāmil, and installed in Mayyafariqīn his son al-Awḥad, who then took Armenia.

He later divided the realms among his own sons, spending most summers in Syria and most winters in Egypt.

Robes of sovereignty reached him from al-Nāṣir li-Dīn Allāh. They were: a black cloak embroidered with gold and set with jewels at the collar, a black gilt turban, a collar, a sword, and a horse.

(1) Addition supplied from Ibn Khallikan’s Wafayat al-Ayan. (2) Mirat al-Zaman, vol. 8, p. 595. Al-Dhahabi has repeatedly warned against the exaggerations of Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi, and he cites this story as one such case, remarking in his Tarikh al-Islam: “This is a gross fabrication by someone who does not fear God in what he says.” (3) Meaning: he abandoned (left) it. (4) The name is also pronounced “Atsiz,” with a t. In Turkish, at means “name” and siz means “without,” yielding the sense “nameless.”

الأَقلاَم، وَسدت خلل (١) الكَلاَم، وَعَلَى المَمْلُوْكِ الضَّمَان فِي هَذِهِ النُّكْتَة، وَقَدْ فَات لِسَان القَلَم أَيّ سَكْتَة. قُلْتُ: وَكَانَ سَائِساً، صَائِب الرَّأْي، سعيداً، اسْتولَى عَلَى البِلاَد، وَامتدت أَيَّامه، وَحكم عَلَى الحِجَاز، وَمِصْر، وَالشَّام، وَاليَمَن، وَكَثِيْر مِنَ الجَزِيْرَة، وَدِيَار بَكْرٍ، وَأَرْمِيْنيَةَ. وَكَانَ خَلِيقاً لِلمُلك، حَسَن الشّكل، مَهِيْباً، حليماً، دَيِّناً، فِيْهِ عِفَّة وَصَفح وَإِيثَار فِي الجُمْلَةِ. أَزَال الخُمُوْر وَالفَاحشَة فِي بَعْضِ أَيَّام دَوْلَته، وَتَصدَّق بِذَهَب كَثِيْر فِي قَحط مِصْر، حَتَّى قِيْلَ: إِنَّهُ كَفَّن مِنَ الموتَى ثَلاَث مائَة أَلْف، وَالعُهدَة عَلَى سِبْط الجَوْزِيّ فِي هَذِهِ (٢) . وَسيرته مَعَ أَوْلاَد أَخِيْهِ مَشْهُوْرَة، ثُمَّ لَمْ يزَلْ يرَاوَغهم وَيلقِي بَيْنهُم حَتَّى دحَاهُم، وَتَمَكَّنَ وَاسْتَوْلَى عَلَى مَمَالِك أَخِيْهِ، وَأَبعد الأَفْضَل إِلَى سُمَيسَاط، وَودَع (٣) الظَّاهِر وَكَاسر عَنْهُ لَكُوْن بِنْته زَوجته، وَبَعَثَ عَلَى اليَمَنِ حَفِيْده المَسْعُوْد أَطسز (٤) ابْن الكَامِل، وَنَاب عَنْهُ بِمَيَّافَارِقِيْن ابْنه الأَوْحَدُ، فَاسْتولَى عَلَى أَرْمِيْنِيَةَ. ثُمَّ إِنَّهُ قسّم المَمَالِك بَيْنَ أَوْلاَده، وَكَانَ يصيّف بِالشَّامِ غَالِباً وَيَشتو بِمِصْرَ. جَاءته خِلَع السّلطنَة مِنَ النَّاصِر لِدِيْنِ اللهِ، وَهِيَ: جُبَّة سَوْدَاء بِطرز ذهب وَجَوَاهر فِي الطّوق، وَعِمَامَة سَوْدَاء مَذَهَّبَة، وَطوْق، وَسيف، وَحصَان

(١) زيادة من وفيات ابن خلكان. (٢) المرآة: ٨ / ٥٩٥ وقد نبه الذهبي على مجازفة سبط ابن الجوزي غير مرة، وهذه منها، فقد قال في " تاريخ الإسلام " معلقا على هذه الحكاية: " هذا خسف من لا يتقي الله فيما يقوله ". (٣) أي: ترك. (٤) ويقال فيه " آتسز " بالتاء، و" آت " بالتركية " اسم " " سز ": بلا، فيكون: بلا اسم.