Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (22/210)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

—the favour of Allah in destroying the King of Germany; otherwise people would now be saying, “Syria and Egypt used to belong to the Muslims.”

I said: The enemy host numbered more than two hundred thousand, yet they perished from hunger and plague; their mounts died and the very earth stank with their corpses. They had marched past the approaches to Constantinople and then through the domains of the Romans, slaughtering and taking captives. The Sultan of Rūm confronted them, but the German king routed him, stormed Konya and sacked it. Ibn Qilij Arslān then sued for a truce. They pressed on through the region of Sis, where devastation overtook them: the king died and his son assumed command.

I also said: In one of the great engagements during the siege of Acre, twelve thousand five hundred of the enemy were killed in a single day. They fought again, and a further six thousand fell. The Franks then built two siege-towers of seasoned timber against Acre. Each tower was seven storeys high, fastened with huge nails—each nail weighing half a qinṭār—and plated all over with iron, presenting a terrifying sight. They set the tower on rollers and shoved it until it was flush with Acre’s wall, and still it loomed far above the battlements. The defenders of Acre trained their mangonels on it until they loosened it, then hurled a cauldron of naphtha at it, and it burst into flames (1), even though it was covered with felt soaked in vinegar to thwart the naphtha. It blazed nonetheless, and the accursed enemy flung themselves from it; it was a day long remembered.

Next they constructed an enormous battering-ram whose head weighed many qinṭārs of wrought iron, intending to drive it against the wall and pierce it. When they rolled it forward and it neared the rampart, it sank into the sand under its sheer weight. The dogs succeeded in tearing down a stretch of the wall and a tower, but the Muslims filled the breach and secured it in a single night. Throughout these two operations the Sultan was the first to mount and the last to dismount.

(1) This result was not achieved at first, for the nafatin (specialists in incendiary fire) failed to ignite it. God then brought forward a chemist who invented a compound that greatly intensified the flames. When it was put to use it proved remarkably effective, to the delight of the Muslims. The noble scholar declined any reward from the sultan, declaring: “I produced it for the sake of Allah alone and seek recompense only from Him.” For further details, see Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, 12:45-47; al-Fath al-Qussi, 370-373.

لطفُ اللهِ بِإِهَلاَكِ ملكِ الأَلمَانِ، وَإِلاَّ لَكَانَ يُقَالُ: إِنَّ الشَّامَ وَمِصْرَ كَانَتَا لِلمُسْلِمِيْنَ. قُلْتُ: كَانَتْ عَسَاكِرُ العَدُوِّ فَوْقَ المائَتَيْ أَلفٍ، وَلَكِنْ هلكُوا جوعاً وَوبَاءً، وَهلكتْ دوَابُّهُم، وَجَافتِ الأَرْضُ بِهِم، وَكَانُوا قَدْ سَارُوا، فَمرُّوا عَلَى جهَةِ القُسْطَنْطِيْنِيَّةِ، ثُمَّ عَلَى مَمَالِكِ الرُّوْمِ تقتلُ وَتَسبِي، وَالتقَاهُ سُلْطَانُ الرُّوْمِ، فَكسرَه ملكُ الأَلمَانِ، وَهجمَ قُوْنِيَةَ، فَاسْتبَاحَهَا، ثُمَّ هَادنَه ابْنُ قِلْجَ رسلاَنَ، وَمَرُّوا عَلَى بلاَدِ سيسَ، وَوَقَعَ فِيهِمُ الفَنَاءُ، فَمَاتَ الملكُ، وَقَامَ ابْنُه. قُلْتُ: قُتلَ مِنَ العَدُوِّ فِي بَعْضِ المَصَافّاتِ الكَبِيْرَةِ الَّتِي جرتْ فِي حِصَارِ عَكَّا فِي يَوْمٍ اثْنَا عَشَرَ أَلْفاً وَخَمْسُ مائَةٍ، وَالتَقَوا مَرَّةً أُخْرَى، فَقُتِلَ مِنْهُم سِتَّةُ آلاَفٍ، وَعَمَّرُوا عَلَى عكَّا بُرْجَيْنِ مِنْ أَخشَابٍ عَاتيَةٍ، البرجُ سَبْعُ طَبَقَاتٍ، فِيْهَا مسَامِيْرُ كِبَارٌ، يَكُوْنُ المِسْمَارُ نِصْفَ قنطَارٍ، وَصَفَّحُوا البُرجَ بِالحديدِ، فَبقِيَ مَنْظَراً مهولاً، وَدَفَعُوا البُرجَ بِبكرٍ تَحْتَه حَتَّى أَلصقوهُ بِسورِ عَكَّا، وَبَقِيَ أَعْلَى مِنْهَا بِكَثِيْرٍ، فَسلّطَ عَلَيْهِ أَهْلُ عكَّا المَجَانِيْقَ حَتَّى خلخلُوْهُ، ثُمَّ رَمُوْهُ بقدرَةِ نَفطٍ، فَاشتعلَ (١) مَعَ أَنَّهُ كَانَ عَلَيْهِ لبودٌ منقوعَةٌ بِالخَلِّ تَمنعُ عَملَ النفطِ، فَأُوْقِدَ، وَجَعَلَ الملاعِينُ يَرمُوْنَ نُفُوْسَهُم مِنْهُ، وَكَانَ يَوْماً مَشْهُوْداً، ثُمَّ عَملُوا كَبْشاً عَظِيْماً، رَأْسُه قنَاطيرُ مقَنْطَرَةٌ مِنْ حديدٍ؛ ليدفعُوْهُ عَلَى السُّوْرِ فَيخرقَه، فَلَمَّا دحرجُوهُ وَقَاربَ السُّوْرَ، سَاخَ فِي الرملِ لعظمِه، وَهدَّ الكِلاَبُ بدنَةً وَبُرجاً، فَسدَّ المُسْلِمُوْنَ ذَلِكَ وَأَحكمُوْهُ فِي لَيْلَةٍ، وَكَانَ السُّلْطَانُ يَكُوْنُ أَوّلَ رَاكِبٍ وَآخرَ نَازلٍ فِي هَذَيْنِ

(١) لم يكن هذا في أول الامر لان النفاطين عجزوا عن إحراقه، ثم هيأ الله سبحانه أحد الكيماويين فابتدع نوعا من العقاقير تقوي عمل النار، فاستخدمت ونجحت نجاحا باهرا وفرح بها المسلمون، ولم يقبل هذا العالم الفاضل مكافأة من السلطان، وقال: إنما عملته لله تعالى، ولا أريد الجزاء إلا منه (انظر التفاصيل في كامل ابن الأثير: ١٢ / ٤٥ - ٤٧، والفتح القسي: ٣٧٠ - ٣٧٣) .