Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (22/310)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Ibn Khallikān mentions him at length and writes (1): “He was a soldier, placed in command of the mangonel corps, passionately devoted to the disciplines of sword and arms. In that field he excelled, and he authored a work on the administration of realms—treating of war and its deployment, the opening of frontier posts, the construction of fortresses, horsemanship, and stratagems (2). He was intelligent, pleasant in conversation, warm-hearted, and ever composing verse. He praised the caliphs in his panegyrics and held high rank with al-Nāṣir li-Dīn Allāh …”

The qāḍī then says:
“I have always been enamoured of his poetry, delighted by his style, though I never met him. He is the one who said:

I have grown infatuated with the science of the mangonel and its volleys,
to bring down strongholds and open the frontier posts;
And, by ill-starred fate, I returned to the craft (3) of verse—
yet in both pursuits I still make a wall my target.

He also said:

A maiden of Abyssinian stock,
with sound yet languid eyelids;
I wooed her in youthful folly, and from that love I turned grey—
I never welcomed the grey in my hair;
I used to taunt her for her darkness,
but now she taunts me for my whiteness.

And he said:

The shaykhs of the age have donned wool, abandoning purity,
so that they might drink the pressed grape (4);
Dancing and beardless youths (5) are their pastime—
a lasting evil beneath a short hem.”

He died in Ṣafar (6), in the year 626 AH.

(1) Wafayat al-Ayan, vol. 7, p. 36 ff. (2) The work is entitled “Umdat al-Salik fi Siyasat al-Mamalik” (The Traveler’s Staff on the Governance of Kingdoms), as Ibn Khallikan notes. (3) Wafayat al-Ayan reads: “ila nazm” (up to the poem). (4) Wafayat al-Ayan reads: “al-asr” (the afternoon prayer / the age). (5) Wafayat al-Ayan reads: “wa-l-shahid” (and the witness). (6) Al-Mundhiri dates it to the night of the twenty-eighth of that month.

ذَكَرَهُ ابْنُ خَلِّكَانَ، فَطوَّلَ تَرْجَمَتَهُ، وَقَالَ (١) : كَانَ جُندِيّاً مُقَدَّماً عَلَى المِنْجَنِيْقيِّينَ، مُغرَى بِآدَابِ السَّيْفِ وَالسِّلاَحِ، بَرعَ فِي ذَلِكَ، وَصَنَّفَ فِي سَيَاسَةِ المَمَالِكِ كِتَابَهُ فِي الحُرُوْبِ وَتَعْبِئَتِهَا، وَفَتحِ الثُّغُوْرِ، وَبِنَاءِ المعَاقلِ، وَالفُروسيَّةِ، وَالحيلِ (٢) ، وَكَانَ كَيِّساً، طَيِّبَ المُحَاوَرَةِ، مُتودِّداً، سَائِرَ النّظمِ، مَدحَ الخُلَفَاءَ، وَكَانَ ذَا رُتْبَةٍ عِنْدَ النَّاصِرِ لِدِيْنِ اللهِ ... ، إِلَى أنْ قَالَ القَاضِي: مَا زِلْتُ مَشغُوَفاً بِشِعرِهِ، مُسْتَعذِباً أُسلوبَهُ، وَلَمْ أَرَهُ، وَهُوَ القَائِلُ: كَلِفْتُ بِعِلْمِ المِنْجَنِيْقِ وَرَمْيِهِ ... لِهَدْمِ الصَّيَاصِي وَافْتِتَاحِ المَرَابِطِ وَعُدْتُ إِلَى فَنِّ (٣) القَرِيضِ لِشَقْوَتِي ... فَلَمْ أَخْلُ فِي الحَالَيْنِ مِنْ قَصْدِ حَائِطِ وَلَهُ: وَجَارِيَةٍ مِنْ بَنَاتِ الحبوش ... بِذَاتِ جُفُوْنٍ صِحَاحٍ مِرَاضِ تَعَشَّقْتُهَا لِلتَّصَابِي فَشِبْتُ ... غَرَاماً وَمَا كُنْتُ بِالشَّيْبِ رَاضِي وَكُنْتُ أُعَيِّرُهَا بِالسَّوَادِ ... فَصَارَتْ تُعَيِّرُنِي بِالبَيَاضِ وَلَهُ: قَدْ لَبِسَ الصُّوْفَ لِتَرْكِ الصَّفَا ... مَشَايِخُ الوَقْتِ (٤) لِشُرْبِ العَصِيرْ الرَّقْصُ وَالأَمْرَدُ (٥) مِنْ شَأْنِهِم ... شَرٌّ طَوِيْلٌ تَحْتَ ذَيْلٍ قَصِيرْ تُوُفِّيَ: فِي صَفَرٍ (٦) ، سَنَةَ سِتٍّ وَعِشْرِيْنَ وَسِتِّ مائَةٍ.

(١) وفيات الأعيان: ٧ / ٣٦ فما بعدها. (٢) اسمه " عمدة السالك في سياسة الممالك " كما ذكر ابن خلكان. (٣) في الوفيات: إلى نظم. (٤) في الوفيات: العصر. (٥) في الوفيات: والشاهد. (٦) في ليلة الثامن والعشرين منه على ما ذكره المنذري.