Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (22/338)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Sultan Yūsuf ibn ʿAbd al-Muʾmin ibn ʿAlī al-Qaysī.

His mother was a Byzantine (Rūmiyya) woman named Zahr.

He assumed dominion over the realm by virtue of an earlier writ of investiture from his father.

He was blond, light-eyed, smooth-cheeked and handsome; a man of few words and lowered gaze, courageous and awe-inspiring, far-sighted, forbearing, and reluctant to shed blood. A slight lisp marked his speech, he was thought to be tight-fisted, and he had several children.

He first appointed Abū Zayd ibn Yūjān as vizier, later dismissed him and appointed his brother, Prince Ibrāhīm. His confidential correspondence was handled by Ibn ʿAyyāsh and Ibn Yakhliftan al-Fāzāzī, while more than one jurist successively held his chief judgeship.

Ibn Ghāniya waged war against him and seized Fez.

In the Far Sūs, Yaḥyā ibn al-Jazzārah rebelled; his power swelled, he defeated the Almohads several times and nearly conquered the Maghrib, but he was killed. His sobriquet was Abū Qaṣabah.

In 601 AH the sultan marched out, besieged al-Mahdiyya for several months, and took it under a pledge of safety granted to Ibn Ghāniya’s deputies. Ibn Ghāniya’s brother Sīr defected to the sultan, who treated him with honour.

ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn ʿAlī states in his History (1): “I was informed that Abū ʿAbd Allāh spent, on this expedition, a total of one hundred and twenty loads of gold. He returned to Marrakesh in 604 AH. When the truce with the Franks expired, the sultan crossed with his armies to Seville (2).”

Then (3), in 608 AH, he set out once more to wage jihad against the enemy and laid siege to one of their fortresses,

= 18/1/409-412 of the printed edition, which contains a sound biography; compare al-Ibar 5/36-38; Duwal al-Islam 2/85; al-Anis al-Mutrib, p. 164; al-Istiqsa 1/189-194; Ibn Khaldun, Tarikh 6/246; al-Hulal al-Mawshiyya, p. 122, and other works. (1) Al-Muʿjib, p. 398; the previous paragraph is likewise cited from it, p. 397. (2) Al-Dhahabi summarizes the whole incident very briefly and dates the crossing to 607/1210-11. (3) Al-Muʿjib, p. 399.

السُّلْطَانِ يُوْسُفَ بنِ عَبْدِ المُؤْمِنِ بنِ عَلِيٍّ القَيْسِيُّ. وَأُمُّه رُومِيَّة، اسْمهَا زهر. تَمَلَّكَ البِلاَد بِعَهْدٍ مِنْ أَبِيْهِ مُتَقَدِّم. وَكَانَ أَشقر، أَشهل، أَسِيْل الخدّ، مليح الشّكل، كَثِيْر الصَّمْت وَالإِطْرَاق، شُجَاعاً، مَهِيْباً، بعيد الغَوْر، حليماً، عَفِيْفاً عَنِ الدِّمَاء، وَفِي لِسَانه لثغَة، وَكَانَ يُبَخَّل، وَلَهُ عِدَّةُ أَوْلاَد. اسْتَوْزَر أَبَا زَيْد بن يُوجَّان، ثُمَّ عَزَلَهُ، وَاسْتَوْزَرَ الأَمِيْر إِبْرَاهِيْم أَخَاهُ، وَكَتَبَ سرَّه ابْنُ عَيَّاشٍ، وَابْن يَخْلَفتنَ الفَازَازِي، وَوَلِيَ قَضَاءهُ غَيْر وَاحِد. حَارَبَه ابْن غَانِيَة، وَاسْتَوْلَى عَلَى فَاس. وَخَرَجَ عَلَيْهِ بِالسُّوس الأَقْصَى يَحْيَى بن الجَزَّارَة، وَاسْتفحل أَمره، وَهَزَمَ الموحِّدين مَرَّات، وَكَادَ أَنْ يَملك المَغْرِب، ثُمَّ قتل، وَيُلَقَّبُ بِأَبِي قصبَة. وَفِي سَنَةِ إِحْدَى وَسِتّ مائَةٍ: سَارَ السُّلْطَان وَحَاصَرَ المَهْدِيَّة أَشْهُراً، وَأَخَذَهَا بِالأَمَان مِنْ نُوَّاب ابْن غَانِيَة، وَانْحَازَ إِلَى السُّلْطَانِ أَخُو ابْن غَانِيَة سِيْر، فَاحْتَرَمه. قَالَ عَبْدُ الوَاحِدِ بنُ عَلِيٍّ فِي (تَارِيْخِهِ (١)) : بَلَغَنِي أَن جُمْلَةَ مَا أَنفقه أَبُو عَبْدِ اللهِ فِي هَذِهِ السَّفرَة مائَة وَعِشْرُوْنَ حِمْلاً مِنَ الذَّهب، وَردّ إِلَى مَرَّاكُش سَنَةَ أَرْبَعٍ وَسِتِّ مائَةٍ، وَفرغت هُدنَة الفِرَنْج، فَعبر السُّلْطَان بِجُيوشه إِلَى إِشْبِيْلِيَة (٢) . ثُمَّ (٣) تَحَرَّك فِي سَنَةِ ثَمَانٍ وَسِتِّ مائَةٍ لِجِهَاد العَدُوّ، فَنَازل حِصناً لَهُم،

= ١٨ / ١ / ٤٠٩ - ٤١٢ من المطبوع، وهي ترجمة جيدة، والعبر: ٥ / ٣٦ - ٣٨، ودول الإسلام: ٢ / ٨٥، والانيس المطرب: ١٦٤، والاستقصا: ١ / ١٨٩ - ١٩٤، وتاريخ ابن خلدون: ٦ / ٢٤٦، والحلل الموشية: ١٢٢ وغيرها. (١) المعجب: ٣٩٨. كما نقل الفقرة التي قبلها عنه أيضا ٣٩٧. (٢) اختصر الذهبي ذلك اختصارا شديدا، وكان عبوره سنة ٦٠٧. (٣) المعجب: ٣٩٩.