Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (12/31)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

When his brother al-Wāthiq died, the oath of allegiance was given to him in Dhū al-Ḥijjah, in the year 232 AH.

He transmitted reports from his father and from Yaḥyā ibn Aktham.

He was dark-complexioned and handsome, with attractive eyes, a slender build, lightly bearded cheeks, and of medium stature. His mother’s name was Shujāʿ.

Khalīfah ibn Khayyāṭ said: “When al-Mutawakkil assumed the caliphate he openly upheld the Sunnah, spoke about it in his assemblies, and wrote to all provinces abolishing the miḥnah, expanding the sphere of the Sunnah, and supporting its adherents. In Ṣafar 244 AH al-Mutawakkil arrived in Damascus; it pleased him greatly, so he resolved to settle there, moved the state bureaus to the city, ordered construction, granted the Turkish troops a sum with which they were satisfied, and built a large palace in Darayyā adjacent to al-Mizzah.⦗1⦘”

ʿAlī ibn al-Jahm said: “Al-Mutawakkil wore his hair long, down to his earlobes, like his father and al-Maʾmūn.⦗2⦘”

Al-Fasawī reported that after two months he returned from Damascus to Sāmarrāʾ.

It was also said that Damascus had been recommended to him because it suited his temperament and would cure the ailments that afflicted him in Iraq.

Khalīfah⦗3⦘ further stated: “He led the people in the ḥajj before becoming caliph.”

(1) I could not locate this report in the printed edition of Tarikh Khalifah. The poet Yazid b. Muhammad al-Muhallabi composed the following verses when the caliph al-Mutawakkil moved to Darayya: I think that Syria will gloat over Iraq when the Imam decides to set off; should he leave Iraq and its inhabitants, then the fair one will taste the sorrow of divorce. (2) The term jumma—pronounced with a u-vowel on the initial j and a doubled, open m—designates the full mass of hair on the head and is longer than the wafra. A hadith states: “The Messenger of Allah had a curly jumma.” (3) See Tarikh Khalifah, p. 478.

وَبُوْيِعَ عِنْدَ مَوْتِ أَخِيْهِ الوَاثِقِ فِي ذِي الحِجَّةِ، سَنَةَ اثْنَتَيْنِ وَثَلاَثِيْنَ. حَكَى عَنْ: أَبِيْهِ، وَيَحْيَى بنِ أَكْثَمَ. وَكَانَ أَسْمَرَ جَمِيْلاً، مَلِيْحَ العَيِنَيْنِ، نَحِيْفَ الجِسْمِ، خَفِيْفَ العَارِضَيْنِ، رَبْعَةً، وَأُمُّهُ اسْمُهَا شُجَاعٌ. قَالَ خَلِيْفَةُ بنُ خَيَّاطٍ: اسْتُخْلِفَ المُتَوَكِّلُ، فَأَظْهَرَ السُّنَّةَ، وَتَكَلَّمَ بِهَا فِي مَجْلِسِهِ، وَكَتَبَ إِلَى الآفَاقِ بِرَفْعِ المِحْنَةِ، وَبَسْطِ السُّنَّةِ، وَنَصْرِ أَهْلِهَا، وَقَدْ قَدِمَ المُتَوَكِّلُ دِمَشْقَ فِي صَفَرٍ سَنَةَ ٢٤٤ فَأَعْجَبَتْهُ، وَعَزَمَ عَلَى المُقَامِ بِهَا، وَنَقَلَ دَوَاوِيْنَ المُلْكِ إِلَيْهَا، وَأَمَرَ بِالبِنَاءِ بِهَا، وَأَمَرَ لِلأَتْرَاكِ بِمَالٍ رَضُوا بِهِ، وَأَنْشَأَ قَصْراً كَبِيْراً بِدَارَيَّا مِمَّا يَلِي المِزَّةَ (١) . قَالَ عَلِيُّ بنُ الجَهْمِ: كَانَتْ لِلْمُتَوَكِّلِ جُمَّةٌ (٢) إِلَى شَحْمَةِ أُذُنَيْهِ مِثْلَ أَبِيْهِ وَالمَأْمُوْنِ. وَقَالَ الفَسَوِيُّ: رَجَعَ مِنْ دِمَشْقَ بَعْدَ شَهْرَيْنِ إِلَى سَامَرَّاءَ. وَقِيْلَ: نُعِتَتْ لَهُ دِمَشْقَ، وَأَنَّهَا تُوَافِقُ مِزَاجَهُ، وَتُذْهِبُ عِلَلَهُ الَّتِي تَعْرِضُ لَهُ بِالعِرَاقِ. قَالَ خَلِيْفَةُ (٣) : وَحَجَّ بِالنَّاسِ قَبْلَ الخِلاَفَةِ.

(١) لم أجد هذا الخبر في المطبوع من " تاريخ خليفة ". وقال الشاعر يزيد بن محمد المهلبي في انتقال المتوكل إلى داريا: أظن الشام تشمت بالعراق * إذا عزم الامام على انطلاق فإن يدع العراق وساكنيه * فقد تبلى المليحة بالطلاق (٢) الجمة، بضم الجيم، وتشديد الميم المفتوحة: مجتمع شعر الرأس، وهي أكثر من الوفرة. وفي الحديث: كان لرسول الله ﷺ جمة جعدة. (٣) انظر " تاريخ خليفة ": ٤٧٨.