Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (12/38)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

In the year 244 AH: al-Mutawakkil banished his physician Bakhtishuʿ. (1) That same year the Festival of Sacrifice, the Christians’ feast, and the Jewish Feast of Unleavened Bread (2) all fell on a single day. (3)

In the year 245 AH: an earthquake shook the whole world, and multitudes perished. Al-Mutawakkil built al-Mahuzah, naming it al-Jaʿfariyya, (4) and—once the army had helped him—spent two million dinars on it, after which he took up residence there. In that same year, a rain resembling fresh blood fell in the vicinity of Balkh.

Al-Mutawakkil was generous, widely praised, and fond of amusement. He resolved to remove al-Muntasir from the line of succession and give precedence to al-Muʿtazz, because of his affection for the latter’s mother, Qabīḥa. Al-Muntasir refused, so his father grew angry, threatened him, and incited others against him. The Turkish troops also turned on al-Mutawakkil, for he had seized the property of Wāṣif and Bugha, and they finally assassinated him.

Al-Mubarrad relates that al-Mutawakkil once asked ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Riḍā, “What do your forefathers’ descendants say about al-ʿAbbās?” He replied, “Commander of the Faithful, what do you say about a man whose obedience God made obligatory upon His Prophet…,” and he went on to recount a lengthy narration.

Al-Mutawakkil wept and said to him, “Abū al-Ḥasan, you have softened hearts of ours that were hard. Are you in debt?” He answered, “Yes—four thousand dinars,” so the Caliph ordered that the sum be given to him.

Al-Masʿūdī reports that Bugha the Younger (5) summoned Bāghir the Turk, spoke with him, and said:

(1) Bakhtishuʿ ibn Jibril was a Christian physician and the author of several treatises. He died around 260/874. Ibn Abi Usaybiʿa explains that the name Bakhtishuʿ means “servant of the Messiah,” because in Syriac bakht means “servant” and Yashuʿ means Jesus. (2) Both al-Tabari’s History and Ibn al-Athir’s al-Kamil read al-Fitr, which is a corruption. (3) Al-Tabari, History, vol. 9, p. 211; Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, vol. 7, p. 85; Ibn Kathir, History, vol. 10, p. 346; Ibn Taghribirdi, al-Nujum al-Zahira, vol. 2, p. 318. (4) Al-Tabari, History, vol. 9, p. 212; Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, vol. 7, p. 87; cf. Ibn Kathir, History, vol. 10, p. 346. (5) Bugha the Turk, known as al-Sharabi, was an emir and one of al-Mutawakkil’s leading commanders; he died in 254/868. See al-Safadi, al-Wafi bi-l-Wafayat, vol. 10, pp. 173–174.

وَفِي سَنَةِ ٢٤٤: نَفَى المُتَوَكِّلُ طَبِيْبَهُ بَخْتِيَشُوعَ (١) . وَاتَّفَقَ عِيْدُ النَّحْرِ وَعِيْدُ النَّصَارَى وَعِيْدُ الفَطِيْرِ (٢) فِي يَوْمٍ وَاحِدٍ (٣) . وَفِي سَنَةِ ٢٤٥: عَمَّتِ الزَلْزَلَةُ الدُّنْيَا، وَمَاتَ مِنْهَا خَلاَئِقُ. وَبنَى المُتَوَكِّلُ المَاحُوْزَةَ، وَسَمَّاهَا الجَعْفَرِيَّ (٤) ، وَأَنْفَقَ عَلَيْهَا بَعْدَ مُعَاوَنَةِ الجَيْشِ لَهُ أَلْفَي أَلْفِ دِيْنَارٍ، وَتَحَوَّلَ إِلَيْهَا، وَفِيْهَا وَقَعَ بِنَاحِيَةِ بَلْخَ مَطَرٌ كَالدَّمِ العَبِيْطِ. وَكَانَ المُتَوَكِّلُ جَوَاداً مُمَدَّحاً لَعَّاباً، وَأَرَادَ أَنْ يَعْزِلَ مِنَ العَهْدِ المُنْتَصِرَ، وَيُقدِّمَ عَلَيْهِ المُعْتَزَّ لِحُبِّهِ أُمَّهُ قَبِيْحَةَ، فَأَبَى المُنْتَصِرُ، فَغَضِبَ أَبُوْهُ وَتَهَدَّدَهُ، وَأَغْرَى بِهِ، وَانْحَرَفَتِ الأَتْرَاكُ عَلَى المُتَوَكِّلِ لمُصَادَرَتِهِ وَصِيْفاً وَبُغَا حَتَّى اغْتَالُوهُ. قَالَ المُبَرِّدُ: قَالَ المُتَوَكِّلُ لِعَلِيِّ بنِ مُحَمَّدِ بنِ الرِّضَا: مَا يَقُوْلُ وَلَدُ أَبِيْكَ فِي العَبَّاسِ؟ قَالَ: مَا تَقُوْلُ يَا أَمِيْرَ المُؤْمِنِيْنَ فِي رَجُلٍ فَرَضَ اللهُ طَاعَتَهُ عَلَى نَبِيِّهِ ... ، وَذَكَرَ حِكَايَةً طَوِيْلَةً. وَبَكَى المُتَوَكِّلُ، وَقَالَ لَهُ: يَا أَبَا الحَسَنِ، لَيَّنْتَ مِنَّا قُلُوْباً قَاسِيَةً، أَعَلَيْكَ دَيْنٌ؟ قَالَ: نَعَمْ، أَرْبَعَةُ آلاَفِ دِيْنَارٍ، فَأَمَرَ لَهُ بِهَا. حَكَى المَسْعُوْدِيُّ: أَنَّ بُغَا الصَّغِيْرَ (٥) دَعَا بِبِاغِرَ التُّرْكِيِّ، فَكَلَّمَهُ، وَقَالَ:

(١) هو بختيشوع بن جبريل، طبيب نصراني، صاحب تصانيف عدة. توفي في حدود الستين ومئتين. قال ابن أبي أصيبعة: ومعنى بختيشوع عبد المسيح، لان في اللغة السريانية: البخت: العبد، ويشوع: عيسى ﵇. (٢) في " تاريخ الطبري " و" الكامل ": الفطر وهو تحريف. (٣) " تاريخ الطبري " ٩ / ٢١١، و" الكامل " ٧ / ٨٥، و" تاريخ ابن كثير " ١٠ / ٣٤٦، و" النجوم الزاهرة " ٢ / ٣١٨. (٤) " تاريخ الطبري " ٩ / ٢١٢، و" الكامل " ٧ / ٨٧، وانظر " تاريخ ابن كثير " ١٠ / ٣٤٦. (٥) هو بغا التركي المعروف بالشرابي الأمير، من كبار قواد المتوكل المتوفى سنة ٢٥٤ هـ. أنظر ترجمته في " الوافي بالوفيات " ١٠ / ١٧٣، ١٧٤.