Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (15/107)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

for more than two hundred dinars, and people were reduced to eating carrion, while the Byzantines sallied forth and laid waste to the districts of Aleppo. ⦗1⦘

That same year al-Muttaqī appointed Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Barīdī vizier on the advice of Ibn Rāʾiq, but he was soon removed in favor of al-Qarāriṭī. Al-Barīdī left in anger and began mustering the troops. ⦗2⦘

In Jumādā I al-Muttaqī li-Llāh, together with his son Abū Manṣūr, Ibn Rāʾiq, and the vizier al-Qarāriṭī, rode out—Qur’an reciters carrying their codices preceding them—to wage war against al-Barīdī. They embarked from al-Shammāsiyya on the Tigris, but the bridge platform became overloaded and collapsed, drowning a multitude. ⦗3⦘

Ibn Rāʾiq ordered that al-Barīdī be cursed from the pulpits. Shortly afterwards Abū al-Ḥusayn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Barīdī, the brother of Abū ʿAbd Allāh, advanced, routed al-Muttaqī and Ibn Rāʾiq, and with him were large contingents of Daylamites, Turks, and Qarmatians.

Baghdad was plundered; Ibn al-Barīdī marched on the palace, and the crisis grew grave.

A number of people were killed in the Palace of the Caliphate, while al-Muttaqī, his son, and Ibn Rāʾiq fled to Mosul, and the vizier al-Qarāriṭī went into hiding.

Ibn al-Barīdī sent Kurtakīn in chains to his brother, who put him to death. Abū al-Ḥusayn assumed authority in Baghdad; the populace stumbled, fled, and the price of a kurr rose to more than three hundred dinars, while Baghdad was flooded. ⦗4⦘

Tuzun then deserted him and went to Mosul, which emboldened Nāṣir al-Dawla ibn Ḥamdān; he resolved to descend upon Baghdad with al-Muttaqī.

Abū al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Barīdī prepared for the confrontation, and envoys passed back and forth between Ibn Rāʾiq and Ibn Ḥamdān until they forged an alliance. Ibn Ḥamdān arrived and met with him, and the son of al-Muttaqī was also in attendance. When the latter mounted, Ibn Rāʾiq’s horse was brought forward for him, but Ibn Ḥamdān seized it

and said, “Stay with us today so that we may talk.”

He replied, “How can I stay behind when the son of the Commander of the Faithful is going on?”

Ibn Ḥamdān kept pressing him until the man grew suspicious and, pulling his sleeve from

(1) Ibn al-Athir, Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh, vol. 8, pp. 391-392. (2) Ibn al-Athir, Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh, vol. 8, p. 379. (3) Akhbar al-Radi wa al-Muttaqi, p. 223. (4) Ibn al-Athir, Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh, vol. 8, pp. 380-381.

بِأَزيدَ مِنْ مَائَتَي دِيْنَار، وَأَكلُوا الجيَفَ، وَخَرَجتِ الرُّوْمُ، فَعَاثُوا بِأَعمَال حلَبَ (١) . وَفِيْهَا: اسْتوزر المتقِّي أَبَا عَبْدِ اللهِ البَريديَّ برَأْي ابْنِ رَائِق، ثُمَّ عُزِلَ بِالقرَاريطِيّ، فَذَهَبَ مُغَاضِباً، وَجَمَع العَسَاكر (٢) . وَفِي جُمَادَى الأُولَى ركِب المُتَّقِّي للهِ وَوَلَدُه أَبُو مَنْصُوْرٍ، وَابْنُ رُائِق، وَالوَزِيْر القَرَاريطِيُّ، وَبَيْنَ أَيديهُم القُرَّاء وَالمَصَاحِف لِحَرْب البَرِيْديِّ، ثُمَّ انْحَدَر مِنَ الشَّمَّاسِيَّة فِي دِجْلَةَ، وَثقُل كُرْسِيُّ الجِسْر، فَانْخَسف بخلْقٍ (٣) . وَأَمر ابْنُ رَائِق بلَعْنَة البَريدِيّ عَلَى المنَابرِ، ثُمَّ أَقبل أَبُو الحُسَيْنِ عَلِيُّ بنُ مُحَمَّدٍ البَريديُّ أَخُو أَبِي عَبْدِ اللهِ، فَهَزَمَ المُتَّقِّي، وَابْن رَائِق، وَكَانَ مَعَهُ خلقٌ مِنَ الدَّيْلَم وَالتُّرْك، وَالقَرَامطَة. وَوقَعَ النَّهبُ بِبَغْدَادَ، وَزَحَفَ ابْنُ البَرِيديّ عَلَى الدَّار، وَعظُم الخَطْبُ. وَقُتِلَ جَمَاعَة بِدَارِ الخِلاَفَة، وَهَرَبَ المُتَّقِّي وَابْنُه، وَابْن رَائِق إِلَى المَوْصِل، وَاخْتَفَى القَرَاريطِيّ الوَزِيْرُ. وَبَعَثَ ابْنُ البَريديّ بكورتكين مقيَّداً إِلَى أَخِيْهِ فَأَتْلَفَه، وَحكَم أَبُو الحُسَيْنِ بِبَغْدَادَ، وَتعثَّرتِ الرَّعيَّة، وَهجُّوا، وَبلَغَ الكُرُّ أَزيد مِنْ ثَلاَث مائَة دِيْنَارٍ، وَغَرِقَتْ (٤) بَغْدَادُ. ثُمَّ فَارَقَه توزون وَرَاحَ إِلَى المَوْصِل، فَقويَ قلبُ نَاصر الدَّوْلَة ابْنِ حَمْدَان، وَعَزَمَ أَنْ ينحدِرَ إِلَى بَغْدَادَ بِالمُتَّقِّي. فتَهَّيأَ أَبُو الحُسَيْنِ بنُ البَرِيديّ، وَتردَّدَت الرُّسل بَيْنَ ابْنِ رَائِق وَبَيْنَ ابْن حَمْدَانَ، فتحَالفَا، فَجَاءَ ابْن حَمْدَانَ وَاجْتَمَعَ بِهِ، وَحضر ابْن المتقِّي فَلَمَّا ركب ابْن المتقِّي، قُدِّمَ فَرَس ابْن رَائِق ليركَبَ، فتعلَّق بِهِ ابْنُ حَمْدَان. وَقَالَ: تقيمُ عِنْدنَا اليَوْمَ نتحدّث. فَقَالَ: كَيْفَ أَتخلَّف عَنْ وَلَدِ أَمِيْرِ المُؤْمِنِيْنَ؟ فَأَلَحَّ عَلَيْهِ حَتَّى ارْتَابَ وَجَذَبَ كُمَّه مِنْ

(١) " الكامل ": ٨ / ٣٩١ - ٣٩٢. (٢) " الكامل ": ٨ / ٣٧٩. (٣) أخبار الراضي والمتقي: ٢٢٣. (٤) " الكامل ": ٨ / ٣٨٠ - ٣٨١.