Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (15/115)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

of Abu al-Qasim ʿAbd Allah ibn Abi ʿAbd Allah al-Baridi. Abu al-Qasim’s troops thereupon asked them for safe-conduct, while he himself fled to the Qarmatians (1). Muʿizz al-Dawla’s standing grew all the greater. Before long, Abu al-Qasim came to Baghdad under a promise of safety and was granted several villages as a fief (2).

Afterwards the ruler of Mosul and Muʿizz al-Dawla fell out; the former abandoned Mosul, then made peace on condition that he pay an annual tribute of eight million dirhams (3).

In 344 AH Muʿizz al-Dawla was afflicted with a condition of continual erection (4), and rumors spread that he had died. He therefore conferred the office of commander of commanders (amir al-umara) upon his son Bakhtiyar, appointed Abu Muhammad al-Muhallabi as vizier (5), and the latter’s stature rose markedly (6).

In 347 AH Muʿizz al-Dawla took Mosul and pursued Nasir al-Dawla as far as Nisibis. Nasir al-Dawla fled to Aleppo, where his brother received him with exceptional courtesy. The two exchanged letters proposing that Mosul be entrusted to Sayf al-Dawla, for Nasir al-Dawla had more than once betrayed Ibn Buwayh and withheld the annual dues. Muʿizz al-Dawla was then brought back to Baghdad.

(7) In 350 AH Muʿizz al-Dawla farmed out the police force and the market inspection (hisba) of Baghdad (8).

(1) Al-Kamil, vol. 8, p. 469. (2) Al-Kamil, vol. 8, p. 480. (3) Al-Kamil, vol. 8, p. 477. (4) Al-inʿiyaz (persistent erection): Ibn al-Athir, Al-Kamil, vol. 8, p. 510, describes this disorder as “a constant erection accompanied by severe pain in the penis and taut nerves.” (5) Year 339 AH, as recorded in Al-Kamil, vol. 8, p. 485. (6) Al-Kamil, vol. 8, p. 510. (7) Al-Kamil, vol. 8, pp. 522–524. (8) The system of daman (farming out official posts) was initially confined to the kharaj (land tax). It then reached the judiciary—Abu al-Abbas ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Shawarib was the first to accept it, which led the caliph al-Mutiʿ to bar him from the court. Daman subsequently spread to the shurta (police) and the hisba (market supervision), causing widespread corruption.

لِحَرْب أَبِي القَاسِمِ عَبْدِ اللهِ بنِ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللهِ البَريديّ، فَاسْتَأمَنَ إِلَيْهِم عَسْكَرُ أَبِي القَاسِمِ، وَهَرَبَ هُوَ إِلَى القَرَامِطَة (١) ، وَعظُمَ معزُّ الدَّوْلَة، ثُمَّ جَاءَ أَبُو القَاسِمِ مستَأمناً إِلَى بَغْدَادَ، فَأُقطع قرَىً (٢) ، ثُمَّ اخْتَلَفَ صَاحِبُ المَوْصِل، وَمعزُّ الدَّوْلَة، وَفَرَّ عَنِ المَوْصِل صَاحِبُهَا، ثُمَّ صَالح عَلَى أَنْ يَحْمِلَ فِي السَّنَة ثَمَانيَةَ آلاَف أَلفِ دِرْهَم (٣) . وفِي سَنَةِ أَرْبَعٍ وَأَرْبَعِيْنَ وَثَلاَثِ مائَةٍ، مَرِضَ معزُّ الدَّوْلَة بعِلَّة الإِنعَاظ (٤) ، وَأُرْجِفَ بِموته، فَعَقَدَ إِمرَةَ الأُمَرَاء لابْنِهِ بختيَار، وَاسْتَوْزَرَ (٥) أَبَا مُحَمَّدٍ المُهَلَّبِيَّ، وَعظُمَ قَدْرُه (٦) . وفِي سَنَةِ سَبْعٍ وَأَرْبَعِيْنَ، اسْتولَى معزُّ الدَّوْلَة عَلَى المَوْصِل، وَسَاقَ وَرَاءَ نَاصرِ الدَّوْلَة إِلَى نَصِيبين فَهَرَبَ إِلَى حَلَبَ فَبالَغَ أَخُوْهُ فِي خِدْمَتِهِ، وَترَاسلاَ فِي أَنْ يَكُوْنَ المَوْصِلُ بِيَدِ سَيْفِ الدَّوْلَةِ لأَنْ نَاصرَ الدَّوْلَة غَدَرَ وَنَكَثَ غَيْرَ مَرَّةٍ بِابْنِ بُوَيه، وَمَنَعَ الحِمْلَ، ثُمَّ رُدَّ معزُّ الدَّوْلَة إِلَى بَغْدَادَ. (٧) وَفِي سَنَةِ خَمْسِيْنَ ضمَّن (٨) معزُّ الدَّوْلَة الشُّرْطَة وَالحِسْبَة بِبَغْدَادَ،

(١) " الكامل ": ٨ / ٤٦٩. (٢) " الكامل ": ٨ / ٤٨٠. (٣) " الكامل ": ٨ / ٤٧٧. (٤) الانعاظ: هو انتشار الذكر، وقد وصف ابن الأثير في " كامله ": ٨ / ٥١٠ هذه العلة: " دوام الانعاظ مع وجع شديد في ذكره مع توتر أعصابه ". (٥) سنة / ٣٣٩ / هـ كما في " الكامل ": ٨ / ٤٨٥. (٦) " الكامل ": ٨ / ٥١٠. (٧) " الكامل ": ٨ / ٥٢٢ - ٥٢٤. (٨) كان الضمان مقصورا على الخراج، ثم تعدى إلى القضاء وكان أبو العباس عبد الله ابن الحسن بن أبي الشوارب أول من ضمنه، فمنعه الخليفة المطيع عن الدخول إليه، ثم استشرى الضمان إلى الشرطة والحسبة. وقد أدى هذا النظام إلى فساد في الأرض كبير.