Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (15/125)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

and to Ḍiyāʾ Ṣāliḥān. (1)

Bahāʾ al-Dawla was a man of commanding presence, dignity, and determination. He was opposed by Ibn Ṣamṣām al-Dawla—the one whose eyes had been put out.

Basra and Ahwāz were ravaged, civil strife intensified, and in Baghdad the seizing of coins became incessant. (2) The Shīʿites and the Sunnites fought one another for a time; then, on the nineteenth of Shaʿbān (3) in the year 381 AH, they burst in upon al-Tāʾiʿ li-llāh in his residence. The reason was that the leader of the Shīʿa, Ibn al-Muʿallim, (4) who was one of Bahāʾ al-Dawla’s intimates, had been imprisoned.

Bahāʾ al-Dawla thereupon entered. Al-Tāʾiʿ was seated in the portico with his sword girded on. Bahāʾ al-Dawla kissed the ground and took a seat on a chair. A group of his supporters stepped forward, pulled al-Tāʾiʿ by the straps of his sword, wrapped him in a cloak, and put him aboard his own boat, conveying him to the seat of government. The crowd seethed, and the soldiers thought that the arrest concerned Bahāʾ al-Dawla, whereupon looting broke out. Al-Raʾīs ʿAlī b. Ḥājib al-Nuʿmī (5) and several others were arrested; their property was confiscated, and the treasuries and even the palace servants were placed under guard as well. (6)

Al-Tāʾiʿ had been planning to seize his cousin al-Qādir bi-llāh while the latter was still a mere prince, but al-Qādir fled to the marshes (7) and joined Muhadhdhib al-Dawla, (8) remaining with him for two years, after which he openly

(1) Al-Muntazam, vol. 7, pp. 148-149. (2) Al-Muntazam, vol. 7, p. 153, s.v. “Thefts”. (3) Al-Muntazam, vol. 7, p. 156, where the reading is “Ramadan”. (4) He is Ali b. Muhammad al-Kawkabi. Ibn al-Athir states in al-Kamil, vol. 9, p. 77: “He directed the government of Baha al-Dawla, and all authority rested with him.” (5) He is Ali b. Abd al-Aziz b. Ibrahim, Abu al-Hasan, known as Ibn Hajib al-Nuʿman—a poet counted among the most eloquent chancery secretaries. He served first the caliph al-Taʾi, then al-Qadir, received the honorific “Chief of the Chiefs,” and died in 423 AH/1032 CE. See Muʿjam al-Udaba, vol. 14, pp. 35-39. (6) Al-Muntazam, vol. 7, pp. 156-157. Al-Kamil, vol. 9, p. 79, supplies a different motive for the deposition: Baha al-Dawla’s shortage of funds and his coveting the caliph’s wealth. The same report dates Baha al-Dawla’s arrest and execution of Ibn al-Muʿallim to 382 AH/992-93 CE. (7) Singular batihah: a wide marshland situated between Wasit and Basra, so called because the waters spread out (tabattahat) over it. See Muʿjam al-Buldan, vol. 1, p. 450. (8) He is Ali b. Nasr, Abu al-Hasan, emir of al-Batihah, who assumed the governorship after the death of his maternal uncle al-Muzaffar in 376 AH/986 CE.

صَالحَان (١) . وَكَانَ بَهَاءُ الدَّوْلَةِ ذَا هَيْبَةٍ وَوَقَار وَحَزْم، وَحَارَبَه ابْنُ صَمْصَام الدَّوْلَةِ الَّذِي كُحِلَ. وَخُرِّبَت البَصْرَةُ وَالأَهْوَازُ، وَعَظُمَت الفِتَنُ، وَتوَاتَر أَخذُ العَمَلاَت بِبَغْدَادَ (٢) ، وَتحَارَبَتِ الشِّيْعَةُ وَالسُّنَّة مُدَّةً، ثُمَّ وَثبُوا عَلَى الطَّائِع للهِ فِي دَارِه فِي تَاسِعَ عَشَرَ شَعْبَان (٣) سنَة ٣٨١، وَسَبَبُه أَن شَيْخَ الشِّيْعَة ابْنَ المُعَلِّم (٤) كَانَ مِنْ خوَاصّ بهَاءِ الدَّوْلَة فَحُبِسَ، فَجَاءَ بهَاءُ الدَّوْلَةِ، وَقَدْ جَلَس الطَّائِع فِي الرِّوَاق متقلِّدَ السَّيْف، فَقبَّل الأَرْضَ، وَجَلَسَ عَلَى كُرْسِيٍّ، فَتَقَدَّم جَمَاعَةٌ مِنْ أَعوَانه، فجذَبُوا الطَّائِعَ بحمَائِل سيْفِهِ، وَلفُّوهُ فِي كِسَاءٍ، وَأُصْعِدَ فِي سَفِينَته إِلَى دَار المملكَةِ، وَمَاجَ النَّاسُ وَظنَّ الجُنْدُ أَنَّ القَبْضَ عَلَى بهَاءِ الدَّوْلَةِ، فَوَقَعَ النَّهْبُ، وَقُبض عَلَى الرَّئيس عَلِيِّ بنِ حَاجِب النُّعْمِيّ (٥) وَجَمَاعَةٍ، وصُودرُوا وَاحتيط عَلَى الخَزَائِنِ وَالخَدَمِ أَيْضاً (٦) . فَكَانَ الطَّائِع هَمَّ بِالقَبْضِ عَلَى ابْنِ عَمِّه القَادِرِ بِاللهِ وَهُوَ أَمِيْرٌ، فَهَرَبَ إِلَى البطَائِح (٧) ، وَانضمَّ إِلَى مهذِّبِ الدَّوْلَةِ (٨) ، وَبَقِيَ مَعَهُ عَامِين، فَأَظهر

(١) " المنتظم ": ٧ / ١٤٨ - ١٤٩. (٢) " المنتظم ": ٧ / ١٥٣ والعملات: السرقات. (٣) في " المنتظم ": ٧ / ١٥٦ " رمضان ". (٤) هو علي بن محمد، الكوكبي، قال عنه ابن الأثير في " كامله ": ٩ / ٧٧: " كان المدبر لدولة بهاء الدولة، وإليه الحكم ". (٥) هو علي بن عبد العزيز بن إبراهيم، أبو الحسن، المعروف بابن حاجب النعمان، شاعر من بلغاء الكتاب، كتب للطائع ثم للقادر، وخوطب برئيس الرؤساء، توفي سنة / ٤٢٣ / هـ له ترجمة في " معجم الأدباء ": ١٤ / ٣٥ - ٣٩. (٦) " المنتظم ": ٧ / ١٥٦ - ١٥٧. وفي " الكامل ": ٩ / ٧٩ سبب آخر للخلغ غير حبس ابن المعلم، وهو قلة المال بين يدي بهاء الدولة، وطمعه في ثروة الخليفة، ويرجع هذا الخبر قبض بهاء الدولة على ابن المعلم وقتله في سنة / ٣٨٢ / هـ. (٧) مفردها: البطيحة: وهي أرض واسعة بين واسط والبصرة، وسميت بطائح لان المياه تبطحت فيها، أي سالت واتسعت في الأرض. " معجم البلدان ": ١ / ٤٥٠. (٨) هو علي بن نصر، أبو الحسن، أمير البطيحة، وليها بعد وفاة خاله المظفر / ٣٧٦ / =