Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (15/166)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

and the fighting dragged on for three days, after which al-Aʿṣam (1) the Qarmaṭian fell back in defeat (2). Humbled, he accused his own officers of collusion and had them arrested.

On the two festival days al-Muʿizz led the people in a lengthy prayer; while prostrating he pronounced the tasbīḥ nearly thirty times, then addressed them with an eloquent sermon, so that the populace grew fond of him (3).

He also had a canopy made for the Kaʿba, eight spans by eight, of crimson silk, in which were set twelve golden crescents; in each crescent was a citron-shaped boss (4) encrusted with jewels—rubies and emeralds—the like of which no eye had ever seen (5).

Jawhar the commander presented him with gifts worth about one million dinars, whereupon Muʿizz invested him with a robe of honour and rewarded him as befitted his station (6).

Al-Muʿizz died in Rabīʿ al-Ākhir of the year 365 AH in al-Qāhira al-Muʿizziyya. He had been born in al-Mahdiyya, the city his grandfather founded, and he lived forty-six years.

His reign lasted twenty-four years (7), and he was succeeded by his son al-ʿAzīz bi-llāh.

(1) Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad ibn Abī Saʿīd al-Janābī al-Qarmaṭī, Abū ʿAlī, was one of the Qarmaṭian leaders. Born in al-Aḥsāʾ in 278/891, he seized Syria in 357/968. The Fatimid caliph al-Muʿizz sent an army from Egypt under Jaʿfar ibn Fallāḥ, whom the Qarmaṭī defeated and beheaded. In 361/972 he advanced on Egypt, besieging it for several months, then withdrew toward Syria and died at al-Ramla in 366/977. Most sources call him al-Aʿṣam, which is the correct sobriquet; al-Nujūm al-zāhira, however, records it as al-Aʿẓam. See Fawāt al-wafayāt, 1:227. (2) al-Maqrīzī, Ittiʿāẓ al-ḥunafāʾ, p. 182. (3) al-Maqrīzī, Ittiʿāẓ al-ḥunafāʾ, pp. 190–191. (4) A fruit resembling a lemon: golden in colour, highly fragrant, with a sharp acidic taste. (5) al-Maqrīzī, Ittiʿāẓ al-ḥunafāʾ, pp. 193–194. (6) al-Maqrīzī, Ittiʿāẓ al-ḥunafāʾ, p. 192. (7) Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil fī al-tārīkh, 8:663.

وَاسْتمرَّ ذَلِكَ ثَلاَثَة أَيَّام ثُمَّ ترحل الأَعسم (١) القرمطِي مُنْهَزِماً (٢) ، وَذلُّوا وَاتهم الأَعسم أُمَرَاءهُ بِالمخَامرَة فَقبض عَلَيْهِم، وَصَلَّى بِالنَّاسِ المُعَزِّ يَوْمِي العِيْد صَلاَة طَوِيْلَة بِحَيْثُ إِنَّهُ سبح فِي السُّجُود نَحْو ثَلاَثِيْنَ ثُمَّ خطبهُم فَأَبلغ وَأَحبته الرَّعِيَّة (٣) . وَصنع شَمْسِيَّة لِتعْمَل عَلَى الكَعْبَة ثَمَانيَة أَشبار فِي مثلهَا مِنْ حَرِير أَحمر وَفِيْهَا اثْنَا عَشرَ هلاَلاً مِنْ ذَهَب وَفِي الهلاَل ترنجَة (٤) قَدْ رصعت بجَوَاهر وَيَاقوت وَزمرد لَمْ يشَاهد أَحَد مثلهَا (٥) . وَقَدَّمَ لَهُ جَوْهَر القَائِد تُحَفاً بِنَحْوِ مِنْ أَلف أَلف دِيْنَار فَخلع عَلَيْهِ وَأَعطَاهُ مَا يَلِيق بِهِ (٦) . مَاتَ المُعَزِّ فِي رَبِيْعٍ الآخِرِ، سَنَةَ خَمْسٍ وَسِتِّيْنَ وَثَلاَثِ مائَةٍ بِالقَاهرَة الْمُعِزِّيَّةِ وَكَانَ مَوْلِدُهُ بِالمهديَّة الَّتِي بنَاهَا جدهُم وَعَاشَ ستَا وَأَرْبَعِيْنَ سَنَةً. وكَانَتْ دَوْلَته أَربعاً وَعِشْرِيْنَ سَنَةً (٧) . وقَام بَعْدَهُ ابْنه العَزِيْز بِاللهِ،

(١) هو الحسن بن أحمد بن أبي سعيد، الجنابي القرمطي، أبو علي، أحد زعماء القرامطة، ولد بالاحساء سنة / ٢٧٨ / وتنقلت به الأحوال، فاستولى على الشام سنة / ٣٥٧ / ووجه إليه المعز جيشا من مصر بقيادة جعفر بن فلاح، فهزمه القرمطي، وذبح جعفر، زحف إلى مصر سنة / ٣٦١ / فحاصرها أشهرا، ثم عاد يريد الشام، فمات بالرملة سنة / ٣٦٦ /. وذكرت أغلب المراجع لقبه " الاعصم " وهو الصحيح. وفي " النجوم الزاهرة " " الأعظم ". أنظر " فوات الوفيات ": ١ / ٢٢٧. (٢) " اتعاظ الحنفا ": ١٨٢. (٣) " اتعاظ الحنفا ": ١٩٠ - ١٩١. (٤) ثمرة كالليمون، ذهبية اللون، ذكية الرائحة، ذات طعم حامض. (٥) " اتعاظ الحنفا ": ١٩٣ - ١٩٤. (٦) " اتعاظ الحنفا ": ١٩٢. (٧) " الكامل ": ٨ / ٦٦٣.