Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (15/177)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

of faith, the champion of the Alid daʿwah, Your servant and devotee, Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh, Commander of the Believers. (1)

The proclamation was then publicly delivered by Qirwāsh in Kūfa and in al-Madāʾin. (2)

Later al-Qādir bi-Llāh won Qirwāsh over, sending him gifts worth thirty thousand dīnārs, whereupon Qirwāsh restored the Friday sermon to him. (3)

The Arab tribes gained control of Syria and laid siege to its fortresses.

A devastating famine befell Nishapur and its environs, causing the death of one hundred thousand people or more.

Carrion and even human flesh were eaten. (4)

In 400 AH and the years thereafter, al-Andalus seethed with wars and battles for the throne. (5)

[Al-Ḥākim] built a large house, filled it with shackles and fetters, made seven gates for it, and named it “Jahannam.” Anyone who incurred his displeasure he confined there. (6)

When he ordered Egypt to be set ablaze and given over to pillage, he sent his servant to witness the situation. Upon the servant’s return he asked, “What did you see?” The man replied, “Had the Byzantine tyrant himself sacked it, he could not have exceeded what I saw.” Al-Ḥākim thereupon had him beheaded.

In the year 402 AH a document was drafted in Baghdad that impugned the genealogies of

(1) The full sermon appears in al-Muntazam, vol. 7, pp. 248-251. (2) Al-Muntazam, vol. 7, p. 251. (3) Ibid. (4) Al-Kamil, vol. 9, p. 225. (5) Al-Kamil, vol. 9, pp. 216-219. (6) Al-Bayan al-Mughrib, vol. 1, p. 286.

الإِيْمَان، صَاحِب الدَّعوَة العَلَوِيَّة عبدِك وَوليِّك أَبِي عَلِيٍّ الحَاكِمِ بِأَمرك أَمِيْرِ المُؤْمِنِيْنَ (١) . وأُقيمت الدَّعْوَةُ عَلَى يدِ قِرْوَاش بِالكُوْفَةِ وَبَالمَدَائِن (٢) . ثمَّ اسْتمَالَ القَادِرُ بِاللهِ قِرْوَاشاً، وَنَفَّذّ إِلَيْهِ تُحَفاً بِثَلاَثِيْنَ أَلفَ دِيْنَارٍ، فَأَعَاد لَهُ الخُطبَة (٣) . وَاستحوذَتِ العَرَبُ عَلَى الشَّامِ، وَحَاصرُوا القِلاَع. وَتمَّ القَحْط الشَّدِيدُ بنَيْسَابُوْرَ وَنوَاحيهَا، حَتَّى هَلَكَ مائَة أَلْف أَوْ يَزيدُوْنَ. وَأُكِلت الجِيَف وَلحوم الآدمِيين (٤) . وفِي الأَربع مائَة وَبعدَهَا كَانَتِ الأَنْدَلُسُ تَغْلِي بِالحُرُوبِ وَالقِتَال عَلَى المُلْك (٥) . وَأَنشَأَ دَاراً كَبِيْرَةً ملأَهَا قيوداً وَأَغْلاَلاً وَجَعَلَ لَهَا سَبْعَةَ أَبْوَابٍ، وَسمَّاهَا جَهَنَّم، فَكَانَ مِنْ سَخِطَ عَلَيْهِ، أَسْكَنَه (٦) فِيْهَا. وَلَمَّا أَمَرَ بحَرِيْق مِصْر، وَاسْتبَاحَهَا، بَعَثَ خَادمَه ليشَاهدَ الحَال. فَلَمَّا رَجَعَ قَالَ: كَيْفَ رَأَيْتَ؟ قَالَ: لَوِ اسْتبَاحَهَا طَاغيَةُ الرُّوْم مَا زَادَ عَلَى مَا رَأَيْتُ، فَضَرَبَ عُنُقَه. وَفِي سَنَةِ اثْنَتَيْنِ وَأَرْبَعِ مائَةٍ كُتِبَ بِبَغْدَادَ محَضرٌ يتضمَّن القَدْحَ فِي أَنْسَابِ

(١) الخطبة بتمامها في " المنتظم ": ٧ / ٢٤٨ - ٢٥١. (٢) " المنتظم ": ٧ / ٢٥١. (٣) المصدر السابق. (٤) " الكامل ": ٩ / ٢٢٥. (٥) " الكامل ": ٩ / ٢١٦ - ٢١٩. (٦) " البيان المغرب ": ١ / ٢٨٦.