Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (13/94)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

Bushrā al-Fātinī (1)
He is Bushrā ibn Masīs, one of the Byzantine captives. A Ḥamdānid amir presented him to Fātin, the servant of the caliph al-Muṭīʿ, who educated him. He studied hadith with a number of shaykhs, and al-Khaṭīb narrated from him, saying (2): “He was truthful, upright, and devout.” He died on the day of ʿĪd al-Fiṭr. May Allah have mercy on him.

Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn Yaʿqūb ibn Marwān (3)
Abū al-ʿAlāʾ al-Wāsiṭī. His family originally came from Famm al-Ṣulḥ. He heard hadith, read the variant Qurʾānic readings, and transmitted them. Scholars, however, have questioned the reliability of his transmission in both qirāʾāt and hadith, and Allah knows best. He died in Jumādā al-Ākhira after passing the age of eighty.

[Then came the year 432 AH]

In that year:
The standing of the Seljuks grew tremendously, and the prestige of their ruler Ṭughril Beg Muḥammad and his brother Chaghri Beg Dāwūd—sons of Mikāʾīl ibn Seljuk ibn Tuqāq (4)—rose high. Their grandfather Tuqāq had been one of the ancient Turkish elders, renowned for counsel, stratagem, and stature with the supreme ruler of the Turks. His son Seljuk matured as a noble, valiant man; the king advanced him and granted him the title Shabāshī (5). The armies obeyed him, and the people submitted to him to such an extent that the king feared him and resolved to kill him. Seljuk therefore fled to Muslim lands and embraced Islam, which only increased his honor and elevation. He died at the age of one hundred and seven, leaving three sons: Arslān, Mikāʾīl, and Mūsā.

Mikāʾīl dedicated himself to fighting the infidel Turks until he was martyred, leaving his two sons, Ṭughril Beg Muḥammad and Chaghri Beg Dāwūd. Their stature became great among their cousins, and the believing Turks rallied around them—the “Turks of the Faith,” known today as the Turkmans, namely the Seljuks, descendants of Seljuk himself. They conquered the entire region of Khurasan after the death of Maḥmūd ibn Subuktakīn. King Maḥmūd had been somewhat apprehensive of them; when he died and his son Masʿūd succeeded him, Masʿūd fought them repeatedly, and they fought him. [They would] rout him in most engagements, so that the whole dominion of Khurasan fell into their hands. Masʿūd then advanced against them with forces so numerous that the open plains could scarcely contain them, yet they still crushed him.

= This is a report that does not establish certainty. However, al-Dhahabi lists him under the year 430 AH in his Wafayāt (Obituaries) in the History of Islam, and says: “Ibn Khayrun recorded his death in the year thirty.” (vol. 9, p. 474 in our edition). This is without doubt the most reliable and precise account (Bashar). (1) al-Muntazam (vol. 8, p. 106); his name appears in the base text as “Bishr,” which is a scribal corruption. (2) Tārīkhuhu, vol. 7, p. 645 (Bashar ed.). (3) al-Muntazam (vol. 8, p. 107). (4) As in the original manuscript and in al-Kāmil fī’l-Tārīkh (vol. 9, p. 473), where its meaning is given as al-qaws al-jadīd (“the new arch”). In Wafayāt al-A’yān (vol. 5, p. 63) it appears as Daqāq, and in the manuscript is also vocalized as Yanāq. (5) As in the original; in the manuscript: Shibāsī; in al-Kāmil: Sabāshī; he notes that the name means “commander of the army.”

بُشْرَى الفَاتِني (١) وهو بُشْرَى بن مَسِيْس، من سبي الروم. أهداه بعض أمراء بني حمدان لفاتن غلام المطيع فأدَّبه، وسمع الحديث على جماعة من المشايخ، وروى عنه الخطيب، وقال (٢) : كان صدوقًا، صالحًا، ديِّنًا، وكانت وفاته في يوم عيد الفطر، رحمه اللَّه تعالى. محمّد بن عليّ بن أحمد بن يعقوب بن مروان (٣) أبو العلاء الواسطي. وأصله من فم الصّلح. سمع الحديث، وقرأ القراءات، ورواها، وقد تكلّموا في روايته في القراءات والحديث، فاللَّه أعلم، توفي في جمادى الآخرة وقد جاوز الثمانين. [ثم دخلت سنة ثنتين وثلاثين وأربعمئة] فيها: عظم شأن السّلجوقية، وارتفع شأن ملكهم طُغْرُلْبَك محمد، وأخيه جفري بك داود، وهما ابنا ميكائيل بنِ سلجوق بن تُقاق (٤) . وقد كان جدّهم تُقاق هذا من مشايخ الترك القدماء، الذين لهم الرأي والمكيدة والمكانة عند ملكهم الأعظم، ونشأ ولده سلجوق نجيبًا شهمًا، فقدّمه الملك ولقبه شَبَاشِى (٥) ، فأطاعته الجيوش، وانقادت له الناس بحيث تخوَّف منه الملك، وأراد قتله، فهرب منه إلى بلاد المسلمين فأسلم، فازداد عزًّا وعلوًّا، ثمّ توفي عن مئة وسبع سنين، وخلّف أرسلان، وميكائيل، وموسى، فأما ميكائيل فإنّه اعتنى بقتال الكفار من الأتراك، حتى قُتل شهيدًا وخلّف ولديه طُغْرُلْبَك محمدًا، وجفري بك داود، فعظم شأنهما في بني عمهما، واجتمع عليهما الترك من المؤمنين، وهم ترك الإيمان الذين يقال لهم اليوم: تُرْكمان، وهم السلاجقة بنو سلجوق جدّهم هذا؛ ففتحوا بلاد خراسان بكمالها بعد موت محمود بن سُبُكْتكِين، وقد كان يتخوّف منهم الملك محمود بعض التخوّف، فلمّا توفي وقام ولده مسعود من بعده قاتلهم وقاتلوه مرارًا، [فكانوا] يهزمونه في أكثر المواقف، واستكمل لهم ملك خراسان بأسرها، ثمّ قصدهم مسعود في جنود يضيق بها الفضاء، فكسروه فيها،

= وهي رواية لا تفيد القطع. لكن الذهبي ترجمه في وفيات سنة (٤٣٠ هـ) من تاريخ الإسلام، وقال: ذكر ابن خيرون وفاته في سنة ثلاثين" (٩/ ٤٧٤ بتحقيقنا) وهذا بلا شك أثبت وأدق (بشار). (١) المنتظم (٨/ ١٠٦) وقد ورد اسمه في (ب): "بشر" وهو تحريف. (٢) تاريخه ٧/ ٦٤٥ (ط. د. بشار). (٣) المنتظم (٨/ ١٠٧). (٤) كذا في الأصل والكامل في التاريخ (٩/ ٤٧٣) وذكر معناه: القوس الجديد. وفي وفيات الأعيان (٥/ ٦٣): دقاق، وقد ضبطها كذلك، وفي (ط): يناق. (٥) كذا الأصل، وفي (ط): شباسي، وفي الكامل: (سباشي)، وذكر أن معناه: قائد الجيش.