Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (14/105)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

(1) I have bent my very ribs around a heart that bewilders me, and each new day its ceaseless turning (2) wears me out.
The counter-blowing winds that come from Najd set it aflame, while the flashing lightning above Naʿmān thrills it.

He also said (3) — in the ramal metre:
Here is al-Khayf and yonder lies Minā; be gentle with us, O leader of the caravan.
Hold the company with us for an hour, that we may mourn the campsite and weep over the fading traces (4).
For this very halt I laid up my weeping, and for this day the tears have been stored.
A time (5) there was when we were neighbours—may Allah (6) restore that bygone time!
Between us came the day of Uthaylāt al-Taqā, and it passed without any mutual accord between us (7).

[Then came the year 534 AH.]

In it: Zangi besieged Damascus, and the atabeg Muʿin al-Dīn Unar (8), a mamluk of Tughtikīn, strengthened its fortifications. It so happened that its ruler, Jamāl al-Dīn Muḥammad (9) b. Burī b. Tughtikīn, died. Muʿin al-Dīn therefore summoned his brother Mujīr al-Dīn Abaq (10), who was in Baalbek, and invested him with the sovereignty of Damascus. Zangi then marched on Baalbek, captured it, and appointed Najm al-Dīn Ayyūb (11) as his deputy there.

And in the same year: the caliph al-Muqtafi li-Amr Allāh (12) paid a visit to the Khātūn Fāṭimah, the sister (13) of Sultan Masʿūd. Baghdad was closed for several days, and the occasion was one long to be remembered.

(1) Ms. A reads “ahnu”; the printed edition has “ahni.” (2) The edition reads “ya’ayyini,” omitting the conjunction wa-. (3) Ms. B reads “wamin dhalika qawlihi”; the edition has “wa qawlihi.” (4) The edition reads “nundib al-dār wa nabkī al-danā.” (5) The edition gives “zamānunā,” which does not scan correctly in the metre. (6) The edition reads “fa’āda.” (7) The edition reads “baynanā yawma ittiṭāf naltaqī.” (8) The edition has “bin,” a scribal error; his death is recorded in the events of 544 in this volume. (9) The edition reads “mahmūd.” (10) The edition reads “atqā.” (11) Afterwards the edition has “ṣalāḥ al-dīn,” a scribal error, since Najm al-Dīn was not Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn but his father. (12) Absent in the printed edition. (13) The edition reads “bint.”

أحنى (١) الضلوعَ على قلبٍ يُحَيّرني … في كل يومٍ ويُعييني (٢) تقلُّبُه تناوحُ الريحِ من نَجْدٍ يُهَيّجُه … ولامعُ البرقِ من نعمانَ يطربُه وله أيضًا (٣) : [من الرمل] هذِهِ الخَيْفُ وهاتِيكَ مِنَى … فترفَّقْ أيُّها الحادي بنا وَاحْبِسِ الرَّكْبَ عَلَيْنا ساعَةً … نَنْدُبُ الرَّبْعَ وَنَبْكي الدِّمَنا (٤) فلِذا الموقِفِ أَعْدَدْتُ البُكا … ولذا اليومِ الدُّموعُ تُقْتَنَى زَمَنًا (٥) كانَ وَكُنَّا جِيرَة … يا أَعاد (٦) اللهُ ذاكَ الزَّمَنا بَيْنَنَا يَوْمُ أُثيلاتِ التّقا … كان مِنْ غَيْرِ تَراضٍ بَيْنَنا (٧) [ثم دخلت سنة أربع وثلاثين وخمسمئة] فيها: حاصر زنكي دمشق، فحصّنها الأتابك معين الدين أُنَر (٨) مملوك طُغْتكين، فاتفق موت ملكها جمال الدين محمد (٩) بن بوري بن طغتكين، فأرسل معين الدين إلى أخيه مجير الدين أبق (١٠) ، وهو ببعلبك، فملّكه دمشق، فذهب زنكي إلى بعلبك، فأخذها، واستناب عليها نجم الدين أيوب (١١) . وفيها: دخل الخليفة [المقتفي لأمر الله] (١٢) على الخاتون فاطمة أخت (١٣) السلطان مسعود، وأغلقت بغداد أيامًا، وكان وقتًا مشهودًا.

(١) آ: احنو، ط: احنِ. (٢) ط: يعيّيني، وبدون واو العطف. (٣) ب: ومن ذلك قوله، ط: وقوله. (٤) ط: نندب الدار ونبكي الدنا. (٥) ط: زماننا. ولا يستوي بها الوزن. (٦) ط: فأعاد. (٧) ط: بيننا يوم ائتلاف نلتقى. (٨) ط: بن وهو تصحيف وسترد وفاته في حوادث سنة ٥٤٤ من هذا الجزء. (٩) ط: محمود. (١٠) ط: أتق. (١١) بعدها في ط: صلاح الدين، وهو تصحيف لأن نجم الدين ليس صلاح الدين بل هو والده. (١٢) ليس في ط. (١٣) ط: بنت.