Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (14/192)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

This took place on Monday, the twenty-fifth of Jumada al-Akhirah of that same year,(1) a day long remembered. The whole army marched in his service, and none held back save ʿAyn al-Dawlah al-Yāruqī, who said, “I will not serve Yūsuf after Nūr al-Dīn,” whereupon he departed with his troops for Syria; Nūr al-Dīn reproached him for that.

Al-Malik Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn remained in Egypt as(2) the deputy of King Nūr al-Dīn, and the Friday sermon in Egypt was delivered in Nūr al-Dīn’s name. Nūr al-Dīn addressed him in his letters as “the amir al-isfahsālār Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn,” while Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn responded with humility in both correspondence and seal. Yet hearts rallied to him, souls submitted to him, al-ʿĀḍid was oppressed to the utmost during his days, and Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn’s standing among the people of those lands rose high. He increased the iqṭāʿs (fiefs) of those around him, so they loved him, served him, and held him in esteem.(3)

Nūr al-Dīn wrote to rebuke him for accepting the vizierate without a written decree and ordered him to forward the fiscal accounts of Egypt, but al-Nāṣir paid no heed. During this period Nūr al-Dīn was heard to say, “The son of Ayyūb has become king.” Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn then asked Nūr al-Dīn to send his father, brothers, and other relatives; Nūr al-Dīn complied, dispatching them to Egypt and binding them to obey Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn. Thus his position there was secured,(4) his state thereby consolidated,(5) his affairs perfected, his authority entrenched, and his foundations strengthened.

One of the poets, on Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn’s slaying of the vizier Shawar,(6) composed the following verses (meter: ṭawīl):

Blessed is Egypt for having(7) Yūsuf gain her throne—
By a decree of the All-Merciful that had(8) its destined hour.
No killing within her by Yūsuf of Shawar compares(9)
Save to David’s slaying of Goliath.(10)

Abū Shāmah(11) states that in this same year al-ʿĀḍid put to death Shawar’s sons: Shujāʿ, surnamed al-Kāmil; al-Ṭārī, surnamed al-Muʿaẓẓam; and their other brother, surnamed Fāris al-Muslimīn. Their heads were paraded throughout the districts of Egypt.

(1) Printed edition (ṭ): “thumma sāra” (“then he moved on”). (2) Printed edition (ṭ): “ṣifah” (“description”). (3) Printed edition (ṭ): “fa aḥbūhu wa iḥtaramūhu wa khadamūhu” (“they loved him, respected him, and served him”). (4) Printed edition (ṭ): “bi-Miṣr” (“in Egypt”). (5) Autograph (ā): “wa ḥafaẓ” (“and he memorized”); printed edition (ṭ): “wa tawwaṭaʾat” (“and he became entrenched”). (6) The two verses appear with a third in Dīwān al-Imād (p. 86) and al-Rawḍatayn (vol. 1, p. 180). (7) Printed edition (ṭ): “hayyā li-Miṣr ḥawr”, which is a misspelling. (8) Absent from the printed edition (ṭ). (9) Absent from the autograph (ā). (10) In the Dīwān and al-Rawḍatayn the following lines follow: “Waqultu liqalbī abshir al-yawma bil-manā … faqad nalta mā ammalta bal ḥazta mā shayta” (“And I said to my heart, ‘Rejoice today in the long-awaited solace… for you have attained what you hoped for, indeed you have secured what you desired.’”) (11) al-Rawḍatayn (vol. 1, p. 180).

وكان ذلك يوم الإثنين الخامس والعشرين من جمادى الآخرة من هذه السنة، فكان (١) يومًا مشهودًا، وسار الجيش بكماله في خدمته، ولم يتخلّف عنهم سوى عين الدولة الياروقي قال: لا أخدم يوسف بعد نور الدين، وسار بجيشه إلى الشام، فلامه نور الدين على ذلك. وأقام الملك صلاح الدين [بالديار المصرية] بصفة (٢) نائب للملك نور الدين، يُخْطَبُ له على المنابر بالديار المصرية. ويكاتبه نور الدين بالأمير الأسفهلار صلاح الدين، ويتواضع له صلاح الدين في الكتب والعلامة، ولكن قد التفّت عليه القلوب، وخضعت له النفوس، واضطهد العاضد في أيامه غاية الاضطهاد، وارتفع قدر صلاح الدين بين العباد في تلك البلاد، وزاد في إقطاعات الذين معه، فأحبوه وخدموه واحترموه (٣) . وكتب إليه نور الدين يعنّفه على قبول الوزارة بدون مرسومه، وأمره أن يقيم حساب الديار المصرية، فلم يلتفت الناصر إلى ذلك، وجعل نور الدين يقول في غضون ذلك: ملك ابن أيوب. وأرسل صلاح الدين إلى الملك نور الدين يطلب منه أهله وإخوته وقرابته، فأرسلهم إليه، وشرط عليهم السمع والطاعة له، فاستقر أمره هنالك (٤) ، وتوطدت (٥) دولته بذلك، وكمل أمره، وتمكن سلطانه، وقويت أركانه. وقد قال بعض الشعراء في قتل صلاح الدين لشاور الوزير (٦) : [من الطويل] هنيئًا لمِصْرَ حَوْزُ (٧) يوسفَ مُلْكَها … بأَمْرٍ من الرَّحْمنِ قَد (٨) كان مَوْقُوتا وما كانَ فيها قَتْلُ يوسفَ شاورًا … يُماثِلُ إلّا (٩) قَتْلَ داودَ جالوتا (١٠) قال أبو شامة (١١) : وقتل العاضد في هذه السنة أولاد شاور وهم: شجاع الملقب بالكامل، والطاري الملقب بالمعظم، وأخوهما الآخر الملقب بفارس المسلمين، وطيف برؤوسهم ببلاد مصر.

(١) ط: ثم سار. (٢) ط: صفة. (٣) ط: فأحبوه واحترموه وخدموه. (٤) ط: بمصر. (٥) آ: وحفظ، ط: وتوطأت. (٦) البيتان مع ثالث في ديوان العماد (٨٦) والروضتين (١/ ١٨٠). (٧) ط: هيا لمصر حور. وهو تصحيف. (٨) ليس في ط. (٩) ليس في آ. (١٠) بعده في الديوان والروضتين: وقلتُ لقلبي أبشر اليوم بالمنى … فقد نلتَ ما أمَّلتَ بل حزت ماشيتا (١١) الروضتين (١/ ١٨٠).