Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (14/245)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

On one of his campaigns he personally captured a Frankish king. He then consulted the amirs about the captive: should he put him to death, or accept the huge sum he was offering as ransom? The king had indeed offered a great amount for his release, and the opinions differed. In the end, Nur al-Din judged it best to free him in return for the ransom. The king was permitted to send one of his closest men back to his homeland to bring the money with which he would redeem himself; the sum arrived quickly, Nur al-Din set him free, and when that king reached his country he died there (1). This struck Nur al-Din and his companions as a wondrous sign.

Nur al-Din (2) used that money to build the bimaristan (hospital) (3) in Damascus, the finest of all institutions of its kind ever constructed (4). He stipulated that it be a waqf, a permanent charitable endowment, for the poor and the destitute (5). If certain medicines—so rare they could be found nowhere else—were available only there, the wealthy, too, were not to be denied them; anyone who came merely for a medical consultation (6) was likewise not refused its potions. For this reason Nur al-Din himself once visited the hospital and drank of its remedy. May Allah have mercy on him.

I say: some people assert that since the day it was founded its hearth-fire has never been extinguished up to our own time; Allah knows best.

He also constructed many caravanserais along the roads (7) and watch-towers, stationed guards in the places of danger, and installed carrier pigeons that brought him news with the greatest speed (8). He built ribats and khanqahs as well. He would gather jurists, shaykhs, and Sufis to visit him (9), honoring and exalting them; he loved the righteous.

On one occasion an amir spoke ill, in his presence, of a scholar—Qutb al-Din al-Naysaburi (10). Nur al-Din said to him, “Woe to you! If what you say is true, then he possesses so many good deeds (11)—far more than you—that they will expiate the sins you have mentioned, if you are truthful. As for me, by Allah, I do not believe you; and if you ever again mention him, or anyone else, in my presence with any evil, I shall punish you (12).” The man desisted and never spoke of him again.

(1) In manuscripts A and B: “When the ransom envoy was sent, he died in his homeland.” (2) In manuscript T: “and he built.” (3) After it in A: “banī.” (4) In T: “and it has no counterpart in any land.” (5) From ar-Rawdhatayn (vol. 1, p. 9). (6) Found only in T. (7) In A: “al-turuq.” (8) In A: “yataaliʿ”; in B: “tataaliʿ.” (9) Absent in T. (10) His biography will also appear in Wafayāt (Obituaries) for the year 578 of this volume. (11) In B: “al-hasanāt al-kabīrah” (“the major good deeds”). (12) In T: “la-uʿadhinuka.”

وقد أسر بنفسه في بعض الغزوات بعض ملوك الفرنج، فاستشار الأمراء فيه: هل يقتله أو يأخذ منه ما يبذل له من المال في الفداء، وكان قد بذل له في فداء نفسه مالًا كثيرًا، فاختلفوا عليه، ثم حسن في رأيه إِطلاقه وأخذ الفداء [منه، فبعث إِلى بلده من خلاصته مَنْ يأتيه بما افتدى به نفسه، فجاء به سريعًا، فأطلقه نور الدين، فحين وصل إِلى بلاده مات ذلك الملك ببلده] (١) ، فأعجب ذلك نور الدين وأصحابه. وابتنى (٢) نور الدين من ذلك المال البيمارستان الذي (٣) بدمشق، [وهو أحسن ما بني من البيمارستانات] (٤) ، ومن شرطه أنه [وقف] (٥) على الفقراء والمساكين، وإِذا لم يوجد بعض الأدوية التي يعزّ وجودها إِلا فيه [فلا يمنع منه الأغنياء، ومن جاء إِليه مستوصفًا] (٦) فلا يمنع من شرابه، ولهذا جاء إِليه نور الدين وشرب من شرابه. (رحمه الله) . قلت: ويقول بعض الناس: إِنه لم تخمد منه النار منذ بُني إِلى زماننا هذا، فالله أعلم. وقد بنى الخانات الكثيرة في الطرقات (٧) والأبراج، ورتَّب الخفراء في الأماكن المخوفة، وجعل فيها الحمام الهوادي التي تطلعه (٨) على الأخبار في أسرع مدة. وبنى الربط الخانقاهات. وكان يجمع الفقهاء عنده والمشايخ والصوفية للزيارة (٩) ، ويكرمهم ويعظِّمهم، وكان يحب الصالحين. وقد نال بعض الأمراء مرة عنده من بعض العلماء، وهو قطب الدين النيسابوري (١٠) ، فقال له نور الدين: ويحك إِن كان ما تقول حقًا فله من الحسنات (١١) الكثيرة ما ليس عندك مما يكفِّر عنه سيئات ما ذكرت إِن كنت صادقًا، على أني والله لا أصدقك، وإِن عدت ذكرته أو أحدًا غيره عندي بسوءٍ لأؤدبنَّك (١٢) ، قال: فكفّ عنه، ولم يذكره بعد ذلك.

(١) في أ وب: فحين جهز بعث الفداء مات ببلده. (٢) في ط: وبنى. (٣) بعده في أ: بني. (٤) ط: وليس له في البلاد نظير. (٥) عن الروضتين (١/ ٩). (٦) عن ط وحدها. (٧) أ: الطرق. (٨) أ: يطالع، وب: تطالع. (٩) ليست في ط. (١٠) سترد ترجمته فى وفيات سنة ٥٧٨ من هذا الجزء. (١١) ب: الحسنات الكبيرة. (١٢) ط: لأؤذينّك.