Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (14/249)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

accomplished except through killing, crucifixion, or flogging; and if a man’s property is taken in the wilderness, who will come forward to testify for him? (1)

King Nūr al-Dīn wrote on the back of the letter:

“Allah created humankind and laid down for them a sharīʿah, the revealed law; He knows best what will set them aright. Had He known that any further benefit lay in adding to that law, He would have legislated it for us. There is therefore no need to add to what Allah the Exalted has prescribed. Whoever does add to it is claiming that the sharīʿah is incomplete and that he perfects it by his addition—an act of audacity toward Allah and toward what He has ordained. Darkened minds cannot find guidance, whereas Allah, glorified be He, guides us and you to a straight path.” (2)

When the letter reached Shaykh ʿUmar al-Mullā, he gathered the people of Mosul, read the letter aloud to them, and kept saying, “Look at the ascetic’s letter to the king, and the king’s letter to the ascetic.” (3)

The brother of Shaykh Abū al-Bayān then came to him, seeking redress against a man who, he said, insulted him and called him a show-off who has his eyebrows plucked. He pressed his complaint emphatically. (4)(5)

The sultan replied, “Does not Allah the Most High say, ‘And when the ignorant address them, they reply, “Peace”’ (al-Furqān 25:63), and, ‘Turn away from the ignorant’ (al-Aʿrāf 7:199)?” At that the shaykh fell silent and could offer no response.

Nūr al-Dīn held both him and his brother Abū al-Bayān in high esteem; he visited them several times and dedicated an endowment to them. (6)

The jurist Abū al-Fath al-Ashtarī, lecturer at the Niẓāmiyyah in Baghdad—who had compiled a concise biography of Nūr al-Dīn—said: (7) “He was meticulous about performing the prescribed prayers on time and in congregation, fulfilling every condition, pillar, bowing, and prostration. (8) He prayed abundantly at night, pouring out his pleas and humble entreaties to Allah—exalted is He—in all of his affairs. (9)

We were informed by a group of trustworthy Sufis that they entered the lands of Jerusalem for visitation during the days of the Franks. They heard the unbelievers saying: ‘Ibn al-Qāsim’—meaning Nūr al-Dīn—‘has a secret with God, for he does not defeat and overcome us by the multitude of his troops and armies; rather, he prevails over us through supplication and the night prayer, for he rises in prayer at night…’ (10)(11)

(1) Edition ṭ reads “akhadha insān” (he took a man), whereas edition b reads “wa-idhā ittakhadhnā insān” (and when We took a man). (2) Edition a reads “shara‘a” (he legislated). (3) Edition ṭ reads “wa-qara’a ‘alayhim” (and he recited to them). (4) Edition ṭ reads “annahu sabbahahu wa-ramāhu bi-annahu murā’ī wa-annahu wa-annahu” (that he insulted him and accused him of ostentation, saying “that he, that he”). (5) Edition ṭ reads “al-shikāyah ‘alayhi” (the complaint against him). (6) He is Naba ibn Muḥammad, known as Ibn al-Ḥawrānī; his biography was given above in the Obituaries for the year 551 of this volume. (7) The phrase is misprinted in both original editions and in ṭ. In Rawdatayn (1/13): “Banja ibn Abī al-Ḥasan ibn Banja al-Ashtarī.” (8) Edition ṭ reads “bi-tamām shurūṭihā wa-l-qiyām bi-arkanihā wa-l-ṭuma’nīnah fī rukū‘ihā wa-sujūdihā” (with all its conditions fulfilled, its pillars upheld, and serenity in its bowing and prostration). (9) Edition ṭ reads “kathīr al-ibtihāl” (much invocation). (10) Edition ṭ reads “al-qassīm ibn al-qassīm” (al-Qassim ibn al-Qassim). (11) Present only in edition ṭ.

إلا بقتلٍ وصلب وضرب، وإِذا أخذ مال رجل (١) في البرية من يجيء فيشهد له؟ ! فكتب الملك نور الدين على ظهر الكتاب: إِن الله خلق الخلق، وشرع لهم شريعة، وهو أعلم بما يصلحهم، ولو علم أن في الشريعة زيادة في المصلحة لشرعها لنا، فلا حاجة إِلى الزيادة على ما شرعه (٢) الله تعالى، فمن زاد فقد زعم أن الشريعة ناقصة فهو يكمِّلها بزيادته، وهذا من الجرأة على الله وعلى ما شرعه، والعقول المظلمة لا تهتدي، والله سبحانه يهدينا وإِياك إِلى صراط مستقيم. فلما وصل الكتاب إِلى الشيخ عمر الملا جمع الناس بالموصل. وأقرأهم (٣) الكتاب، وجعل يقول: انظروا إِلى كتاب الزاهد إِلى الملك، وكتاب الملك إِلى الزاهد. وجاء إِليه أخو الشيخ أبي البيان يستعديه على رجل أنه (٤) يسبّه ويرميه بأنه مراءٍ متنامس، وجعل يبالغ في شكايته (٥) منه، فقال له السلطان: أليس الله تعالى يقول: ﴿وَإِذَا خَاطَبَهُمُ الْجَاهِلُونَ قَالُوا سَلَامًا﴾ [الفرقان: ٦٣] وقال: ﴿وَأَعْرِضْ عَنِ الْجَاهِلِينَ﴾ [الأعراف: ١٩٩] فسكت الشيخ ولم يحر جوابًا. وقد كان نور الدين يعتقده ويعتقد أخاه أبا البيان (٦) ، وأتاه زائرًا مرات، ووقف عليه وقفًا. وقال الفقيه أبو الفتح الأشتري (٧) ، معيد النظامية ببغداد، وكان قد جمع سيرة مختصرة لنور الدين قال: وكان يحافظ على الصلوات في أوقاتها في جماعة بتمام شروطها وأركانها وركوعها وسجودها (٨) وكان كثير الصلاة بالليل والابتهال (٩) في الدعاء والتضرع إِلى الله – Exalté soit-Il – في أموره كلها. قال: وبلغنا عن جماعة من الصوفية ممن يعتمد على قولهم أنهم دخلوا بلاد القدس للزيارة أيام الفرنج، فسمعوا الكفار يقولون: ابن القسيم (١٠) - يعنون: نور الدين- له مع الله سر فإِنه ما يظفر وينصر (١١) علينا بكثرة جنده وجيشه، وإِنما يظفر علينا وينصر بالدعاء وصلاة الليل، فإِنه يصلي بالليل

(١) ط: أخذ إِنسان، وب: وإِذا اتخذنا إِنسان. (٢) أ: شرع. (٣) ط: وقرأ عليهم. (٤) ط: أنه سبَّه ورماه بأَنَّه يرائي وأنه وأنه. (٥) ط: الشكاية عليه. (٦) هو نبا بن محمد المعروف بابن الحوراني، تقدمت ترجمته في وفيات سنة ٥٥١ من هذا الجزء. (٧) اللفظة مصحفة في الأصلين وط. وفي الروضتين (١/ ١٣): بنجه بن أبي الحسن بن بنجه الأشتري. (٨) ط: بتمام شروطها والقيام بأركانها والطمأنينة في ركوعها وسجودها. (٩) ط: كثير الابتهال. (١٠) ط: القسيم ابن القسيم. (١١) عن ط وحدها.