Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (14/270)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

—the slave-girls and the songstresses—for he had kept more than a hundred female singers—and he sent back the cages and every instrument of diversion ⦗1⦘ and play to Aleppo. He added: “Tell him ⦗2⦘: These are dearer to you than bowing, prostration, and battle.” He found the Mosulite camp like a tavern, overflowing with wine, lutes, and entertainments; such is ever the way of every profligate who, heedless and carefree, has strayed from the path of righteousness.

[Section]
When the Aleppans returned to their city they came home in the worst of states, repenting of the oaths they had broken ⦗3⦘, their defiance of the All-Merciful’s command, and their rebellion against the sultan. They therefore strengthened the city’s defences for fear of the lion’s leap, while the lord of Mosul hurried forward, reached it, and would not rest until he had entered.

As for ⦗4⦘ Sultan Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn, once he had finished distributing the booty—taken from both the slain and the living—he hastened toward radiant Aleppo, at the height of might, power, and lofty dignity. He found that its people had fortified it and made the citadel secure, and he declared: “It is to our advantage to begin by capturing the forts that surround the city; afterward we shall return to them, and none among them will be able to withstand us.”

He therefore set about reducing the strongholds one by one, returning each time to tear down another pillar of their dominion. He took Bizaʿah ⦗5⦘ and Manbij, then advanced to ʿAzaz. The Aleppans sent word to Sinān, who dispatched a band of his followers to assassinate Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn. Some of them slipped into his army disguised as soldiers and fought fiercely until they mingled with his men. One day, seeing their chance while the sultan was in full view, one of them charged and struck him on the head with a dagger; but the sultan was protected by his helmet, and Allah preserved him. The blade merely grazed his cheek, leaving only a slight wound.

The assassin then seized the sultan’s head and forced it to the ground to slaughter him. Those nearby were momentarily stunned, but their wits soon returned; they rushed upon the assassin, killed him, and hacked him to pieces. Another immediately hurled himself at the sultan and was slain; a third attacked one of the emirs and was likewise killed; a fourth fled, was overtaken, and put to death. Fighting ceased for the remainder of that day.

The sultan then set his mind on the city, captured it, and granted it as an iqṭāʿ to his nephew Taqī al-Dīn ʿUmar ibn Shāhanshāh ibn Ayyūb. His anger against the people of Aleppo had grown intense because of what they had done—the assassins they had sent against him and their daring assault.

(1) Present only in the ṭ manuscript. (2) In the ṭ manuscript: “lahum … ilaykum.” (3) In the ṭ manuscript: “Then when the armies returned to Aleppo, they had turned back in the worst manner and regretted having broken their oaths.” (4) In this passage there is a disagreement between the ṭ manuscript and the two archetypes; I have omitted their numerous variants and preserved only the readings of A and B. (5) In all the archetypes: Maraghah and Bizaʿah—with the bāʾ read with either a fatḥa (a) or a kasra (i); some read it with a sukun as Bizaʿ. Bizaʿah is a town in Aleppo province between Manbij and Aleppo (Muʿjam al-Buldan).

الجواري والمغنيات، وقد كان معه أكثر من مئة مغنية، وردّ الأقفاص وآلات اللهو (١) واللعب إِلى حلب، وقال: قولوا له (٢) : هذه أحب إِليك من الركوع والسجود والحرب. ووجد عسكر المواصلة كالحانة من كثرة الخمور والبرابط والملاهي، وهذه سبيل كل فاسق، من هو عن طريق الخير ساهٍ لاهٍ. [فصل] لما رجع الحلبيون إِلى حلب فاؤوا بشرّ منقلب، وندموا على نقضهم الأيمان (٣) ، ومخالفتهم طاعة الرحمن، وشقّهم العصا على السلطان، فحصَّنوا البلد، خوفًا من وثوب الأسد، وأسرع صاحب الموصل فوصلها، وما صدَّق حتى دخلها. وأما (٤) السلطان صلاح الدين، فإِنه لما فرغ من قسمة ما غنم، مما تركه من عطب ومن سلم، أسرع السير إِلى حلب الشهباء، وهو في غاية السطوة والقوة والعزة القعساء، فوجدهم قد حصّنوها، والقلعة قد أحكموها، فقال: من المصلحة أن نبادر إِلى فتح الحصون التي حول البلد، ثم نعود إِليهم فلا يمتنع علينا منهم أحد. فشرع بفتح الحصون حصنًا حصنًا، ثم يعود إِليهم ويهدم من أركان دولتهم ركنًا ركنًا، ففتح بزاعة (٥) ومنبج، ثم صار إِلى عَزاز، فأرسل الحلبيون إِلى سنان، فأرسل جماعة من أصحابه ليقتلوا صلاح الدين، فدخل طائفة منهم في جيشه في زي الجند، فقاتلوا أشد القتال، حتى اختلطوا بهم، فوجدوا فرصةً ذات يوم، والسلطان ظاهر للناس، فحمل عليه واحد منهم فضربه بالسكِّين على رأسه، فإِذا هو محترس منهم باللأمة، فسلمه الله، غير أن السكين مرت على خده، فجرحته جرحًا هينًا، ثم أخذ الفداوي رأس السلطان، فوضعه إِلى الأرض ليذبحه، ومن حوله قد أخذتهم دهشة، ثم ثاب إِليهم عقلُهم، فبادروا إِلى الفداوي فقتلوه وقطعوه، ثم هجم آخر في الساعة الراهنة على السلطان فقُتل، ثم هجم آخر على بعض الأمراء فقُتل أيضًا، وهرب الرابع فأُدرك فقُتل، وبطل القتال ذلك اليوم، ثم صمم السلطان على البلد ففتحه وأقطعه ابن أخيه تقي الدين عمر بن شاهنشاه بن أيوب، وقد اشتد حنقه على أهل حلب، لما فعلوا ولما أرسلوا من الفداوية إِليه، وإِقدامهم عليه.

(١) عن ط وحدها. (٢) ط: لهم .. إِليكم. (٣) ط: فلما رجعت الجيوش إِلى حلب وقد انقلبوا شر منقلب وندموا على ما نقضوا من الأيمان. (٤) في هذا المقطع خلاف في الرواية بين ط والأصلين تركتها لكثرتها. وأثبت رواية أ، ب. (٥) في الأصول كلها: مراغة، وبزاعة: بضم الباء وكسرها، وقيل بالقصر، بزاعا: وهي بلدة من أعمال حلب بين منبج وحلب. معجم البلدان.