Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (14/324)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

Section
On the Expedition against al-Karak

(1) In the month of Rajab the sultan marched on al-Karak and laid siege to it; accompanying him was his nephew, Taqi al-Din ‘Umar (2). He wrote to his brother (3) al-‘Adil Abu Bakr (4) summoning him, so that he might appoint him over Aleppo and its districts, just as he had requested earlier (5). The siege of al-Karak lasted for the whole of Rajab, yet he achieved none of the objective he sought. When word reached him that the Franks had all assembled to keep him from al-Karak, he wheeled about and returned to Damascus in order to meet them (6); this was his greatest (7) concern and most fervent pursuit. He (8) dispatched his nephew Taqi al-Din ‘Umar to Egypt as his deputy, with the qadi al-Fadil accompanying him, and he appointed his brother al-‘Adil (9) over the realm of Aleppo. He summoned his son al-Zahir (10) to join him, as well as his governors and those dear to him. The only reason the sultan entrusted Aleppo to his brother al-‘Adil was so that he might remain close at hand, for he took no decision without consulting him (11). The victorious sultan also borrowed one hundred thousand dinars from his brother Abu Bakr al-‘Adil. Al-Zahir, son of the victorious one, was distressed at leaving Aleppo—his first stay there had lasted six months—but (12) he did not reveal his feelings to his father; they showed only on the lines of his face and the slips (13) of his tongue.

[Then came the year 580 AH]

In this [year] (14) the sultan sent word to the armies of Aleppo, al-Jazirah, Egypt, and [Greater] Syria, instructing them to advance

(1) Karak in Mu‘jam al-Buldān: the name of a heavily fortified citadel on the frontier of ash-Shām in the Balqāʾ region, located in its mountains between ’Aylah, the Gulf of al-Qulzum, and Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem). It stands on the summit of a high mountain, surrounded by wadis except on the suburb (ribāḍ) side. Today it lies in Jordan, east of the southern part of the Dead Sea. (2) His biography will appear under the events of the year 587 in this volume. (3) t: reads “to his brother”; his biography was already given in the notes for the year 572 of this volume. (4) Not present in the printed edition (t). (5) t: reads “wafaqqa mā kān ṭalab” (in accordance with the request). (6) b: reads “li-l-qāhim”; the word is entirely omitted in the printed edition (t). (7) b, t: both read “himmatuhu.” (8) b: reads “ilā ibn”; manuscript a originally did so as well, but the scribe of a struck out “ilā.” (9) From manuscript b alone. (10) His biography was presented earlier in the notes on the raid against Bisan on the previous page. (11) t, b: both read “dūnahu.” (12) In the printed edition the sentence reads: “but he cannot reveal what is in his heart to his father, yet this became evident on his facial expression and in the utterances of his tongue.” (13) In the margin of manuscript a: “bayḍ” here marks the deaths section, with ten lines left blank. (14) t: reads “fīhā.”

فصل: [في غزو الكَرَك] (١) وفي رجب سار السلطان إِلى الكَرَك، فحاصرها، وفي صحبته تقي الدين عمر (٢) بن أخيه، وقد كتب إِلى أخيه (٣) العادل [أبي بكر] (٤) ليحضر عنده، ليوليه حلب وأعمالها، كما كان طلب منه (٥) . واستمرّ الحصار على الكرك مدة شهر رجب، فلم يظفر منها بطلب. وبلغه أن الفرنج قد اجتمعوا كلهم ليمنعوا منه الكرك، فكرَّ راجعًا إِلى دمشق ليلقاهم (٦) ، وذلك من أكبر (٧) همه، وأعظم طلبه. وأرسل (٨) ابن أخيه تقي الدين عمر إِلى مصر نائبًا، وفي صحبته القاضي الفاضل، وبعث أخاه العادل (٩) على مملكة حلب، واستقدم ولده الظاهر (١٠) إِليه، وكذلك نوابه ومن يعزّ عليه. وإِنما أعطى السلطانُ أخاه العادلَ حلب ليكون قريبًا منه، فإِنه كان لا يقطع أمرًا دون مشورته (١١) . واقترض السلطان الناصر من أخيه أبي بكر العادل مئة ألف دينار. وتألّم الظاهر بن الناصر على مفارقة حلب، وكانت إِقامته الأولى بها ستة أشهر، ولكنه (١٢) لا يُظهر ما في نفسه لوالده، لكن يظهر ذلك على صفحات وجهه وفلتات (١٣) لسانه. [ثم دخلت سنة ثمانين وخمسمائة] في هذه [السنة] (١٤) أرسل السلطان إِلى العساكر الحلبية والجزرية والمصرية [والشامية أن يقدموا

(١) كَرَك في معجم البلدان: اسم قلعة حصينة جدًا في طرف الشام من نواحي البلقاء في جبالها بين أيلة وبحر القُلزُم وبيت المقدس، وهي على سنّ جبل عال تحيط بها أودية إِلا من جهة الربض. قلت: وتقع اليوم في أراضي الأردن شرقي القسم الجنوبي من البحر الميت. (٢) سترد ترجمته في حوادث سنة ٥٨٧ من هذا الجزء. (٣) ط: لأخيه، وقد تقدمت ترجمته في حواشي سنة ٥٧٢ من هذا الجزء. (٤) ليس في ط. (٥) ط: وفق ما كان طلب. (٦) ب: للقاهم، وسقطت اللفظة جميعًا من ط. (٧) ب، ط: همته. (٨) ب: إِلى ابن. وكانت كذلك في أ، ولكن الناسخ شطب لفظة: إِلى. (٩) عن ب وحدها. (١٠) تقدمت ترجمته في هوامش غزو بيسان في الصفحة السابقة. (١١) ط، ب: دونه. (١٢) العبارة في ط: ولكن لا يقدر أن يظهر ما في نفسه لوالده لكن ظهر ذلك على صفحات وجهه ولفظات لسانه. (١٣) في هامش أ: بيض هنا للوفيات بياضًا مقدار عشرة أسطر. (١٤) ط: فيها.