Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (14/342)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

Then the captive kings were brought in and seated to his right and left according to their rank: their great king took the place at his right hand, and beneath him (1) sat Reynald, Prince of Kerak—may Allah (2) abase him—while the remaining kings were arrayed before him and to his left.

A snow-chilled (3) draught of jullab (4) was then set before the Sultan; he drank, passed it to the King, who drank, and the King in turn handed it to Reynald (5) of Kerak, who also drank (6). The Sultan flared with anger and said, “It was I who gave you drink; I did not authorize you to give it to him. He has no covenant with me.”

The Sultan then withdrew to an inner tent pitched within the larger one and summoned Reynald. When the latter was brought before him, he rose with sword in hand and invited him (7) to accept Islam, but he refused. The Sultan said, “Indeed, I stand in the stead of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in defending his community.” He thereupon struck him down, sent his head to the kings still in the tent, and declared, “This man dared to revile the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and so I have killed him.”

After that the Sultan executed, in cold blood, all the prisoners who were Templars and Hospitallers (8); and Allah (9) delivered the Muslims from those two impure orders (10). Praise belongs to Allah. Only a small number of them accepted Islam when it was offered.

It is reported that the slain reached thirty thousand, and the captives likewise thirty thousand; the total strength of the Frankish host (11) had been sixty-three thousand. Those who escaped—few as they were (12)—were mostly wounded and died on their own soil after returning home. Among those who perished in this manner was the Count of Tripoli: he had fled while wounded and died in his land after his return (13)—may Allah curse him.

Then the Sultan dispatched (14) the leading captives, the heads of the prominent slain, and the True Cross itself, in the company of the judge Ibn Abī—

(1) T reads: “And seat Ariyat, Barins of al-Karak, and leave the rest to his left.” (2) B reads: “May Allah curse him.” (3) T reads: “Then he was brought to the sultan.” (4) B reads “bi-sharābin min al-jalāb mithlūj” (with iced jalab [sherbet]); in T it appears as “bi-sharābin min al-jalāb mithlūjan” (with iced jalab [sherbet]). (5) T reads “Ariyat.” Copyist’s error. (6) A reads: “Then the king handed it to him and he drank; then their king Arnat handed it to him and he drank.” Repetition. (7) In A and B he reproaches Arnat before offering him Islam; I judged my adopted reading to be closer to Saladin’s viewpoint, so I retained it. (8) T reads “al-istithāriyyah.” Copyist’s error. (9) Attested only in A. (10) T reads “al-khabithīn” (the wicked). (11) T reads “jayshuhum” (their army). (12) T reads “wa-haraba aktharuhum” (and most of them fled). (13) Thereafter in B: waʿdānih. (14) T reads: “Then the sultan bereaved them by beheading the Frankish notables and any of their chiefs whose heads had not already been killed.”

ثم جيء بالملوك، فأُجلسوا عن يمينه ويساره على مراتبهم، فأُجلس ملكهم الكبير عن يمينه، وتحته (١) أرناط ابرنس الكرك، قبحه (٢) اللّه تعالى، وبين يديه بقية الملوك وعن يساره. ثم جئ (٣) السلطان بشراب مثلوج (٤) من الجلّاب، فشرب، ثم ناول الملك فشرب، ثم ناول ملكهم أرناط (٥) صاحب الكرك فشرب (٦) ، فغضب السلطان وقال: أنا سقيتك، ولم آمرك أن تسقيه، هذا لا عهد له عندي. ثم تحوَّل السلطان إِلى خيمة داخل تلك الخيمة، واستدعى أرناط، فلما أوقف بين يديه قام إِليه بالسيف، ودعاه (٧) إِلى الإسلام فامتنع، فقال له: نعم أنا أنوب عن رسول الله ﷺ في الانتصار لأمته، ثم قتله، وأرسل برأسه إِلى الملوك، وهم في الخيمة، وقال: إِن هذا تعرض لسبِّ رسول الله ﷺ فقتلته. ثم قتل السلطان جميع من كان في الأسارى من الداوية والاسبتارية (٨) صبرًا، وأراح اللّه (٩) المسلمين من هذين الجنسين النجسين (١٠) ، ولله الحمد. ولم يسلم ممن عُرض عليه الإسلام منهم إِلا القليل، فيقال: إِنه بلغت القتلى ثلاثين ألفًا، وكذلك الأسارى كانوا ثلاثين ألفًا، وكان جملة [جيش الفرنج] (١١) ثلاثة وستين ألفًا، وكان مَنْ سلم منهم، مع قلّتهم (١٢) ، أكثرهم جرحى، فماتوا ببلادهم بعد رجوعهم. وممن مات كذلك قومص طرابلس، فإنه انهزم جريحًا، فمات ببلاده بعد مرجعه (١٣) لعنه الله. ثم أرسل (١٤) برؤساء الأسارى ورؤوس أعيان القتلى وبصليب الصلبوت صحبة القاضي ابن أبي

(١) ط: واجلس أرياط برنس الكرك وبقيتهم عن شماله. (٢) ب: لعنه الله. (٣) ط: ثم جيء إِلى السلطان. (٤) ب: بشراب من الجلاب مثلوج، وفي ط: بشراب من الجلاب مثلوجًا. (٥) ط: أرياط. تصحيف. (٦) أ: ثم ناول الملك فشرب ثم ناول ملكهم أرناط فشرب. تكرار. (٧) جاء في أ، ب تأنيبه لأرناط قبل عرضه عليه الإسلام، ووجدت أن ما أثبته أقرب إِلى نفس صلاح الدين فأثبته. (٨) ط: الاستثارية. تصحيف. (٩) عن أ وحدها. (١٠) ط: الخبيثين. (١١) ط: جيشهم. (١٢) ط: وهرب أكثرهم. (١٣) بعدها في ب (وعدانه). (١٤) ط: ثم أرمل السلطان برؤوس أعيان الفرنج ومن لم يقتل من رؤوسهم.