Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (14/377)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

place and time; they were snatched up in every corner and slaughtered like animals (1). Their king later tried to ford a river with a fierce current. Tempted to swim across, he entered the water, but it swept him against the stump (2) of a tree, split his head open, stilled his breath, and Allah relieved the Muslims of him while his soul was driven to Sijjīn (3).

They then set his youngest son upon the throne (4), yet their ranks were already in tatters and their numbers sorely diminished (5). Wherever they passed (6) they were slain, their force shrinking until they rejoined their comrades besieging Acre—no more than a thousand horsemen, held in no esteem at all (7) by anyone, of their own creed or otherwise. Such is Allah’s way with those who oppose Islam and its people: He ruins them and scatters their power, and to Allah belong all praise and favour (8).

Al-ʿImād relates that the Germans had arrived with five thousand fighting men, and that all the Frankish kings (9) disliked his coming (10) because they feared his might (11) and that his rule might eclipse theirs. None rejoiced except the Marquis of Tyre, the very instigator (12) of this strife and source of this ordeal—may Allah curse him. He was strengthened by the German leader, his army, and his guile, for he was skilled in warfare and had introduced (13) many new engines of war no one had imagined before: massive mobile towers, mountain-like in size, rolling on wheels with iron rams that butted the wall, breaking (14) it and chipping away its flanks. But Allah the Sublime graciously caused them to be burned and destroyed, sparing the Muslims from their harm—and to Allah belongs all praise (15).

The German commander (16) then advanced with the Frankish host and confronted the Muslim army, drawing up for battle

(1) T: They snatch as animals do. (2) Not in T. The term al-jadhm is originally written with a kasra but appears with a fatḥa (jadhm) in al-Qāmūs al-Muḥīṭ. (3) T: “And may God spare His servants and the lands from it.” (4) Not in T. (5) A: reads “ʿaddat-hum.” (6) B: reads “lā yajtāzūna baladan” (“they do not traverse a land”); A: reads “wa-lā yajtāzūna illā wa-yuqtalū” (“nor do they pass through except to kill”). (7) T: “When they reached their comrades at Acre—save for a thousand horsemen—they gained neither prestige nor standing from them.” (8) T: “Such is the case of whoever seeks to extinguish the light of God and humiliate the religion of Islam.” (9) T: “al-Ifranj” (the Franks). (10) T: “their arrival.” (11) T: “the dominion of their king.” (12) In A and B: the wording is illegible. (13) T: “he arrived with things.” (14) In T: “and he tears it apart.” (15) In T their placement is at “min-hā.” (16) Found only in T.

مكان وزمان، فكانوا يُتَخَطَّفون [في كل مكان، ويقتلون كما يقتل] (١) الحيوان، حتى اجتاز ملكهم بنهر شديد الجرية، فدعته نفسُه أن يسبح فيه، فلما صار فيه حمله الماء إِلى جِذم (٢) شجرة فشجَّت رأسه، وأخمدت أنفاسه، وأراح اللّه [منه المسلمين، وحشرت روحه إِلى سجين] (٣) . فأقيم ولده الأصغر في الملك بعد (٤) ، وقد تمزَّق شملهم، وقلَّت [منهم العِدَّة] (٥) ، ثم أقبلوا لا يجتازون ببلد (٦) إِلا قُتلوا فيه، [وقلَّ عددهم حتى جاؤوا إِلى أصحابهم المحاصرين لعكا وهم في ألف فارس وليس لهم قدر ولا قيمة] (٧) عند أحد من أهل ملتهم ولا غيرهم، [هذه سنة اللّه فيمن أراد مخالفة الإسلام وأهله في إِهلاكه وتمزيق شمله، وللّه الحمد والمنة] (٨) . وزعم العماد في سياقه أن الألمان وصلوا في خمسة آلاف مقاتل، وأن ملوك الفرنج (٩) كلهم كرهوا قدومه (١٠) عليهم، لما يخافون من سطوته (١١) ، وزوال دولتهم بدولته، ولم يفرح به إِلا المركيس صاحب صور الذي أنشأ (١٢) هذه الفتنة وأثار هذه المحنة، لعنه اللّه، فإِنه تقوَّى به وبجيشه وكيده، فإِنه كان خبيرًا بالحروب وقد [أحدث أشياء] (١٣) كثيرة من آلات الحرب لم تخطر لأحد ببال، نصب دبابات أمثال الجبال، تسير بعجل، ولها زلوم من حديد، تنطح السور فتكسره (١٤) ، وتثلم جوانبه، فمنّ اللّه العظيم بإِحراقها وإِتلافها، وأراح اللّه المسلمين [من شرها وللّه الحمد] (١٥) . ونهض [صاحب الألمان] (١٦) بالعسكر الفرنجي، فصادم به جيش المسلمين [وناصب بالحرب

(١) ط: يتخطفون كما يتخطف الحيوان. (٢) ليست اللفظة في ط. والجذم- بالكسر الأصل ويفتح كما في القاموس المحيط (جذم). (٣) ط: وأراح الله منه العباد والبلاد. (٤) ليس في ط. (٥) أ: عدّتهم. (٦) ب: لا يجتازون بلدًا. أ: ولا يجتازون إِلا وقتلوا. (٧) ط: فلما وصلوا إِلى أصحابهم الذين على عكا إِلا في ألف فارس فلم يرفعوا بهم رأسًا ولا لهم قدرًا ولا قيمة بهم ولا عند. (٨) ط: وهكذا شأن من أراد إِطفاء نور اللّه وإِذلال دين الإسلام. (٩) ط: الإفرنج. (١٠) ط: قدومهم. (١١) ط: سطوة ملكهم. (١٢) في أ، ب: لفظه لا تبين. (١٣) ط: قدم بأشياء. (١٤) في ط: فتمزقه. (١٥) مكانهما في ط: منها. (١٦) عن ط وحدها.