and they rose in power (1). He remained in that condition until he died later that same year.
Abu al-Murhaf al-Namiri (2):
In Rabiʿ al-Akhir the man of letters and poet Abu al-Murhaf Nasr ibn Mansur al-Namiri passed away. He had studied hadith and devoted himself to belles-lettres. When he was fourteen (3) he was stricken with smallpox, and his sight deteriorated badly: he could no longer see distant objects, though he could still discern what was near, and he needed no guide. He then travelled to Iraq to seek treatment for his eyes, but the physicians despaired of curing him. So he turned to memorising the Quran and keeping company with the righteous and the ascetics—and he prospered. He left a large and graceful dīwān of poetry. On one occasion he was asked about his school of thought and his creed, and he composed the following (4):
From al-Ṭawīl:
I love ʿAlī, the Chaste Lady and her sons,
Yet I do not deny the two Shaykhs their prior rank.
I repudiate the hurtful words hurled at ʿUthmān,
Just as I disown allegiance to Ibn Muljam.
The People of Hadith delight me for their truthfulness;
With any other folk I will never align.
He died (5) in Baghdad and was buried in the Cemetery of the Martyrs at Bāb Ḥarb. May Allah have mercy on him (6).
Then (7) came the year 589 AH.
Events of that year:
The sultan (8), al-Malik al-Nāṣir (9) Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn, may Allah have mercy on him, passed away.
(1) In manuscripts A and B: “hattā irtafaʿū” (“until they ascended”).
(2) His entry appears in Ma‘jam al-Udabā’ (vol. 19, p. 222), which gives his name as Nasr ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Jūshan ibn Manṣūr ibn Ḥumayd ibn Anāl, Abū al-Murhaf al-ʿAlānī al-Nimīrī (omitting his father Manṣūr although it is confirmed in his biographical sources). It is also found in Mirʾa (vol. 8, p. 421), al-Takmila li-l-Mundhirī (vol. 1, p. 170), al-Rawḍatayn (vol. 2, p. 211), Ibn Khallikān (vol. 5, pp. 383–384), Tārīkh al-Islām (vol. 12, pp. 861–863), Mirʾāt al-Jinān (vol. 3, p. 438), and Dhayl Ibn Rajab (vol. 1, pp. 374–376).
(3) In the printed edition it reads “arbaʿa” (“four”), which is an error.
(4) The verses are found in al-Rawḍatayn (vol. 2, p. 211).
(5) In the edition: “tūfī” (“he died”).
(6) The word “taʿālā” appears only in the edition. The edition continues: “With the praise of Allah, Volume Twelve of al-Bidāya wa-l-Nihāya by the scholar Ibn Kathīr has now been printed, followed by Volume Thirteen, which begins in the year 598 AH, may blessings and greetings be perfected upon its author. Ibn Kathīr omitted their mention.”
(7) The edition places “Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim” before this, as it marks the start of Volume Thirteen.
(8) Hardly any historical or biographical work omits an entry on Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn; examples include Ibn al-Athīr (vol. 9, pp. 225–227), Mirʾāt az-Zamān (vol. 8, p. 425), al-Rawḍatayn (vol. 2, pp. 212–226), Wafayāt al-Aʿyān (vol. 7, pp. 139–218), Ibn al-ʿAbrī (vol. 3, pp. 388–389), Abū al-Fidāʾ (vol. 3, pp. 85–87), al-ʿIbar (vol. 4, p. 270), Mirʾāt al-Jinān (vol. 3, pp. 439–466), and Ibn Shaddād’s Sīrat Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn.
(9) Not found in the printed edition.