Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (15/164)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

He said: A certain unbeliever came before him, claiming, “In my sleep I saw Chinggis Khan saying, ‘Tell my son to kill (1) the Muslims.’” He answered, “That is a lie,” and ordered the man’s execution (2).

He said: He once commanded that three men be put to death, the yāsa (3) having decreed their execution. Suddenly a woman appeared, weeping and striking her face. He asked, “Who is this? Bring her here.” She said, “This one is my son, this is my brother, and this is my husband.” He told her, “Choose one of them and I will release him for you.” She replied, “A husband can be replaced, and so can a son, but there is no substitute for a brother.” He admired (4) her answer and freed all three for her.

He said: He was fond of wrestlers and men of daring. A group of them had gathered in his presence, and someone mentioned a man in Khurasan. He summoned him, and the man defeated every wrestler there. He honored him, rewarded him, and even gave him a beautiful princess (5). She stayed with him for some time, yet he never approached her. It happened that she went to visit the Qān’s residence (6). The sultan joked with her, saying, “How do you find the Arabized fellow?” She told him that he had never touched her. Amazed, he summoned the man and asked about it. He said, “O khwund (my lord), I obtained your favor through my prowess; if I go near her, my standing with you will diminish.” [He replied, “No harm will come to you,” and brought the man’s cousin, who was his equal. The cousin wished to wrestle him, but the sultan said, “You are relatives; such a contest is unseemly,” and he ordered that a large sum of money be given to him] (7).

He said: When death approached, he advised his sons to stay united and avoid division, illustrating this with examples. He had a quiver of arrows brought before him, took out a single arrow, and handed it to one of them, who snapped it. Then he produced the bundle tied together (8) and gave it to them, but they could not break it. He said, “This is how you are when you stand together in harmony, and that is how you are when each of you is alone and at odds with the others.”

He said: He had several sons and daughters, four of whom were the foremost (9): the eldest, Tuli (10), together with Huriul, Batu (11), Berke, and Turukjar. Each of them held an appointed post with him.

(1) A: I was once told that he kills Muslims. (2) In the margin of T: “There is confusion here; the correct version is that a Bedouin came to the Khan (son of Genghis Khan) and said, ‘I saw in a dream your father Genghis Khan, and he told me: “Tell your son Khan to kill the Muslims.”’ But Khan favored the Muslims, against his own household. They asked the man, ‘Do you know the Mongolian language?’ He replied, ‘No.’ The king then said, ‘You are lying, for my father knew no language other than Mongolian.’ He ordered the man’s beheading, thus freeing the Muslims from his plot.” (Bashar) (3) A: al-Yasiq. (4) A: And he approved it. (5) A, B: From among the daughters of the Mongols. (6) T, B: And I brought her to the ordu (camp). (7) From T alone. (8) A, B: He took the arrow, handed it to one of them to break, then brought a bundle of arrows and drove it en masse at them. (9) A, B: The boys. (10) T: He bequeaths. As for the information here from A and B, the remaining sons of Genghis Khan are listed in the Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif al-Islāmiyya (vol. 12, p. 393) as: (1) Jochi (2) Chaghatai (3) Ögedei. (11) A: Hertul and Baqu.

قال: وقدم عليه رجلٌ كافرٌ يقول رأيت في النوم جنكيز خان يقول قل لابني يقتل (١) المسلمين، فقال له هذا كذب، وأمر بقتله (٢) . قال: وأمر بقتل ثلاثةٍ قد قضت الياسا (٣) بقتلهم، فإِذا امرأة تبكي وتلطم. فقال: ما هذه؟ أحضروها، فقالت: هذا ابني، وهذا أخي، وهذا زوجي، فقال اختاري واحدًا منهم حتى أطلقَه لكِ، فقالت: الزوج يجيء مثلهُ، والابنُ كذلك، والأخ لا عوضَ له، فاستحسن (٤) ذلك منها وأطلق الثلاثةَ لها. قال: وكان يحبُّ المصارعين وأهلَ الشطارة، وقد اجتمع عنده منهم جماعة، فذُكِرَ له إِنسان بخراسان فأحضره فصرع جميع من عنده، فأكرمه وأعطاه وأطلق له بنتًا من بنات الملوك (٥) حسناء. فمكثت عنده مدة لا يتعرض لها، فاتفق مجيئها زائرةً بيت القان (٦) فجعل السلطان يمازحها ويقول: كيف رأيت المستعرب؟ فذكرت له أنه لم يقربها، فتعجب من ذلك وأحضره فسأله عن ذلك فقال: يا خوند أنا إِنما حظيت عندك بالشطارة ومتى قربتها نقصت منزلتي عندك [، فقال: لا بأس عليك وأحضر ابن عم له وكان مثله، فأراد أن يصارع الأول فقال السلطان: أنتما قرابة ولا يليق هذا بينكما وأمر له بمال جزيل] (٧) . قال: ولما احتضر أوصى أولاده بالاتفاق وعدم الافتراق، وضرب لهم في ذلك الأمثال، وأحضر بين يديه نشابًا وأخذ سهمًا أعطاه لواحد منهم فكسره، ثم أحضر حزمة ودفعها إِليهم مجموعة (٨) فلم يطيقوا كسرها، فقال: هذا مثلكم إِذا اجتمعتم واتفقتم، وذلك مثلكم إِذا انفردتم واختلفتم. قال: وكان له عدة أولاد ذكور وإِناث منهم أربعة هم عظماء أولاده (٩) أكبرهم تولي (١٠) وهريول وباتو (١١) وبركة وتركجار، وكان كل منهم له وظيفة عنده.

(١) أ: وقيل لي مرة يقتل المسلمين. (٢) في حاشية ط: "فيه تخليط، والصحيح أن أعرابيًا جاء إِلى قان (ابن جنكيز خان) وقال له: رأيت في النوم أباك جنكيز خان فقال لي: قل لابني قان يقتل المسلمين، وكان قان يميل إِلى المسلمين مخالفًا لأهل بيته، فسأل الرجل: هل تعرف اللغة المغولية؟ فقال: لا. فقال الملك له: أنت كاذب لأن أبي ما كان يعرف من اللغات غير المغولية، فأمر بضرب عنقه وأراح المسلمين من كيده" (بشار). (٣) أ: الياسق. (٤) أ: واستحسن. (٥) أ، ب: من بنات المغول. (٦) ط ب: فجئتها إِلى الأردوا. (٧) عن ط وحدها. (٨) أ، ب: وأخذ السهم فيعطيه لواحد منهم فيكسره ثم أحضر حزمة ودفعه مجموعة إِليهم. (٩) أ، ب: الأولاد. (١٠) ط: يوصي. وما هنا عن أ ب، أما بقية أولاد جنكيز خان في دائرة المعارف الإسلامية (١٢/ ٣٩٣) فهم: (١) جوجي (٢) جغتاي (٣) أكداي. (١١) أ: وهرتول وباقو.