Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (15/365)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

to inspect it.” He would then dispatch men from his army carrying hollow spears packed with poison. Once they had entered the fortress that had exhausted him, they would stir the water with those spears under the pretext of examining it and gauging its volume. The poison would seep out, mix with the water, and become the very cause of the garrison’s destruction while they remained unaware. May Allah curse him with a curse that will accompany him to his grave.

He was an aged man, far advanced in years, and he inclined toward the Christians’ religion, yet he could not free himself from Chinggis Khan’s authority under the yāsāq (the Mongol code).

Shaykh Qutb al-Dīn al-Yūnīnī said:

I saw him at Baalbek when he was besieging its citadel. He was a handsome elder with a long, flowing [though slender] beard that he had plaited so thickly it looked like a club; at times he would fasten it behind his ear. He inspired awe and possessed tremendous ferocity.

He added:

He entered the congregational mosque and climbed (1) the minaret to view the citadel from there. Then he came out by the western gate, stepped into a ruined shop, and relieved himself while the people looked on and his private parts were exposed. When he had finished, one of his companions wiped him with a single swipe of felted cotton (2).

He continued:

When he heard that al-Muẓaffar had marched out of Egypt with the armies, he wavered, unsure what course to take, but his proud soul drove him to face him, assuming—as was his custom—that victory was certain (3). On the day of battle he charged the Muslim left wing and broke it; yet Allah strengthened the believers, who stood firm and launched a sincere assault against the Tatars, routing them with an irreparable defeat. Their commander, Kutbughanuwin (4), was killed during the fight, and his son—a handsome young man—was captured.

He was brought before al-Muẓaffar Qutuz, who asked, “Did your father run away?” He replied, “He does not flee.” They searched and found him among the slain; when his son beheld him, he cried out and wept.

When al-Muẓaffar confirmed this, he prostrated to Allah Most High and said, “Now I can sleep in peace. This man was the good fortune of the Tatars (5); with his death their luck has vanished.” And so it proved—they never prospered after him. He was slain on Friday, the twenty-fifth of Ramadan, and the one who killed him was Emir Aqūsh al-Shamsī (6), may Allah have mercy on him.

Shaykh Muḥammad al-Faqīh al-Yūnīnī (7), the Ḥanbalī ḥadīth-master of Baalbek, was Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad [ibn ʿAbd Allāh] (8) ibn

(1) A, B read: faqṣud (“so he proceeded”). (2) In A and B: “After they completed the wiping, some of them applied cotton wool, leaving only a single smear.” (3) In A and B: “When he learned that al-Muẓaffar was advancing against him with the Egyptian forces, he reproached him for it; then his proud spirit urged him to confront them, and he assumed that he would embrace Christianity as was his habit.” (4) In A and B: “He sprang upon them, and they launched a resolute assault on the Tatars, defeating them irreparably and killing Kutbughānawīn.” (5) In A and B: “Once al-Muẓaffar had confirmed (the victory), he said: ‘Sleep well – this is the good fortune of the Tatars.’” (6) In A and B: “Ibn Ramadan – may God curse him – and the one responsible for killing Kutbughānawīn in the battle was the prince Jamal al-Din Aqūsh al-Shamsī.” (7) On the biography of Muḥammad al-Yūnīnī, see the appendices to al-Rawdatayn (p. 207) and Mirat al-Zaman (vol. 1, pp. 429–430); Tārīkh al-Islām (vol. 14, p. 889); al-ʿIbar (vol. 5, p. 248); al-Ishāra (p. 356); al-I‘lām bi-Wafayāt al-A‘lām (p. 275); Tadhkirat al-Huffāẓ (vol. 4, p. 1439); al-Wāfī bi-al-Wafayāt (vol. 2, p. 121); the appendix to Ṭabaqāt al-Ḥanābila (vol. 2, p. 269); al-Maqṣad al-Arshad (vol. 2, p. 356); and Shudhūr al-Dhahab (vol. 7, pp. 58–59). (8) In Ṭā only.

من يشرف عليه، فيرسل رجالًا من جيشه معهم رماح مجوفة محشوة سمًا، فإذا دخلوا الحصن الذي أعياه ساطوا ذلك الماء بتلك الرماح على أنهم يفتشونه ويعرفون قدره، فينفتح ذلك السم ويستقر في ذلك الماء فيكون سبب هلاكهم وهم لا يشعرون لعنه الله لعنة تدخل معه قبره. وكان شيخًا كبيرًا قد أسن وكان يميل إلى دين النصارى ولكن لا يمكنه الخروج من حكم جنكيزخان في الياساق. قال الشيخ قطب الدين اليونيني: وقد رأيته ببعلبك حين حاصر قلعتها، وكان شيخًا حسنًا له لحيةٌ طويلةٌ مسترسلة [رقيقة] قد ضفرها مثل الدبوقة، وتارة يعلّقها من خلفه بأُذنه، وكان مهيبًا شديد السطوة. قال: وقد دخل الجامع فصعد (١) المنارة ليتأمل القلعةَ منها، ثم خرج من الباب الغربي فدخل دكانًا خرابًا فقضى حاجته والناسُ ينظرون إليه وهو مكشوفُ العورةِ، فلما فرغ من حاجته مسحه بعض أصحابه بقطن ملبد مسحة واحدة (٢) . قال: ولما بلغه خروج المظفر بالعساكر من مصر تلوم في أمره وحار ماذا يفعل، ثم حملته نفسه الأبية على لقائه، وظن أنه منصور على جاري عادته (٣) ، فحمل يومئذ على الميسرة فكسرها ثم أيد الله المسلمين وثبتهم في المعركة فحملوا حملة صادقة على التتار فهزموهم هزيمة لا تجبر أبدًا، وقتل أميرهم كتبغانوين (٤) في المعركة وأُسر ابنُه، وكان شابًا حسنًا، فأُحضر بين يَدَي المُظَفَّر قطز فقال له: أهربَ أبوك؟ قال إنه لا يهرب، فطلبوه فوجدوه بين القتلى، فلما رآه ابنه صرخ وبكى، فلما تحققه المظفر سجد لله تعالى ثم قال: أنامُ طيبًا. كان هذا سعادة التتار (٥) وبقتله ذهب سعدهم، وهكذا كان كما قال ولم يفلحوا بعده أبدًا، وكان قتله يوم الجمعة الخامس والعشرين من رمضان، وكان الذي قتله الأمير آقوش الشمسي (٦) (رحمه الله) . الشيخ محمد الفقيه اليونيني (٧) ، الحنبلي البعلبكي الحافظ، هو محمد بن أحمد [بن عبد الله] (٨) بن

(١) أ، ب: فقصد. (٢) أ، ب: ولما فرغ مسحه بعضهم بقطن لبد مسحة واحدة. (٣) أ، ب: ولما بلغه بروز المظفر إليه بالعساكر المصرية تلوم في أمره ثم حملته نفسه الأبية على لقائهم وظن أنه يتنصر كما كانت عادته. (٤) أ، ب: وثبّتهم فحملوا حملة صادقة على التتر فهزموهم هزيمة لا تنجبر أبدًا وقتل كتبغانوين. (٥) أ، ب: فلما تحققه المظفر قال: نام طيبًا كان هذا سعادة التتر. (٦) أ، ب: من رمضان لعنه الله تعالى وكان الذي تولى قتل كتبغانوين في المعركة الأمير جمال الدين آقوش الشمسي. (٧) ترجمة - محمد اليونيني - في ذيل الروضتين (٢٠٧) وذيل مرآة الزمان (١/ ٤٢٩ - ٤٣٠) وتاريخ الإسلام (١٤/ ٨٨٩) والعبر (٥/ ٢٤٨) والإشارة (٣٥٦) والإعلام بوفيات الأعلام (٢٧٥) وتذكرة الحفاظ (٤/ ١٤٣٩) والوافي بالوفيات (٢/ ١٢١) وذيل طبقات الحنابلة (٢/ ٢٦٩) والمقصد الأرشد (٢/ ٣٥٦) وشذرات الذهب (٧/ ٥٨ - ٥٩). (٨) عن ط وحدها.