and al-Zahir lavished funds upon him until he equipped an army for him that cost one million (1) dinars—and more. He marched in the caliph’s service, accompanied by a host of leading emirs and by the sons of the lord of Mosul. King al-Salih Ismaʿil was among the delegation that had come to al-Zahir, who then dispatched him in the caliph’s company. When the battle took place, al-Mustansir was nowhere to be found, while al-Salih returned to his own territory (2). The Tatars soon descended upon him, besieged him as we have mentioned, killed him, ruined his lands, and massacred their inhabitants. Truly, we belong to Allah and to Him we return.
al-ʿIzz the Blind (3), the grammarian and linguist—his name was al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Najā—hailed from Nasibin (4) and was raised in Irbil, where he applied himself (5) to a wide range of the ancient sciences. People from the ahl al-dhimma and others studied under him. He was accused of moral laxity, weak religion, and neglect of the prayers. They called him intelligent, yet he was anything but: learned of tongue but ignorant of heart, sharp in speech yet vile in deed. He composed poetry, a portion of which Shaykh Qutb al-Din cited (6) in his biographical entry (7). He was, may Allah disgrace them both, a counterpart (8) of Abu al-ʿAlaʾ al-Maʿarri.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Salam (9)—ʿAbd al-ʿAziz ibn ʿAbd al-Salam ibn Abī (10) al-Qasim ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Muhadhdhab, the Shaykh ʿIzz al-Din [ibn ʿAbd al-Salam] (11), Abū Muhammad al-Sulamī, the Damascene Shafiʿi.
(1) Manuscripts A and B state that Sultan al-Zahir funded him until he raised an army of one million.
(2) Manuscripts A and B note that when the battle occurred and al-Mustansir was lost, al-Salih returned to his realm.
(3) Biographical entry—al-‘Izz al-Dirīr—in the following works: Rawdatayn (appendix, p.216); Mar’at al-Zaman (appendix, 1:501–504; 2:165); Tārīkh al-Islām (14:930); Siyar A‘lām al-Nubalā’ (23:353–354); ‘Ibar (5:259–260); Fawāt al-Wafayāt (1:362–365); al-Nujūm al-Zāhirah (7:207–208); Bughyat al-Wu‘āt (1:518–519); Nukat al-Humayān (p.143); Shudhūr al-Dhahab (3:521–522).
(4) Nusaybin (with a fatḥa then kasra) is a city in al-Jazira on the caravan route from Mosul to Syria. It lies nine parasangs from Sinjar, six days’ journey from Mosul, and two days and ten parasangs from Daisar (Mu‘jam al-Buldān 5:228). Al-Yūnīnī adds that al-‘Izz was from a village called Afsha in the Nusaybin district (2:167).
(5) Manuscripts A and B report that he devoted himself to many fields of knowledge.
(6) Manuscripts A and B describe him as sharp-witted rather than merely clever; he composed fine, lucid poetry, which he included in his writings.
(7) Mar’at al-Zaman (appendix, 1:501–502; 2:166–170).
(8) Manuscripts A and B remark that this al-Dirīr is the same individual.
(9) Biographical entry—al-‘Izz b. ‘Abd al-Salām—in Rawdatayn (appendix, p.216); Mar’at al-Zaman (appendix, 1:505–516; 2:172–176); Tārīkh al-Islām (14:933); al-I‘lām bi-Wafayāt al-A‘lām (p.276); ‘Ibar (5:260); Fawāt al-Wafayāt (2:350–352); Ṭabaqāt al-Subkī (5:80); Ṭabaqāt al-Isnawī (2:197); al-Nujūm al-Zāhirah (7:208); Ḥusn al-Muḥāḍarah (1:314; 2:161); Shudhūr al-Dhahab (7:522–524).
(10) Not found in manuscript ṭ; supplemented from A and B and other sources.
(11) From manuscript ṭ alone.