No More Learning

1 Sultan of Damascus.
154 Arab Historians of the Crusades
THE MUSLIMS RECONQUER DAMIETTA FROM THE FRANKS
(IBN AL-ATHI? R, XII, 213-6)
The Franks settled in Damietta after the conquest and sent out raiding parties into all the surrounding territories to pillage and slaughter. The population evacuated the region, and the Franks began to set things in order and to fortify the citadel most carefully in an effort to make it impregnable. Al-Malik al-Kamil for his part was stationed close to the enemy, on the borders of his own territory, ready to defend it. When the Franks at home learnt that the Franks had seized Damietta they hurried there from all directions, so that it became a centre for them when they emigrated. Al-Malik al-Mu'azzam returned to Syria and destroyed (the walls of) Jerusalem in dhu l-qa'da of that year, because of the general fear of the Franks. 1 The entire Muslim world, men and territories, seemed likely at this moment to be lost to the East on the one hand and the West on the other: from the East came the Tartars, who reached Ira? q, Azarbaija? n, Arra? n and other provinces, as we shall narrate, God willing; while from the West came the Franks, who took a city like Damietta in Egypt because of its lack of fortifications to protect it from an enemy. All the rest of Egypt and Syria was on the point of collapse and everyone was terrified of the invaders and went in anticipation of disaster night and day. The population of Egypt was even ready to evacuate the country for fear of the enemy, but 'It was no time to escape',2 surrounded as they were on all sides by the enemy. If al-Kamil had allowed them, they would have abandoned the country altogether, but impeded as they were they stood firm. Al-Malik al-Kamil sent a stream of letters to his two brothers al-Malik al-Mu'azzam of Damascus and al-Malik al-Ashraf who ruled the Jazira, Armenia and the rest, imploring their help and begging them to come in person, or at least to send him their troops. The Lord of Damascus went himself to al-Ashraf, but found him unable to send help to their brother because many of his vassals were in a state of rebellion, as will be explained under the year 615, following the death of al-Malik al-Qahir, ruler of Mosul. He therefore excused him and returned home, and the situation facing al-Malik al-Kamil remained unchanged.
Then the rebellions in al-Malik al-Ashraf's kingdom were put down and the rebellious Princes restored to obedience. This was accomplished by 618, at which time al-Malik al-Kamil was still confronting the Franks. At the beginning of 618 al-Kamil learnt that al-Ashraf's troubles had subsided and so he sent to his brothers to ask their help. The ruler of Damascus once again begged his brother to set out, and he did in fact start for Damascus with the troops at his disposal, commanding the rest to join him there, where he would halt and wait for them. Some of his ami? rs and courtiers advised him to send the troops on and return home himself, for fear of an uprising there, but he rejected their advice: 'I have set out on a Holy War,' he said, 'and must carry it through to the end. ' So he set off for Egypt.
The Franks with all their forces came out of Damietta to confront al-Malik al-Kamil. The two armies encamped facing one another but separated by a tributary of the Nile
Because he was afraid that he might have to hand the Holy City back to them (it was in fact offered to them at one point), and wanted at least to destroy its military significance.
Qur'a? n XXXVIII, 2.
1
2
Part Three: The Ayyubids and the Invasion of Egypt 155
known as Bahr Ashmu? n. The Franks attacked the Muslims with catapults and ballistas, and were, like everyone else, sure that they would gain control of the whole of Egypt. When al-Ashraf reached Egypt his brother al-Kamil learnt of his arrival and set out to meet him, delighting both himself and the other Muslims by this meeting, which all hoped would lead to success and (final) victory. (Even) al-Mu'azzam of Damascus came to Egypt and made for Damietta, thinking that his two brothers and their armies would already have laid siege to it. Others say that he heard that the Franks were making for Damietta1 and went in that direction to confront them while the two brothers fell on them from behind; but God knows best. When al-Ashraf and al-Kamil met they decided to make for a branch of the Nile known as Bahr al-Mahalla, which they did, and pressed the Franks more and more closely. The Muslim galleys came down the Nile, attacked the Frankish fleet and took three ships with all their crew, cargo and arms. This delighted and encouraged the Muslims, who saw it as a good omen and drew from it the strength they needed to overcome the enemy.
Meanwhile ambassadors passed between the two sides to discuss the terms of the peace. The Muslims offered the Franks Ascalon, Tiberias, Sidon, Ja? bala, Laodicea and all Saladin's conquests except al-Karak, in return for Damietta,1 but the Franks refused and asked for 300,000 dinar as indemnity for the destruction of the walls of Jerusalem, to be used to rebuild them, and made no further moves, except to say that they could not give up their claim to al-Karak. In such a situation, being on the losing side, the Muslims could do nothing but continue the fight.
The Franks were confident of their own strength and had brought with them provisions for only a few days, thinking that the Muslim army would offer no resistance and that the whole of the cultivated area of Egypt would fall into their hands, so that they would be able to obtain whatever provisions they wanted; this was because of the divinely predestined intention (to destroy them). A detachment of Muslims crossed the river to the Frankish side and opened the flood-gates. The river flooded most of the area and left the Franks with only one way out, along a narrow causeway. Al-Kamil threw a bridge over the Nile at Ashmu? n, and his troops crossed it and held the road along which the Franks would have to pass to reach Damietta. There was no escape. In this crisis a big cargo vessel called a maramma reached the Franks. It was defended by a convoy of fire-ships, all loaded with food, arms and reinforcements. The Muslim galleys attacked and fought them, and overcame and seized the maramma and all its fire-ships. When the Franks saw this they lost heart and realized that they had made a serious error in leaving Damietta to venture into unknown terrain, surrounded, harassed by arrows and attacked by Muslim forces on all sides. The situation became so serious for the Franks that they burnt their tents, ballistas and luggage and decided to attack the Muslims in the hope of breaking through and getting back to Damietta. But the object of their longings was far off and their way to it restricted, by the mud and water surrounding them, to a single path, along which they would have to fight their way through the Muslims who held it.
In an attempt to withdraw from the flooded Delta: see below, p. 262.
This gives some idea of the relative importance of Damietta, and the wisdom of the Franks in attacking it. The al-Karak excepted from the towns offered (almost all the towns that Saladin conquered! ) is al-Karak in Moab, a vital point on the line of communication between Syria and Egypt.
1 1
156 Arab Historians of the Crusades
When they realized that they were completely surrounded, that communications were very difficult and destruction imminent,1 they lost heart, broke their crosses, and their devil abandoned them. They sent messages to al-Malik al-Kamil and al-Ashraf asking for their lives in exchange for Damietta with no indemnity. While negotiations were in progress they saw a great cloud of dust in the sky and heard a great noise from Damietta. The Muslims thought that it must be help coming for the Franks and were alarmed, but in fact it was al-Malik al-Mu'azzam from Damascus, who had taken the route to Damietta, as we mentioned. He reinforced the Muslims and caused the Franks still greater dread and despondency. They agreed to make peace in return for Damietta, and the agreement was reached and the oaths taken on 7 rajab 618/27 August 1221, The Frankish kings, counts and barons came from Damietta as hostages in the hands of al-Malik al-Kamil and al-Ashraf. There was the King of Acre, the Papal Legate, Louis2 and others; twenty in all. They sent their priests and monks to Damietta to negotiate the surrender. The inhabitants yielded and handed the city over on the ninth, a memorable day for Isla? m. It is said that just when the Muslims received the city from the Franks help arrived for them by sea. If it had reached the city before the Muslims they would have refused to hand it over, but the Muslims arrived first because it was decreed thus by God. Of the population of Damietta only a few isolated individuals were left; they had all dispersed, some leaving the city of their own free will, some dead, some prisoners of the Franks. When the Muslims entered they found it effectively fortified by the Franks in a way that made it impregnable. But Almighty God restored justice to him who waited and right to the righteous, giving the Muslims victory beyond their expectations. For their highest hope was to get Damietta in exchange for all their conquests in Syria, but God gave them Damietta while preserving Syria for them. Praise and thanks to God for His grace to Isla? m and the Muslims, for turning the enemy's attack aside and liberating them at the same time from the Tartar threat, as we shall narrate, God willing.
OTHER DETAILS OF THE FRANKISH SURRENDER (IBN WASIL, FO. 209r-210r)
. . . The Franks sent ambassadors to al-Malik al-Kamil and his two brothers al-Malik al-Mu'azzam and al-Malik al-Ashraf asking for their lives to be spared in exchange for Damietta with no indemnity. Al-Malik al-Kamil consulted the princes of his House about this. Some advised him not to grant them an amnesty but to seize them at once, while they were in his control and made up the majority of the Unbelievers (on Muslim soil). When he had done this he could take Damietta and the parts of Palestine that they held. But the Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil disagreed, and said: 'There are other Franks; even if we destroy1 them too it will take us a long time and a hard fight to win Damietta. The Franks beyond the sea will hear what has befallen them and will arrive in more than double the numbers of these here, and we shall have to face a siege. ' At the time the troops were exhausted and tired of fighting,2 for the Frankish occupation of Egypt had lasted for three years and three months. 1
2 1 2
Literally: 'death was gnashing its teeth at them'.
Duke of Bavaria (reading Ludwi? sh for the Kundri? sh of the text).
Could also be read as 'capture'.
These words could also be taken as a part of the preceding speech, in which case, for 'were'read 'care'.
Part Three: The Ayyubids and the Invasion of Egypt 157
So they all accepted his decision to grant the Franks their lives in exchange for Damietta. He accepted the Frankish petition on condition that al-Malik al-Kamil held hostages from them until Damietta was handed over. They in their turn asked for one of al-Kamil's sons and a group of his nobles as hostages for the return of their King. So an understanding was reached and oaths were taken on 7 rajab 618. The Frankish hostages were the King of Acre, the Papal Legate who was the representative of the Pope in Rome the Great, King Louis and other lords, numbering twenty altogether. Al-Kamil's hostages were his son al-Malik as-Salih Najm ad-Din Ayyu? b1 and a group of his nobles. Al-Malik as-Salih was then fifteen, for he was born in 603. When the nobles presented themselves before al-Malik al-Kamil he held audience in great pomp, in the presence of all the kings and princes of his House. The Franks received a vivid impression of his royal power and majesty. . . . 2
. . . (When Damietta surrendered) the Frankish and Muslim hostages were returned to their respective sides, and the Sultan entrusted the government of the city to the amir Shuja? ' ad-Din Jurdi? k al-Muzaffari an-Nuri, an experienced and worthy man. At the time of the peace the Franks found that they had at Damietta some enormous masts for their ships, and they wanted to take these away with them to their own land. Shuja? ' ad-Din refused permission for this, so they sent messages to al-Malik al-Kamil complaining about it and saying that these masts were their own property, and that according to the terms of the treaty they should be free to take them. Al-Malik al-Kamil wrote to Shuja? ' ad-Din commanding him to hand over the masts, but he persisted in his refusal: 'The Franks took the pulpit from the Great Mosque of Damietta,' he said, 'and cut it up and sent a piece to each of their kings: let the Sultan command them to return the pulpit, and the masts will be theirs. ' The Sultan did write to the Franks about this, referring them to what Shuja? ' ad-Din said, and the Franks, unable to return the pulpit, gave up their claim to the masts.
1 2
Later to rule Egypt 1240-49.
A little earlier in this same campaign, 'in the presence of the mighty Sultan', St. Francis came forward and preached. A faint trace of this same episode is believed to have been discovered recently in an eastern source which speaks of a Muslim advising al-Kamil 'on the matter of the monk'.
CHAPTER TWO
The bloodless Crusade of Frederick II, a diplomatic skirmish that was one episode in the rivalry of the Ayyubid princes who were al-'Adil's heirs, has left interesting traces in the Muslim histories of the epoch. Here the main sources are Sibt ibn al-Jauzi, himself a witness of and participant in the Muslim reaction to the surrendering of Jerusalem to the Hohenstaufen, and Ibn Wasil, who did not know Frederick personally, but was later ambassador to Manfred in southern Italy and has left personal and lively, if not always accurate, details of the Hohenstaufen's phil-Isla? mic tendencies. The impressions of those who were close to the Emperor during his visit to Jerusalem and saw his pro-Isla? mic bias in political matters and his religious scepticism and scorn would, if they had been known in Europe, have received a warm welcome as support for the Vatican-inspired anti-Frederick polemic then current. A comprehensive example of this is to be found among Frederick's diplomatic correspondence, in two letters in Arabic sent by him, shortly after his return to Italy, to a friend of his, an amir at the Ayyubid court. These have been preserved for us by an unknown eastern chronicler. Beneath the Arabic rhetoric, certainly the work of an Arab secretary, concrete historical references reveal the awareness of his imperial dignity and the fierce animosity to the Pope that are so clearly to be seen in the rest of his public utterances.
THE ARRIVAL AT ACRE OF THE EMPEROR FREDERICK, KING OF THE FRANKS
(IBN WASIL, FO. 119v-252r)1
In 625/1228 the Emperor Frederick arrived in Acre with a great company of Germans and other Franks. We have already described how the ami? r Fakhr ad-Din, the son of the Shaikh ash-Shuyu? kh, was sent to the King-Emperor from. the Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil. This was in the time of al-Malik al-Mu'azzam. 1 The idea of the approaches made to the Emperor, the King of the Franks, and of his invitation, was to create difficulties for al-Malik al-Mu'azzam and prevent his availing himself of the help offered to him by the Sultan Jala? l ad-Din ibn 'Ala? ' ad-Din Khwarizmsha? h and Muzaffar ad-Din of Arbela, in his quarrel with al-Kamil and al-Malik al-Ashraf.
The Emperor made his preparations, and arrived with his army on the coast of Syria in the same year and disembarked at Acre. A great number of Franks had preceded him there
The pages of the Paris MS. are in the wrong order here and elsewhere.
The ruler of Damascus and al-Kamil's brother, whom we have already met flying to his brother's aid against the Franks at Damietta. After this relations between them deteriorated, and it was the tension between them, caused by Jala? l ad-Din the Sultan of Khwarizm, and the ami? r of Arbela, that had led al-Kamil to approach Frederick.
1 1
Part Three: The Ayyubids and the Invasion of Egypt 159
but they could not move off for fear of al-Malik al-Mu'azzam and so they were waiting for their leader the Emperor. This word means in the Frankish language 'the King of the Princes'. His kingdom consisted of the island of Sicily, and Apulia and Lombardy in the Long Country (Italy). 2 It is the author, Jama? l ad-Din ibn Wasil, who speaks: I saw these parts when I was sent as ambassador of the Sultan al-Malik az-Zahir Rukn ad-Din Baibars, of blessed memory, to the Emperor's son, Manfred by name. The Emperor was a Frankish King, distinguished and gifted, a student of philosophy, logic and medicine and a friend to Muslims, for his original home was Sicily, where he was educated. He, his father and his grandfather were Kings of the island, but its inhabitants were mostly Muslims.
When the Emperor reached Acre, al-Malik al-Kamil found him an embarrassment, for his brother al-Malik al-Mu'azzam, who was the reason why he had asked Frederick for help, had died, and al-Kamil had no further need of the Emperor. Nor was it possible to turn him away and attack him because of the terms of the earlier agreement, and because this would have led him to lose the goals on which his heart was set at the time. He therefore made a treaty with Frederick and treated him with great friendship. What followed will be told later, God willing. . . . The Emperor settled at Acre and messengers came and went between him and al-Malik al-Kamil until the end of the year.
JERUSALEM IS HANDED OVER TO THE FRANKS (IBN WASIL, FO. 253 r-v, 120r-121r)
Then followed the negotiations between al-Malik al-Kamil and the Emperor of which the object had been fixed earlier when al-Kamil and the Emperor first met, before the death of al-Malik al-Mu'azzam. The Frankish King refused to return home except on the conditions laid down, which included the surrender of Jerusalem and of part of the area conquered by Saladin,1 whereas al-Malik al-Kamil was by no means prepared to yield him these territories. It was finally agreed that he should have Jerusalem on condition that he did not attempt to rebuild the walls, that nothing outside it should be held by the Franks, and that all the other villages within its province should be Muslim, with a Muslim governor resident at al-Bira, actually in the province of Jerusalem. The sacred precincts of the city, with the Dome of the Rock and the Masjid al-Aqsa were to remain in Muslim hands, and the Franks were simply to have the right to visit them, while their administration remained in the hands of those already employed in it, and Muslim worship was to continue there. The Franks excepted from the agreement certain small villages on the road from Acre to Jerusalem, which were to remain in their control unlike the rest of the province of Jerusalem.
The author was perhaps confusing 'Lombardy' and 'Longobardy', which according to the Arabic system of place-names in use at the time refer respectively to the region lying N. W. of the Capitanata (now Lucania) and the Murge (N. W. of the present Foggia), and the coastal region of 'Apulia'. In Frederick's Arabic titles both names appear, as will be seen in a letter translated below. Frederick was recalling the offer made by al-Kamil in 1220 to the Crusaders at Damietta (see above) to surrender Palestine. To the Emperor the Papal Legate Pelagius becomes, by a natural process, 'my representative, the chief of my servants. And you owe me now no less than you were prepared to offer him' (Ta'rikh Mansuri, 32, Maqrizi, 228-29).
2
1
160 Arab Historians of the Crusades
The Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil maintained that if he broke with the Emperor and failed to give him full satisfaction the result would be a war with the Franks in which the Muslims would suffer irreparably, and everything for which they were working would slip from their grasp. So he was in favour of satisfying the Franks with a disarmed Jerusalem and making a temporary truce with them. He could seize the concessions back from them later, when he chose to. The ami? r Fakhr ad-Din ibn ash-Shaikh conducted the negotiations for him, and many conversations and discussions took place between them, during which the Emperor sent to al-Malik al-Kamil queries on difficult philosophic, geometric and mathematical points, to test the men of learning at his court. The Sultan passed the mathematical questions on to Shaikh 'Alam ad-Din Qaisar, a master of that art, and the rest to a group of scholars, who answered them all. Then al-Malik al-Kamil and the Emperor swore to observe the terms of the agreement and made a truce for a fixed term. 1 In this way they arranged matters between themselves, and each side felt secure in its relations with the other. I was told that the Emperor said to the ami? r Fakhr ad-Din: 'If I were not afraid that my prestige among the Franks would be destroyed I should not have imposed these conditions on the Sultan. I have no real ambition to hold Jerusalem, nor anything else; I simply want to safeguard my reputation with the Christians. '
After the truce the Sultan sent out a proclamation that the Muslims were to leave Jerusalem and hand it over to the Franks. The Muslims left amid cries and groans and lamentations. The news spread swiftly throughout the Muslim world, which lamented the loss of Jerusalem and disapproved strongly of al-Malik al-Kamil's action as a most dishonourable deed, for the reconquest of that noble city and its recovery from the hand of the infidel had been one of al-Malik an-Nasir Saladin's most notable achievements--God sanctify his spirit! --But al-Malik al-Kamil of noble memory knew that the Muslims could not defend themselves in an unprotected Jerusalem, and that when he had achieved his aim and had the situation well in hand he could purify Jerusalem of the Franks and chase them out. 'We have only,' he said, 'conceded to them some churches and some ruined houses. The sacred precincts, the venerated Rock and all the other sanctuaries to which we make our pilgrimages remain ours as they were; Muslim rites continue to flourish as they did before, and the Muslims have their own governor of the rural provinces and districts. '
After the agreement the Emperor asked the Sultan for permission to visit Jerusalem. This the Sultan granted, and ordered the qadi of Nablus Shams ad-Din of blessed memory, who enjoyed great prestige and favour with the Ayyubid house, to be at the Emperor's service during the time of his visit to Jerusalem and his return to Acre. The author Jama? l ad-Din ibn Wasil says: 'The Qadi of Nablus Shams ad-Din of blessed memory told me: "I took my place beside him as the Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil had ordered me to and entered the Sacred Precinct with him, where he inspected the lesser sanctuaries.
Then I went with him into al-Aqsa, whose construction he admired, as he did that of the Dome of the Rock. When we came to the mihra? b he admired its beauty, and commended the pulpit, which he climbed to the top. When he descended he took my hand and we went out in the direction of al-Aqsa. There he found a priest with the Testament in his hand about to enter al-Aqsa. The Emperor called out to him: 'What has brought you here? By God, if one of you comes
1 Ten years, five months and forty days from 28 rabi? ' I 626/24 February 1229 (Maqrizi 230).
Part Three: The Ayyubids and the Invasion of Egypt 161
here again without permission I shall have his eyes put out! We are the slaves and servants of al-Malik al-Kamil. He has handed over this church to me and you as a gracious gift. I do not want any of you exceeding your duties. ' The priest made off, quaking with fear. Then the King went to the house that had been prepared for him and took up residence there. " The Qadi Shams ad-Din said: "I recommended the muezzins not to give the call to prayer that night, out of respect for the King. In the morning I went to him, and he said: 'O qadi, why did the muezzins not give the call to prayer last night in the usual way? ' 'This humble slave. ' I replied, 'prevented them, out of regard and respect for Your Majesty. ' 'You did wrong to do that,' he said: 'My chief aim in passing the night in Jerusalem was to hear the call to prayer given by the muezzins, and their cries of praise to God during the night. ' Then he left and returned to Acre. "'
When news of the loss of Jerusalem reached Damascus al-Malik an-Nasir began to abuse his uncle al-Malik al-Kamil for alienating the people's sympathies, and ordered the preacher, shaikh Shams ad-Din Yusuf, the nephew (sibt) of shaikh Jama? l ad-Din ibn al-Jauzi, who was in great public favour as a preacher, to preach a sermon in the Great Mosque in Damascus. He was to recall the history of Jerusalem, the holy traditions and legends associated with it, to make the people grieve for the loss of it, and to speak of the humiliation and disgrace that its loss brought upon the Muslims. By this means al-Malik an-Nasir Dawu? d proposed to alienate the people from al-Malik al-Kamil and to ensure their loyalty to himself in his contest with his uncle. 1 So Shams ad-Din preached as he was told to, and the people came to hear him. 2 It was a memorable day, one on which there rose up to heaven the cries, sobs and groans of the crowd. I myself was one of the crowd there, and among the matters to which I heard him refer was a qasida composed by him, rhyming in 't', into which he had inserted a few lines by the poet Di'bil al-Khuza'i,1 of which. I recall the following:
In the Sanctuary of the Ascent and of the Rock, which surpasses in glory every other rock in the world.
There are Qur'anic schools now deprived of recitations of the sacred verses, and a seat of revelation in the now deserted courtyards.
On that day one saw nothing but weeping men and women. Now that the truce between al-Malik al-Kamil and the Emperor had been ratified the latter weighed anchor and returned home. 2
We have already had an account of the clash between al-Malik al-Kamil and al-Malik al-Mu'azzam of Damascus that had led to Frederick's being summoned. An-Nasir, who succeeded his father in Damascus, was now seeking to use the emotions aroused by the loss of Jerusalem to bolster his declining power.
Sibt ibn al-Jauzi himself refers to the episode in the next passage.
A poet at the time of Harun ar-Rashi? d (eighth-ninth centuries). The preacher has taken a line from one of his laments for the 'Alids and adapted it to the loss of Jerusalem (the second of the two quoted here. )
At the end of jumada II/May 1229, according to Maqrizi.
1
2 1
2
162 Arab Historians of the Crusades
MUSLIM GRIEF IN DAMASCUS. FREDERICK IN JERUSALEM
(SIBT IBN AL-JAUZI, 432-4)
News of the loss of Jerusalem spread to Damascus, and disaster struck all the lands of Isla? m. It was so great a tragedy that public ceremonies of mourning were instituted: al-Malik an-Nasir Dawu? d invited me to preside over a meeting in the Great Mosque of Damascus and to speak of what had occurred in Jerusalem. I could not refuse him, considering obedience to his desire as one of my religious duties and part of my zeal for the cause of Isla? m. So I ascended (the pulpit) of the Great Mosque of Damascus, in the presence of al-Malik an-Nasir Dawu? d, at the gate of Mashhad 'Ali. It was a memorable day, for not one of the people of Damascus remained outside. In the course of my oration I said: 'The road to Jerusalem is closed to the companies of pious visitors! O desolation for those pious men who live there; how many times have they prostrated themselves there in prayer, how many tears have they shed there! By Alla? h, if their eyes were living springs they could not pay the whole of their debt of grief; if their hearts burst with grief they could not diminish their anguish! May God burnish the honour of the believers! O shame upon the Muslim rulers! At such an event tears fall, hearts break with sighs, grief rises up on high . . . ' and so on throughout a long discourse. The poets too composed many works on the same subject.
The Emperor entered Jerusalem while Damascus was under siege. 1 During his visit various curious incidents occurred: one was that when he went into the Dome of the Rock he saw a priest sitting near the imprint of the Holy Foot, and taking some pieces of paper from the Franks. 2 The Emperor went up to him as if he wanted to ask a benediction of him, and struck him a blow that knockcd him to the ground. 'Swine! ' he cried. 'The Sultan has done us the honour of allowing us to visit this place, and you sit here behaving like this! If any of you comes in here again in this way I shall kill him! ' The scene was described by one of the custodians of the Dome of the Rock. They said too that the Emperor looked at the inscription that runs round the inside of the sanctuary, saying: 'Saladin purified this city of Jerusalem of the polytheists. . . . ' and asked: 'Who would these polytheists be? ' 'He also asked the custodians: "What are these nets at the doors of the sanctuary for? "' They replied: 'So that the little sparrows should not come in. ' He said: 'God has brought the giants here instead! '3 When the time came for the midday prayer and the muezzins' cry rang out, all his pages and valets rose, as well as his tutor, a Sicilian with whom he was reading (Aristotle's) Logic in all its chapters, and offered the canonic prayer, for they were all Muslims. The Emperor, as these same custodians recall, had a red skin, and was bald and short-sighted. Had he been a slave he would not have been worth two hundred dirham. It was clear from
By al-Kamil and al-Ashraf, united against their nephew an-Nasir.
It is not clear what the pieces of paper were that the priest was taking from the Franks in this version (certainly not paper money as alms). Ibn Wasil's version says that he held a copy of the New Testament; Amari thinks that there is a lacuna here.
The Arabic word jabbari? n means 'giants' and also 'potentates, tyrants'. Amari here reads, with an easy textual emendation, khanazi? r, 'pigs'. Both words are jibes at the Crusaders by the materialist Emperor. The reading khanazi? r, with its aural similarity to the preceding asafi? r, ('sparrows'), makes one think not of a translation but of a pun in Arabic made by Frederick, whose knowledge of the language is borne out by both eastern sources.
1 2
3
Part Three: The Ayyubids and the Invasion of Egypt 163
what he said that he was a materialist and that his Christianity was simply a game to him. Al-Kamil had ordered the Qadi of Nablus, Shams ad-Din, to tell the muezzins that during the Emperor's stay in Jerusalem they were not to go up into their minarets and give the call to prayer in the sacred precinct. The qadi forgot to tell the muezzins, and so the muezzin 'Abd al-Kari? m mounted his minaret at dawn and began to recite the Qur'anic verses about the Christians, such as 'God has no son',1 referring to Jesus son of Mary, and other such texts. In the morning the qadi called 'Abd al-Kari? m to him and said: 'What have you done? The Sultan's command was thus and thus. ' He replied: 'You did not tell me; I am sorry. ' The second night he did not give the call. The next morning the Emperor summoned the qadi, who had come to Jerusalem as his personal adviser and had been responsible for handing the city over to him, and said: 'O qadi, where is the man who yesterday climbed the minaret and spoke these words? ' The qadi told him of the Sultan's orders. 'You did wrong, qadi; would you alter your rites and law and faith for my sake? If you were staying in my country, would I order the bells to be silenced for your sake? By God, do not do this; this is the first time that we have found fault in you! ' Then he distributed a sum of money among the custodians and muezzins and pious men in the sanctuary; ten dinar to each. He spent only two nights in Jerusalem and then returned to Jaffa, for fear of the Templars, who wanted to kill him. 2
LATER RELATIONS BETWEEN THE HOHENSTAUFEN AND THE AYYUBIDS. THE LATERHOHENSTAUFEN
(IBN WASIL, 121r-123r)
The Emperor was a sincere and affectionate friend of al-Malik al-Kamil, and they kept up a correspondence until al-Kamil died--God have mercy on him! --and his son al-Malik al-'Adil Saif ad-Din Abu Bakr succeeded him. 1 With him too the Emperor was on sincerely affectionate terms and maintained a correspondence. When al-'Adil died in his turn and his brother al-Malik as-Salih Najm ad-Din Ayyu? b2 succeeded him, relations were unchanged: al-Malik as-Salih sent to the Emperor the learned shaikh Sira? j ad-Din Urmawi, now qadi of Asia Minor, and he spent some time as the Emperor's honoured guest and wrote a book on Logic for him. The Emperor loaded him with honours. After this, still in high favour, he returned to al-Malik as-Salih. In 647/1249, when the King of France, one of the great Frankish kings, attacked Egypt, the Emperor sent him a message in which he tried to dissuade him from the expedition and warned him of the consequences of his action, but the French king did not take his advice. Sir Berto3 (he was master of ceremonies to the Emperor's son Manfred) told me that Frederick had sent him on a secret embassy to al-Malik as-Salih
Qur'a? n XXIII, 93.
Reading ad-Dawiyya for ad-duna (for these Christian intrigues against Frederick see Amari, Storia dei Musulmani di Sicilia, 2nd ed. , III, p. 660 and n. 3.
1238-40.
1240-49.
On the name of this master of ceremonies (mihmanda? r, actually the man responsible for entertaining ambassadors and other important guests) the Arabic text is clear only about the final letters; 'Sir Berto' is just a guess based on the group of symbols s. r. ? r. d.
1 2
1 2 3
164 Arab Historians of the Crusades
Najm ad-Din Ayyu? b to tell him that the King of France had decided to attack Egypt and to put him on his guard and advise him to prepare to resist the attack, which al-Malik as-Salih did. Sir Berto said that his journey to Egypt had been made in the guise of a merchant, and that no one heard a whisper of his visit to the Sultan and the Franks never realized that the Emperor was intriguing with the Muslims against them. When al-Malik as-Salih died and the King of France met the fate he deserved--the defeat and destruction of his army by death and capture, his own capture by al-Malik al-Mu'azzam Turansha? h, his release after al-Malik al-Mu'azzam was murdered and his return home--1 the Emperor sent to remind him of the advice he had given him and of the sorrow he had brought upon himself by his obstinacy and disobedience, and reproached him harshly for it.
The Emperor died in 648/1250, a year after al-Malik as-Salih Najm ad-Din Ayyu? b, and was succeeded by his son Conrad. When he too died his brother Manfred came to the throne. All three were hated by the Pope--the Frankish Caliph--because of their sympathy with the Muslims; the Pope, the Caliph of the Franks, and Manfred went to war, and Manfred the son of the Emperor was victorious.
The qadi Jama? l ad-Din, chief qadi of Hama? t, says in his history: I went as ambassador to Manfred from the Sultan al-Malik az-Zahir Rukn ad-Din Baibars of blessed memory, in ramada? n 659/August 1261, and was entertained by him in the highest honour in a city called Barletta in Apulia, which is in the Long Country, next to Spain. 2 I had dealings with him on several occasions, and found him a remarkable man, who loved the dialectical sciences and knew the ten books of Euclid off by heart. Near the town where he lived was a city called Lucera, whose inhabitants were all Muslims from the island of Sicily; they hold public prayer there on a Friday and make open profession of the Muslim Faith. This has been so since the time of the Emperor Manfred's father Frederick. He had undertaken the building of a scientific institute there3 for the study of all the branches of speculative science; most of his officials and courtiers were Muslims, and in his camp the call to prayer, and even the canonic prayers themselves, were openly heard.
When I returned home, news came that the Pope--the Prince of Rome the Great--together with the brother of the King of France mentioned earlier,1 was gathering an army to attack him. Rome was five day's journey from the town where I had stayed. The Pope had already excommunicated Manfred for his Muslim leanings and for having dishonoured Christian religious law. His brother and his father the Emperor had also been excommunicated by the Pope of Rome for the same thing. They say that the Pope of Rome is for them the vicar of the Messiah, and his representative, with authority to decide what is permitted and what is forbidden, to cut off and to separate. It is he who crowns their Kings and sets them on the throne, and everything in their law needs his approval. He is a priest,2 and when he dies he is succeeded by the man who is endowed as he was with this sacerdotal quality.
See below for St. Louis' Crusade in Egypt.
No one looking at one of Idrisi's maps would be surprised at this Muslim notion that Italy and Spain are contiguous.
Valuable information, not known before, about the cultural life of the Muslim community in Lucera. The founder of this dar al-'ilm was apparently Manfred, but the sentence could, strictly, apply to either father or son.
Charles of Anjou, brother of King Louis IX.
The Arabic has 'monk, friar'.
1 2
3
1 2
Part Three: The Ayyubids and the Invasion of Egypt 165
While I was in their land I was told a strange story according to which the title of Emperor, before the time of Frederick, was held by his father, who died when his son was a boy in early adolescence. Several of the Frankish kings aspired to be Emperor and each hoped that the Pope of Rome would bestow the title on him. Frederick, who was a German--the Germans are one of the Frankish nations--was a man of astute cunning, He met each of the aspirants privately and said to him: 'I do not want this title; I am not worthy of it. When we see the Pope, tell him that you leave the choice to Frederick and that you will stand by his decision, he being the son of the dead Emperor. I will choose you alone of them all, and my intention is to support you and be your ally. ' Frederick confided this to each of them, and each one believed him and trusted his sincerity. They all met in the city of Rome the Great, Frederick among them. Frederick had ordered a large band of his German nobles to mount their horses and wait near to the great church in Rome where the council was meeting. When the kings assembled the Pope said: 'What do you think about this office; which of you is the most worthy of it? ' and he placed the royal crown in front of them. Each replied: 'I leave the decision to Frederick. What he decides I will accept and recommend in my turn, since he is the Emperor's son and the most appropriate person to give the council advice on the matter. 'Then Frederick stood up and said: 'I am the Emperor's son and the most worthy of his title and his throne, and all have chosen and accepted me. ' Then the Pope, who chose only according to the will of the assembly, put the crown on his head. They all stood bemused while Frederick, the crown on his head, left hurriedly and mounted his horse with the whole company of Germans whom he had ordered to be near the church door. With them he galloped as fast as they could go back to his own land. Later he committed acts that incur excommunication among them, and was excommunicated.
I was told that at Acre the Emperor said to the ami? r Fakhr ad-Din ibn ash-Shaikh of blessed memory: 'Explain to me what your Caliph is. ' Fakhr ad-Din said: 'He is the descendant of our Prophet, whom God bless and save,1 who has received the title of Caliph from his father, and his father from his father, so that the Caliphate has remained in the Prophet's house and has not moved outside its members. ' 'How fine that is! ' he said. 'But these stupid men'--meaning the Franks--'take a man from the sewer,2 without any bond of blood or relationship with the Messiah, ignorant and incapable of making himself understood, and they make him their Caliph, the representative of the Messiah among them, a man who could not possibly be worthy of such an office. Whereas your Caliph, a descendant of the Prophet, is clearly more worthy than any other man of the dignity invested in him! '1
The Pope and the King of France's brother attacked Manfred, the Emperor's son, and in a pitched battle destroyed his army and took him captive. The Pope ordered that he should be killed, and it was done. The King of France's brother2 reigned over the lands that had belonged to the Emperor's son and held possession of them. This occurred, I think, in 663/1265.
The definition applies to the members of the dynasty of the 'Abbasids, who were descended from Muhammad's uncle, 'Abba? s.
Literally: 'dung-heap'.
It is clear from this and other passages that an awareness of certain parallels between the Caliphate and the Papacy was widespread at the time in spite of the profound religious and constitutional differences between the two institutions.
1
2 1
Text had 'his brother', obviously a lapsus for 'brother of the King of France': Charles of Anjou,
2
as stated elsewhere by Abu l-Fida? ' after Ibn Wasil.
166 Arab Historians of the Crusades
TWO ARABIC LETTERS WRITTEN BY FREDERICK
(TA'RI? KH MANSURI, 34-7)
In the year 627/1229 an ambassador to al-Kamil came to Harra? n3 from the Emperor with a letter to Fakhr ad-Din, the son of the Shaikh ash-Shuyu? kh,4 which ran as follows: Heading and dedication:
The august Caesar, the Roman Emperor Frederick, son of the Emperor Henry, son of the Emperor Frederick, by God's grace victorious, powerful in His might, exalted in His glory, King of Germany and Lombardy, Tuscany and Italy, Longobardy and Calabria and Sicily, and of the Syrian Kingdom of Jerusalem, support of the Roman Pontifex,5 champion of the Christian faith.
In the name of God, the merciful, the forgiving
We departed, and left behind us our heart, which stayed (with you) detached from our body, our race and our tribe.
And it swore that its love for you would never change, eternally, and escaped, fleeing from its obedience to me.