Bensalem Himmich - The Polymath

The officer stepped back a few paces. “The Citadel can’t hold everybody,” he stuttered. “In any case, Timur is not bothered with poor people. It’s the affluent and influential folk he’s concerned about. They’re the people who need protection.”

Hearing this reasoning, the shaykh of the poor quarters, a man named Shadid al-Din al-Azdi, leapt to his feet. “In matters of this world, you impious individual,” he thundered in a tone that shook the entire building, “there is to be no distinction between God’s souls.”

Burhan al-Din seized the opportunity afforded by the clear consternation of the officer and his men and tightened the noose still further. “I have evidence, Azdar, which shows that you’ve been keeping for yourself a full third of all the wealth you’re protecting.”

The Hanafi Shaykh Ibn al-‘Izz now broke his silence, aiming just one word at the officer: “Leave!”

It looked as though the officer might taking the order as a joke, but then the shaykh of the poor went right up to him. “My superior has told you to leave. So leave, or else I’ll slap you in the face!”

With that, Azdar and his men backed away in some confusion and left. The Sufi returned to his position. ‘Abd al-Rahman was utterly amazed by what he had just witnessed. He gave Burhan al-Din a questioning look and heard him say, “Gentlemen, our time is short. Azdar will undoubtedly set his men on us. Yesterday, when the great master Ibn Khaldun was not among us, we decided that I should take Shadid al-Din and go to see Timur with a view to getting him to agree to a guarantee of safety for homes and families in return for handing over the keys to the city. What we want and need is for us to come back with such a document. Should we be killed, then it’s up to you to mobilize the local units while you wait for delivery from God Almighty. That’s what everyone has already decided. What do you think, Wali al-Din?”

“It’s an excellent plan, but I would request to accompany you to talk to Timur so I can collect more information about the behavior of rulers and the art of negotiation.”

“You’ll get to meet the great invader, Wali al-Din, provided the shaykh and I return from his tent unharmed. Our first trip there is simply to take the pulse. Our colleagues have chosen this colleague because he does not fear death and me because I know several of the languages the Mongols and people who serve them also understand. Now let’s say the noon prayer and ask God for a successful outcome.”

That same evening, Burhan al-Din returned from his encounter with Timur and met the judge at al-’Adiliya. He brought with him a guarantee of safe conduct and an oral request from Timur for the master to come and meet him. He noted that Timur had specifically mentioned Ibn Khaldun by name and explained the fact by saying that one of his retainers, ‘Abd al-Jabbar ibn al-Nu‘man, the Hanafi adherent to the Mu‘tazili doctrine, was acquainted with many languages and knowledgeable about the most illustrious Muslim scholars in the East and West. The jurists all decided to accept the invitation and to leave at dawn the next day; they decided to gather by Bab al-Jabiya.

‘Abd al-Rahman tried to get some sleep but he failed. Things turned from bad to worse when the college guard came and told him there had been a fight between Burhan al-Din’s young volunteers and the Citadel commander’s men in the Umawi mosque; staves and knives had been used. ‘Abd al-Rahman got up immediately, closed the door of his house, and asked the guard to make sure the college door remained locked. Feeling a bit more secure, he started reading in the hope of passing the time and overcoming his worries. That was no better however, and things did not improve till he had spent the remainder of the night before dawn intoning one litany after another. He then performed his prayers and hurried to the meeting point.

Burhan al-Din was the first to arrive, followed soon after by the others. The judges discussed Azdar’s defiance of their wishes and his threat to kill anyone who asked Timur for a document of safe conduct. They also discussed the fact that the chief Shafi‘i judge, Sadr al-Din al-Munawi, had been captured by the Mongols in Shaqhab. Once again they asked ‘Abd al-Rahman to wait for a day or two till things had become a bit clearer. He refused and insisted on being the first to be lowered down the walls. Burhan al-Din granted his wish with the aid of ropes and strips of cotton cloth. No sooner had he landed by Bab al-Jabiya than he was surrounded by soldiers and taken to Timur’s Damascus superviser, Shah Malik. The man gave him a warm welcome, then dispatched him with his retinue to the khan’s own billet. While ‘Abd al-Rahman was waiting with considerable misgivings, he spotted a soldier dragging a half-naked man weighed down by chains. He had no doubt in his mind that this was the captured Shafi‘i judge. A moment later he heard his name being called, along with his designation as Maliki judge from the Maghrib. He recited to himself two suras, al-‘Asr (‘The Epoch’) and al-Sharh (‘The Expanding’), adjusted his burnous on his shoulders, and entered the tent where Timur was sitting. As he set eyes on the man, he told himself that here was the incredible man in person, just as he had envisaged him! Slanting eyes, thick greasy hair, devilish beard, jutting forehead over a snub nose. His features and general appearance added to his general aura of cruelty and violence.

Timur, seated on his bed cushions, looked just like a lion in its den. His eyes took everything in, and he completely dominated the scene — including the plates of food that were laid out in front of him to choose from — before he turned his attention to all the Mongol groups hovering by the entrance like ravenous ghouls. ‘Abd al-Rahman approached the bed and greeted Timur with head lowered. He was obliged to run his chin over the hand that was proffered to him. He then took his seat in the place indicated to him, and the translator was summoned. The man was introduced as the jurist, ‘Abd al-Jabbar ibn al-Nu‘man from Khwarizm, the Hanafi scholar whose name has already been mentioned above.

Timur’s questions involved a systematic inquiry into every aspect of Ibn Khaldun’s life: where from, when, why, and how. The answers were brief, and his descriptions of Sultan Barquq’s beneficence toward him were especially prominent. ‘Abd al-Rahman did however characterize the sultan’s slaying of the Great Khan Timur’s ambassadors as being one of his most flagrant errors. When the questions turned to the internal history of the Maghrib, its situation, cities, and peoples, ‘Abd al-Rahman noticed that Timur’s eyes began to sparkle with increased interest. Dramatizing his answers with gestures, the historian stressed the ruggedness of the terrain and the fortitude of its citizens. Even so, he was unable to divert Timur’s attention from the subject. In fact, he listened as the translator proceeded to tell him what Timur was saying: “My lord is fascinated by a country that sits so nicely between two oceans and two continents. He wants you to write about it for him so it’s as though he can see it with his own eyes, cross its borders, and envelop its plains and mountains beneath his feet.” “To hear is to obey,” was ‘Abd al-Rahman’s reluctant reply, to which Timur reacted with “ Khub, khub ,” and then invited his guest to eat the food in front of him. He ordered rashta, a favorite Mongol dish, to be brought in, and bowls of it were put in front of ‘Abd al-Rahman. Standing up, he took several pieces, his hope being both to show his admiration for Tatar cooking and to suppress the fear that he might be facing the same fate as the Shafi‘i judge whom he had seen being tortured. He had recalled that some peoples of the North give people condemned to death a meal before they are executed. He only relaxed a bit when Timur gestured to him to sit down and gave him some inscrutable glances. ‘Abd al-Rahman decided that the best way to change the atmosphere was by launching into some totally contrived panegyric statement. Here is what he said, speaking very deliberately so that the translator could follow and convey the meaning accurately: