Tarikh (al-Tabari) 2418
The Year 98
مُحَاصَرَةِ الْقُسْطَنْطِينِيَّةِ وفِي سَنَةُ ثَمَانٍ وَتِسْعِينَ سَارَ سُلَيْمَانُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الْمَلِكِ إِلَى دَابِقٍ، وَجَهَّزَ جَيْشًا مَعَ أَخِيهِ مَسْلَمَةَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الْمَلِكِ لِيَسِيرَ إِلَى الْقُسْطَنْطِينِيَّةِ، وَمَاتَ مَلِكُ الرُّومِ، فَأَتَاهُ أَلْيُونُ مِنْ أَذْرَبِيجَانَ فَأَخْبَرَهُ، فَضَمِنَ لَهُ فَتْحَ الرُّومِ، فَوَجَّهَ مَسْلَمَةَ مَعَهُ، فَسَارَا إِلَى الْقُسْطَنْطِينِيَّةِ، فَلَمَّا دَنَا مِنْهَا أَمَرَ كُلَّ فَارِسٍ أَنْ يَحْمِلَ مَعَهُ مُدَّيْنِ مِنْ طَعَامٍ عَلَى عَجُزِ فَرَسِهِ إِلَى الْقُسْطَنْطِينِيَّةِ، فَفَعَلُوا، فَلَمَّا أَتَاهَا أَمَرَ بِالطَّعَامِ فَأُلْقِيَ أَمْثَالَ الْجِبَالِ، وَقَالَ لِلْمُسْلِمِينَ: لَا تَأْكُلُوا مِنْهُ شَيْئًا، وَأَغِيرُوا فِي أَرْضِهِمْ وَازْرَعُوا. وَعَمِلَ بُيُوتًا مِنْ خَشَبٍ، فَشَتَّى فِيهَا وَصَافَ، وَزَرَعَ النَّاسُ، وَبَقِيَ الطَّعَامُ فِي الصَّحْرَاءِ وَالنَّاسُ يَأْكُلُونَ مَا أَصَابُوا مِنَ الْغَارَاتِ وَمِنَ الزَّرْعِ، وَأَقَامَ مَسْلَمَةُ قَاهِرًا لِلرُّومِ مَعَهُ أَعْيَانُ النَّاسِ خَالِدُ بْنُ مَعْدَانَ، وَمُجَاهِدُ بْنُ جَبْرٍ، وَعَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ أَبِي زَكَرِيَّا الْخُزَاعِيُّ، وَغَيْرُهُمْ. فَأَرْسَلَ الرُّومُ إِلَى مَسْلَمَةَ يُعْطُونَهُ عَنْ كُلِّ رَأْسٍ دِينَارًا، فَلَمْ يَقْبَلْ. فَقَالَتِ الرُّومُ لَأَلْيُونَ: إِنْ صَرَفْتَ عَنَّا الْمُسْلِمِينَ مَلَّكْنَاكَ. فَاسْتَوْثَقَ مِنْهُمْ، فَأَتَى مَسْلَمَةَ فَقَالَ لَهُ: إِنَّ الرُّومَ قَدْ عَلِمُوا أَنَّكَ لَا تَصْدُقُهُمُ الْقِتَالَ، وَأَنَّكَ تُطَاوِلُهُمْ مَا دَامَ الطَّعَامُ عِنْدَكَ، فَلَوْ أَحْرَقْتَهُ أَعْطَوُا الطَّاعَةَ بِأَيْدِيهِمْ، فَأَمَرَ بِهِ فَأُحْرِقَ، فَقَوِيَ الرُّومُ وَضَاقَ الْمُسْلِمُونَ حَتَّى كَادُوا يَهْلِكُونَ، وَبَقُوا عَلَى ذَلِكَ حَتَّى مَاتَ سُلَيْمَانُ. وَقِيلَ: إِنَّمَا خَدَعَ أَلْيُونَ مَسْلَمَةَ بِأَنْ يَسْأَلَهُ أَنْ يُدْخِلَ الطَّعَامَ إِلَى الرُّومِ بِمِقْدَارِ مَا يَعِيشُونَ بِهِ لَيْلَةً وَاحِدَةً، لِيُصَدِّقُوهُ أَنَّ أَمْرَهُ وَأَمْرَ مَسْلَمَةَ وَاحِدٌ، وَأَنَّهُمْ فِي أَمَانٍ مِنَ السَّبْيِ وَالْخُرُوجِ مِنْ بِلَادِهِمْ، فَأَذِنَ لَهُ، وَكَانَ أَلْيُونُ قَدِ اعَدَّ السُّفُنَ وَالرِّجَالَ، فَنَقَلُوا تِلْكَ اللَّيْلَةَ الطَّعَامَ، فَلَمْ يَتْرُكُوا فِي تِلْكَ الْحَظَائِرِ إِلَّا مَا لَا يَذْكَرُ، وَأَصْبَحَ أَلْيُونُ مُحَارِبًا، وَقَدْ خُدِعَ خَدِيعَةً لَوْ كَانَتِ امْرَأَةً لَعِيبَتْ بِهَا، وَلَقِيَ الْجُنْدُ مَا لَمْ يَلْقَهُ جَيْشٌ آخَرُ، حَتَّى إِنْ كَانَ الرَّجُلُ لَيَخَافُ أَنْ يَخْرُجَ مِنَ الْعَسْكَرِ وَحْدَهُ، وَأَكَلُوا الدَّوَابَّ وَالْجُلُودَ وَأُصُولَ الشَّجَرِ وَالْوَرَقِ، وَكُلَّ شَيْءٍ غَيْرَ التُّرَابِ، فَلَمْ يَزَلْ ذَلِكَ دَأْبَهُمْ حَتَّى جَاءَتْهُمْ وَفَاةُ سُلَيْمَانَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الْمَلِكِ وَتَوْلِيَةُ عُمَرَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الْعَزِيزِ، عَلَى مَا سَيَأْتِي، فَكَرُّوا رَاجِعِينَ إِلَى الشَّامِ وَقَدْ جُهِدُوا جَهْدًا شَدِيدًا، لَكِنْ لَمْ يَرْجِعْ مَسْلَمَةُ حَتَّى بَنَى مَسْجِدًا بِالْقُسْطَنْطِينِيَّةِ شَدِيدَ الْبِنَاءِ مُحْكَمًا، رَحْبَ الْفِنَاءِ، شَاهِقًا فِي السَّمَاءِ. وَقَالَ الْوَاقِدِيُّ: لَمَّا وَلِيَ سُلَيْمَانُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الْمَلِكِ أَرَادَ الْإِقَامَةَ بِبَيْتِ الْمَقْدِسِ، ثُمَّ أَرْسَلَ الْعَسَاكِرَ إِلَى الْقُسْطَنْطِينِيَّةِ فَأَشَارَ عَلَيْهِ مُوسَى بْنُ نُصَيْرٍ بِأَنْ يَفْتَحَ مَا دُونَهَا مِنَ الْمُدُنِ وَالرَّسَاتِيقِ وَالْحُصُونِ، حَتَّى يَبْلُغَ الْمَدِينَةَ فَلَا يَأْتِيَهَا إِلَّا وَقَدْ هُدِمَتْ حُصُونُهَا وَوَهَنَتْ قُوَّتُهَا، فَإِذَا فَعَلْتَ ذَلِكَ لَمْ يَبْقَ بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَهَا مَانِعٌ، فَيُعْطُوا بِأَيْدِيهِمْ وَيُسَلِّمُوا لَكَ الْبَلَدَ، ثُمَّ اسْتَشَارَ أَخَاهُ مَسْلَمَةَ فَأَشَارَ عَلَيْهِ بِأَنْ يَدَعَ مَا دُونَهَا مِنَ الْبِلَادِ وَيَفْتَحَهَا عَنْوَةً، فَمَتَى مَا فُتِحَتْ فَإِنَّ بَاقِيَ مَا دُونَهَا مِنَ الْبِلَادِ وَالْحُصُونِ بِيَدِكَ. فَقَالَ سُلَيْمَانُ: هَذَا هُوَ الرَّأْيُ. ثُمَّ أَخَذَ فِي تَجْهِيزِ الْجُيُوشِ مِنَ الشَّامِ وَالْجَزِيرَةِ فَجَهَّزَ فِي الْبَرِّ مِائَةً وَعِشْرِينَ أَلْفًا، وَفِي الْبَحْرِ مِائَةً وَعِشْرِينَ أَلْفًا مِنَ الْمُقَاتِلَةِ وَأَخْرَجَ لَهُمُ الْأَعْطِيَةَ وَأَنْفَقَ فِيهِمُ الْأَمْوَالَ الْكَثِيرَةَ وَأَعْلَمَهُمْ بِغَزْو الْقُسْطَنْطِينِيَّةِ وَالْإِقَامَةِ عَلَيْهَا إِلَى أَنْ يَفْتَحُوهَا، ثُمَّ سَارَ سُلَيْمَانُ مِنْ بَيْتِ الْمَقْدِسِ فَدَخَلَ دِمَشْقَ وَقَدِ اجْتَمَعَتْ لَهُ الْعَسَاكِرُ فَأَمَّرَ عَلَيْهِمْ أَخَاهُ مَسْلَمَةَ، ثُمَّ قَالَ: سِيرُوا عَلَى بَرَكَةِ اللَّهِ، وَعَلَيْكُمْ بِتَقْوَى اللَّهِ وَالصَّبْرِ وَالتَّنَاصُحِ وَالتَّنَاصُفِ. ثُمَّ سَارَ سُلَيْمَانُ حَتَّى نَزَلَ مَرْجَ دَابِقٍ فَاجْتَمَعَ إِلَيْهِ النَّاسُ أَيْضًا مِنَ الْمُطَّوِّعَةِ الْمُحْتَسِبِينَ أُجُورَهُمْ عَلَى اللَّهِ، فَاجْتَمَعَ لَهُ جُنْدٌ عَظِيمٌ لَمْ يُرَ مِثْلُهُ، ثُمَّ أَمَرَ مَسْلَمَةَ أَنْ يَرْحَلَ بِالْجُيُوشِ وَأَخَذَ مَعَهُ إِلْيُونَ الرُّومِيَّ الْمَرْعَشِيَّ، ثُمَّ سَارُوا حَتَّى نَزَلُوا عَلَى الْقُسْطَنْطِينِيَّةِ فَحَاصَرَهَا إِلَى أَنْ بَرَّحَ بِهِمْ، وَعَرَضَ أَهْلُهَا الْجِزْيَةَ عَلَى مَسْلَمَةَ، فَأَبَى إِلَّا أَنْ يَفْتَحَهَا عَنْوَةً، قَالُوا: فَابْعَثْ إِلَيْنَا إِلْيُونَ نُشَاوِرْهُ. فَأَرْسَلَهُ إِلَيْهِمْ، فَقَالُوا لَهُ: رُدَّ هَذِهِ الْعَسَاكِرَ عَنَّا وَنَحْنُ نُعْطِيكَ وَنُمَلِّكُكَ عَلَيْنَا. فَرَجَعَ إِلَى مَسْلَمَةَ، فَقَالَ لَهُ: قَدْ أَجَابُوا إِلَى فَتْحِهَا غَيْرَ أَنَّهُمْ لَا يَفْتَحُونَهَا مَا لَمْ تَنَحَّ عَنْهُمْ. فَقَالَ مَسْلَمَةُ: إِنِّي أَخْشَى غَدْرَكَ، فَحَلَفَ لَهُ أَنْ يَدْفَعَ إِلَيْهِ مَفَاتِيحَهَا وَمَا فِيهَا، فَلَمَّا تَنَحَّى عَنْهُمْ أَخَذُوا فِي تَرْمِيمِ مَا تَهَدَّمَ مِنْ أَسْوَارِهَا وَاسْتَعَدُّوا لِلْحِصَارِ. وَغَدَرَ إِلْيُونُ بِالْمُسْلِمِينَ، قَبَّحَهُ اللَّهُ.
Translation
✧ The Siege of Constantinople In the year ninety-eight, Sulaymān b. ʿAbd al-Malik marched to Dābiq and equipped an army with his brother Maslama b. ʿAbd al-Malik to march to Constantinople. The king of the Romans died, and Alyūn came to him from Adhrabījān and informed him of it, and guaranteed him the conquest of the Romans. So he sent Maslama with him, and they marched to Constantinople. When he drew near it, he ordered every horseman to carry two mudds of food on the rump of his horse to Constantinople, and they did so. When he reached it, he ordered the food to be thrown into heaps like mountains and said to the Muslims: "Do not eat any of it; raid their land and cultivate." He made houses of wood and wintered and summered in them, and the people cultivated. The food remained in the open country, and the people ate what they obtained from raids and cultivation. Maslama remained pressing the Romans, and with him were notable men: Khālid b. Maʿdān, Mujāhid b. Jabr, ʿAbd Allāh b. Abī Zakariyyā al-Khuzāʿī, and others. The Romans sent to Maslama offering him one dinar for every head, but he did not accept. The Romans said to Alyūn: "If you turn the Muslims away from us, we shall make you king." He secured a pledge from them, then came to Maslama and said to him: "The Romans have learned that you will not fight them in earnest and that you prolong matters as long as you have food. If you burned it, they would submit in obedience by their own hands." So he ordered it and it was burned. The Romans grew strong and the Muslims were hard pressed until they nearly perished. They remained in that state until Sulaymān died. It is said: Alyūn deceived Maslama only by asking him to allow food to be brought into the Romans sufficient for them to live on for a single night, so that they might believe him that his affair and Maslama's affair were one, and that they were safe from captivity and from leaving their lands. He gave him permission. Alyūn had prepared ships and men, and that night they transported the food, leaving in those enclosures only an insignificant amount. In the morning Alyūn appeared as a combatant. He had been deceived by a trick such that had he been a woman she would have been reproached for it. The soldiers met with what no other army had met, until a man would fear to go out of the camp alone. They ate beasts, hides, roots of trees, leaves, and everything except earth. This remained their condition until the death of Sulaymān b. ʿAbd al-Malik and the accession of ʿUmar b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz came to them, as will be related, so they turned back to Syria having suffered severe hardship. However, Maslama did not return until he had built a mosque in Constantinople of strong construction, well-built, spacious courtyard, and towering into the sky. Al-Wāqidī said: When Sulaymān b. ʿAbd al-Malik became caliph, he wanted to reside in Jerusalem, then he sent the armies to Constantinople. Mūsā b. Nuṣayr advised him to conquer the cities, rural districts, and fortresses before it, until he reached the city, so that he would not come to it except when its fortresses had been demolished and its strength weakened. If you do that, no barrier will remain between you and it, and they will submit by their own hands and surrender the city to you. Then he consulted his brother Maslama, who advised him to leave the lands before it and open it by force, for whenever it is opened, the rest of the lands and fortresses before it will be in your hand. Sulaymān said: "This is the right opinion." Then he began equipping armies from Syria and the Jazīra. He equipped one hundred and twenty thousand on land and one hundred and twenty thousand fighting men at sea. He paid them their stipends and spent vast sums on them, and informed them of the campaign against Constantinople and of remaining there until they opened it. Then Sulaymān marched from Jerusalem and entered Damascus while the armies had assembled for him. He put his brother Maslama in command over them, then said: "March with the blessing of God. You must have fear of God, patience, mutual sincerity, and mutual fairness." Then Sulaymān marched until he encamped at Marj Dābiq. Volunteers who sought their reward from God also gathered to him, and a great army assembled for him the like of which had not been seen. Then he ordered Maslama to depart with the armies, and he took with him Alyūn the Roman of Marʿash. They marched until they encamped before Constantinople and besieged it until they were distressed. Its people offered the poll tax to Maslama, but he refused except to open it by force. They said: "Send Alyūn to us so we may consult him." He sent him to them, and they said to him: "Turn these armies away from us and we will give to you and make you king over us." He returned to Maslama and said to him: "They have agreed to open it, but they will not open it as long as you do not withdraw from them." Maslama said: "I fear your treachery." He swore to him that he would hand over to him its keys and what was in it. When he withdrew from them, they set about repairing what had crumbled of their walls and prepared for the siege. Alyūn betrayed the Muslims, may God disfigure him.
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