Tala'i' b. Ruzzik
| Epithet | al-Malik al-Salih, Abu l-Gharat |
|---|---|
| Well-known Relatives | Ruzzik b. Tala'i' </smal>(son) |
| Birth | 19 Rabi' al-Awwal 495/January 16, 1102 |
| Place of Birth | Iraq |
| Death | 19 Ramadan 556/September 11, 1161 |
| Works | Al-I'timad fi l-radd 'ala ahl al-'inad ● Diwan of poetry |
Ṭalāʾiʿ b. Ruzzīk (Arabic: طلائع بن رُزّيك) (495/1102 - 556/1161) was an Imami vizier of the Fatimid caliphate and an Arab poet. Tala'i' was the governor of a region in Egypt during the rule of al-Zafir bi-Amr Allah and became the Fatimid vizier for seven years after the commencement of al-Fa'iz bi-Nasr Allah's rule. After assuming the ministry, Tala'i' revealed his Twelver Shi'a faith and made changes to the Fatimid administration. He launched attacks against the Crusaders and pushed them back to Beirut. After the death of al-Fa'iz, al-Adid li-Din Allah came to power, and Tala'i' remained vizier; however, in the very first year of his ministry under al-ʿĀḍid (in 556/1161), he was assassinated through a conspiracy by courtiers. His body was buried in the al-Qarāfa cemetery in Cairo.
Tala'i' left behind several works, one of which is the Al-Salih Tala'i' Mosque in Cairo, built by his order. This mosque is considered the last major mosque of the Fatimid era. He also authored a book titled al-Iʿtimād fī l-radd ʿalā ahl al-ʿinād and has a diwan of poetry containing poems in praise of the Shi'a Imams (a).
Biography
Tala'i' b. Ruzzik was a Shi'a vizier of the Fatimid government and an Arab poet.[1] According to historical sources, he was born in 495/1101-02.[2] Historians state that he served as the Fatimid vizier for seven years.[3] His actions included aiding Shi'as outside Egypt[4] and attacking the Crusaders occupying Palestine.[5] Tala'i' wrote works concerning the Shi'a Imams.[6]
Some have considered Tala'i' to be of Armenian origin;[7] however, Khayr al-Din al-Zirikli, a Syrian historian, lists his origin as Iraqi.[8] Abu l-'Abbas al-Maqrizi, a 9th/15th-century historian, identifies his father as "Asad Ruzzik," one of the soldiers of Badr al-Jamali (the vizier of al-Mustansir bi-llah) in 487/1094.[9] His son, Ruzzik b. Tala'i' b. Ruzzik, titled "al-'Adil," was also appointed as vizier by the Fatimid Caliph al-'Adid in 556/1161.[10]
Life and Rule
Rise to Power
According to historical documents, during the time of al-Zafir bi-Amr Allah (Fatimid ruler) in 549/1154, Tala'i' b. Ruzzik was the governor of a region in Egypt called Munya[11] or Ashmunayn and Bahnasa.[12] In 549/1154, 'Abbas Sanhaji, the vizier of al-Zafir, killed the Caliph. The family of al-Zafir asked Tala'i' to avenge him;[13] however, Sanhaji fled Egypt and was killed near Ascalon in Palestine.[14] Tala'i' exhumed al-Zafir's body from 'Abbas Sanhaji's house and transferred it to the tomb of his ancestors.[15] At this time, al-Fa'iz bi-Nasr Allah (d. 555/1160) became the Fatimid ruler, and Tala'i' b. Ruzzik became the Fatimid vizier for about seven years.[16]
Rule over Egypt
Historians report that Tala'i' revealed his Imami faith at the very beginning of his ministry.[17] He appointed a governor for each province who would remain in office for only six months.[18] He also arranged an educational program for al-Fa'iz bi-Nasr Allah, the young Fatimid ruler, wherein poets would appear before him every night.[19] It is also said that during his premiership, he sent funds to help Shi'as outside Egypt.[20] According to history researchers, in the years following 552/1157, he launched attacks against the Crusaders who had occupied Palestine and pushed them back to Beirut.[21]
Assassination
According to historians, after the death of al-Fa'iz bi-Nasr Allah in 555/1160, al-Adid li-Din Allah (d. 566/1171) succeeded him, and Tala'i' b. Ruzzik remained the vizier of the government.[22] He married his daughter to al-'Adid in 556/1161.[23] According to al-Maqrizi, al-'Adid's aunt plotted to kill Tala'i' due to the strictness he imposed on the palace residents.[24] He was killed on the 19[25] or 20 Ramadan 556/18 or 19 September 1161.[26] He was initially buried in Cairo, and later his body was moved to the al-Qarafa al-Kubra cemetery near Cairo.[27]
Works
It is reported that in 555/1160, after the transfer of the Head of Imam al-Husayn (a) from the Maqam Ra's al-Husayn in Ashkelon to Cairo, Tala'i' b. Ruzzik built a mosque in the Bab Zuwayla area to bury the head there.[28] However, the head of Imam al-Husayn (a) was never transferred to this mosque.[citation needed] This mosque is known today as the "Al-Salih Tala'i' Mosque".[29] It is said to be the last major mosque built during the Fatimid era.[30]
It is also reported that he authored a book titled Al-I'timad fi l-radd 'ala ahl al-'inad.[31] This book is said to contain hadiths regarding the Imamate of Imam Ali (a).[32]
A diwan of poetry also remains from him, containing poems in praise of the Shi'a Imams.[33] This diwan was published in Cairo in 1377/1958 with the research of Ahmad Ahmad Badawi, and in Najaf in 1383/1964 with the research of Muhammad Hadi al-Amini.[34]
Notes
- ↑ Ziriklī, Al-Aʿlām, vol. 3, p. 20.
- ↑ Maqrīzī, Ittiʿāẓ al-ḥunafāʾ, vol. 3, p. 248.
- ↑ Ghunaym, Tārīkh al-ḥurūb al-ṣalībiyya, p. 63.
- ↑ Amīnī, Al-Shiʿr wa l-shuʿarāʾ, p. 232.
- ↑ Maqrīzī, Ittiʿāẓ al-ḥunafāʾ, vol. 3, p. 230.
- ↑ Mukhtārī, Mīrāth-i māndigār-i adab-i Shīʿī, p. 201.
- ↑ Ghunaym, Tārīkh al-ḥurūb al-ṣalībiyya, p. 63.
- ↑ Ziriklī, Al-Aʿlām, vol. 3, p. 20.
- ↑ Maqrīzī, Ittiʿāẓ al-ḥunafāʾ, vol. 3, p. 251.
- ↑ Abū l-Fidā, Tārīkh Abī l-Fidā, vol. 2, p. 112; Dhahabī, Tārīkh al-Islām, vol. 38, p. 196.
- ↑ Abū l-Fidā, Tārīkh Abī l-Fidā, vol. 2, p. 99.
- ↑ Maqrīzī, Ittiʿāẓ al-ḥunafāʾ, vol. 3, p. 215.
- ↑ Abū l-Fidā, Tārīkh Abī l-Fidā, vol. 2, p. 99.
- ↑ Dhahabī, Tārīkh al-Islām, vol. 37, p. 152; Abū l-Fidā, Tārīkh Abī l-Fidā, vol. 2, p.99.
- ↑ Dhahabī, Tārīkh al-Islām, vol. 37, p. 152; Abū l-Fidā, Tārīkh Abī l-Fidā, vol. 2, p. 99.
- ↑ Ghunaym, Tārīkh al-ḥurūb al-ṣalībiyya, p. 63.
- ↑ Maqrīzī, Ittiʿāẓ al-ḥunafāʾ, vol. 3, p. 222.
- ↑ Maqrīzī, Ittiʿāẓ al-ḥunafāʾ, vol. 3, p. 222.
- ↑ Maqrīzī, Ittiʿāẓ al-ḥunafāʾ, vol. 3, pp. 222, 233.
- ↑ Amīnī, Al-Shiʿr wa l-shuʿarāʾ, p. 232.
- ↑ Maqrīzī, Ittiʿāẓ al-ḥunafāʾ, vol. 3, p. 230.
- ↑ Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-aʿyān, vol. 2, p. 528.
- ↑ Maqrīzī, Ittiʿāẓ al-ḥunafāʾ, vol. 3, p. 246.
- ↑ Maqrīzī, Ittiʿāẓ al-ḥunafāʾ, vol. 3, p. 246.
- ↑ Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-aʿyān, vol. 2, p. 530.
- ↑ Maqrīzī, Ittiʿāẓ al-ḥunafāʾ, vol. 3, p. 248.
- ↑ Maqrīzī, Ittiʿāẓ al-ḥunafāʾ, vol. 3, p. 248.
- ↑ Faqīh Baḥr al-ʿUlūm, Ziyāratgāh-hā-yi ʿIrāq, vol. 1, p. 50; Mājid, Al-Dawla al-Ayyūbiyya, p. 66; Jamʿī az nawīsandagān, Mawsūʿat al-ḥiraf al-taqlīdiyya, vol. 2, p. 67.
- ↑ Rushdī, "Masjid-i al-Ṣāliḥ Ṭalāʾiʿ, awwalīn masjid-i muʿallaq dar Miṣr", Shabestan News Agency.
- ↑ Jamʿī az nawīsandagān, Mawsūʿat al-ḥiraf al-taqlīdiyya, vol. 2, p. 67.
- ↑ Tihrānī, Al-Dharīʿa, vol. 11, p. 93; Maqrīzī, Ittiʿāẓ al-ḥunafāʾ, vol. 3, p. 253.
- ↑ Mukhtārī, Mīrāth-i māndigār-i adab-i Shīʿī, p. 201.
- ↑ Mukhtārī, Mīrāth-i māndigār-i adab-i Shīʿī, p. 201.
- ↑ Mukhtārī, Mīrāth-i māndigār-i adab-i Shīʿī, p. 201.
References
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- Amīnī, ʿAbd al-Ḥusayn. Al-Shiʿr wa l-shuʿarāʾ. Compiled and edited by Muḥammad Ḥasan Shafīʿī. Qom, Muʾassasat Mīrāth al-Nubuwwa, 1431 AH.
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- Rushdī, Maḥmūd. "Masjid-i «al-Ṣāliḥ Ṭalāʾiʿ», awwalīn masjid-i muʿallaq dar Miṣr". Shabestan News Agency. Date: 29 Aban 1402 Sh. Accessed: 17 Azar 1403 Sh.
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