“The modern jurist, Prince Seif al-Din Abu Muhammad, the“ deputy of the castle ”in Egyptian homes.

The Mamluk historian Ibn Taghri Bardi (d.874 AH / 1469 CE) also translated for him.

In fact, the "phenomenon of the Mamluks" in Islamic history had the time to be liberated from the stereotype circulating today of them as they were only men of war and fleeing, or statesmen fighting ruthlessly for supremacy;

Not to mention that the parallel image - aspects of which we present here - is sufficient to dispel the validity of the common idea of ​​the Mamluk era as it is the most scientific, intellectual and literary degeneration of the ages.

Contrary to what is common for them from all of that;

We find that many of them brilliantly combined the pen and the sword and successfully bred the book and the stirrup!

Indeed, it is not possible for a king to flourish and be so content with all these knowledge, encyclopedias, wars and expansions that most of his leaders are just ignorant slaves, without education, awareness, or insight into the great resource that leads his political and military fronts, and by that we mean the "civilization of Islam".

The truth is also that it is unjust misleading to imagine that classes and generations of Mamelukes stay for long centuries to nurture knowledge, spread security, establish buildings and spread urbanization, and then do not merely include a modest amount of culture and knowledge.

It cannot be denied that strict soldiers are the key to the "Mamluk world";

But the world of soldiers during those periods was not as dry as hasty expectations lead to. The Mamluk education system, along with its harsh military nature, contained an abundant repertoire of religious knowledge.

However, the odd aspect of the phenomenon of "scholarly Mamelukes" remains that some of them enjoyed the delicacy of poetry, literary flair, and even musical brilliance, and this is one of the anecdotes that can raise eyebrows even by the standards of the present moment .. a military poet and a musician !!

And with all that has passed;

The issue of the Mamluks ’attachment to the science of history remains another story, for the Mamelukes presented a class of high-level proven historians.

Perhaps the reason for this is the Mamluk’s sense of permanent alienation and their fear of being forgotten about their history and the loss of their cultural achievements, so they set up luxurious and literal buildings by immortalizing their names, and recording their history with their hands highlighting the “days of the Mamelukes” with what they have and what they have!

The appearance of a gradient


given the name of the Mamluks to the white slave who, since the era of the Caliph al-Ma'mun (d.218 AH / 833 CE) and his brother al-Mu'tasim (d.227 AH / 842 CE), has been used by the Muslim rulers to bring him and bring him from different horizons and races;

They were brought from the Turks, Gircas, Rum, Karaj and others, and - when they were young - they were subjected to special education to be tough men.

The solid formation enabled them to control the reins of the Abbasid Caliphate after the death of al-Mu'tasim, who bought them more than he bought, and built his new capital for them a secret from the opinion of "Samarra", and then the matter developed - after four centuries - at the end of the Ayyubid era with the good sultan Najm al-Din Ayyub (d.647 AH) / 1249 AD), to become more present in the theater of Islamic history, as they were the most prominent industry for many centuries.

Ibn Wasil al-Hamwi (d.697 AH / 1298 CE) - in “Mafrej al-Karroub in the news of Bani Ayyub” - says about Sultan Najm al-Din Ayyub’s multiplication of the Mamluks: “He bought from the Turkish Mamluks what no one of his household bought until they became most of his army, and he outweighed them over the Kurds. He commanded them, and bought - while in Egypt - a creation from them, made them his liner and those around his corridor, and called them "the marine". "

With the death of Sultan Ayyub and the killing of his crown prince and only son, Turanshah (d.648 AH / 1250 CE), at the hands of the Mamluks who realized his danger to them and his misunderstanding of politics and state administration;

The state of the Mamluk Sultans (648-923 AH / 1250-1519AD) actually began when the widow of Sultan Ayyub Isma al-Din Shajarat al-Durr (d.655 AH / 1257 CE) ascended to the throne, according to the opinion of the historian judge Taqi al-Din al-Maqrizi (d.845 AH / 1441 CE) who says on his history Al-Soul: “And this woman - Tree of Durr - was the first king of Egypt among the Turkish Mamluk kings!”

Shajarat al-Durr was the second woman to hold power alone in the Islamic world, after Queen Arwa bint Ahmad al-Sulayhi (d. 532 AH / 1138 CE), who ruled the Sulayhid state in Yemen for about forty years (484-532 AH / 1091-1138 CE), during which she followed - politically and religiously - The Fatimid state in Egypt.

And under the pressure of public opinion that rejects Shajarat al-Durr taking over the leadership of the country;

She conceded to her new husband, Izz al-Din Aybak al-Turkmani (d.655 AH / 1257 CE), to be the first Mamluk sultan.

The historian Imam Badr al-Din al-Ayni (d. 855 AH / 1451 CE) - in the 'Decade of Juman' - described this historical transformation by saying: “This was the end of the Ayyubid state in the Egyptian lands, the beginning of the Turkish state, and the emergence of the navy.”

Since then, the Mamluks assumed the task of leading the heart of the Islamic world with its three central sides (Hijaz, Egypt and the Levant), and protecting the Two Holy Mosques and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Their historical achievements - for about three centuries (648-923 AH / 1250-1517AD) - relied on a series of sultans (49 sultans) and princes, who assumed power and positions after they were subjected in their upbringing to a strict educational training system similar to the training programs in the most powerful schools And the military institutions today.

A strict education that


Al-Maqrizi provides us - in 'sermons and esteem' - with the features of this strict educational and military system to which the Mamluks were subjected in Qalaat al-Jabal in Cairo; He says: “The Mamelukes had beautiful customs in this dish (= barracks), the first of which is that if the king presented his merchant, he would present it to the Sultan and put him in the classes of his race, and he handed him over to the tawaks (= servant / supervisor) by drawing (= with the purpose of) writing, then the first thing with which he begins teaching what he needs To him from the Noble Qur’an, and every sect (= ethnic group) had a jurist who came to it every day and taught it the Book of God Almighty, knowledge of calligraphy, practicing the etiquette of Sharia, and accompanying prayers and remembrances.

Then Al-Maqrizi adds: “And drawing (= custom) then did not bring merchants but young Mamelukes. If one of the Mamluks grew up, the jurist taught him something of jurisprudence, and read it in it as an introduction, and if he reached puberty, he began teaching him the types of warfare from throwing arrows and playing the spear. And the like, then each sect receives a teacher until [the royal boy] reaches his goal of knowing what he needs. "

Al-Maqrizi praises this method, which was followed very strictly throughout the first Mamluk era in the Maritime Mamluk State (648-782 AH / 1250-1380 AD), as it combined legal literatures, literary arts, military science and moral education.

He says: “[The owned boy] does not reach this rank unless his morals have been refined and his etiquette proliferated, and the veneration of Islam and its people mixed with his heart, and his help strengthened in shooting the crossbow (= arrows), and his spear was good, and he was flexible on horseback. Or a poet writer, or a skilled computer !!

Al-Maqrizi then tells us about the strict control over the smallest details of the life of these Mamluk boys, which is entrusted to three persons responsible for each boy.

He says: “And they have a crisis (= administrations) of servants and seniors who examine the condition of one of them by the healing examination, and they take him severely and discuss his movements and his habitation, and if one of his writers finds - who is taught by the Qur’an or al-Tawashi who is given to him or the leader of the Nuba (= the leader of the Nuba) (Whoever is judged by - on the basis that he committed a sin or breached a drawing, or left an etiquette of religion or the world, met him for that with a painful punishment as severe as his offense! "

Al-Maqrizi observed - with insightful insight - the impact of this comprehensive and rigorous education on the formation of the Mamluk sultans and the growing power of their state politically and militarily.

So he recorded that - in 'Sermons and Honor' - saying: “Therefore they were masters who managed kingdoms, leaders who strive for the sake of God, and politicians who exaggerate the display of the favors, and deter anyone from neighbor or transgression!”


A

great credit.

The effects of this mechanized education on the Mamluks - especially during the era of the “Maritime Mamluk” state - were evident in their successive military battles, especially the battle of Gaza in the year 642 AH / 1244 CE, in which the righteous Sultan Ayyub was able to expel the Crusaders and their aides from some of the Ayyubid princes in the Levant, and recovered Beit al-Maqdis for the second time after his grandfather, Sultan Salah al-Din (d.589 AH / 1193 CE), after it was voluntarily handed over in 626 AH / 1229 CE by Sultan al-Kamil al-Ayyubi (d.635 AH / 1237 CE), and even standing firmly in the face of the seventh Crusade (647-648 AH / 1249- 1250 AD) over Damietta and Mansoura, Egypt.

And if the Mamluks were the ones who ended the Crusaders ’dreams of returning to the East after the defeat of their campaign led by the King of France Louis IX (d.669 AH / 1270 CE) and his captivity and the killing of half of his army, and also they were the ones who recovered their last strongholds in Akka at the hands of al-Ashraf Khalil bin Qalawun (d.693 AH / 1292 CE) The year 690 AH / 1291 AD;

They are also the ones who crushed - before and after - the Mongols in battles that lasted half a century, which began with Ain Jalut in Palestine in the year 658 AH / 1260 CE and ended with the Battle of Shaqhab, south of Damascus, in the year 702 AH / 1302 CE.

Historians of the Mamluk era are aware of this fact that we see evident in their writings, when they linked between the Mamluks' acquisition of their political legitimacy and their victories over the Crusaders.

Therefore, Al-Maqrizi says - in 'The Conduct' - about their role in the battle of Mansoura and its decisive political consequences for their legitimacy.

Al-Maqrizi says: “The fracture was almost [on the Muslims]; for King Redafrance (= King of France) personally arrived at the door of the Sultan’s palace [Al-Saleh Ayoub in Mansoura], but God corrected his kindness and brought out to the Franks (= the Crusaders) the Turkish sect known as Bahriya and Jamdaria. And among them is Rukn al-Din Baybar al-Bandaqdari (d. 676 AH / 1277 CE) who reigned after these days.

Regarding their great and exclusive contribution in stopping the tide of the Tatars, the historian Imam Badr al-Din al-Ayni says in the 'Aqd al-Juman': “When the Tatars took control of the Levantine countries and harassed the Islamic kingdoms, there was nothing left to push them away from the people and the country except the army of the Egyptian lands; Sultan Al-Malik Al-Muzaffar Qutuz agreed (d. 658 AH / 1260 AD) with the princes and elders to equip the soldiers, and they were determined to meet the lethal enemy .. and they left Cairo with the greatest glory.

Ample sanctity


due to the strict religious upbringing that the Mamluks received - while in the youth phase - from theoretically and practically rigorous religious upbringing, which they strengthened politically in the year 659 AH / 1261AD by reviving the position of the Abbasid Caliphate - albeit in a formal way - which they made its capital in Cairo after the fall of Baghdad in 656 AH / 1258 CE, and with their great jihadist record as We saw;

The Mamluks were keen - to complete the consolidation of the religious dimensions of their system of government in the eyes of the people - to bring the scholars, ascetics, and judges closer, consult them and maximize their impurity, out of respect for their status or fear of the consequences of their popular influence.

For example, al-Suyuti (d. 911 AH / 1505 CE) - in Hassan al-Muallaqa - narrated that Sultan al-Zahir Baybars (d. 676 AH / 1277 CE) was repressed under the word of Imam Izz al-Din ibn Abd al-Salam (d.661 AH / 1259 CE) “so that he said when the sheikh died : I have not settled my property until now !!

Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (d. 852 AH / 1448 CE) - in “The news of immersion in the children of the age” - narrates that Sultan al-Zahir Barquq (d. 801 AH / 1398 CE) when he established his mosque and decided that sheikhs would teach in it “Sheikh Ala Al-Din Al-Sirami (Al-Hanafi) settled there. D. 790 AH / 1388 AD), a teacher of the Hanafiyya with it and the sheikh of Sufism, and he was extremely powerful in his veneration until he spread his carpet with his hand!

And in view of the great position the scholars acquired and what they assumed - in the Mamluk state - of religious functions such as the judiciary, teaching, fatwas, the imamate, preaching and preaching, and the divisional functions such as supervising endowments, taking over the army judiciary, the treasury office, the ministry, and the accounting apparatus

Islamic legal scholars and Sufis were at the head of the participants in the Mamluks' military campaigns as well.

The positions indicating this are too numerous to count.

For example, their participation in the fight against the Tatars and the expulsion of the Crusaders from the Levantine cities. In Rajab of 666 AH / 1267 CE, “the Sultan [Zahir Baybars] prepared a military for Shqif (located in southern Lebanon today and was occupied by the Crusaders), then he walked to it himself .. and the jurists presented for jihad."

According to Al-Maqrizi in his history of 'behavior'.


Endowments are full and


if the relationship between the Sultan and the jurist in the Mamluk era remained - for the most part - revolving around the basis of honoring scholars and maximizing their status

This rule has been found in the practical reality related to state institutions and society that establishes it and gives it institutional incubators to ensure continuity in its performance and giving, and to guarantee to scholars independence in their scientific and societal mission.

Hence, these Mamluks were keen on building religious and educational facilities and imprisoning generous endowments, to become stronger and more entrenched than they were in the Ayyubid era.

It is a matter whose motives and objectives varied between the desire to serve the law in the dissemination of its sciences and the care of its students and scholars, seeking a hereafter reward or a request to get close to the parish and gain its loyalty, and in both cases the scientific life is the beneficiary and the victor.

Therefore, it was not surprising that the historian judge Ibn Khaldun (d.808 AH / 1406 CE) described - in his history - the endowments of the Mamluks in Egypt as “the endowments that exceeded the limits of the end in this Egypt due to the multitude of its worlds,” and that because of their abundance, they “became invisible to the fame of unknown persons !!” !!

The establishments of these endowments varied between mosques, schools, hospitals, libraries, fountains, khans, hotels, etc. It is sometimes noticed that the Mamluks were the ones who took the initiative in establishing endowments and opening mosques and mosques despite the objection of some jurists and judges, including the story of the reopening of Al-Azhar Mosque in the era of Sultan Baybars in the year 665 AH / 1267 AD, a hundred years after it was closed by order of Sultan Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi.

Endowments for these institutions - from fertile agricultural lands and others - generated millions of golden dinars every year, and were spent on maintenance, reconstruction, and the salaries of scholars, students of knowledge, and people of the way.

Imam al-Maqrizi reported - in al-Plans and al-Athar - that due to the proliferation of these endowments, three independent departments became supervised by the supervision of the judiciary, and one of these departments was known as the “Diwan of Al-Ahbas”.

Rising fruits,


thanks to these abundant endowment institutions and the enormous financial resources allocated;

The science and science market became popular in the Mamluk era after “the great princes and other schools built what filled calligraphy (= city neighborhoods) and shipped them”;

According to the expression of Al-Qalqhandi (d.821 AH / 1418 AD) in Subh Al-Asha.

The available historical data on these schools indicate their sectarian diversity, and that the Mamluks ’financial and scholastic support for the jurisprudential schools was not linked to their affiliation with a specific sect, so there is no sect for it but they established schools for it and monitored endowments, and sometimes the school is shared between two or more sects, although many of them are still devoted to the two schools of thought. Shafi’i and Hanafi for special circumstances.

It was not surprising then, that we find several great scholars in one era, and perhaps in one part of the Mamluk state.

Thus in the Levant we meet imams such as: Al-Nawawi (d. 676 AH / 1277 CE), Judge al-Qudah Ibn al-Zamalakani (d. 727 AH / 1327 CE), Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH / 1328 CE), Alam al-Din al-Barzali (d. / 1341AD), al-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH / 1347 CE), Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751 AH / 1350 CE), Ibn Katheer (d. 774 AH / 1372 CE), al-Sobki the father (d. 754 AH / 1353 CE), and al-Sobki the son (d.771 AH / 1359 CE).

We also find their counterparts in Egypt, such as the imams: Al-Ezz Ibn Abd al-Salam and Taqi al-Din Ibn Daqiq al-Eid (d. 702 AH / 1302 CE), Judge Badr al-Din Ibn Jama'a (d. 733 AH / 1333 CE), Sheikh al-Islam Saraj al-Din al-Balkini (d. 803 AH / 1400 CE) and al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar Asqalani.

And analogous to their proverbs in the cities of the Hijaz and Yemen, which are part of the Mamluk state.

And while the Mamluks' care for the scientific and religious life in their state (scholars, sciences, and institutions serving both) was great in its level and content; It remains remarkable that this care soon arose within its scope of the Mamluk princes themselves and their sons, which suggests that the matter was a general awareness among the Mamluk circles and not only their sultans. So this category entered history as a matter of knowledge in terms of achievement and communication, and not from the gates of politics and the military.

Writers and passengers


There is no doubt that this group - which can be called the "scholars of the Mamluks" - denies the stereotype circulating today of the Mamelukes, as they were only men of war and escape or men of state fighting - mercilessly - for the supremacy of power; The fact is that those of them belonging to the category of scholars have made great and influential contributions to the march of Islamic and literary sciences, education and authorship, while they are still in uniform and combat gear, not to mention that they dispel the validity of the common idea of ​​the Mamluk era as the most severe era of scientific, intellectual and literary degeneration.

If we look closely at the emergence of this phenomenon - with its part related to the Mamluk era - we will find that it goes back to the beginnings of the establishment of the Mamluk state, and perhaps its early models go back to the Ayyubid era and then increased its prominence during the time of the righteous Sultan Najm al-Din Ayyub (d.647 AH / 1249 CE), which we find is one of the most prominent His Mamelukes and their greatest sultans, al-Zahir Baybars, was nicknamed "the Mujahid scholar."

The historian al-Nuwayri (d. 733 AH / 1333 CE) - in 'The End of Arb' - cited the text of the Soltaniyeh Yaman in which he was described as “the great sultan, the scholar and the mujahid .. the apparent king .. Baybars !!”

We understand from the details that we mentioned earlier on Al-Maqrizi about the methods of raising the Mamluks - starting from the moment of bringing young children from their different countries and introducing them to the training barracks in the castle - that they underwent an intensive process of learning both forensic and military sciences, and that the level of Mamluk graduates was high, so that it was. Some of them would be ranked as a knowledgeable jurist, a writer, poet, or a skilled computer.

According to him.

We also have one of the most important Mamelukes of Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad bin Qalawun (d.741 AH / 1340 CE), Prince Argun Shah al-Nasiri (d.750 AH / 1349 CE), who rose to military and political positions until he became the deputy of Aleppo, but rather the deputy of the Sultan of the entire Mamelukes for eleven years, i.e. He was the second man in the greatest of the era at that time.

The historian and writer Salah al-Din al-Safadi (d. 764 AH / 1363 CE) said about him in al-Wafi al-Wafaat: “He was an eloquent Turkish .. the most noble [Mamluks] of Nasiriyah (= relative to al-Nasir Ibn Qalawun), he understood him to Abu Hanifa [until] they authorized him to issue fatwas .., He heard [Sahih] al-Bukhari, and wrote it in his handwriting in one volume at night by the light of the lamp. "

Leading jurisprudence,


and above that, Prince Argun Shah was passionate about collecting books and spent exorbitant sums on them, even "he acquired many books and seduced (= passion) with them and obtained a large sentence from them to the end."

It happened once that one of the famous Mamluk princes died in Cairo and owned a luxurious library, so he offered it to his heirs for sale, and Argun Shah was at that time the deputy of the Prince of Aleppo, so he “sent to Egypt in the mail an amount of two thousand dinars (= today approximately 450 thousand US dollars) for a book buyer from his estate."

According to Al-Safadi.

And like Argun in his scientific insatiable;

Badr al-Din al-Hasan bin Khas Bek (d.813 AH / 1410 CE), who was described by the bulk of Mamluk historians as the imam in jurisprudence, teaching and fatwas, and at the same time he was a member of the Special Royal Guard called the "Royal Mamluks", who are the highest and most prestigious military groups in the Mamluk army.

The historian Ibn Tigri Bardi (d. 874 AH / 1469 CE) - in al-Manhal al-Safi - states that this Ibn Khasbak was “one of the chiefs of the Hanafi jurists, and one of the predecessors of the Sultanate Mamluks, he was a brilliant soldier, a scholar of our mastery in jurisprudence, Arabic and fundamentals, and he had a share in Several sciences, and he was issued for fatwas and teaching for several years, and students benefited from it! "

It was not surprising, then, to find a Mamluk prince who efficiently combined the military position and heels in the pursuit of forensic sciences at that time;

This prince Tigri Baramash Al-Moayady (d.852 AH / 1448 AD), the “deputy of the castle” in Cairo - meaning the first military official for the security of the Mamluk capital and their fortified castle - translated for him by Ibn Tigri Bardi saying that he is the modern Hanafi jurist, Prince Seif al-Din Abu Muhammad, deputy of the castle in the Egyptian home ".

Indeed, Ibn Taghri Bardi adds to this, stating that Prince Tigri Baramash excelled in the science of hadith that he took from the great scholars of his time, and on top of them was Imam Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani. He said that he “was the best of his knowledge of hadith, and in it he was the goal of his diligence, and he heard a lot. Judge of Judges ... Ahmed bin Ali bin Hajar 'Al-Sunan' by Abu Dawud al-Sijistani (d. 275 AH / 888 CE).

As for Prince Al-Kabir, Alamuddin Sinjar, the Turki al-Salihi (d.699 AH / 1300 CE); In the History of Islam, Imam al-Dhahabi describes him as "the great prince, the scholar and the modernist .. who took care of him in the hadith .. so he heard a lot and acquired the origins." Al-Dhahabi added that the two most prominent scholars in the hadith of the Prophet at the time - al-Muzzi and al-Barzali - wrote on the modern prince, Sanjar al-Salihi, individual parts of the hadith. He says: "Al-Muzayy wrote two volumes of Awali, and Al-Barzali compiled a dictionary for him in fourteen volumes !!"


It is impossible to count, and the


truth is that the shrine narrows to the mention of tens or perhaps hundreds of Mamluk princes who used to study Sharia sciences specialized, and we saw some of them who passed this specialization until they became an imam intended by senior scholars and conservators of hadith in his time to hear about him, and he asked for permission from him, and the rest combined military and religious sciences The example of Prince Alam al-Din al-Atqsa al-Turki (d.697 AH / 1298 CE) who “was one of the ancient princes of Damascus and narrated [the hadith of the Prophet] on the tribe of the Salafi (d.651 AH / 1253 CE)”; According to Ibn Tigri Bardi.

As for the great prince Saif al-Din Tankiz bin Abdullah al-Husami (d.741 AH / 1340 CE), he was the deputy of Damascus for several decades, the second man in the state of al-Nasir Muhammad bin Qalawun, and one of the few who was called the "king of princes." Nevertheless, he was so eager to seek the Prophet’s hadith that he became an elder about it for some of his scholars. “He heard 'Sahih al-Bukhari' more than once from [Imam] Ibn al-Shuhnah (d. Religion] Al-Maqrizi (Al-Hanbali d. 733 AH / 1333 CE) 'The Trials of Al-Bukhari' in Madinah.

Among these Mamluks and their sons were those who were able to lead both the Sharia and military sciences, thus combining teaching and chivalry; Such as Nasir al-Din Muhammad bin Muhanna bin Tarunay (d.833 AH / 1430 CE) who “worked in jurisprudence on more than one person, and took the rational sciences on the authority of al-Ezz bin Jama’ah (d. 819 AH / 1416 CE) .., and he was a virtuous one, he taught at Al-Azhar and others and benefited from the meritorious. All this with his skill in throwing the crossbow (= arrows), the rifle (= a weapon that resembles an old rifle), the spear, the pin, and other types of equestrian and the like. " According to the generous.

It is noticeable in the translations that the Mamluks did not confine themselves to taking sciences to male scholars only, but many of them studied women scholars in various arts.

Hence, the name of Khalil bin Tarunay al-Adli (d. After 770 AH / 1368 CE) was repeated in the compilations of the classes of hadiths in the Mamluk era, after he had taken the hadiths of the great scholars of his time and became one of the major narrators of 'Sahih al-Bukhari'

Ibn Hajar says - in 'the hidden pearls' - that he “heard Sahih al-Bukhari from Ibn al-Shihna and from six ministers (Minister Bint Umar al-Tanukhiyyah d. 716 AH / 1316 CE) and spoke about him repeatedly in Egypt !!

And this first military official in charge of Cairo’s security, Emir Tigri Baramish Al-Moayady - mentioned previously - read on the well-known “Sheikha Al-Asila Umm Al-Fadl Aisha bint Al-Qadi Ala Al-Din Ali Al-Kanani Al-Asqalani (d.840 AH / 1436 your AD) your benefits” by Abu Bakr Al-Shafi’i (Al-Bazzaz 354 your AH / 965 your AD) With 'guilines'';

According to Ibn Tigri Bardi in al-Manhal as-Safi.

We also found some sheikhs who did not hear the hadith of the Prophet in the majlis of the Mamluk Sultan inside the “Castle of the Mountain” in Cairo, such as “The Muammarat al-Muammarah, the Six Viziers Umm Muhammad Wazeerah Bint Omar al-Tanukhiya .. It was reported in Sahih al-Bukhari in Cairo and Egypt and Qalaat al-Jabal in the year five hundred (705 AH / 705 AH /) 1305 AD) ";

According to al-Maqrizi in 'The behavior'.

Soldiers and jurists. We


often read in the Mamluk history and heritage works as a description of a jurist as dressing as soldiers, so that you see the “soldier jurist” a remarkable phenomenon for the eyes and minds in that era full of encyclopedias, sciences, wars, and manifestations of power in the Islamic world.

And at the head of these is the modern imam, the hadith jurist, the grammatical salah al-Din Khalil bin Kikeldi al-Ala’i al-Shafi’i (d.761 AH / 1360 CE), who translated his contemporary Safadi - in 'Notables of the Age' - and said that he is “the unique Sheikh Imam, the collector of the diaspora of virtues, the interpreter of the updated jurist jurist al-Adeeb Al-Akhbariya .., He was a miracle in his vast knowledge .., he was first dressed as soldiers, then he left that !!

Historians have counted this Hafiz Al-Ala’i more than fifty works in the sciences of hadith, jurisprudence, interpretation, grammar, and others, some of them in dozens of volumes.

In contrast to Imam Al-Ala’i, who abandoned the uniform of soldiers and devoted himself to knowledge in terms of education and classification.

We find that Prince Ala al-Din Ali bin Balban al-Masri (d. 739 AH / 1338 CE) remained a believer in Mamluk soldiering, and at the same time he was fond of science and knowledge, accompanying the great scholars of his time in logic and fundamentals, grammar, hadith and so on, until he became one of his titles “the modern mufti prince” and “ The Hanafi soldier ";

According to Al-Safadi.

Ibn Balban reached this advanced military rank, with which he became one of the great princes in the state of the two sultans Al-Muzaffar Baybars Al-Jashinkir (d. 710 AH / 1310 AD) and Al-Nasser Muhammad bin Qalawun, yet Al-Safadi states that he left many compilations, including: “Sharh Kitab al-Jami '” The classification of Sadr al-Din al-Khalati (D. 652 AH / 1254 CE), and arranged 'Sahih Ibn Hibban' on the chapters of jurisprudence, as well as 'Mujam al-Tabarani al-Kabir' with the assistance of Sheikh Qutb al-Din Abd al-Karim (Al-Halabi d. 735 AH / 1334 CE).

With this high scholarly status that Ibn Balban attained;

Al-Safadi testified to him that he was "fit for justice because of his silence, knowledge and protection" !!

This is one of the most amazing things that the Islamic civilization witnessed during its Mamluk era.

There comes a soldier who only understands Turkish or Mongolian people, then he becomes a head in the military sciences and political ranks and an imam in Sharia sciences alike !!

Sheikdom of the elders,


as well as

al-

Sakhawi (d. 902 AH / 1507 CE) - in “The Bright Light of the People of the Ninth Century” - states that Prince Ahmed bin Kandoghdi of Turki al-Qahiri (d. 807 AH / 1404 CE) “was a religious scholar who wore the uniform of soldiers.” His scientific standing and political rank qualified him because He is sent as an ambassador to the great sultans, for “Al-Nasir Faraj (Ibn Barquq d. 815 AH / 1412 AD) went to Tamerlane,” meaning Tamerlane, the Uzbek Emperor (d. 807 AH / 1404 AD).

Ibn Tigri Bardi tells us - in 'Al-Nujoom al-Zahira' - that one of the Mamluks was adjacent to Makkah al-Mukarramah named Zain al-Din Umar Ibn al-Amir Saif al-Din Qadid al-Qalmtawi (d.856 AH / 1452 CE): He described him as “the imam, the scholar, the scholar ... and he was the imam of his time in grammar, Arabic and morphology, and he had a great participation in many arts. He will leave after him the same in the science of Arabic and Al-Tasrif. "

Also among this category is the soldier and the Hanafi jurist, then the Shafi’i: Yusuf bin Shaheen bin Qutlubugha al-Qaheri (d.899 AH / 1495 CE). His grandfather raised him to his mother, Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, to love religious and legal sciences, but from the side of his father and his Mamluk ancestors, he loved martial arts. While working with other knowledge, self-preservation, and appealing to students, then the Sultan asked permission to dress up as the jurists, so he gave him permission. According to Al Sakhawi.

وكان علي بن عمر بن سليمان الخُوارِزْمي (ت 806هـ/1403م) من أسرة لها باعٌ في الجندية المملوكية إذ "كان أبوه من الأجناد"؛ وفقا للسخاوي. وكان لابنه عليّ هذا إقطاع في "ديوان الجيش" لا يُعطى إلا للمماليك وأبنائهم يرتزقون منه، ولذا "نشأ على أكمل طريقة وأحسن سيرة، وأكبَّ على الاشتغال بالعلم، وطالع في كُتب ابن حزم (الظاهري الأندلسي ت 456هـ/1065م) فهوى كلامه، واشتُهر بمحبته والقول بمقالته، وتظاهر بالظاهر (= المذهب الظاهري)"!!

ولشدة اشتغال هذا الفقيه الجندي بالعلم وحبّه له فإنه "نزل عن إقطاعه في سنة بضع وثمانين [وسبعمئة هجرية] وأقام بالشام مدة". وفي آخر عمره جمع بين الاشتغال بالعلم ومباشرة الوظائف المملوكية، حيث "باشَرَ شَدَّ (= الرقابة الإدارية والمالية) الأقصر لبعض الأمراء".

أما أحمد الجزري الجندي المملوكي (ت 727هـ/1327م) فإن ابن حجر -في "الدرر الكامنة‘- يخبرنا أنه "كان لا يعرف اسم أبيه ولا نسبه"، لكنه كان "من أجناد الحلقة" الذين هم العمود الفقري والأكثرية في الجيش المملوكي. ورغم ذلك كان مغرمًا بتعلم الحديث النبوي الشريف حتى "أخذ عنه [من أصبحوا أئمة عصرهم في العلم مثل] الذهبي والبِرْزَالي وابن رافع (السَّلَامي ت 774هـ/1372م)".

أسانيد حصرية
وقد التقى المؤرخ صلاح الدين الصفدي بكثير من نماذج المماليك العلماء، وترجم لبعضهم في موسوعتيْه ‘أعيان العصر وأعوان النصر‘ و‘الوافي بالوفيات‘. منهم شيخه المحدِّث الجندي شهاب الدين أحمد بن عبد الله الحسامي (ت 749هـ/1348م)، الذي كان بجوار انخراطه في سلك الجندية المملوكية عاكفًا على تعلم الحديث النبوي الشريف فـ"حدَّثَ وهو شاب، وكتب بخطّه، وقرأ بنفسه، وحصّل الأصول والفروع، وانتقى على الشيوخ، وجمع مجاميع، وأرّخ الوفيات، وقرأ الفقه، وحفظ ألفية ابن مالك".

ويضيف الصَّفَدي مسجلا تلْمذته لهذا "المحدِّث الجندي"؛ فيقول إنه "جمعَ مشيخة للقاضي ضياء الدين بن الخطيب (المحتسِب المحدّث ت 761هـ/1360م) فيها أربعون حديثًا، وتكلم على كل حديث وما يتعلّق به، وقرأها عليه، وسمعناها منه في سنة خمس وأربعين (وسبعمئة = 745هـ/1344م)"؛ كما في ‘أعيان العصر‘.

ولدينا أيضا في هذا العصر المملوكي "الشيخُ الـمُسنِدُ" علاء الدين علي بن إسحق (ت 731هـ/1331م) حفيد سلطان الموصل بدر الدين لؤلؤ الأتابكي (ت 657هـ/1259م)؛ فقد كان سليلَ آخر أمراء الموصل التابعين للدولة الزنكية، ونزح والده -فيما يبدو- بعائلته بعد الغزو المغولي للعراق واستقر بهم المقام بمصر، فكان علاء الدين هذا "من أعيان الجُند بالقاهرة"؛ طبقا للصفدي الذي يفيدنا بأنه سمع من كبار محدّثي عصره فصار "الشيخ المسند" في عصره ومصره.

وغير بعيد عن المشهد الفقهي؛ كانت الحركة الصوفية -التي بدأت التبلور منذ القرن الثاني الهجري/الثامن الميلادي مركِّزًة على مبادئ الزُّهد والابتعاد عن زخارف الحياة الدنيا- قد بلغت مداها في عصر المماليك الذين اعتقدوا كثيرا في "كرامات المتصوفة"، وتقربوا إليهم وجعلوا لهم شيوخًا مرشدين منهم.

ولهذا السبب انتسب كثير من المماليك -بمختلف مراتبهم العسكرية ووظائفهم الإدارية- إلى طُرُق التصوف وزواياه، وافتخروا بهذا الانتساب؛ فهذا مثلا الأمير عز الدين طُقْطَايْ الدَّوَادَار (ت 760هـ/1359م) أحد مشاهير أمراء المماليك في بلاد الشام كان "لطيف النفس، ثقيل الرأس، سهل القياد، صوفي الاعتقاد، حسن الأخلاق"؛ طبقا للصفدي في ‘أعيان العصر‘.

مجالس حديثية
كان من أبرز مظاهر اهتمام سلاطين المماليك وأمرائهم بإشاعة العلوم الشرعية -وعلى رأسها علوم القرآن والحديث والفقه والأصول- أنهم حرصوا على إصدار مناشير دورية لإعلام الناس بعقد مجالس سماع الحديث النبوي في المدن والأمصار والمواسم المختلفة طوال العام، وعلى رأسها "قلعة الجبل" مقرّ السلطنة في القاهرة.

ومن ذلك أن السلطان الأشرف شعبان بن حسن بن محمد بن قلاوون (ت 778هـ/1376م) أصدر قرارًا في أول رمضان من عام 774هـ/1372م "عنده بالقصر من قلعة الجبل بقراءة كتاب ‘صحيح البخاري‘ في كل يوم من أيام شهر رمضان، بحضرة جماعة من القضاة ومشايخ العلم تبرُّكاً بقراءته"؛ حسب المقريزي في ‘السلوك‘.

وقد استمرت هذه العادة بعد ذلك في الدولة المملوكية عقودا عديدة؛ ففي عصر السلطان المؤيَّد شيْخ المحمودي (ت 824هـ/1421م) وفي 25 رمضان سنة 820هـ/1417م "خُتِمت قراءةُ ‘صحيح البخاري‘ بالقصر من قلعة الجبل، وحضر السُّلطان ختمه على العادة".

ويُعدّ السلطان المؤيد هذا أولَ من قرر أن تتواصل مجالس إسماع كتب السنة النبوية -وعلى رأسها ‘صحيح البخاري‘- في قصره بقلعة الجبل لمدة شهرين متتابعين، وكان ذلك في مجلس حافل يحضره كبار العلماء ورجال الدولة. يقول ابن تَغْري بَرْدي في ‘النجوم الزاهرة‘: "ولم يزل الأمر على هذا (= قراءة البخاري برمضان فقط) حتى تسلطَن المؤيد شيخ، فابتدأ بالقراءة من أول شعبان إلى سابع عشرين شهر رمضان".

ولا غرابة في صنيع السلطان المؤيَّد إذا استحضرنا ما قاله الحافظ ابن حجر -في ‘المجْمع المؤسِّس للمعجم المفهرِس‘- من أن هذا السلطان "حدَّث بـ‘صحيح البخاري‘ عن شيخ الإسلام سراج الدين البُلْقَيْني بإجازة معيَّنة (= خاصة به) أخرجها بخطه، وذكر أنها كانت معه في أسفاره لا يفارقها، وحضرنا عنده عدة مجالس" حديثية.

مصنفات ومناقشات
وقد ساهم المماليك -وكذلك أبناؤهم من الجيل الثاني والثالث الذين عُرفوا في اصطلاح ذلك العصر بـ"أولاد الناس"- في مسيرة التأليف في العلوم الشرعية.

ويأتي على رأس هؤلاء الإمام الحافظ علاء الدين مُغُلْطاي بن قِلِيج البَكْجَري (ت 762هـ/1361م)، الذي "كان يحفظ [كتاب] ‘الفصيح‘ لثعلب (الإمام اللغوي ت 291هـ/904م)، ومن تصانيفه ‘شرح صحيح البخاري‘.. و‘الزَّهر الباسم في السيرة النبوية‘.. وعدّة تصانيفه نحو المئة أو أزيد"؛ وفقا لابن حجر الذي يفيدنا -في ‘الدرر الكامنة‘- بأن مُغُلْطاي لم يكن مؤلِّفا جامعا فقط، وإنما كان عالما ناقدا لما يطالعه وفيما يضعه من التصانيف "وله مآخذ على أهل اللغة وعلى كثير من المحدِّثين"!!

ولدينا أيضًا من هذه الفئة المملوكية ذات التصانيف: الإمامُ قاسم بن قُطْلُوبُغا السُّودُوني (ت 879هـ/1474م) أحد أشهر علماء المذهب الحنفية وكبار أئمة الحديث في عصره؛ فقد ترجم له السخاوي وقال إنه "أقبلَ على الاشتغال فسمع تجويد القرآن.. وبعض التفسير..، وأخذ علومَ الحديثِ عن.. شيخنا [ابن حجر] والفقهَ". وترك ابنُ قُطْلوبُغا عدة مؤلفات طُبع بعضها اليوم مثل "تاج التراجم في طبقات الحنفية" و"غريب القرآن".

أما أحمد بن رجب بن طَيْبُغا المجدي (ت 850هـ/1446م) فكان جدّه طَيْبُغا المجدي قائدا كبيرا في الجيش المملوكي، وصار حفيده هذا "رأس الناس في أنواع الحساب والهندسة والهيئة (= علم الفلَك) والفرائض (= فقه المواريث) وعلم الوقت بلا منازع، واشتُهر بإقراء ‘الحاوي‘ [في فقه الشافعية]، وانتُدب للإقراء وانتفع به الفضلاء وأخذ عنه الأعيان من كل مذهب طبقة بعد أخرى"؛ حسب السخاوي الذي يورد قائمة طويلة من مؤلفات بن طَيْبُغا في علوم مختلفة.

لم تكُن مجالس سلاطين المماليك تخلو من رجال العلوم والفنون التي ازدانت بهم وبمناقشاتهم العلمية عواصم المماليك في مصر والشام، بل إننا نرى مشاركة لافتة لكثير من السلاطين في تلك المناقشات والمناظرات والمسائل الأدبية والعلمية، مثل السلطان حسام الدين لاجين (ت 698هـ/1299م) الذي "كان يحبّ مجالسة الفقهاء"؛ طبقا للمقريزي في ‘السلوك‘.

ومثله السلطان المؤيَّد شيخ المحمودي -السالف الذكْر- الذي يقول عنه ابن حجر -في ‘المجْمع المؤسِّس‘- إنه "كان يحب العلماء ويجالسهم ويكرمهم ويعظم الشرع وحملته". ويخبرنا ابن تَغْري بَرْدي -في ‘النجوم الزاهرة‘- أنه "كان يُشارك الفقهاء في أبحاثهم ويتصوّر أقوالهم ويطرحُ عليهم المسائل المشكلة"؛ وقد أورد أخبارا بشأن مناظرات عديدة وقعت في مجلس هذا السلطان.

مؤلفات مستوعبة
ومن تلك المناقشات السلطانية ما دار بين قاضي قضاة الحنابلة بمصر علاء الدين بن مُغْلي الحموي (ت 828هـ/1425م) والإمام نظام الدين السيرامي الحنفي؛ إذ تباحثا "بحضرة السلطان الملك المؤيَّد [شيخ]، فقال القاضي علاء الدين: يا شيخ نظام الدين، اسمعْ مذهبَك! وسرد المسألة من حفظه!! وهذه كانت عادته، فجاراه الشيخ نظام الدين في المسألة ولا زال ينقله من شيء إلى شيء حتى دخل به إلى علم المعقول"!!

أما السلطان أبو سعيد جَقْمق (ت 857هـ/1453م) فإن المؤرخ والأديب ابن عربشاه الحنفي (ت 854هـ/1450م) يقول عنه -في ‘التأليف الطاهر في شِيَم الملك الظاهر‘- وكان قد غشي مجالسَه السلطانية عدة مرات: "إنه لم يَجْرِ في حضرته الشريفة مسألة فقهية، أو نُكتةٌ مفيدةٌ إلا وكان له فيها يدٌ ودراية، ومُشاركة بديعة، وتصريف مستقيم؛ هذا الذي شاهدتُه مذ كنتُ ملازما الحضرة الشريفة"!!

وقد اشتُهر عن السلطان الأشرف قايِتْبَايْ (ت 901هـ/1495م) -الذي تولى سلطنة المماليك تسعا وعشرين سنة كاملة- أنه "كان له اشتغال بالعلم، كثير المُطالعات في الكُتب، وله أذكار وأورادٌ جليلة [كتبها بنفسه]، وإلى الآن تُتلى في الجوامع"؛ وفقا للمؤرخ ابن إياس الحنفي (ت 930هـ/1524م) في ‘بدائع الزهور‘.

ولعل فن التاريخ هو أبرز حقول المعرفة التي أبدع فيها المماليك وأبناؤهم دراسةً وتأليفا، حتى إنه يمكن القول إنهم زاحموا غيرهم بقوة في تأليف مدوناته منذ أوائل القرن الثامن الهجري/الـ14 الميلادي، ثم كادوا ينفردون بأفضل وأشمل مصنفاته بدءا من منتصف القرن التاسع الهجري/الـ15 الميلادي.

ولدينا مجموعة من مشاهير مؤرخيهم ممن لا تزال مصنفاتهم التاريخية على قدر من الأهمية والأصالة إلى وقتنا هذا؛ يأتي على رأسهم الأمير بيبرس المنصوري الدَّوَادَار (ت 725هـ/1325م) الذي هو أحد أهم شهود العِيان في النصف الثاني من القرن السابع الهجري/الـ13 الميلادي والربع الأول من القرن الثامن الهجري/الـ14 الميلادي.

فقد تولى الدَّوَادَار هذا العديدَ من الوظائف المملوكية السياسية والعسكرية في عصور السلاطين بيبرس والمنصور قلاوون (ت 689هـ/1290م) والناصر محمد بن قلاوون، وترك من التواريخ كتابيْه: "زُبدة الفكرة في تاريخ الهجرة"، و"كتاب التحفة الملوكية في الدولة التركية"؛ وكلاهما من أوعب ما كُتب عن المماليك وتاريخهم ووقائعهم السياسية والعسكرية في هذه الفترة، وميزة كتاباته أنها من شاهد عِيان ومشارِك في الأحداث ذي منزلة رفيعة علميا وسياسيا.

تحليلات رصينة
وبعده يلاقينا معاصره الأمير المؤرخ أبو بكر بن عبد الله بن أَيْبَك الدَّوَادَاري (ت بعد سنة 736هـ/1335م) الذي هو أحد أبناء المماليك وأمير من أمرائهم تولى إمارة صَرْخَد جنوبي الشام، وله موسوعة "كنز الدُّرَر وجامع الغُرَر" في تسعة مجلدات ضمَّنها تاريخا لأهم الأحداث منذ بدء الخليقة وحتى وعصره، وقد أتم تأليفه سنة 732هـ/1332م، وأهداه إلى مخدومه السلطان الناصر محمد بن قلاوون.

ومثله في مَنْبَتِه المملوكي واختصاصه العلمي المؤرخُ المحقق والأديب صلاح الدين خليل بن أيْبَكْ الصَّفَدي (ت 764هـ/1363م)؛ فقد كان والده الأمير َيْبَك بن عبد الله (ت 776هـ/1374م) من جُملة أمراء المماليك بمدينة صفد ثم دمشق، فنشأ ابنه على حب التعلم وشغف بالأدب والتاريخ، وترك مصنفات زادت على الخمسين مؤلفًا.

وفي مجال التاريخ والتراجم تحديدا ترك لنا الصفدي أعمالا جليلة طُبعت في عصرنا هذا، ويأتي على رأسها "تاريخه الكبير الذي سمّاه ‘الوافي بالوفيات‘ في نحو ثلاثين مجلدة [رتّبه] على حروف المعجم، وأفرد منه [تراجم] أهل عصره في كتاب سمّاه ‘أعوان النصر في أعيان العصر‘ في ست مجلدات"؛ وفقا لابن حجر في ‘الدرر الكامنة‘.

وكذلك المؤرخ إبراهيم بن أَيْدَمُر بن دُقْمَاق القاهري (ت 809هـ/1406م) الذي قال عنه السخاوي: "مؤرخ الديار المصرية في وقته.. وَلي في آخر الأمر [من حياته] إمرة دمياط"، فجمع مثل سابقيه الوظائف السياسية والتدوين التاريخي الرصين.

وقد ترك ابن دُقْمُاق العديد من المصنفات التاريخية ذات النظرة المتوازنة إلى حوادث عصره، على رأسها كتابه "نزهة الأنام في تاريخ الإسلام" و"الجوهر الثمين في سِيَر الخُلفاء والملوك والسلاطين"، وله أيضًا مؤلَّف في "طبقات الحنفية".

ويُعتبر الإمام المؤرخ أبو المحاسن جمال الدين يوسف بن تَغْرِي بَرْدِي الظاهري (ت 874هـ/1469م) أشهرَ أبناء المماليك الذين برعوا في ميدان فنّ التاريخ قاطبة؛ فقد كان والده الأمير سيف الدين تَغْري بَرْدي الظاهري قائدَ الجيش المملوكي في عصر السلطان الناصر فرَج بن برقوق. ولهذا السبب تفرد ابن تَغْري بَرْدي بكثير من تفاصيل صناعة القرار في دهاليز القصور المملوكية، فكان دائم الاختلاط بالسلاطين وكبار الأمراء لمكانته ومكانة والده في الدولة.

وقد ترك هذا المؤرخ الحصيف أهم وأعظم مصنفات التاريخ المصري في عصر المماليك، وقد نهل منها جميع المؤرخين الذين جاؤوا بعده وخاصة في العصر الحديث؛ وتأتي في صدارة تلك المصنفاتِ كتبُه الرائعة النافعة: "النجوم الزاهرة في ملوك مصر والقاهرة"، و"المنهل الصافي والمستوفي بعد الوافي".

مواهب متعددة
ومن أشهر أبناء أمراء المماليك ووزرائهم ومن كبار المؤرخين في نهايات عصرهم: المؤرخُ غرْس الدين خليل بن شاهين الظاهري المَلَطي (ت 873هـ/1468م)، فقد تولى العديدَ من الوظائف المملوكية المرموقة كمنصب الوزارة بالقاهرة و"أتابكية حلب" أي قيادة جيشها.

ومع وظائف ابن شاهين السياسية والعسكرية تلك؛ فإن السخاوي يقول إن الحافظ ابن حجر "أجازه بالفتيا والتدريس -بعد أن لازمه- روايةً ودرايةً"، كما قال إنه "كان يتعانى (= يتعاطى) الأدب مع اشتغال ومشاركة فيه، ومذاكرة حسنة بالتاريخ والشعر وفهم جيد، وقد خَمَّسَ ‘البُرْدَة‘" للإمام البوصيري (ت 696هـ/1297م). وكان ابن شاهين أيضا مصنفا مكثرا، ومن أبرز مؤلفاته: ‘زبدة كشف الممالك وبيان الطرق والمسالك‘ و‘المواهب في اختلاف المذاهب‘ "مرتب على أبواب الفقه".

أما ابنه التاجر الرحالة والشاعر زين الدين عبد الباسط بن خليل (ت 920هـ/1514م) فقد كتب لنا بدوره العديد من المصنفات التاريخية الموّثِّقة للتفاصيل الدقيقة لأحوال عصره، لاسيما أنه كان معاصرا لانهيار دولة المماليك مطلعا على عوامل هذا الانهيار وكاشفا لمظاهره وتداعياته.

ومن تلك المصنفات كتابه "نيل الأمل في ذيل الدول" الذي جعله تكملة لـ‘تاريخ الإسلام‘ للإمام الذهبي؛ فأرّخ فيه للحوادث من سنة 744هـ/1343م وحتى 896هـ/1491م، وله تاريخه الكبير المسمَّى "الروض الباسم في حوادث العُمر والتراجم"، وكتابه الأشهر في التراجم: "المجمع المُفَنَّن بالمعجم المعنون".

وفي خاتمة سلسلة مؤرخي مصر المملوكية الكبار؛ يأتي محمد بن أحمد بن إياس الحنفي (ت 930هـ/1524م) صاحب كتاب ‘بدائع الزهور في وقائع الدهور‘؛ فهو من المؤرخين المنحدرين من طبقة "أبناء الناس" باعتبار أن جدّه الأمير إياس الفخري الظاهري كان من مماليك السلطان الظاهر برقوق.

كان المؤرخ ابن إياس شاهدا على نهايات عصر المماليك؛ وقد مكَّنه هذا من أن يقدِّم للأجيال اللاحقة معلومات حصرية وثمينة عن لحظات أفول شمس هذه الدولة المهيبة، وهي تتعرض للهزيمة المدوية والمتلاحقة أمام الجيوش العثمانية، في معركة مَرْج دابِق بسوريا أولا سنة 922هـ/1516م ثم بعدها بشهور في معركة الريدانية بمصر سنة 922هـ/1517م. وقد ترك ابن إياس العديد من المصنفات التاريخية المهمة غير كتابه ‘بدائع الزهور‘.
فنون أدبية
لم يكن الإسهام العلمي للمماليك وأبنائهم منحصرا في العلوم الشرعية والتاريخية؛ بل كانت لهم مشاركات في دنيا الأدب والشعر إنتاجا وتصنيفا؛ فها هو الإمام السخاوي يترجم للعديد منهم فيذكر لهم دواوين ضمنوها أشعارهم ومختاراتهم الأدبية.

وفي مقدمة هؤلاء المماليكِ الأدباءِ يأتي الأديب الشهير علي بن عبد الله الغُزولي الدمشقي (ت 815هـ/1412م)، الذي يذكر السخاوي أنه "كان مملوكا تركياً.. فنشأ ذكيا وأحب الأدبيات فلازم العزّ الموصلي (ت 789هـ/1387م) فتخرّج به.. وكان جيد الذوق..، وجمع في الأدب كتابا سماه ‘مطالع البُدور في منازل السرور‘ في ثلاث مجلدات، وتعانى (= تعاطى) النظم فلم يزل يقوم ويقعد إلى أن جاد شعره"!!

وأورد السخاوي لسبط الحافظ ابن حجر: يوسف بن شاهين بن قُطْلوبُغا القاهري -المتقدم ذكْره- مقطعاتٍ شعريةً في المدح والرِّثاء والهِجاء تدل على أنه كان حسَنَ النظم للشعر، كما ذكر في ترجمته للمؤرخ غرْس الدين خليل بن شاهين الظاهري (= نسبة للسلطان الظاهر برقوق) المَلَطي (ت 873هـ/1468م) -الآتي ذكره تفصيلا- أنه جمع "ديوان شعره وهو في عدة مجلدات"!!

وفي حقل فنّي كثيرا ما اقترن بميدان الأدب وثقافة الشعر؛ بَزَغَ نجمُ عدةٍ من أبناء المماليك في فنّ الموسيقى حتى صاروا أعلام زمانهم فيها، مبدِّدين الصورة النمطية عن ذلك "المملوك" شديد البأس القاسي القلب، الضارب بالسيف والرامي للسهم والطاعن بالرمح.

فهذا ابن باباي صارم الدين العوّاد (ت 821هـ/1418م) كان نديما لعدد من سلاطين المماليك على رأسهم السلطان المؤيَّد شيخ المحمودي (ت 824هـ/1421م). وعن تألقه في الموسيقى يقول ابن تَغْري بَرْدي -في ‘المنهل الصافي‘- إنه "أحد ندماء الملك المؤيد شيخ ومغنِّيه، كان أعجوبة زمانه في ضرب العود والغناء، ولم يكن جيد الصوت بل كان رأسا في العود وفي فن الموسيقى، انتهت إليه الرئاسة في ذلك ولم يخلف بعده مثله"!!

بل إن بعضهم كان يجيد علم الموسيقى وفنونها وهو يتولى المناصب السياسية والعسكرية في آنٍ واحد؛ مثل الأمير أَشُقْتَمُر الناصري (ت 791هـ/1389م) الذي يحكي لنا ابن تَغْري بَرْدي -في ‘المنهل الصافي‘- أنه "كان يَعرفُ ضرب العُود، ويحسن قول الموسيقى، ويعرف عدة فنون، ولما رأى منه الناصر حسن (بن الناصر قلاوون ت 762هـ/1361م) الحزم والمعرفة قرَّبه وأدناه وأمَّرَه، ثم تنقّل -بعد موت أستاذه السلطان حسن- في عدة وظائف إلى أن ولّاه الملك الأشرف شعبان بن حسين نيابة حلب".

ونجد مثل أَشُقْتَمُر الناصري -في براعته الموسيقية- الأميرَ طُوغَان قِيزْ العلائي (ت 863هـ/1459م) الذي تولى العديد من الوظائف العسكرية والسياسية في ذلك العصر، وعلى رأسها قيادة الجيش المملوكي بولاية حلب فـ"كان رئيسًا معظَّمًا في الدُّوَل، ذا ذوق ومُحاضرة في الجملة ومعرفة بتأدية الموسيقى"؛ طبقا للإمام المحدِّث السخاوي.

ومنهم من كان لا يجد حرجا في الجمع بين إمامة السلطان في مسجده والبراعة في علم الموسيقى تلحيناً وأداءً؛ مثل شهاب الدين أحمد بن آقُوش (ت 693هـ/1294م) الذي يصفه الذهبي -في ‘تاريخ الإسلام‘- بأنه "إمام السلطان وأحد الموصوفين بالتطريب في التلاوة ومعرفة الأنغام والموسيقى"!!

ويبدو أن العلوم التطبيقية لم تكن كذلك بمعزل عن اهتمام أبناء المماليك، بل وتوارثوها جيلا عن جيل؛ فقد تقدّم معنا وصف السخاوي للفقيه المملوكي أحمد بن رجب بن طَيْبُغا المجدي بأنه كان "رأس الناس في أنواع الحساب والهندسة والهيئة (= علم الفلَك).. وعلم الوقت بلا منازع"!!

مدونات حربية
لم تكن انتصارات المماليك المشهودة تاريخيا إلا امتثالا للخطط الحربية التي نفّذوها ببراعة في ساحات القتال، وهي في الوقت ذاته وليدة علم عسكري دقيق، ويعتبر عصرهم قمة التدوين العسكري وأدب الفروسية والقتال والتعبئة والتكتيك، وأنواع الأسلحة والرمي والحث على مواجهة الأعداء.

ويأتي على رأس هذه المؤلفات العسكرية كتاب "تُحفةُ المجاهدين في العمل بالميادين" للأمير حسام الدين لاجين بن عبد الله الذهبي الطرابلسي الرمَّاح (ت 738هـ/1337م) الذي يقول في مقدمته: "وقد ضُمّن في هذا الكتاب ما يجبُ لمتعاطي الحرب الوقوف عليه..، ومعرفة كيفيته وفهمه، والاتِّسام بوسْمه، وخِبرة ما تضمنه من إقبال وإدبار وإيراد وإصدار، وكَرّ وفَرّ، ووقْف ومَرّ، وتصويب بسِنان، وإرسالٍ بعِنَان، وإقدامٍ وإِحجام، وشرحنا فيه ما يجب الوقوف عليه، والوقوف عند حدّه".

أما كتاب "الأدلة الرسمية في التعابي الحربية" للأمير محمد بن مَنْكُلي الناصري (ت 784هـ/1382م) نقيب الجيش في عصر السلطان الأشرف شعبان (ت 778هـ/1376م)؛ فهو من المؤلفات العسكرية المملوكية الشاملة التي تحدثت عن خصائص المقاتلين وأسلحتهم، وأساليب قتالهم وتشكيلاتهم، ولمحات عملية من قتال المشاة والفرسان، وقتال المدن والحصون، وأهم الاختلافات بين الجندي الجيد والقائد الجيد.

ويقول ابن مَنْكُلي عن سبب تأليفه هذا الكتاب: "والسبب الداعي لهذا التأليف أمورٌ: أحدُها ليُعلَم أن في العسكر الإسلامي مَن له عناية -من ربّه تعالى- بخدمة أولي الجِدّ والاجتهاد ممن مضي من السادة الأولياء الأجناد"!!

وللأمير ابن مَنْكُلي هذا أيضا كتابُ ‘الأحكام الملوكية والضوابط الناموسية في فن القتال في البحر‘، الذي يعدّ من المصادر المهمة في معرفة تفاصيل المعارك البحرية وأساليبها، كما أفرد فيه أبوابا لبيان الأزمنة المناسبة لصناعة السفن. وله كذلك من المصنفات الحربية: «المنهل العذب لورود أهل الحرب» و«الرسالة المرْضية في صناعة الجندية».

وقد تنوعت مؤلفات الأمراء والجنود المماليك في الفنون العسكرية ومهاراتها وأسلحتها للغاية، حتى وجدنا تأليفًا مستقلاً للمجانيق بأنواعها واستخداماتها بعنوان "الأنيق في المناجيق" ألّفه الضابط المملوكي ابن أرَنْبُغا الزَّرَدْكاش (ت 867هـ/1462م)، وقدّمه هدية إلى قائد الجيش المملوكي الأمير مَنْكُلي بُغا الصالحي (ت 836هـ/1432م).

وعن أهم مضامين كتابه هذا؛ يقول ابن أرنبُغا: "جمعتُ في ذلك من أنواع المجانيق والزيارات (= نوع من مجانيق السهام)، والسلالم والحِصارات (= أدوات الحصار) والزكّافات (= زحّافات)، ورمي المكاحل (= النوع البدائي من المدافع) والقوارير (= عبوات حارقة كالمولوتوف)، وما شاكلَ ذلك مِن مُخترعات التدابير، وجعلتُه كتابًا، ورتّبته فصولا وأبوابًا".