Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021): 112-180 Along with the history of Yaḥyā b. Saʿīd al-Anṭākī, with which it has a close and complex relationship, the Life of Christopher is one of our most important testimo-nies to Christian life in Ḥamdānid Syria.1 The Chalcedonian patriarch Christopher (d. 356/967), whose birth name was ʿĪsā, was born and raised in Baghdad, the Life tells us. He then moved to Syria and entered the Ḥamdānid bureaucracy, where he became a favorite of the emir Sayf al-Dawla (r. 333–56/944–67). In about 349/960, he became the patriarch of Antioch, the last to serve in that position before the Byzantine conquest of the city in 358/969. The Life was written by the Byzantine official Ibrāhīm b. Yūḥannā. Ibrāhīm knew Christopher when the former was a young boy, but he did not write the Life until 1. Much of the information in this introduction, along with an earlier version of this translation, can also be found in my dissertation: Joshua Mugler, “A Martyr with Too Many Causes: Christopher of Antioch (d. 967) and Local Collective Memory” (PhD diss., Georgetown University, 2019). The Life of Christopher JoShua Mugler Hill Museum and Manuscript Library (jmugler001@hmml.org) © 2021 Joshua Mugler. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License, which allows users to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the original authors and source. Abstract Christopher, a native of Baghdad who became patriarch of Antioch in about 349/960, was assassinated by Muslim rebels in 356/967 because of his loyalty to their Muslim ruler. When the Byzantines conquered Antioch two years later, his story was told in a variety of ways by those with different and competing interests. Christopher was mentioned in Byzantine histories and in Antiochian liturgies. However, by far the most extensive and detailed version of the story comes to us in the Life of Christopher, written by Ibrāhīm b. Yūḥannā, a Byzantine bureaucrat and translator who grew up in Antioch and knew Christopher when he, Ibrāhīm, was a young boy. The hagiography was originally composed in Greek and translated by its author into Arabic, but only the Arabic survives. Here I provide, for the first time, both a critical edition of the two known Arabic manuscripts and a full English translation. This text is a valuable testimony to Christian life in Antioch under both the Ḥamdānids and the Byzantines, and to the difficulties of life along the constantly shifting frontier of medieval northern Syria. mailto:jmugler001%40hmml.org?subject= 113 • JoShua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) his old age, around the late 410s/1020s. According to the heading of the text, he originally wrote it in Greek and then translated his own text into Arabic. Nevertheless, only the Arabic survives—and that only in two or possibly three manuscripts, one of which is currently unaccounted for. The Ḥamdānids were one of many provincial dynasties that came to power as the central authority of the ʿAbbāsid caliphate found itself stretched thin.2 They were members of the Arab tribe of Taghlib and originated from northern Mesopotamia. Nominally subordinate to the government in Baghdad, different branches of the family ruled Mosul and Aleppo from the early fourth/tenth century to the early fifth/eleventh. It seems that they had Shīʿī sympathies, but they were not aggressively sectarian, and their allegiances sometimes shifted with the tides of political opportunism.3 Most of Christopher’s adult life took place under the rule of the first Ḥamdānid emir of Aleppo, Sayf al-Dawla. Sayf al-Dawla made himself famous by patronizing some of the most prominent writers of the time, most notably the poets al-Mutanabbī (d. 354/965) and Abū Firās al-Ḥamdānī (320–57/932–68), a cousin of the emir.4 Other scholars criticized Sayf al-Dawla’s harsh policies, but in the Life of Christopher we can see the protagonist receiving some of the same generous patronage that prompted so many celebrated poems.5 Unfortunately for Sayf al-Dawla, his rise to power in northern Syria coincided with a great expansion in Byzantine power, and during the reigns of Sayf al-Dawla and his descendants, the Byzantine Empire began to regain territory in this region for the first time since the first-/seventh-century Muslim conquests. Most of the Life’s action takes place within this context, as Byzantine advances led to panic and rebellion in cities such as Antioch that grew ever nearer to the border. A major rebellion broke out in Antioch in 354/965, and this forms the pivot point of Christopher’s patriarchate in the Life.6 Although Sayf al-Dawla was able to suppress the uprising, he had already begun to suffer from hemiplegia and was largely confined to his bed until his death in Ṣafar 356/February 967, at which point the brief power vacuum prompted further chaos in Ḥamdānid territory. As the Ḥamdānids struggled with both internal and external pressures, the armies of Emperor Nikephoros II (r. 352–59/963–69) conquered Antioch in Dhū al-Ḥijja 358/October 969. Although Nikephoros was soon assassinated, his successor, John I (r. 359–65/969–76), thrilled to have regained control of the city that was once the great metropolis of Syria, quickly sought to reintegrate Antioch into the empire. As Gilbert Dagron puts it, “without Antioch, the ‘reconquest’ would win no more for Byzantium than some lands and cities; 2. Hugh Kennedy, The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the Sixth to the Eleventh Century (London: Routledge, 2016), 229–43; Clifford Edmund Bosworth, The Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Handbook (Edinburgh: University Press, 1967), 49–50; Marius Canard, Histoire de la dynastie des H’amdanides de Jazîra et de Syrie (Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1953). 3. Kennedy, Prophet, 231. 4. For selections from these poets and other authors that discuss Sayf al-Dawla and the events that took place under his rule, see Marius Canard, Sayf al Daula (Algiers: Editions Jules Carbonel, 1934). 5. Hugh Kennedy mentions the geographer Ibn Ḥawqal, who painted “a grim picture of overtaxation and exploitation”; see Kennedy, Prophet, 229. 6. Ibid., 241. Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 114 with Antioch, it created a second pole, the virtual capital of a Roman Orient.”7 John sent secular and ecclesiastical administrators from Constantinople and other parts of the empire to make Antioch Roman again. These administrators included the new patriarch, Theodore II, who is mentioned briefly in the Life.8 The empire undertook the translation of the liturgy of Constantinople into Syriac for use in the Church of Antioch, replacing local practices with those of the capital.9 The Life also mentions several stages of imperial commemoration of Christopher, showing the new administration’s determination to incorporate this local martyr into the new ecclesiastical order. The Life was written after about fifty years of these imperial efforts and reflects some degree of local discontent with Roman control. The preceding rule of Sayf al-Dawla is presented in glowing terms, emphasizing the nuances and positive aspects of life with Muslims at a time when the empire viewed them primarily as foreign enemies. The text celebrates the autonomy and influence of the Antiochian Church under Muslim rule, in stark contrast to the situation of the church within the Byzantine Empire. Around the time that the Life was composed, in the late 410s/1020s, the empire’s fortunes in the region began to turn again, and after decades of stagnation and lost ground, Antioch fell to the Seljuk Turks in 477/1084. We know fairly little about the life of Ibrāhīm b. Yūḥannā, author of the Life of Christopher, but we can make a general sketch.10 He was born in the early 340s/950s in Antioch to a prominent family with close connections to the church, and he was educated there under Patriarch Christopher. He spent his career within the Byzantine bureaucracy and attained the rank of prōtospatharios, along the way producing Arabic translations of some of the Greek works that had recently become available in Antioch thanks to the Byzantine reconquest of that city. These included works attributed to some of the greatest fourth-century CE Christian theologians, such as Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite and Ibrāhīm’s older contemporary Symeon Metaphrastēs. It is very likely that he was also closely involved with the imperial project of translating the Constantinopolitan liturgy into Syriac. Late in life, Ibrāhīm finally found the time to compose a hagiography of Christopher in Greek and Arabic—likely in conjunction with the celebration of Christopher’s life under Patriarch Nicholas II in the 410s/1020s—as he had long intended to do. He must have died around 421/1030 or shortly thereafter. Although he is not as famous as some other translators from middle Byzantine Antioch, most notably ʿAbd Allāh b. al-Faḍl (d. ca. 444/1052), his life 7. Gilbert Dagron, “Minorités ethniques et religieuses dans l’Orient byzantin a la fin du Xe et au XIe siècle: L’immigration syrienne,” Travaux et mémoires 6 (1976): 177–216, at 205. 8. Theodore is mentioned in §18 of the Life. For examples of Byzantines sent to administer the frontier cities, see Jean Darrouzès, ed., Épistoliers byzantins du Xe siècle (Paris: Institut français d’études byzantines, 1960). 9. Joseph Nasrallah, “La liturgie des patriarcats melchites de 969 à 1300,” Oriens christianus 71 (1987): 156–81, at 156–59; Sebastian Brock, “Syriac Manuscripts Copied on the Black Mountain, near Antioch,” in Lingua restituta orientalis, ed. Regine Schulz and Manfred Görg, 59–67 (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1990), 66–67. 10. For more details on Ibrāhīm, see Joshua Mugler, “Ibrāhīm ibn Yūḥannā and the Translation Projects of Byzantine Antioch,” in Patristic Literature in Arabic Translations, ed. Barbara Roggema and Alexander Treiger, 180–97 (Leiden: Brill, 2020). 115 • JoShua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) offers an important window into the transition from Ḥamdānid Muslim rule to Byzantine Christian rule in Antioch, which he describes in the Life.11 Other testimonies to Christopher’s story are far more limited in detail. They include Byzantine histories in Greek and entries in Antiochian liturgical calendars, both Syriac and Arabic. The history of Leo the Deacon, for example, claims that Antioch’s “former Hagarene ruler killed the patriarch Christopher, an apostolic and divinely inspired man, by driving a javelin through his chest, bringing against the man the charge of reverence for Christ the Savior.”12 This brief statement strips the story of any complexity and lends itself well to a polemic against the tyranny endured by Christians under Muslim rule. By contrast, the Life provides a much more nuanced picture of the situation. The earliest and most reliable manuscript of the Life is Sinai Arabic 405 (S), which consists of the May–June volume of a full-year Menologion, a compilation of saints’ lives according to the ecclesiastical calendar.13 The manuscript was copied at Mount Sinai in Kānūn al-Awwal 6843 Anno mundi, or Rabīʻ al-Thānī 735/December 1334. It was microfilmed by the Library of Congress in 1950, and the microfilm has now been made digitally available on the library’s website. More recently, the manuscript has been digitized in color and made available through the website of UCLA’s Sinai Manuscripts Digital Library project.14 The second manuscript (Z) was copied by Būlus b. al-Zaʿīm (d. 1079/1669), also known as Paul of Aleppo, son of Patriarch Makarios III (d. 1083/1672). It is a compilation of stories and other texts relevant to the history of Antioch. This manuscript was published with a French translation by Habib Zayat in 1952, but Zayat did not have access to the Sinai manuscript. Zayat says that Būlus’s manuscript “is found in our possession” (se trouve en notre possession) but does not clarify this statement or explain where the manuscript is located.15 After his death in 1954, the matter became even more obscure, and there is now 11. For more on ʿAbd Allāh, see Alexandre M. Roberts, Reason and Revelation in Byzantine Antioch: The Christian Translation Program of Abdallah ibn al-Fadl (Oakland: University of California Press, 2020). 12. Leo the Deacon, The “History” of Leo the Deacon: Byzantine Military Expansion in the Tenth Century, trans. Alice-Mary Talbot and Denis F. Sullivan (Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2005), VI.6. 13. On the Antiochian Menologion, the large, full-year compilation of hagiographies that includes this manuscript, see Alexander Treiger, “Sinaitica (1): The Antiochian Menologion, Compiled by Hieromonk Yūḥannā ʿAbd al-Masīḥ (First Half of the 13th Century),” Khristīanskīĭ Vostokʺ 8 (2017): 215–52; Habib Ibrahim, “Liste des vies de saints et des homélies conservées dans les Ms. Sinaï Arabe 395–403, 405–407, 409 et 423,” Chronos 28 (2018): 47–114. Treiger has recently redated the life of Yūḥannā ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, and thus the compilation of the Antiochian Menologion, to the early fifth/eleventh century. A note in the Menologion indicates that Yūḥannā was a contemporary and acquaintance of Ibrāhīm, and in fact it is now clear that he must have been one of Christopher’s disciples, mentioned at the end of his Life as “Anbā Yūḥannā the Marvelous.” See Alexander Treiger, “The Beginnings of the Graeco-Syro-Arabic Melkite Translation Movement in Antioch,” Scrinium 16 (2020): 306–32, at 327–32. Habib Ibrahim has also edited an abridged version of the Menologion, published as Yūḥannā ʿ Abd al-Masīḥ al-Anṭākī, Maʿīn al-ḥayāt: al-Markab al-sāʾir fī mīnāʾ al-najāt, al-maʿrūf bi-Kitāb al-dūlāb, ed. Ḥabīb Ibrāhīm, 2 vols. (Beirut: Markaz al-Turāth al-ʿArabī al-Masīḥī, 2020–21). 14. https://sinaimanuscripts.library.ucla.edu/ (accessed July 12, 2021). The Library of Congress microfilm is available at https://www.loc.gov/item/00279389955-ms/. 15. Habib Zayat, “Vie du patriarche melkite d’Antioche Christophore († 967) par le protospathaire Ibrahîm b. Yuhanna: Document inédit du Xe siècle,” Proche-Orient chrétien 2 (1952): 11–38, 333–66, at 13. Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 116 no way to determine where this copy can be found. Fortunately Zayat’s edition is available until Būlus’s manuscript is uncovered again. Alexander Treiger has recently discovered an additional copy of the Antiochian Menologion, presumably including the Life of Christopher, located in St. Petersburg: National Library of Russia, Arab. N.S. 92.16 This eight-volume set was copied in Damascus in 1261/1845 by Ḥannā b. Jirjis Ṣarrūf al-Dimashqī. Treiger believes that it was copied from a manuscript in the collection of the Greek Orthodox patriarchate in Damascus and that the antigraph was subsequently destroyed in the sectarian conflicts of 1276/1860, while Arab. N.S. 92 was brought to Russia by Porfirīĭ Uspenskīĭ. It will hopefully be available for study soon, but I have not been able to consult it in the process of preparing this edition. An edition of the text was published by Ignatius Dick in 1997, but even though it uses both the Sinai manuscript and Zayat’s text, it is not a critical edition.17 It lacks a thorough presentation of the variants between the manuscripts and instead presents a seamless text that leans heavily on the Sinai manuscript, bringing in occasional corrections from Zayat. Furthermore, it is extremely difficult to obtain a copy of this book outside the Middle East. Finally, Sofia Moiseeva published a Russian translation of Zayat’s text in 2013, incorporating only those Sinai variants that were found in a short excerpt published in a 1979 article by Joseph Nasrallah.18 Zayat explains that his copy of the text was damaged and that Būlus himself was copying from a badly damaged copy. Būlus writes: Be aware, my brother, that at the beginning of the patriarchate of my father, I found this marvelous and unique account at the end of a very old book, badly written, deprived of diacritical points, nearly illegible, and gnawed by mites; numerous passages had also disappeared. But in all the Arab countries with their monasteries and churches, I have not been able to find a second copy of it. I believed it necessary to reproduce it here, because it is so precious.19 Thus Zayat’s text, although extremely valuable as a second witness alongside Sinai Ar. 405, has suffered greatly from the ravages of time. The historical sections of the Life bear an obvious resemblance to those found in Yaḥyā b. Saʿīd al-Anṭākī’s history, known as the Dhayl. Scholars have typically explained the similarity by claiming that the Life is “the source” of these elements of the Dhayl.20 In most cases, these scholars worked only with Zayat’s published text, in which the verbatim 16. Treiger, “Beginnings,” 332. 17. Ighnāṭiyūs Dīk, Sīrat al-baṭriyark Kharīsṭūfūrus al-Anṭākī ṣadīq Sayf al-Dawla (Aleppo: n.p., 1997). 18. Ibrāhīm b. Yūḥannā, “Zhitie antiokhiĭskogo patriarkha Khristofora,” trans. S. A. Moiseeva, in Araby- Khristiane v istorii i literature Blizhnego Vostoka, ed. N. G. Golovnina, 28–61 (Moscow: PSTGU, 2013); Joseph Nasrallah, “Deux auteurs melchites inconnus du Xe siècle,” Oriens christianus 63 (1979): 75–86, at 79–82. The translation is reprinted in Moiseeva’s 2015 monograph; see Sofia A. Moiseeva, Arabskai͡a mel’kitskai͡a agiografii͡a IX–XI vekov (Moscow: PSTGU, 2015), 142–75. 19. Zayat, “Vie,” 15. 20. Ibid., 15; John Harper Forsyth, “The Byzantine-Arab Chronicle (938–1034) of Yaḥyā b. Saʿīd al-Anṭākī” (PhD diss., University of Michigan, 1977), 182–86. 117 • JoShua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) borrowing from one text to the other is extensive. However, when examining the S version of the Life, the relationship between the two works becomes far murkier: there is greater divergence between the two extant manuscripts in the historical sections than there is in other sections, and the most significant differences concern the summaries and verbatim equivalents of al-Anṭākī’s account, which are consistently found in Z but have no parallel— or are phrased very differently—in S.21 The Z variants contain nothing that is not found in al-Anṭākī’s text, but S does contain information not found elsewhere. For example, when Christopher is assassinated, Z states that the murderers threw his head into a public bath furnace—as described in al-Anṭākī’s Dhayl—whereas S claims instead that his body was dragged around the city on a ladder, a detail found in no other source.22 This makes it highly unlikely that the recension contained in S was produced by editing an original text closer to Z. Instead, it seems likely that the redactor of Z’s version edited an earlier text while copying and summarizing material from the Dhayl. The fact that S is an earlier manuscript witness than Z is circumstantial evidence for this position. The editing may have been carried out by Būlus b. al-Zaʿīm or by one of his predecessors. Perhaps it was done to make the text more historically rich and—occasionally—more straightforwardly comprehensible, as the literary style of S is sometimes rather difficult to follow.23 Counterintuitively, therefore, much of the material shared between the two texts was actually added from al-Anṭākī’s text to Ibrāhīm’s by a later editor, not borrowed from Ibrāhīm’s work by al-Anṭākī himself. Other, less substantial variants between S and Z involve the replacement of archaic or obscure words in S with their more current equivalents in Z or simply glossing obscure terms, as Z does with the term bāqūlā.24 With all this in mind, it seems nearly certain that S is closer to the original text of the Life than Z is, especially in the historical sections in which Z relies heavily on borrowing from al-Anṭākī’s work. As a result, my approach in the edition has been to prefer the reading of S in most cases. This approach yields a more 21. The one exception to this rule occurs in §17 of the Life, where S recounts in detail that Peter the Stratopedarkhēs was attacking Aleppo while the Syrian gang was trying to return the captive Ibn Mānik to him. Here S follows closely the description of events in al-Anṭākī’s Dhayl, whereas Z simply states that the Syrians “brought him [Ibn Mānik] to the stratopedarkhēs” and ignores the attack on Aleppo altogether. Compare Yaḥyā b. Saʿīd al-Anṭākī, “Histoire de Yahya-Ibn-Sa‘ïd d’Antioche, continuateur de Sa‘ïd-Ibn-Bitriq,” ed. and trans. I. Kratchkovsky and A. Vasiliev, Patrologia orientalis 18, no. 5 (1924): 699–833, at 823–24. 22. Ibrāhīm, Life, §15; al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 809. 23. For example, S has a tendency to describe major characters and refer to them by epithets without revealing their names until the end of their part in the story, if at all. Z rearranges the text to introduce characters by name, generally when they are first mentioned. This difference helps explain some of the quirks noted by Moiseeva. For example, Moiseeva notes an instance in which an entire set of sentences is repeated; it now seems clear that the first occurrence of these sentences is borrowed from al-Anṭākī and placed earlier in Z, whereas the second occurrence, found later in both manuscripts, reflects Ibrāhīm’s original composition. The borrowing from al-Anṭākī thus explains the repetition. See Sofia A. Moiseeva, “The Early Melkite Arabic Hagiography (IXth–XIth Centuries): Evolution of the Literary Style,” Parole de l’Orient 39 (2014): 33–56, at 51; Ibrāhīm, Life, §17; al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 814. 24. Ibrāhīm, Life, §17. Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 118 accurate picture of the text composed by Ibrāhīm b. Yūḥannā in the fifth/eleventh century while still giving access to the redactor’s later work in the apparatus. Beyond variants, S fills most of the gaps present in the damaged text of Z. More noteworthy than any of these variants and lacunae, however, is the presence in S of a two-page ethical preface that has been completely excised from Z. In this introductory section, Ibrāhīm lays out a vision of human nature and divine justice that should shape the way we read the text as a whole. He emphasizes the human capacity to improve and to turn away from a past life of sin—or even just a past life of ethical mediocrity—and argues that we, like God, “should view all those whom we see according to the way they look at the end of their days, whether they have been good and righteous or have returned to goodness and righteousness after straying far away.”25 This is the context in which Ibrāhīm introduces his protagonist, Christopher, whose early life in the luxurious context of government employment was suspect in ethical terms, but who turned from that life to one of asceticism and generosity when he became the patriarch of Antioch. The inclusion of this preface and the benefits to be gained from critically comparing the two manuscripts will greatly improve our understanding of this valuable text. In this edition and translation, I have largely kept to the standard spelling of modern Arabic with respect to issues such as the presence or absence of dots on the letters ى and However, I have preserved the forms of S that do not indicate .ة and ه and the letters ي the hamza, or glottal stop. I have also standardized proper names, which often differ slightly between the two manuscripts and from one occurrence to the next within a single manuscript, and I have not indicated their numerous small variants. Otherwise, all variants have been noted in the apparatus to the edition; in the translation, I have mentioned only those variants that seem especially noteworthy or entail significant changes in meaning. The notes to the translation also clarify historical and narrative details that are relevant for understanding the text. I use س (in the edition) and S (in the translation) to refer to Sinai Arabic 405, and ز and Z to refer to the lost manuscript edited by Zayat in 1952. Folio numbers in both edition and translation refer to the folios of S, from fol. 111v to fol. 131r. 25. Ibrāhīm, Life, preface. 119 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) 111v بسم االب واالبن والروح القدس االاله الواحد اليوم الثالث والعشرون من ايار قصة سيرة البطريرك على انطاكية الشهيد خريسطوفورس وشهادته بها الفها ابراهيم بن يحنا االبروطسباثار الملكي بها يونانيا ثم نقلها ايضا عربيا نفعنا هللا بها امين ان الطبيعــة والجــري علــى الصــورة االالهيــة فعــل مــن افعــال هللا تبــارك ذكــره. فامــا الخطيــة والتعريــج عــن الرســوم الموجودة في الصورة فذلك فعل من افعال الشرير. وافعالنــا نحــن فقلنــا اوال انــه مــن افعــال هللا العتــراف الــكل بانــه تعالــى اســمه مــن غيــر موجــود خلــق الموجــودات واكــرم االنســان بيــده اذ خلقــه علــى صورتــه وذكرنــا فــي الثانــي انــه مــن افعــال ابليــس النــه حســد ابانــا ادم علــى هــذه الكرامــة التــي وصــل اليهــا. فغــره وخدعــه بامــل التالــه فاصــاره الــى الهبــوط والســقوط مــن الفضايــل الطبيعيــة ومناقــب الصــورة التــي صــور 112r صــار ثبــات الطبيعــة علــى اســها وقاعدتهــا وتــرك االنحيــاز عــن مركــز الصــورة فضيلــة. وصــارت عليهــا. فمــن هاهنــا االحــادة عــن واجبــات الطبيعــة والميــل عــن قاعدتهــا الــى ايــة جهــة كان ذلــك. وتــرك قصــد26 الصــورة نحــو مــا صــورت عليــه وتوجهها الى ضد ذلك نقيصة27 ورذيلة. فمــن هاهنــا صــار مــا ذكــره النبــي اذ قــال انــي ســاحكم عليــك بمــا اجــدك عليــه اخيــرا قــوال واجبــا. لعمــري ان ذلــك مــن اوجــب االشــيا واوالهــا. الن هللا تبــارك اســمه الــذي هــو الخيــر االول برانــا وخلقنــا علــى فعــل الخيــر ليكــون الخيــر غرضنــا وايــاه قصدنــا. ومتــى عدلنــا عنــه عدنــا اليــه فنصيــر بعــد انصرافنــا مــن هاهنــا صاعديــن اليــه الن المنــع مــن هــذه الحــال ليــس هــو مــن هللا جــل وعــز بــل مــن ارادتنــا نحــن هــو. وكيــف ال يكــون مــا قــد قيــل واجبــا. مــن هاهنــا ان28 يكــون يحكــم علينــا بمــا نوجــد عليــه فــي اخــر اوقاتنــا. فلذلــك صرنــا نحــن مــن مــن النــاس راينــاه علــى صــورة مــن الصــور فــي اخــر كان فــي كل اوقاتــه خيــرا صالحــا او عــاد الــى الخيــر والصــاح مــن انتــزاح عــرض لــه. فرجــع وقــد وجــب علينــا ان نمدحــه ونقرظــه لعلمنــا بانــه ال مانــع منعــه وقــد انصــرف علــى هــذه الصــورة مــن النفــوذ بغيــر عايــق يعوقــه الــى الخيــر االقصــى والماثور االبعد. ولســنا نخجــل متــى وجدنــا احــدا قــد تقدمــت لــه هفــوة فــي االول ثــم اســتقى لهــا اخيــرا ان نمدحــه ونعظمــه لموضــع مــا 112v مــن اضطهــاده ممدوحــا جــدا. لمــا صــار اليــه فيمــا بعــد. فمــن هاهنــا وجــب ان يكــون الوعــا المختــار بعــد مــا تقــدم انتهــى اليــه عــن الحــق جهــاده. وكذلــك ايضــا متــى النــه بعــد العشــر صــار بشــيرا. فــاذا كان مثــل هاذيــن احــد قــد تقــدم لــه ســبب عــاد بعــده الــى الفضيلــة وجــب ان يمــدح لمــا اســتانفه فيمــا بعــد. وان كان قــد تقــدم لــه زلــل فمــاذا نقــول فيمــن ال يتقــدم لــه الزلــل. بــل يكــون مــن اوســط النــاس فــي هــذه الحــال. فيمــا بيــن مــن تدنــس طوعــا او غيــر طــوع. وبيــن مــن اكثــر ذلــك ومــن اقــل. غيــر مــا نقــول ان مــن كانــت هــذه صورتــه فهــو ال محالــه فاضــل ومرتــب فــي جملــة مــن يجــب لــه المــدح الجزيل. 226  قصد: صححته؛ قصر: س 227  نقيصة: صححته؛ نقيضة: س 228  ان: صححته؛ ان يكون ما قد قيل واجبا من هاهنا ان: س Arabic Edition Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 120 ]1[ والــذي نعرفــه بهــذه الصــورة فهــو خريســطوفورس البطريــرك العظيــم والشــهيد الكريــم فيمــا تقــدم لــه مــن عطايــاه لمــا كان كاتبــا29 والشــديد الجلــد فيمــا تاخــر لــه بعــد ذلــك مــن الجهــاد والنســك الــذي لــم تتقــدم لــه بــه عــادة وال ســلفت رياضــه له القوي الحرارة في الغيرة وعلى الصغار من الصالحات والزايد الحرارة فيما بعد في المجاهدة عن الحق. وهــذا فوطنــه كان30 مدينــة الســام بغــداد التــي اعتاضهــا ولــد هاجــر عــن مدينــة اكتيســفون مدينــة ملكهــم فــي االول. وارض علومهــم والنقــي مــن الفاظهــم. وامــا والــداه فلســت اعــرف صورتهمــا كيــف كانــت غيــر انهمــا علــى كل حــال كبيــران جليــان. النهمــا لمثلــه31 والــدان. وامــا مــدة تربيتــه فكانــت يســيرة فــي مدينتــه بمقــدار مــا احتــاج اليــه مــن التــادب باوايــل العلــوم حتــى احكــم مــا امكــن مــن باغــة القــول. واحكــم اكثــر مــن ذلــك صناعــة الكتابــة باليــد. النــه كان اذا مــا كان يكتــب 113r احــد ان يــدري كيــف يميــز االفضــل مــن حــال خطــه فــي الحســن ام فــي الســرعة. فــان هاتيــن الحالتيــن لــم لــم يكــن تكونــا بالموجودتيــن فــي انســان واحــد متســاويتين. وامــا فيــه هــو فلــم تكونــا متســاويتين فقــط. بــل قــد كان يظــن مــن يــراه انهما يتسابقان. وتطلب الواحدة الزيادة على االخرى. ــي راس ــت بكرس ــي عني ــة الت ــة32 االالهي ــن العناي ــل م ــاه ب ــا ذكرن ــه مم ــت ل ــي حصل ــة الت ــن الفضيل ــا وم ــن هاهن فم الســليحيين عندنــا لــم يتيســر لــه المقــام فــي وطنــه طويــا. بــل لمــا تــادب بمــا امكــن ممــا ذكرنــا تشــبه بــاالب المختــار الــذي انتقــل مــن تلــك الديــار. فانتقــل وهــو ايضــا. النــه كان عتيــد ان يصيــر وهــو ايضــا لجماعــة ابــا كبيــرا. فانتقــل مــن بلــد الكلدانييــن الــى بلــد الســريانيين. ولســت اعنــي ببلــد33 الســريانيين بلــد الكنعانييــن الــذي هــو فــي هــذا الوقــت بلــد فلســطين. بــل اعنــي البلــد القريــب منــا وهــو نــازح قليــا عنــا وهــو بلــد حلــب. وكان التدبيــر فــي ذلــك كلــه مــن هللا الــذي يجعــل مباديــا34 تتقــدم الشــيا تنتهــي35 فيمــا بعــد الــى غايــة محمــودة. وفيمــا لجماعــة مــن النــاس فايــدة. فهــو عــز وجــل ال يــزال يقــدم مــن الصغار مقدمات لكبار ال تخطر فيما قبل بوهم.36 وذاك ان ابــن حمــدان الملقــب بســيف الدولــة كان37 ذكــره كبيــرا وقــد كانــت حالــه فــي ذلــك الوقــت فــي هــذا الصقــع كبيــرة. وكانــت اثــاره جليلــة. فــكان يعنــي38 بــكل مــن كانــت لــه فضيلــة مــن النــاس لمــا كان فيــه مــن الكــرم وكبــر الهمــة 113v ســاير االقطــار. فلذلــك قصــده الــذي تشــبه بــاالب القديــم فــكان كالحجــر المغنيطــس يجتــذب النــاس باالحســان39 مــن فــي النقلــة. وكان اســمه فــي االول عيســى.40 وكان عتيــدا ان يكــون مــا كان ســميه او مــا كان عتيــدا ان يســماه وكان قــد تقــدم فسميه. وكان بحسب ما لبس المسيح من المعمودية كذلك كان مستانفا ان يلبسه ومن دمه. 229  بسم االب . . . كان كاتبا: س؛ هذا المغبوط السعيد والبطريرك المعظم والمكرم الشهيد: ز 230  وهذا فوطنه كان: س؛ كان من: ز 231  لمثله: س؛ لمثله والدليل: ز 232  العناية: س؛ العناية االخرى: ز 233  ببلد: ز؛ ببلد السريان بلد: س 234  مباديا: س؛ مناديا: ز 235  تنتهي: س؛ تنهي: ز 236  بوهم: س؛ بذهن: ز 237  الملقب بسيف الدولة كان: ز؛ الملقب كان سيف الدولة: س 238  يعني: س؛ يعين: ز ]lacuna[239  فكان كالحجر . . . الناس باالحسان: س؛ وكان[. . .]يجيئه الناس: ز 240  عيســى: س؛ عيســى النــه كان عتيــدا ان يصيــر بطريــركا مثــل ابراهيــم وهــو بذلــك غيــر عليــم اال انــه تســمى فيمــا بعــد خريســطوفورس النه: ز 121 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) فســلمه علــي بــن حمــدان الــى ماميــر كبيــر مــن امــرا الباديــة يســمى خليفــة بــن جنــدي وكانــت امارتــه فــي ناحيــة شــيزر.41 فصار عيسى معه42 االشيا كلها43 مردودة من جهته اليه. ]2[ ولــم يكــن عنــد االنطاكييــن فــي االول معروفــا وال بالجملــة مســموعا بــه او موصوفــا ولكــن عــرف بعــد ذلــك ممــا نحــن ذاكــروه. وذلــك ان اكتيســفون التــي ذكرناهــا كانــت كبيــرة وعظيمــة الذكــر. النهــا كانــت تخمــا وحــدا وثغــرا44 لمملكــة الفــرس. وكان فيهــا جماعــة مــن النصــارى ال يســمى45 راعيهــم مطرانــا. الن رتبــة المطرنــة لــم تكــن فيهــا كفايــة لرعايــة جمــع مثــل هــذا كبيــر فــي ســاير بــاد فــارس ورد امورهــم46 الــى اســاقفة وحدهــم فقــد كان يــكاد ايضــا ان يكونــوا قليليــن. بــل قــد كانــت الحاجــة داعيــة الــى اســاقفة كثيريــن واســاقفة هــذه صورتهــم فــي الكثــرة47 فمــا كان يمكــن مطرانــا واحــدا ان يســيمهم48 ويشــرطنهم. فدعــت الحاجــة الضروريــة الــى كــون مطارنــة كثيريــن. ومــع ذلــك فكانــت تلــك الديــار شاســعة بعيــدة ــى ــات ال ــر االوق ــي اكث ــر ف ــن المصي ــع ع ــرس يمن ــة الف ــي مملك ــع ف ــك الموض ــم هللا. وكان ذل ــماة باس ــا49 المس ــن مدينتن ع 114r انطاكية حتى يصلح لكل موضع مطرانا. فتقــدم لهــذه الحــال مــن القدمــا سياســة اخــرى قــد جــرى مثلهــا فــي امــم مختلفــة واماكــن بعيــدة مثــل بلــد الجــرزان50 واالبخــاز والبلغــر.51 ان يســام انســان يكــون ســلطانه اكثــر52 مــن ســلطان المطــران ويســمى كاثوليــكا كمــا يســمى فــي تلــك المواضع التي ذكرناها. فاتبع قدماونا هذه العادة وشرطن المتقدم على مدينتنا كاثوليكا على مدينة اكتيسفون. ولمــا بنــى الهاجريــون53 مدينــة الســام التــي هــي بغــداد. ارادوا ان ينقلــوا54 النصــارى مــن القــرب منهــا. فنقلوهــم الــى بلــد بعيــد مــن بــاد الفــرس يدعــى شــاش. ونفــوا اليــه الكاثوليــك مــع مــن نفــوه مــن اصحابــه. وســميت تلــك العشــيرة المنتقلــة جماعة الروم. فوجب ان يكون اسم جمعهم هذا االسم. وصــار مقــام الكاثوليــك فــي شــاش مــدة مــن الزمــان ولــم يكــن احــد يناظــر علــى ذلــك وال ينــازع فيــه. فلمــا ابتــدا جمــع مــن اســرى الــروم يجتمــع وينعتــق55 منهــم جماعــة بــدت حينيــذ56 المنازعــة فيمــا بيــن الفريقيــن. فقــال الجمــع المجتمــع ببغــداد مــن النصــارى ان الكاثوليــك لنــا ونحــن اولــى بــه. الن مقامــه كان فــي اكتيســفون واكتيســفون فهــي بصقبنــا57 وفــي جوارنــا 241  شيزر: ز؛ شيزه: س 242  معه: س؛ تغمه: ز 243  االشيا كلها: س؛ االشياء: ز 244  وثغرا: س؛ –ز 245  يسمى: س؛ سيما: ز 246  امورهم: ز؛ امرهم: س 247  الكثرة: س؛ الصفة: ز 248  يسيمهم: س؛ يسميهم: ز 249  مدينتنا: س؛ مدينته: ز 250  الجرزان: صححته؛ الخرزان: س؛ الخزران: ز 251  والبلغر: ز؛ البرغر: س 252  اكثر: س؛ اكبر: ز 253  ولما بنى الهاجريون: س؛ فلما بنوا بني هاجر: ز 254  ارادوا ان ينقلوا: س؛ رأوا ينكفوا: ز 255  وينعتق: س؛ وتبعوا: ز 256  حينيذ: س؛ خبيثة: ز 257  بصقبنا: س؛ بعقبنا: ز Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 122 وبالقــرب منــا. وقــال مــن كان فــي شــاش اننــا نحــن مــن58 اهــل ذلــك الموضــع والمنتقلــون مــن هنــاك الــى هاهنــا بكاثوليــك المشــرق اجمــع. وبحســب مــا ان االنســان اكــرم مــن كل مــا فــي االرض. فكذلــك. نحــن اوجــب59 ان يكــون الكاثوليــك لنــا 114v لنــا ذلــك اكثــر مــن وجوبــه لكــم. النكــم تطلبــون الــذي انتقــل معنــا ولنــا التقــدم اذ كنــا مــن الخليقــة ناطقيــن. ويجــب ان يكون لكم التقدم من الحجارة والتراب. وبينمــا كانــت المشــاجرة فيمــا بيــن الفريقيــن60 علــى هــذه الحــال اتفــق انــه توفــي الكاثوليــك الــذي كان فــي ذلــك الوقــت واحتيــج بعــده الــى انســان اخــر يتمــم61 خدمــة الكهنــوت بهــا. فلموضــع الحاجــة الــى مثــل ذلــك وفــد الــى مدينــة انطاكيــة مــن رومجــرد ثلثــة رســل طالبيــن شــرطونية كاثوليــك. وكان احدهــم62 قسيســا واالثنــان شماســين. وانــا القايــل والمصنــف رايتهــم وانــا صبــي مقيميــن بكنيســتنا وقايليــن انهــم لــن يعــودوا اال بعــد ان يســمع منهــم ويوهلــوا الخــذ63 كاثوليــك64 قــد قدمــوا مــن اقصــى االرض طالبيــه. فــكان عيســى المقــدم ذكــره قــد ســمع بقدومهــم ولــم65 يحســن موقــع مــا وردوا فيــه منــه النــه كان بغداديــا وأحــد المقاوميــن فــي بــاب الكاثوليــك والمتقــدم فــي ذلــك. فحــذرا مــن تمــام مــا وردوا فيــه66 فمــا تراخــى. وال مــع ذاك67 ضجــع فــي تــرك مــا هــو عليــه مــن الخدمــة وتجشــم العنــا الــى انطاكيــة ليدفعهــم عمــا وردوا فيــه. ولــم يكــن مــع ذاك انسان68 سامه ذلك. بل نهض اليه هو من ذات نفسه غيرة وحدها لوطنه. وكان فــي ذلــك الوقــت المتولــي سياســة بلدتنــا المنســوبة الــى هللا اغابيــوس69 بــن القعبــرون70 المتنيــح الــذي كان يدبــر البطركيــة قبلــه. فجــرت المناطــرة والمحــاورة والمشــاجرة قدامــه فــي نصــب الكاثوليــك. وكان عيســى المقــدم ذكــره شــديد71 المنازعــة عــن اهــل بلــده ومحتــج72 بحججهــم وطالــب الظفــر لهــم. واجتــذاب الكاثوليــك الــى مدينتهــم التــي هــي مدينــة الســام 115r وكان البطريــرك الحاكــم قــد اشــبه ان يكــون73 غيــر موثــر لمــا كان يطلبــه عيســى. ولكنــه والعــوض عــن اكتيســفون. احجــم لمقدرتــه فــي الوقــت واحتشــمه وعلــق74 االمــر. فاقتنــع بذلــك فــي الوقــت عيســى وانصــرف. اال انــه ابــان75 لانطاكييــن منه انه رجل كبير جلد وان له غيرة شديدة في امور الكنيسة. 258  من: ز؛ هم: س 259  اوجب: س؛ واجب: ز 260  الفريقين: س؛ الفئتين: ز 261  يتمم: ز؛ يتم: س 262  احدهم: ز؛ احدهما ايضا: س 263  الخذ: س؛ لمأخذ: ز 264  كاثوليك: س؛ كاثوليك والنهم كانوا: ز 265  ولم: س؛ وليس: ز 266  منه النه . . . وردوا فيه: ز؛ –س 267  مع ذاك: س؛ –ز 268  انسان: س؛ احد: ز 269  اغابيوس: ز؛ اغاثن: س 270  القعبرون: ز؛ القعيرون: س 271  شديد: ز؛ الشديد: س 272  ومحتج: ز؛ والمحتج: س 273  قد اشبه ان يكون: س؛ قدامه: ز 274  وعلق: س؛ وغلق: ز 275  ابان: س؛ بان: ز 123 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) ]3[ فلــم يكــن اال هنيهــة مــن الزمــان حتــى76 توفــي البطريــرك. وصــار اهتمــام االنطاكييــن فــي اختيــار بطريــرك وراع يكــون بعــده. الن االختيــار لــم يكــن هاهنــا لمطارنــة واســاقفة ال يهتمــون بشــي غيــر مــا يصلــح حــال نفوســهم وامــا مــا77 يصلــح احــوال الكافــة فــا يهتمــون بــه. بحســب مــا جــرت بــه العــادة فــي غيــر هــذا الموضــع. بــل كان االختيــار هاهنــا الــى مــن يولمــه هــذا االمــر. واهتمامــه واختيــاره فــي العامــة والخاصــة متســاويا. واذا مــا اراد ان يميــز المعنــى78 فــي االختيــار وجد ما جرى به الرسم هاهنا شيا ال يشوبه هوى. ومن هاهنا فيكون وهلل مرضيا. فلمــا اهتــم االنطاكيــون بهــذا البــاب افــاض79 جمعهــم فــي اختيــار واحــد بعــد اخــر. فلــم يجــدوا اوفــق لهــم واصلــح لكرســيهم مــن عيســى. فلمــا اتفــق اختيــار جماعتهــم عليــه طلبــوه مــن ســيف الدولــة. النــه كان المســتولى علــى هــذه الديــار. فحســن موقــع ذلــك منه.النــه كان الــى عيســى مايــا وبــه مختصــا. اال انــه لــم يكــن لــه طريقــا الــى اجابتهــم فــي اختيــاره لموضــع 115v الجــل مــا كان فيــه مــن الغلــظ والشــجاعة واالقــدام. وانــه لــم يشــكك توقيــه مــن قحــة االعرابــي الــذي كان يخدمــه في دفعه عن عيسى اذ كان كاتبه في ذلك الوقت. فــكان مــن توفيــق هللا ومــا اراد بــه تبــارك اســمه مــن حصــول مثلــه80 هاهنــا بطريــركا ان ســار ذلــك البــدوي القرمطــي مــع ســيف الدولــة فــي بعــض الغــزوات فــزل بــه81 الفــرس علــى جســر صارخــة82 وغــرق فــي نهــر اللــس.83 فاطلــق حينيــذ ــذ ــن هللا واخ ــرم م ــي المك ــليحيين العال ــس الس ــي ريي ــى كرس ــريعا عل ــار س ــتعلى المخت ــى. واس ــار عيس ــة اختي ــيف الدول س للشــرطونية مــن المطارنــة بحســب الواجــب. وكانــت شــرطونيته بهيــة واليقــة. وســمي84 خريســطوفورس بحســب الواجــب علــى85 مــا ظهــر مــن افعالــه انــه كان مشــتما علــى كل صالحــة فــي صــدره. واذا مــا قلنــا اخــص مــن هــذا القــول قلنــا انــه كان قد ضم المسيح في قلبه. ]4[ واســتلبه بعــد هــذا مــن طريقــة خفــض86 وترفــة طريقــة اخــرى خشــنة87 صلبــة. النــه وان كان لــم يصــر راهبــا اال انــه88 قــد زاد علــى الرهبــان فيمــا كان يســتعمله. وذاك انــه مــن بعــد شــرطونيته مــا طعــم شــيا مــن اللحــوم. ال النــه مــا كانــت تقدمتــه عــادة برســوم89 الرهبــان اال انــه مــا90 اقتنــع بمــا جــرت ســالفة الرهبــان عليــه فــي صــوم او ســهر او قيــام بــل زاد عليهــم فــي هــذه المعانــي كلهــا وعفــا. فــكان صومــه فــي كل يــوم مــن الليــل الــى الليــل. ومــن اول الســنة الــى اخرهــا بالســوا. 276  حتى: س؛ –ز 277  ما: ز؛ –س 278  المعنى: س؛ العقل: ز 279  افاض: ز؛ حاض: س 280  مثله: ز؛ مثله من: س 281  فزل به: س؛ فرمته: ز 282  صارخة: س؛ مارخة: ز 283  اللس: س؛ السن: ز 284  وسمي: س؛ وتسمى: ز 285  الواجب على: س؛ –ز ]lacuna[286  خفض: س؛ –ز 287  اخرى خشنة: س؛ احرز خشبة: ز 288  اال انه: ز؛ –س 289  برسوم: س؛ برسم: ز 290  اال انه ما: ز؛ –س Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 124 النــه منــذ تبطــرك مــا تنــاول شــيا مــن االغذيــة فــي يــوم مــن االيــام الــى وقــت المســا. وال كان لــه ايضــا91 اهتمــام بفنــو 116r مــن الطعــام بــل كان ال فــرق فيمــا يســتطعمه. وكانــت مايدتــه كيــف مــا اتفــق ال يحضرهــا فــي كثيــر مــن االوقــات ال بيض وال سمك وال ما يتنوق فيه. وكان شرابه ال يبلغ زيادة. بل كان يسيرا من الخمر مع كثير من الما. وامــا قيامــه92 فــكان فــي االيــام المحلولــة مــن وقــت كبيــر مــن الليــل وقبــل الفجــر بكثيــر. وامــا فــي ايــام االحــاد فــكان مــن مســا دخــول ليلــة االحــد الــى الصبــاح. وكان يجــدوا القســوس تبريرهــم93 بــه فــي ســهره مــن اجــل محبتــه الكبــرى كانــت هلل وكبــر نفســه. وامــا قيامــه فــكان كثيــرا ال ينثنــي عنــه طويــا حبــى رايتــه انــا عــدة دفعــات مــن شــدة الوقــوف يــكاد ان يســقط الــى االرض. وذكرنــا مــن هــذا المعنــى يســيرا نــدل94 بــه علــى خشــونة الســيرة التــي اســتعملها ولــم يتقــدم لــه بهــا تجربة. وقد يعرف صعوبة95 ما هذه سبيله وتعمده96 على رجل قد تربى في ترفة من يخبر97 ذاك ويعرفه. ــى ــت ال ــة دع ــرطونيته. وذاك ان الحاج ــد ش ــه بع ــن فعل ــا كان م ــر بم ــد التخبي ــكام ان يقص ــبيل ال ــذا فس ــد ه ]5[ وبع شــرطونية الســاقفة علــى الكراســي الفارغــة. فــاي98 الكراســي التــي اهتــم بهــم فــي االول. لــم يهتــم بمــا ليــس فيــه منازعــة وال بكرســي اخــر لــم يتقــدم لــه فيــه مدافعــة وال محابــاة ومجاذبــة. بــل بالكرســيين اللذيــن99 كان يناضــل عــن احدهمــا ويقــاوم االخــر. وكان اهتمامــه بهمــا ليــس بحســب مــا كان فــي االول مايــا ومعانــدا.100 بــل لمــا عــرف مــن نفســه انــه قــد تقــدم لــه ــن ــدم م ــا تق ــتقبل102 م ــة. راى ان يس ــاة101 والمقاوم 116v المحاب ــب ــب بحس ــن الواج ــه ع ــص في ــا زاد او نق ــل م ــا قب فيم تفريطه في هذا الباب. ويصلح مع اصاح نيته االمور التي توالها ليس بدون اصاح اعتقاده. ــل104 ــزان وجع ــذا المي ــيروطونية به ــوزن الس ــف. ف ــة ولط ــدل اال103 بحكم ــزان ع ــه بمي ــذا من ــى كان ه ــى اي معن وعل كاثوليكيــن احدهمــا علــى مدينــة الســام التــي هــي وطنــه كان مــن اهــل حلــب واســمه ذاويــذ105 واالخــر مــن اهــل انطاكيــة ــة ــة اللطيف ــذه السياس ــى ه ــاس عل ــن الن ــده م ــو ال106 يحم ــن ه ــا. فم ــي كان يقاومه ــرد الت ــى رومج ــوس عل ــمه اوتيكي واس 291  ايضا: س؛ –ز 292  قيامه: س؛ قيامه في الصالة: ز 293  تبريرهم: س؛ تدبيرهم: ز 294  نذل: ز؛ يدل: س 295  صعوبة: س؛ –ز 296  وتعمده: ز؛ وبعده: س 297  يخبر: س؛ تخيير: ز 298  فاي: س؛ فان: ز 299  اللذين: ز؛ الذين: س 2100  ومعاندا: س؛ وال معاندا: ز 2101  المحاباة: س؛ المجازاة: ز 2102  يستقبل: س؛ يستقيل: ز 2103  بميزان عدل اال: س؛ يميز ان عمل االمر: ز 2104  وجعل: س؛ وذلك ان جعل: ز 2105  ذاويذ: س؛ ماجد: ز 2106  ال: س؛ الذي لم: ز 125 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) الســديدة107 الموديــة الــى الســام108 واالتفــاق. النــه مــا ظلــم مدينتــه. وايضــا فاحســن النظــر لغيرهــا. ووهــب لاثنيــن109 اتفــاق النفوس والبعد من الخصايم والمنازعات. ]6[ ولكنــه هــل ضجــع بعــد هــذا فــي امــر الكراســي االخــرى110 التــي كانــت فارغــة او لمــا نظــر فــي بابهــا نظــر لرشــوة ام لشــفاعة ام لرضــا رييــس ام لفــرق مــن مقتــدر عبــوس. ال بــل كان اذا مــا راى وفــد المدينــة التــي تطلــب اســقفا وقــد ذكــروا لــه المســتحق للشــرطونية وهــو مرضــي هلل ولــه. قــد وضــع يــده عليــه للوقــت وتممــه ورضــي بمــا رضــوه111 ورضــخ لمــا طلبــوه. او لــم112 يــرض بــه فاختــار غيــره ممــن يرضــى اوليــك بــه ايضــا. ووضــع يــده عليــه بــراي الســينودس التــي تليــه113 فلــم يوخــر ذاك. الن114 المطارنــة الذيــن كانــوا قبلــه115 كانــوا يــرون حصافــة عقلــه وقــوة عزيمتــه وانــه ال يداخلــه محابــاة وال يرغب في عطا وال رشوة. فكيف كان يمكنهم ان يخالفوه في شي مما يومي116 اليه.117 117r وامــا قــوة عزيمتــه وكبــر قلبــه وغيرتــه فيمــا يجمــل البيعــة ويصلــح شــانها فانــه كان يقــاوم عــن ذلــك ويدافــع ]7[ وال يتحــرك وال يرتــدع. فــا بــاس ان ذكرنــا هاهنــا خبــرا قــد يدلنــا علــى ذاك جملــة.118 وهــو انــه كان قســيس يتطبــب قــد عــرض لــه هفــوة مــن الهفــوات الصغــار. فعقــده االب المطــوب119 ومنعــه مــدة مــا مــن اســتعمال الكهنــوت. وكان ذلــك القــس يخــدم انســانا مــن امــرا بنــي حمــدان عاتيــا عســوفا ال يطيــع فــي كثيــر مــن االشــيا وال البــن حمــدان. فاستشــفع بــه الــى البطريــرك فــي اطاقــه وحلــه مــن الربــاط. فمــا تاخــر ذاك عــن الشــفاعة تقديــر منــه بانــه ال يحســر احــد وال مــن اكابــر المسلمين على مخالفته. فكيف بطريرك120 وهو على كل حال نصراني121 ذمي في الحضيض.122 ــا ــي ايه ــب ل ــيس فه ــي القس ــن طبيب ــرى م ــا ج ــن خط ــا كان م ــا. مهم ــاطه قاي ــرك بانبس ــل البطري ــال راس ــذه الح فله البطريــرك ذنبــه فيــه واصفــح عنــه. فاجابــه قايــا. ليــس يمكننــي ذلــك يــا ســيدي االميــر. فاعــاد عليــه ذاك قايــا لــه فــي الجــواب. يــا اقلــف امــا تهابنــي بــل تجســر ان تقــول لــي مــا يمكننــي ذلــك. ومــاذا هــو الــذي ال يمكنــك اذا امرتــك انــا بــه. فاعــاد عليــه الفاتــك قايــا فــي الجــواب. كثيــرا مــن123 االشــيا ال يمكننــي ايهــا االميــر اذا كانــت مخصوصــة بدينــي ومذهبــي 2107  السديدة: ز؛ الشديدة: س 2108  السالم: س؛ السلم: ز 2109  ووهب لالثنين: س؛ ووجب اال يفتن: ز 2110  االخرى: س؛ االخر: ز 2111  رضوه: س؛ رضيوه: ز 2112  او لم: ز؛ ولم: س ]lacuna[2113  التي تليه: س؛ –ز 2114  ذاك. الن: س؛ ذلك. والجل ذلك: ز 2115  قبله: س؛ قبله لما: ز 2116  يومي: س؛ يرمي: ز 2117  اليــه: ز؛ اليــه. وامــا قــوة عزيمتــه وانــه ال يداخلــه محابــاة وال يرغــب فــي عطــا وال رشــوة. فكيــف كان يمكنهــم ان يخالفــوه فــي شــي مما يومي اليه: س 2118  جملة: ز؛ –س 2119  المطوب: ز؛ –س 2120  تقدير منه . . . فكيف بطريرك: س؛ لثقته برأفته: ز 2121  نصراني: س؛ –ز 2122  الحضيض: س؛ الخصيص: ز 2123  الفاتك قايال . . . كثيرا من: س؛ القائل قائال: الحوادث كثيرة من هذه: ز Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 126 117v ان نخالفكــم. وامــا مــا كان حظــره الديــن وناموســي. الننــا124 نحــن فــي125 طوعكــم وفــي اشــيا126 اخــرى ال يمكننــا فنحــن فيــه مســتعدون للســجن وقواطــع الســيوف. فاعــاد عليــه. ولكــن عرفنــي علــى كل حــال مــا هــي هــذه الجنايــة التــي127 قــد تمــس دينــك. فقــال تلميــذ المســيح. امــا قبــل هــذا ايهــا االميــر. فقــد كانــت الجنايــة صغيــرة واســتقالتها متيســرة. فامــا128 االن فانهــا كبيــرة والصفــح عنهــا ال يــرام. النــه استشــفع بــك129 وانــت مســلم ومخالــف لنــا فــي مذهبنــا. والصــدق فــي130 هــذا ممــا ال يســتر131 اذ كان االمــر يخــص كنيســتنا. فاجابــه الهاجــري قايــا. فكــن مــن االن مدججــا بالســاح واعلــم علمــا يقينــا انك ستموت. وذاك اني اخذ راسك ولو كان في حضن االمير االكبر.132 فمــاذا الــذي مــن بعــد ذاك صنعــه هــذا الفاتــك.133 هــل جــزع. هــل الن. هــل انثنــى. هــل توقــف لمراســلة يراســل بهــا ابــن حمــدان. ال البتــة. بــل تصــور ذلــك كلــه بصــورة الهبــا المنثــور. ولــم يكــن لــه عنــده قــدر. بــل توجــه للوقــت الــى انطاكيــة134 ووثــق فــي ذلــك بــاهلل الــذي عنــه كان يناضــل. وكان اذ ذلــك بحلــب.135 فمــا اخطــا136 بحمــد هللا عرضــه. فهــذه كانــت صورتــه في غيرته وحرصه على ما جمل137 البيعة وزينها.138 ]8[ واذا كان مذهــب هــذا الرجــل الفاضــل فــي هــذا المعنــى علــى مــا شــرحناه. فهــل كذلــك139 كانــت صورتــه فــي غيــر هــذا البــاب صــورة مــن ال ينثنــي وال يليــن.140 وال141 الوديــع المحــب للبشــر الــذي ينثنــي عطفــه142 ويميــل اذنــه143 لمــن يســاله ويحتــاج144 الــى رحمتــه وحنانــه. ولكــن فــي هــذا الجــزو145 االخــر مــن كان يكــون اشــد تحننــا مــن خريســطوفورس او اليــن146 118r عطفــا للمنكوبيــن او اشــد رحمــة للمحتاجيــن. او اوفــر عطــا للعافيــن. علــى انــه لــم يكــن الوفــر عنــده وافــرا لموضــع مــا كان بيــن االمــم متصرفــا. وكان االرتفــاع الــذي يرتفــع اليــه ناقصــا. ولكنــه فيمــا كان يمكنــه مــا كان قــط فــي االحســان 2124  الننا: ز؛ ال: س 2125  في: ز؛ –س 2126  اشيا: ز؛ االشيا: س 2127  التي: ز؛ الذي: س 2128  فاما: ز؛ فلما: س 2129  النه استشفع بك: س؛ الني استشنع به: ز 2130  في: س؛ –ز 2131  يستر: س؛ يصير: ز 2132  االكبر: س؛ الكبير: ز 2133  الفاتك: س؛ القائل: ز 2134  انطاكية: س؛ انطاكية وكان اذ ذلك بحلب: ز 2135  وكان اذ ذلك بحلب: س؛ –ز 2136  اخطا: ز؛ اضر: س 2137  جمل: س؛ يجمل: ز 2138  وزينها: س؛ ويزينها: ز 2139  فهل كذلك: س؛ فكذلك: ز 2140  يلين: ز؛ –س 2141  وال: س؛ وال وكيف كان يليق انه من اعماله تلميذ المسيح: ز 2142  عطفه: س؛ عقله: ز 2143  اذنه: س؛ اذن: ز 2144  ويحتاج: س؛ ما يحتاج: ز 2145  الجزو: س؛ الحد: ز 2146  او الين: ز؛ واللين: س 127 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) ــكان ــع االم ــل اذ كان يتس ــر متص ــا وغي ــات وال متفوات ــر دفع ــدة وغي ــة واح ــس دفع ــذل لي ــة والب ــاد والعناي ــرا واالرف مقص ويساعد اليسر147 وال يقاوم العشر.148 وكان يرفــع اليــه الرقــاع وال يضجــع فــي قرااتهــا والتوقيــع بيــده فيهــا بــان يعطــى بعــض المســايلين149 ورقــا. ويعطــى االخــر كســوة واالخــر طعامــا. واالخــر شــرابا. وغيــر هــوالي اشــيا150 اخــرى. ولقــد رايــت انــا المصنــف لهــذا القــول قسيســا قــد رفــع اليــه قصــة. فادخلــه اليــه وســاله وقــال لــه. كــم لــك مــن العيــال. فاجابــه قايــا كــذا وكــذا. فقــال. ليدفــع اليــه كــذا وكــذا بــرا. وكــذا وكــذا زيتــا وكــذا وكــذا خمــرا بقــدر مــا يكفيــه للســنة فلمــا اومــى ذلــك القــس الــى الخــروج قــال لــه. عــد الــى ــم ــه. فل ــا يكفي ــا م ــذا ايض ــن ه ــه وم ــع الي ــن ليدف ــن االدم. ولك ــي م ــن151 او ش ــرة الطح ــس اج ــا باي ــك ي ــن ل ــن اي ــا. وم هاهن يتركه152 القديس ينصرف حتى قام له بجميع ما يقنعه لسنته كلها. وكان ايضــا153 اذا رفعــت اليــه154 قصــة مــن محبــوس او مطالــب بظلــم. ان كان يمكنــه ان يخلصــه بيســير155 مــن عطايــاه. مــا كان يتاخــر156 العطــا عنــه وال خاصــه ممــا يطالــب بــه. وان كان هنــاك صعوبــة شــديدة مــا كان يضجــع فــي الركــوب 118v وســواله فــي157 الصفــح لــه عمــا يــرام ان يغرمــه وامــا فــي حطيطتــه158 مــا امكــن مــن والممــر الــى مــن يطالبــه الجملــة. فهــذه كانــت صــورة نيقــوالوس الجديــد عندنــا159 الحــار العنايــة بــكل مــن كان فــي شــدة وضــرورة. وهــذه160 جملــة مما يستدل161 به على ما كان يفعله بنفسه ويبذل معروفه. ولمــا كان راســه وذروتــه والمتقــدم بالتمســك والتمثــل162 لــه المســيح الــذي كان ايمــاوه ابــدا163 بفكــره اليــه وكان حريصــا علــى التشــبه بــه لــم يقتنــع باشــباعه الوفــا مــن خبــزات164 قليلــة. بــل اضــاف الــى ذلــك مكافــاة165 اخــرى بيديــه الطاهرتيــن فغســل ارجــل تاميــذه فاجتهــد وهــذا الــذي هــو تلميــذه ايضــا اال يكتفــي بمــا شــرحناه ممــا تقــدم ذكــره بــل نضيــف166 الــى 2147  اليسر: س؛ البشر: ز 2148  العشر: س؛ المعشر: ز 2149  المسايلين: س؛ المساكين: ز 2150  اشيا: ز؛ اشياه: س 2151  الطحن: س؛ الطحين: ز 2152  يتركه: ز؛ يترك: س 2153  ايضا: س؛ –ز 2154  اليه: س؛ اليه ايضا: ز 2155  بيسير: س؛ بتيسير: ز 2156  يتاخر: س؛ يؤخر: ز 2157  في: س؛ –ز ]lacuna[2158  في حطيطته: س؛ –ز 2159  عندنا: س؛ –ز 2160  وهذه: س؛ وهدم: ز 2161  يستدل: س؛ يستبدل: ز 2162  بالتمسك والتمثل: س؛ بالتمثل: ز 2163  ايماوه ابدا: س؛ دايما مؤيدا: ز 2164  خبزات: ز؛ خيرات: س 2165  مكافاة: ز؛ مداواة: س 2166  نضيف: س؛ يضيف: ز Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 128 ذلــك شــيا اخــر مــن الخدمــة167 بيديــه الخوتــه المنســوبين الــى معلمــه. وكان168 فــي ذلــك الحيــن بانطاكيــة مجاعــة شــديدة لــم يكــن يمكــن اال تمــس كافــة النــاس. فلذلــك جمــع خريســطوفورس جمعــا مــن الجريحيــن الذيــن نكاهــم169 الجــوع مــن شــيوخ ومرضــى. وقســوس وشمامســة وصبيــان وايتــام. كان قــد جمعهــم ورتبهــم فــي مكاتــب وكان يجعلهــم ويجلســهم علــى الموايــد ويكــون هــو قايمــا ال يقنــع باالمــر بــان يوفــر عليهــم الطعــام بــل كان ربمــا يقــوم بيــده ويســقي الشــراب واحــدا بعــد واحــد. ويتبين بذلك انه عبد للمسيح امين ومتشبه به تشبها ال يمكن غيره ان يساويه فيه. ]9[ واذ كنــت انــا هاهنــا قــد ذكــرت صبيــة170 وايتامــا فقــد يلزمنــي ان اذكــر مــن كان هــوالي الصبيــان. وتبيــن لــي ايهــا الســامع انــت ال كبــر171 نفســه فــي محبتــه للضعيــف فقــط. بــل وفضــل عقلــه ولطــف172 سياســته فــي مــا يجمــع بــه العــام مــن المنفعــة. وذلــك انــه لمــا راى ضيــق الوقــت وصعوبتــه. وانــه ال173 يتاخــر عــن العلــم لهــذه الحــال الفقــرا ومــن ال جنــس لــه مــن العــض174 وحدهــم بــل وقــد175 تضجــع فــي ذلــك كبــار176 مــن النــاس ذوو احســاب.177 فكانــت كنيســة هللا المقدســة178 119r في التعليم179 فكر وال همة. مختلة. وليس الكثر الناس ففكــر هــو فــي امــر180 كبيــر. بــان فيــه حســن181 سياســته. فاختــار مــن اولــي االحــوال182 الكبــار اثنــى عشــر صبيــا اذكيــا نجبــا. واســلمهم183 الــى مــودب بصيــر ليعلمهــم علــوم184 الكنيســة التــي تزيــد علــى غيرهــا. ثــم اقتــرع مــن الفقــرا قومــا غيرهــم وافــرد ايتامــا ســيية185 حالهــم وعددهــم مايــة وخمســون صبيــا وســلمهم الــى ثلثــة186 معلميــن ليعلمــوا كل واحــد مــا ينفــد فيــه. وتقــدم بــان يطبــخ فــي كل يــوم ثلثــة مراجــل187 كبــار فيهــا ملوهــا مــن الطعــام. ويحمــل كل مرجــل188 منهــا الــى كل واحــد 2167  الخدمة: س؛ المدنية: ز 2168  وكان: س؛ وذلك انه كان: ز 2169  نكاهم: ز؛ انكاهم: س 2170  وايتام. كان . . . ذكرت صبية: ز؛ –س 2171  ال كبر: ز؛ لكبر: س 2172  ولطف: س؛ لطيف: ز 2173  ال: س؛ ال يتيه وال: ز 2174  العض: س؛ العوز: ز 2175  وقد: ز؛ وقت: س 2176  كبار: س؛ الكبار: ز 2177  احساب: س؛ االحساب: ز 2178  المقدسة: س؛ –ز 2179  التعليم: س؛ العلم: ز 2180  امر: ز؛ امرا: س 2181  حسن: س؛ خير: ز 2182  االحوال: س؛ االموال: ز 2183  واسلمهم: س؛ وسلمهم: ز 2184  ليعلمهم علوم: س؛ بعلوم: ز 2185  سيية: س؛ شبيه: ز 2186  ثلثة: س؛ –ز 2187  مراجل: س؛ مواجل: ز 2188  مرجل: س؛ موجل: ز 129 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) مــن المكاتــب ويعطــى كل189 واحــد مــن الصبيــان مــا يكفيــه معمــا يحتــاج اليــه مــن الخبــز.190 ويجــب ان يعــرف مــا اجتمــع هاهنــا مــن المنافــع وهــي191 ثــاث كبــار. احداهــا طعــام192 ال يتعــب فيــه مــن ياكلــه. والثانيــة تعليــم ال يوخــذ الثــواب واالجــرة عليه. والثالثة خدمة للبيعة الشريفة.193 وهذه194 جملة من افعاله في هذا المعنى. ]10[ وانضــاف الــى ذلــك مــا هــو اكبــر195 منــه فــي معونــة الفقــرا وادعــام الديــن. وذاك ان الهاجرييــن يســتخرجون مــن النصــارى فــي بادهــم جزيــة196 نســميها نحــن جزيــة الــرووس ويســمونها197 هــم بــراة. النهــا تبــري الــذي يوديهــا مــن االذيــة والتتبــع. وليــس الحــد مــن النصــارى المقيميــن هنــاك مفيــض198 مــن تاديتهــا. الن مــن ال يوديهــا يقــاد بغيــر اختيــاره الــى ديــن االســام. وقــد يبصــر هنــاك ايضــا منظــر بديــع يرثــى لــه لمــن قــد بلــي بــه. فبعــض النصــارى يــودون199 البــراة بنيــة صادقــة 119v ذلــك بــرا ومعروفــا. النــه شــي يودونــه عــن دينهــم. وقــوم اخــر يضطهــرون النهــم اذا كان يمكنهــم ويتصــورون معســرون. فاالقــوى منهــم فــي الديــن ليــس هــو الــذي يتاخــر عــن االدا عنــد امكانــه. بــل والــذي يعطــي ويعيــن الضعيــف200 فيما يستادى منه. فلمــا راى خريســطوفورس المشــتمل فــي صــدره علــى المســيح هــذه الشــدة مــن هــذا البــاب لــم يكــف201 عــن العطيــة وال كان يقتنــع بزيــادة يزيدهــا فــي تاديــة202 بــراة بــل كان يضيــف الــى ذلــك تاديــة جملــة البــراة مــن عنــده عمــن ال203 يمكنــه. فلمــا كل ولــم204 يتيســر لــه وفــر يقــوم بــه فــي هــذا البــاب بحســب اعتقــاده. النــه لــم يكــن205 لــه غــزارة ارتفــاع. مــاذا يقــرر206 انــه اتــاه فــي هــذا المعنــى بدقــة همتــه فــي التشــبه بيوحنــا الرحــوم صاحــب االســكندرية المدينــة. انبســط علــى ســوال االميــر ســيف الدولــة فــي معاونتــه علــى محبــة المســاكين. فلــم يخالفــه207 ذاك النــه كان بالطبــع كريمــا وكان ميلــه الــى البطريــرك خاصــة208 ميــا شــديدا. فتقــدم الــى مســتخرجي الخــراج209 بــان يصفحــوا لــه منهــا210 كل ســنة عــن عشــرة االف درهــم يكــون 2189  كل: س؛ لكل: ز 2190  الخبز: ز؛ الخير: س 2191  وهي: س؛ وهن: ز 2192  احداها طعام: س؛ احداهن اهداء الطعام: ز 2193  الشريفة: ز؛ شريفة: س 2194  وهذه: س؛ –ز 2195  اكبر: س؛ اكثر: ز 2196  جزية: ز؛ جزية يسميها: س 2197  يسمونها: ز؛ يسميها: س 2198  مفيض: س؛ نقيض: ز 2199  يودون: ز؛ بوزن: س 2200  يعطي ويعين الضعيف: س؛ يعين ذا الضعف: ز 2201  يكف: س؛ يكفف: ز 2202  تادية: ز؛ بادية: س 2203  عمن ال: س؛ لما: ز 2204  ولم: ز؛ –س 2205  يكن: ز؛ يمكن: س 2206  يقرر: س؛ يقدر: ز 2207  يخالفه: س؛ يخالف: ز 2208  خاصة: ز؛ –س 2209  الخراج: س؛ البراءة: ز 2210  منها: س؛ منها في: ز Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 130 يكتــب بهــا الرقــاع اليهــم لمــن يزيــد ان يرفــده. فــكان يكتــب لواحــد بالصفــح عــن براتــه كلهــا.211 ويكتــب لغيــره بالصفــح عــن نصف212 ما يراد منه. فما تقدم احد من النصارى على عهده الى دين االسام. ]11[ فحصــل للبطريــرك مــن هــذا مــع الثــواب مــن هللا قبــول213 شــديد باالميــر ســيف الدولــة وميــل مــن ســيف الدولــة 120r هــذا اليــه ايضــا. الن هــذا المعنــى موجــود هــو بالطبــع فــي النــاس اال يكــون المحســن اليــه يعتقــد مــواالة المحســن وحــده. بــل ويكــون المحســن ايضــا زايــد214 فــي االحســان اليــه. فالمحســن اليــه يحصــل لــه بالمــواالة اســتمداد215 االحســان وفيمــا بعــد ايضــا والمحســن فيريــد ان يــرب216 احســانه بالمبالغــة والمتابعــة ال ســيما اذا كان فــي طبعــه الجــود حتــى ال يضيــع ما تقدم من احسانه باالمساك. ــه ــرد عن ــان. انف ــن الزم ــة م ــدة طويل ــت م ــان ثب ــديد وعصي ــف ش ــة خل ــيف الدول ــى س ــرك عل ــا217 تح ــا. لم ــن هاهن فم ــن ــدا م ــط واح ــب فق ــي ان يخاط ــن. وال رض ــن االنطاكيي ــه م ــى علي ــن عص ــة م ــي جمل ــل ف ــم يدخ ــده ول ــرك وح البطري المتمردين. وكان الســبب فــي هــذا العصيــان ان الملــك نقفــور المغبــوط لمــا ملــك بلــد الثغــر االكثــر منــه عنــوة وبحــرب وطرســوس وحدهــا218 بامــان. الن الجــوع كان قــد هتــك219 اهلهــا وبلــغ منهــم اشــام220 مبلغــا ينقــص عــن الحــرب.221 وكان ســيف الدولــة فــي الحــال بميافارقيــن قــد افلــج. وامــا اهــل طرســوس222 قدمــوا الــى مدينــة انطاكيــة بنســائهم223 واوالدهــم. فحــذر مــن كان بانطاكيــة مــن الهاجرييــن علــى نفوســهم. وصــاروا الــى ابــن الزيــات224 المقــدم كان عليهــم يســالون ويتضرعــون فــي مقامــه عندهــم وتدبيــر امورهــم اذ كانــت اذ ذاك225 قــد تشــعثت وضعفــت.226 فلمــا راى ابــن الزيــات227 انهــا علــى هــذه الحــال وكان جزعه228 من نقفور الملك يكره.229 امتنع من المقام بالكلية. 2211  براته كلها: س؛ كل براءته: ز 2212  نصف: س؛ بعض: ز 2213  قبول: ز؛ قول: س 2214  زايد: س؛ رأيه: ز 2215  استمداد: س؛ استمداده: ز 2216  يرب: س؛ يرث: ز 2217  لما: ز؛ لم: س 2218  وبحرب وطرسوس وحدها: س؛ وخرب طرسوس واخذها: ز 2219  هتك: س؛ نهك: ز 2220  اشام: ز؛ –س 2221  ينقص عن الحرب: س؛ يصغر عنه الوصف: ز 2222  طرسوس: س؛ طرسوس فإنهم: ز 2223  بنسائهم: ز؛ بصبيانهم: س 2224  الزيات: س؛ المزان: ز 2225  اذ ذاك: س؛ –ز 2226  وضعفت: س؛ –ز 2227  ابن الزيات: س؛ –ز 2228  جرعه: س؛ يجزع: ز 2229  يكره: س؛ بكره: ز 131 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) فــزاد خــوف االنطاكييــن مــن امتناعــه وحداهــم ذلــك علــى قصــد رشــيق230 ثانــي ابــن الزيــات231 فــي االمــارة. فســالوه مــا كانــوا قــد التمســوه مــن ذاك. واجابهــم اال انــه اشــار عليهــم بالخضــوع لنقفــور الملــك والنــزول علــى حكمــه. النــه ذكــر 120v مــا فــي ذلــك مــن الخــط232 وانــه ال يتــم لهــم مــا يريدونــه مــن الهــدو والســكون اال بطاعتــه. فقبلــوا مشــورته لهــم وبعثــوا رســا الــى الملــك يبذلــون لــه حمــل233 االمــوال وعقــد الموافقــة برهايــن. فلموضــع مــا كان فــي الملــك مــن الركانــة واالحتــراز اجابهــم عمــا راســلوه فيــه وقــال. امــا مــال234 فلســت اقبلــه اذ كان235 ملــك الــروم غيــر محتــاج اليــه. والمســلمون ــا ــم ف ــم واكثره ــن بعضه ــع238 م ــا مواض ــن الن له ــا الرهاي ــل ايض ــدا. وال اقب ــه غ ــون237 من ــوم ويمتنع ــه الي ــد236 يعطون فق يفكــرون فيهــا. والــذي239 التمســه فهــو شــي واحــد متــى مــا اردتمــوه وعرفتــم مــا لكــم فيــه مــن الوفــا240 كان ســها خفيفــا. وهــو ان ابنــي فــي صخــرة داخــل مدينتكــم معقــا يكــون241 فيــه ســردغوس مــع عــدة يســيرة تحفظكــم242 واكــون انــا بهــا مستظهرا. فلمــا امتنــع االنطاكيــون مــن ذلــك فكــر رشــيق فــي الخجــل وان243 يكــون بصــورة مــن ال منــة فيــه. فــراى ان يكشــف راســه كمــا يقــال فــي العصيــان علــى ســيف الدولــة. وال ســيما معمــا كان عليــه مــن الفالــج244 واالمتنــاع مــن الحركــة. فــكان هــذا ممــا وســع فــي قلــة االكتــراث. فلمــا راى رشــيق هــذا الــراي جمــع245 وحشــد246 وقصــد مدينــة حلــب بالمــدد.247 فتســلمها عنــوة بغيــر تعــب. واخــذ فــي248 قتــال القلعــة بهــا وكانــت ال تــرام وكان فيهــا غــام لســيف الدولــة يدعــا اســمه قرغويــه يخــرج 121r لــم يظهــر ممــن كانــت فكانــت منهــا الــى رشــيق فــي كل يــوم رجــاال يقاتلونــه. فلحقــه مــن بعضهــم طعنــه فــي الحــرب ميتتــه فيهــا وســقط ميتــا وهــرب مــن كان معــه249 الــى انطاكيــة. فلمــا حصــل اصحابــه فيهــا تيقظــوا لنفوســهم. وقدمــوا منهــم 2230  رشيق: س؛ رشيق النسيمي الوارد من طرسوس وكان: ز 2231  الزيات: س؛ الزمان: ز 2232  الخط: س؛ الخطأ: ز 2233  حمل: س؛ تحصيل: ز 2234  مال: س؛ المال: ز 2235  اذ كان: س؛ الن: ز 2236  فقد: ز؛ فقد فقد: س 2237  ويمتنعون: س؛ ويمنعون: ز 2238  مواضع: ز؛ موضعا: س 2239  والذي: س؛ واما الذي: ز 2240  الوفا: ز؛ الوفاق: س 2241  يكون: س؛ ليكون لي: ز 2242  تحفظكم: س؛ تحفظهم: ز 2243  وان: س؛ وانه: ز 2244  الفالج: س؛ االلم: ز 2245  االكتــراث. فلما . . . الــراي جمــع: س؛ االكتــراث بــه. ثــم التصــق برشــيق رجــل مــن اهــل انطاكيــة يعــرف بالحســن االهــوازي وتولــى تدبيــر امــره وذلــك بمســاعدة اهــل انطاكيــة. وكان شــديد الحركــة. واطمعهــم بــان ســيف الدولــة ال يعــود الــى الشــام. واســتأمن رشــيق دزبــر الديلمــي وجماعة من الديلم الذين كانوا مع قرعونة غالم سيف الدولة. وسار رشيق وابن االهوازي وجمع: ز 2246  وحشد: ز؛ وحشر: س 2247  بالمدد: س؛ بالمدد. وجرى بينه وبين قرعونه حروب كثيرة: ز 2248  واخذ في: س؛ وحدق قبال: ز 2249  وكانت ال . . . كان معه: س؛ ثلثة اشهر وعشرة ايام. فقتل رشيق بعد ذلك بطعنة اصابته وانهزم اصحابه: ز Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 132 مــن جعلــوه250 اميــرا عليهــم.251 وثبتــوا علــى مــا كانــوا عليــه مــن الخلــف والعصيــان. وكان الــذي يحرصهــم علــى ذلــك انسان من انطاكية شديد الحركة والنفاذ يسمى ابن االهوازي وهو كان مدبر االمور على عهد رشيق. فمــاذا صنــع البطريــرك فــي حيــن اضطــراب االمــور بانطاكيــة وانهــا كانــت موديــة بزيــادة252 فــي الصعوبــة كان مــن تدبيــر عقلــه الثبــات علــى مــواالة253 ســيف الدولــة. وانحــاز254 الــى ديــر القديــس مــار ســمعان الحلبــي. الن ســيف الدولــة وان كان يوميــذ قــد افلــج فمــا كان ضــاع عقلــه بالكليــة وال انضبــط لســانه عــن النطــق. ففــي مــدة مقــام255 البطريــرك بالديــر انكشــف امــره فــي الليــل الــى مــن بحلــب واشــتد256 ذلــك علــى العاصــي. واخــذ فــي قصــد257 اســباب البطريــرك واعتقــال ــات259 ــم ي ــى ل ــه مت ــال ان ــوت ع ــول بص ــة258 وكان يق ــي القاي ــا كان ف ــاير م ــى س ــم عل ــم. وخت ــق عليه ــه والتضيي خواص البطريرك ويتافاه260 واال خرج معه الى زيادة فيما يغمه. فهــل خنــع261 البطريــرك لذلــك او هلــع منــه او الن لــه.262 ال. ولكنــه ثبــت علــى جملتــه. ورااه263 علــى مثــل هــذا بعــض خواصــه وهــو ثاودولــس الــذي صــار بعــد قتلــه اســقفا علــى ســلوقية. وبنــى بانطاكيــة هيكليــن حســنين لاركيســتراتيغوس264 ــي ــا الراع 121v ان ــك. ــي بيعت ــذا ف ــد ه ــول265 بع ــيد ان يق ــا الس ــك ايه ــي نيت ــل ف ــه. ه ــال ل ــه وق ــر علي ــب. فجس ــم الذه وف الصالــح. ال266 تتــرك غنمــك فيتخطفهــا267 الذيــاب المفترســة. بــل ان رايــت فامــض وامــدد يــدا تعينهــم وتغيثهــم وال تقصــد بذلــك مــا يوثــره العاصــي. بــل مــا فيــه المصلحــة لــك ولرعيتــك. فقــال لــه البطريــرك امســك وانخــرس268 فلســت عارفــا بمــا تقوله. فلزمه االمساك. وبعــد مديــدة يســيرة لــم يصبــر269 غلمــان ســيف الدولــة علــى العــار. بــل حركــوه علــى المســير وانهضــوه. فســار مــن 2250  حصل اصحابه . . . من جعلوه: س؛ حصلوا بها تيقظوا وخافوا وجعلوا دزبر الديلمي: ز 2251  عليهم: س؛ عليهم وابن االهوازي المدبر له: ز 2252  وكان الذي . . . موديــة بزيــادة: س؛ وقصــد قرعونــة الــى انطاكيــة وجــرت بينهــم وقعــة انهــزم قرعونــة وعــاد الــى حلــب وســار دزبــر الديلمــي فــي اثــره الــى حلــب ولقيــه اصحــاب قرعونــة وحاربــوه ودافعــوه فرجــع الــى انطاكيــة. فلمــا رأى البطريــرك هــذا االضطــراب بانطاكيــة وانه مؤد لزيادة: ز 2253  مواالة: س؛ منزله من: ز 2254  وانجاز: س؛ فلجأ: ز 2255  مقام: ز؛ المقام: س 2256  بالدير انكشف . . . بحلب واشتد: س؛ والذين معه في الدير اشتد: ز 2257  العاصي. واخذ في قصد: س؛ العاصي ابن االهوازي، فأحنق وقصد: ز 2258  القاية: س؛ القاية، لما انكشف له من ميل البطريرك ومن معه الى سيف الدولة: ز 2259  يات: س؛ يأتي: ز 2260  ويتافاه: س؛ ويتافى امره: ز 2261  خنع: س؛ جزع: ز 2262  او الن له: س؛ –ز 2263  ورااه: س؛ وراه: ز 2264  لاركيستراتيغوس: صححته؛ لاكسيراتيقوس: س؛ االزكسعوطس: ز 2265  يقول: س؛ تقول: ز 2266  ال: س؛ –ز 2267  فيتخطفها: س؛ لتختطفها: ز ]lacuna[2268  المفترسة. بل . . . امسك وانخرس: س؛ –ز 2269  يصبر: س؛ تصبر: ز 133 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) ميافارقيــن الــى نواحــي معــرة مصريــن. وانتشــبت الحــرب فيمــا بيــن الفيتيــن. وكان الظفــر لســيف الدولــة. واســر روســا عسكر الخوارج وحصلهم270 في القيود والساسل. فســار271 البطريــرك عنــد ذلــك272 الــى حلــب مســرورا كغالــب قــد ظفــر فــي صــراع لوعيــا. 273فقبلــه ســيف الدولــة احســن قبــول. وصــار امامــه االشــيا كلهــا274 جليســا متقدمــا شــفيعا صالحــا275 مقبــوال. وانتقــل مــن حــال التابــع الصغيــر الــى حــال الصديــق االثيــر. ال يتهــم وال يســتصغر. النــه قــدم فــي وقــت الشــدة االمانــة المحافظــة276 والصبــر علــى المضــض. فكوفــي على ما اتاه في وقت الضرا باالختصاص والتقديم في وقت السرا. ــر ــد الصب ــذاب يبع ــن الع ــواع م ــان وان ــرب واالمته ــون بالض ــه278 يعاقب ــر عيني ــوه بنظ ــوا غم ــن كان ــرى الذي وكان277 ي عليهــا. فمــا كان يحســن موقــع ذلــك منــه كمــا كان يحســن موقعــه مــن غيــره. وال كان يتعظــم لظفــره بالوقــت. بــل كان يحــزن 122r مــن اعانــك عليــه. وال ويضيــق صــدره ويقلــق فكــره ويقــول. ارحــم ايهــا الســيد وخفــف عمــن ظفــرت بــه مــن اجــل ترد في شفاعتك والعفو عند المقدرة279 عما يجب لك. ولمــا راى فــي جملــة مــن كان يعاقــب جــارا لــه مــن المســلمين بمدينــة انطاكيــة وقــد اســرف عليــه بضــرب الســياط لــم يصبــر علــى الجلــوس لكنــه قــام قايمــا ثــم طــرح نفســه الــى االرض. وســال فــي280 ان يهــب لــه جرمــه. فلــم يمنــع ممــا طلبــه. ولكنهــا281 يــا لهــا مــن مصيبــة وشــر تجبــن282 لــه مــن هاهنــا يشــرحه القــول فيمــا بعــد. وليــس ذلــك بعجــب. وان كان مــن الواجــب قــد يبعــد وهــو غريــب. وذلــك ان علــى مثــل هــذا هــي مطبوعــة طبيعــة الحســد فــي النفــوس الخبيثــة ان يشــتعل283 مــن االحســان اكثــر ممــا يطفــا284 مــن االمتنــان. فلمــا اطلــق ذلــك الحســود285 وســمح لــه بمــا286 كان اوجــب عليــه عــاد الــى انطاكية بريا من التبعة.287 وليت ذلك لم يكن.288 2270  روسا عسكر الخوارج وحصلها: س؛ دزبر وابن االهوازي وجماعة كثيرة من عسكرهما وجعلهم: ز 2271  والساسل. فسار: س؛ والساسل وحملهم الى حلب وقتلهم وولى على انطاكية تقي الدين غامه. وقصد خريسطوفورس: ز 2272  ذلك: س؛ ذلك سيف الدولة: ز ]lacuna[2273  لوعيا: صححته؛ لو ىىيا: س؛ –ز 2274  امامه االشيا كلها: س؛ حينئذ امامه في كل االشياء: ز 2275  صالحا: س؛ مطلبا: ز 2276  المحافظة: س؛ والمحافظة: ز 2277  السرا. وكان: س؛ السراء. النه شكره على فعله من بعده عن المخالفين عليه. وقدمه وتخصص به. فكان: ز 2278  بنظر عينيه: س؛ –ز 2279  شفاعتك والعفو عند المقدرة:ز؛ استمتاعك بالمقدرة: س 2280  في: س؛ –ز 2281  ولكنها: س؛ ولكن: ز 2282  تجبن: س؛ تحنن: ز 2283  يشتعل: س؛ تشتعل: ز 2284  يطفا: س؛ تطفأ: ز 2285  الحسود: س؛ من الحضور: ز 2286  بما: ز؛ –س 2287  التبعة: ز؛ البيعة: س 2288  يكــن: س؛ يكــن. حتــى وان كثيريــن مــن شــيوخ انطاكيــة نقــم عليهــم ســيف الدولــة بســبب عصيانهــم وصادرهــم وتشــفع البطريــرك اليــه فــي بعضهــم وتوســط امــره معهــم فاجــاب مســالته فيهــم. فتوكــد فــي نفوســهم حينئــذ ممــا شــاهدوا مــن تمكــن حالــه عنــد ســيف الدولــة حســد لــه وحقد عليه: ز Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 134 ]12[ وامــا البطريــرك فاقــام289 بعــد ذلــك مــدة يســيرة بحلــب. وســار بعــد ذلــك290 الــى مدينتــه ومعــه توقيعــات291 مــن ســيف الدولــة الــى اصحابــه الذيــن كان انفذهــم الــى انطاكيــة ليكافــوا مــن كان ســاعد292 الخارجييــن عليــه مــن االنطاكييــن. رســم لهــم فيهــا293 اال يقنعــوا للبطريــرك ببراتــه وجماعــة اصحابــه مــن كل تبعــة. بــل ويقبلــون ســواله فــي ســاير مــن يتوســط امره بمقدار ما يمكن القبول منه. الن مثل هذا كان غرض294 البطريرك في اكثر االشيا. فلمــا وصــل الــى انطاكيــة وجــد فيهــا اميــرا غامــا لســيف الدولــة295 يعــرف بتقــي296 ووجــد البطريــق كليــب هاهنــا يقبــض 122v مــن النعــم بــل كان يصــادر علــى امــوال النــاس ولكنــه لــم يكــن مامــورا بــان نقبــص297 قبضــا كليــا علــى كل شــي اصحابهــا بحســب مــا تصــل ايديهــم اليــه. ولــم يمســكه298 ســيف الدولــة عــن القبــض علــى نعمهــم رفقايهــم. بــل عمــل فــي ــا ــات. وام ــن االرتفاع ــع م ــاد ويمن ــرب الب ــاس ويخ ــر الن ــم299 يفق ــى النع ــض عل ــه راى ان القب ــه. الن ــا لنفس ــك صرف ذل المصــادرة فتبلــغ مــن االنســان300 مبلغــا يبقــى لــه بعــده مــا يعينــه علــى العمــارة والقيــام بتاديــة الخــراج ومــا يجــري مجــراه. ــا كان ــر م ــن اكث ــه م ــده301 ويخلص ــم يفت ــم ل ــن منه ــات. م ــذه المطالب ــي ه ــدون ف ــة يك ــل انطاكي ــرك اه ــا راى البطري فلم يطالب302 به. ومن منهم303 لم يخفف عنه. ومن لم يخلصه بالكلية. اذ كان فيهم من وصل الى خاصه جملة. وكان بانطاكيــة رجــل مــن تنايهــا304 شــديد الغنــى والثــروة النــه كان ذا عقــار305 وارتفاعــات كثيــرة. ولكنــه كان مضيقــا ــرج ــقي306 ال يف ــد كان الش ــه ق ــحه. الن ــم ش ــله وعظي ــن تدلـ ــن االرض م ــه م ــع راس ــا ال يرف ــه. وكان منحني ــي نفس ــه ف علي وال علــى307 نفســه بشــي مــن مالــه. فاخــذه اصحــاب ســيف الدولــة وكانــوا يعاقبونــه ويطالبونــه بثاثــة308 قناطيــر ونصــف309 مــن الذهــب. فراســل البطريــرك القديــس وهــو فــي وســط العقوبــات وقــال لــه. ارحــم ايهــا الســيد مثلــي انــا الشــقي. وكان 2289  فاقام: س؛ فانه اقام: ز 2290  بعد ذلك: س؛ –ز 2291  توقيعات: س؛ توقيعان: ز 2292  من كان ساعد: س؛ ما كان من شناعة: ز 2293  فيها: س؛ فيهما: ز 2294  غرض: س؛ عرض له: ز 2295  غاما لسيف الدولة: س؛ –ز 2296  بتقي: س؛ بتقي الدين الذي ذكرناه ف: ز 2297  على اموال . . . بان نقبص: س؛ –ز 2298  يمسكه: ز؛ يمسك: س 2299  نعمهم رفقايهم . . . على النعم: س؛ على النعم مما: ز 2300  فتبلغ من االنسان: س؛ فبلغت من الناس: ز 2301  يفتده: س؛ ينقذه: ز 2302  يطالب: س؛ يطلب: ز 2303  منهم: ز؛ من: س 2304  من تنايها: س؛ ما من شبابها: ز 2305  عقار: س؛ غناء: ز 2306  تدلـله وعظيم . . . كان الشقي: س؛ دالته وعظيم شخصه. الن الشقي كان: ز 2307  على: س؛ عن: ز 2308  بثاثة: س؛ بثاث: ز 2309  ونصف: س؛ –ز 135 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) لعمــري310 البطريــرك متشــمرا فيمــا هــذه ســبيله311 نشــيطا فــي مســاعدة مــن312 يســتعين بــه. فركــب لوقتــه وســاعته ورفــع عنــه العــذاب وتوســط امــره فيمــا كان يطالــب بــه. ومــا افــرج عــن المســالة فــي بابــه الــى ان حــط الجملــة الكثيــرة مــن خمســة 123r دينــار الــى العشــر منهــا وهــو مقــدار الفيــن وخمســماية دينــار. فقــال المســتخرجون انــه313 لــن يقــوم وعشــرين الــف وال314 بهــذا المقــدار بغيــر عقوبــة وضــرب. فقــال لهــم تلميــذ المســيح المتشــبه بــه315 فــي كل حــال. انــا اســلكم اال316 تســرفوا عليــه بعــد هــذا بعقوبــة. بــل ســلموه الــي انــا317 وانــا اكــون القيــم318 لكــم بالجملــة. فتســلمه البطريــرك وكان المســتخرجون يطالبــون البطريــرك بالجملــة. ويلــزم البطريــرك319 ان يكــون مطالبــا لــه بهــا. فكانــت المراســلة مــن البطريــرك اليــه فــي هــذا الباب في قلبه كمثل الطعنات. الن سهام الحسد كانت تعمل فيه. فصار فيما بعد مطابقا على قتل من احسن اليه. ]13[ وامــا قتــل البطريــرك بــل320 شــهادته التــي تمــت بــراي321 هــذا وغيــره فكانــت تنظــم فــي الخفيــة وتتــدرج322 قليــا قليــا. النــه اجتمــع عليــه مــن ميــل ســيف الدولــة اليــه مــادة فــي قلــوب المســلمين مــن الحســد. ولكــن لــم يكــن كلهــم متطابقيــن ــن ــد بي ــد324 الحس ــم. وذاك ان وال ــان اليه ــي االحس ــن323 زاد ف ــوا م ــا كان ــك انم ــى ذل ــوا عل ــن تطابق ــل الذي ــه. ب ــى قتل عل فيهم فعله.325 وكان بيــان ذلــك مــن هــذا المعنــى. الن ســيف الدولــة توفــي وقــدم مــن بلــد خراســان غــزاة متوجهيــن الــى انطاكيــة. فســرع منهــم اليهــا اقــوام. فخشــي326 ذلــك الملعــون الــذي احســن327 البطريــرك اليــه وكان ســم الحســد يعمــل فيــه. وقــد خطــر له ان يدبر عليه328 من تمكن البطريرك فيما بعد. اذا ما329 وّصل صاحب الخراسانية330 اال يتمكن منه فيفوته قتله. 2310  لعمري: ز؛ لعمرنا: س 2311  فيما هذه سبيله: س؛ في ما هذا بسبيله: ز 2312  من: ز؛ من من: س 2313  انه: س؛ له: ز 2314  وال: س؛ ولو: ز 2315  به: ز؛ –س 2316  اال: ز؛ ال: س 2317  انا: س؛ –ز 2318  القيم: س؛ القسيم: ز 2319  بالجملة. ويلزم البطريرك: ز؛ –س 2320  بل: س؛ مثل: ز 2321  براي: س؛ من: ز 2322  وتتدرج: س؛ ونؤرخ: ز 2323  من: س؛ ممن: ز 2324  والد: س؛ –ز 2325  فيهم فعله: س؛ فعله فيهم: ز 2326  غــزاة متوجهين... اقــوام. فخشــي: س؛ قــوم قاصديــن لغــزو الــروم، وســاروا الــى انطاكيــة ولقيهــم اهلهــا اجمــل لقــاء. فخشــي ابــن مانك: ز 2327  احسن: س؛ اخذه: ز 2328  عليه: س؛ فيه: ز 2329  اذا ما: س؛ فلما: ز 2330  الخراسانية: س؛ الخراسانية خاف: ز Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 136 123v البطريــرك ضمنــه.332 لعلمــه333 بمــا كان عليــه فــي نفســه. واســتدعى انســانا فاســتدعى331 ابــن محمــود الــذي كان اخــر334 كان جــارا ايضــا للبطريــرك335 يدعــا بابــن دعامــة. فقــال لهمــا. مــا تقــوالن.336 هــل عندكمــا337 مــن الــراي ان نتــرك هــذا338 الكافــر يعيــش فيصــل الــى هاهنــا بعــد وقــت رييــس. ويكــون هــو جالســا ونكــون نحــن معاقبيــن كمثــل مــا كنــا فــي وقــت ســيف الدولــة. فقــاال339 لــه. ليــس ذلــك340 مــن الصــواب. فقــال لهمــا.341 فمــا رايكمــا فــي اكتتــاب فتيــة342 فــي بابــه الــى الفقيــه. فاحمــدا343 رايــه فــي هــذا وكتبــوا رقعــة بــراي مشــترك تســمى344 عندهــم فتيــة.345 ولــم يذكــروا البطريــرك باســمه. بــل قالــوا. مــا رايــك ايهــا الفقيــه فــي مــا يوجبــه الحكــم علــى مــن يدبــر علــى حصــن مــن حصــون المســلمين. فاجابهــم بانــه يجب عليه القتل. فقــال المتقــدم فــي الــراي والتدبيــر لاثنيــن االخريــن.346 هــذه الفتيــة ســبيلنا ان نريهــا للعامــة فهــم يقتلونــه للوقــت مــن نفوســهم. ولــم يكــن هــذا رايــه بالحقيقــة. بــل النــه كان هــو ايضــا مــن الفــرس وعارفــا بلســان347 الخراســانية. فــكان348 فــي ــرك وال ــوا البطري ــي يقتل ــة لك ــم الفتي ــة350 ويريه ــى انطاكي ــكرهم ال ــن عس ــرح م ــن تس ــا مم ــتدعي قوم ــى349 ان يس ــه ال نفس يجنحوا351 في ذلك. فكان هذا مما اقنعهم وحداهم على ما اراده. ــا ــا صادق ــه صديق ــرو.353 وكان ل ــي عم ــن اب ــرف باب ــلمين يع ــوه المس ــن وج ــرك352 م ــار البطري ــك ج ــرف ذل ]14[ فع ناصحــا.354 فاســرع اليــه وقــال لــه. مــاذا تعمــل. قــم مســرعا وخــذ لنفســك. واال فاعلــم انــك مقتــول بعــد قليــل. فقــال لــه. ولــم. 2331  فاستدعى: س؛ فاستدعى ثاثة من شيوخ انطاكية واماثلها الذي كان البطريرك توسط امرهم وشفع فيهم. فالواحد: ز 2332  البطريرك ضمنه: س؛ –ز 2333  لعلمه: ز؛ يعلمه: س 2334  واستدعى انسانا اخر: س؛ واالخر: ز 2335  ايضا للبطريرك: س؛ لهم: ز 2336  تقوالن: س؛ تقولون: ز 2337  عندكما: س؛ عندكم: ز 2338  نترك هذا: س؛ تقرروا: ز 2339  فقاال: س؛ فقالوا: ز 2340  ذلك: س؛ نراه: ز 2341  لهما: س؛ لهم: ز 2342  فتية: صححته؛ فتوة: ز؛ فيتة: س 2343  فاحمدا: س؛ فحمدوا: ز 2344  تسمى: ز؛ يسمى: س 2345  فتية: ز؛ فيتة. ولم: س 2346  لاثنين االخرين: س؛ –ز 2347  بلسان: س؛ باسباب: ز 2348  فكان: س؛ ففكر: ز 2349  الى: س؛ –ز 2350  ممن تسرح . . . الى انطاكية: س؛ من الخراسانية: ز 2351  يجنحوا: س؛ يحتجوا: ز 2352  اراده. فعرف ذلك جار البطريرك. س؛ ارادوا. وكان للبطريرك جار: ز 2353  بابن ابي عمرو: ز؛ بابي عمر: س 2354  ناصحا: س؛ مناصحا: ز 137 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) 124r اجتمــع عليــك جمــع خبيــث وســيل النامــوس. فاعطــى الفقيــه356 والي شــي ومــن اجــل مــاذا. فقــال لــه. النــه قــد355 فتيــة ذكــر357 فيهــا وجــوب القتــل عليــك. فاســتعلم منــه وقــال لــه. فمــاذا يجــب عنــدك ان اصنعــه. فقــال لــه. انــك لســت فــي هــذا الوقــت تحــت358 اعتقــال. فاخــرج مــن بــاب المدينــة اخــر النهــار وال يصبــح لــك الصبــح اال وانــت فــي نواحــي359 حلــب. ولــن يتبعــك احــد. وهــذا الــذي عنــدي.360 فقــال لــه. امــا انــت يــا ســيدي فــاهلل يجازيــك الحســنات. وامــا انــا فســبيلي ان افكــر فيما اعمله. فانصــرف الرجــل. واســتدعى البطريــرك ذلــك الرجــل الــذي قــال لــه فيمــا قبــل. وهــو فــي ديــر القديــس مــار ســمعان. لمــا ال يجــب361 الــى المصيــر الــى انطاكيــة فــي وقــت العصيــان. فهــل انــت ايهــا الســيد ممــن يقــول بعــد هــذا. انــا الراعــي الصالــح. فلمــا مثــل هــذا الرجــل بيــن يديــه قــال لــه. اعلــم ايهــا االنســان362 ان جارنــا فانــا صــار الــي فــي هــذه الســاعة واشــار علــي بكيــت وكيــت. فانــت مــاذا363 تــرى. فقــال لــه ذلــك الرجــل.364 ومــا اجــود هــذا يــا365 ســيدنا. فاســتخر هللا وافعــل. فقــال لــه. ان انــا فعلــت هــذا كنــت366 ايهــا الوقــاح ممــن يتهــزا بــي فيمــا بعــد ويقــول لــي. هــل367 انــت عتيــد ان تقــول انــا ــس ــم لي ــرك. نع ــه البطري ــال ل ــر. فق ــيا369 اخ ــيد. ذاك كان ش ــا الس ــا. ايه ــل قاي ــه368 الرج ــد. فاجاب ــي غ ــح ف ــي الصال الراع بالخافــي عنــي ان ذاك370 كان شــيا371 اخــر. بــل النــه كان كذلــك ولــم يكــن372 فــي ذلــك الوقــت موافقــا373 مــا فعلتــه. ولمــا لــم 124v الوقــت. افعلــه فقــد علمــت وانــت374 انــه لــم ينضــر بذلــك احــد مــن النصــارى. النــه لــم يكــن قتلــي المطلــوب ف ذلــك واالن فالمطلــوب هــو قتلــي. وليــس يطلــب ذلــك طلبــا مطلقــا. بــل بحــرص شــديد واجتهــاد وكيــد. الن الذيــن يطلبــون قتلــي حســاد وســم الحســد فــي اجســادهم375 مكنــون. ومتــى مــا افلــت مــن ايديهــم ولــم يقذفــوا ســمهم فــي لــم يبقــوا بعــد هــذا376 علــى 2355  قد: س؛ –ز 2356  وسيل الناموس. فاعطى الفقيه: س؛ واخرجوا: ز 2357  ذكر: س؛ ذكروا: ز 2358  تحت: س؛ في: ز 2359  نواحي: س؛ –ز 2360  عندي: س؛ عندي لك: ز 2361  لما ال يجب: س؛ لم ال تجب. س: سمعان لما يجب: ز 2362  ايها االنسان: س؛ –ز 2363  فانت ماذا: س؛ فماذا: ز 2364  ذلك الرجل: س؛ –ز 2365  يا: س؛ –ز 2366  كنت: س؛ كنت انت: ز 2367  ويقول لي. هل: س؛ وبعد هذا: ز 2368  فاجابه: س؛ فأجابه ذلك: ز 2369  شيا: س؛ سببا: ز 2370  ذاك: ز؛ ذاك كان شيا اخر. فقال له البطريرك نعم ليس بالخافي عني ان ذاك: س 2371  شيا: س؛ سببا: ز 2372  يكن: س؛ يكن موافقا: ز 2373  موافقا: س؛ –ز 2374  وانت: س؛ انت: ز 2375  اجسادهم: ز؛ اجشايهم: س 2376  بعد هذا: س؛ بعدها حاال: ز Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 138 نصرانــي وال علــى كنيســة. ولكــن هــذا الوقــت377 الــذي يجــب378 لــي379 ان اقــول380 يــا هــذا. ليــس انــا الراعــي الصالــح فقــط. بــل واقــول مــع ذلــك. ان الراعــي381 الصالــح هــو الــذي يضــع نفســه دون اغنامــه. وانــت فســترى بعــد وقيــت382 هــذه اللحيــة مخضوبــة بدمايــي. ومــد يــده مــع هــذا اليهــا وختــم الــكام بهــذا383 المقــال لــم يعــد بعــد ذلــك كلمــة اخــرى النــه كان يوشــك انه قد تشور384 من الفكر. ]15[ وفكــر فيمــا بعــد فاوجــب385 الــراي عنــده ان يجتمــع بذلــك الشــرير المتهيــي فــي جــواره للعمــل عليــه. وقــد كان عالمــا علمــا يقينــا انــه قــد مــزج لــه قهــوة المــوت. اال انــه لــم يكــن يظــن انــه يفعــل بــه ذلــك فــي منزلــه. الن مثــل هــذا ال يستحســن اعرابــي وال احــد386 مــن ذوي احســاب387 المســلمين ان يقــدم اليــه فــي جريمــة. فراســله388 مراســلة قليلــة بعــد389 قليــل بغيــر حــذر منــه وال خــوف. انــي اريــد ايهــا الســيد ان اجتمــع بــك. فتــاذن لــي فــي ذلــك اذا مــا رايــت390 وكنــت خاليــا الصيــر اليــك. فاســتفرص ذاك391 هــذا القــول منــه وتصــوره غنيمــة. فقــال.392 لســت فــي وقتــي هــذا393 متفرغــا لــك ولكنــي ــة ــه وتقوي ــة علي ــغله بالحيل ــي لش ــله بش ــم يراس ــر ول ــي التدبي ــاره ف ــول نه ــزل ط ــم ي ــلك.394 ول ــذا اراس ــد ه ــن بع ــا م ان ما يطبخه له.395 125r ادرك الليــل وتصــرم وقــت كبيــر منــه وتنــاول البطريــرك مــا جــرت عادتــه396 يتناولــه مــن الطعــام ارســل فلمــا اليــه397 قايــا. انــي االن فــارغ لــك فــي هــذا الوقــت ايهــا البطريــرك. فــان رايــت ان احضــر فاحضــر. فذهــل خــروف المســيح مــن هــذه الرســالة فــي غيــر وقتهــا عنــد ســماعه لهــا وقــال الصحابــه. مــاذا ســبيلنا يــا قــوم ان نصنــع وقــد حضرنــا امــران غيــر موافقيــن.398 الن المضــي فــي هــذا الوقــت مــن الليــل ال يليــق وال يصلــح.399 وذاك ان الطعــام بعــد فــي فــي. والقــوة 2377  الوقت: س؛ الوقت هو الوقت: ز 2378  يجب: ز؛ يوجب: س 2379  لي: س؛ –ز 2380  اقول: س؛ اقول فيه: ز 2381  ان الراعي: س؛ والراعي: ز 2382  وقيت: س؛ وقت: ز 2383  الكام بهذا: س؛ الكل. وبهذا: ز 2384  تشور: س؛ تنور: ز 2385  فاوجب: س؛ ما اوجب: ز 2386  اعرابي وال احد: س؛ ان يكون إال الحد: ز 2387  احسار: س؛ اختيار: ز 2388  جريمة. فراسله: س؛ جريمته. فارسل له: ز 2389  مراسلة قليلة بعد: ز؛ قايا عن: س 2390  رايت: س؛ رأيت موافقا: ز 2391  فاستفرص ذاك: س؛ فلما سمع ابن مانك ذلك استفرص: ز 2392  فقال: س؛ فقال له: ز 2393  وقتي هذا: س؛ هذا الوقت: ز 2394  ولكني انا . . . هذا اراسلك: س؛ فاذا تفرغت ارسل فاعلمك: ز 2395  وتقوية ما يطبخه له: س؛ –ز 2396  عادته: س؛ عادته ان: ز 2397  اليه: س؛ اليه ذلك الملعون: ز 2398  موافقين: س؛ موافقان: ز 2399  يصلح: س؛ يصلح اذ كان: ز 139 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) ايضــا فضعفــت400 عــن خطــاب وانــا علــى هــذه الحــال. والتاخــر ايضــا فســبب ارييــه401 النــا نحــن كنــا الذيــن خطينــا402 الموعــد.403 ولكــن ســبيل واحــد منكــم ان يســتنكهني. فــان احــس منــي برايحــة خمــر احتججنــا404 وقلنــا. ان ذاك ال يمكننــا فــي هــذا الوقــت. وان كانــت نكهتــي نقيــة مضينــا علــى كل حــال. فلمــا اســتنكهه احدهــم ولــم يكــن هنــاك رايحــة.405 ســار علــى قدميه كمثل حمل406 باختياره الى الذبح. فلقيــه ذلــك الملعــون وســلم عليــه ســام مــودة والغــش فــي قلبــه مكنــون. ولمــا جلســا جميعــا. كان ذلــك مملــوا غيظــا منــه وحقــدا407 عليــه. فلــم يصبــر للبطريــرك ان يبتديــه408 بــكام. بــل قــال لــه. مــا بالــك يــا بطريــرك409 وانــت واحــد مــن اهــل هــذا البلــد مســاكن لنــا ورايــك راي ســو فــي معاملتنــا. وانــت410 تعمــل علينــا. فقــال لــه البطريــرك. وكيــف ذلــك يــا ســيدي ومــن 125v لــه. ومــا الدليــل علــى اي معنــى. فقــال لــه مجيبــا. النــك تكاتــب ملــك الــروم.411 وتكاتــب غــام ابــن حمــدان.412 فقــال ذلــك يــا ســيدي ومــن هــو الــذي وجــد لــي كتابــا بهــذه الصــورة. فتحــرك ذلــك413 كانــه يطلــب كتابــا ثــم قــام قايمــا وتكلــم بالفارسية واستدعى لمن كان قد414 اعدهم415 للقتل من الخراسانية. ــاف ــورة الخش ــال417 ص ــي الح ــه ف ــت صورت ــل وكان ــط. ب ــا فق ــن جبان ــم يك ــه ل ــد. الن ــق416 ويرع ــع ذاك يقل ــو م وه قلبــا وعينــا. الن قامتــه كانــت تــكاد اال تزيــد علــى الشــبر418 اال بمقــدار يســير. وكان منظــره يشــبه خشــافة419 فــي اللــون واللحــظ420 والبشــر. فلمــا حضــر مــن اســتدعاهم421 مــن القــوم المعديــن قــال لهــم عنــد ذلــك بلســانهم واســنانه ترجــف. هــذا هو المطلوب. هذا هو الذي يريد ان يسلم هذه المدينة. هذا هو عدو المسلمين. فدونكن واياه بضعوه بغير اشفاق. 2400  خطينا: ز؛ فتضعف: س 2401  والتاخر ايضا فسبب ارييه: س؛ والتأخير ايضا بسبب بلية: ز 2402  خطينا: س؛ اخطينا: ز 2403  الموعد: ز؛ الممر: س 2404  احتججنا: ز؛ احتجنا: س 2405  رايحة: ز؛ رايحة ولم يكن هناك رايحة: س 2406  حمل: س؛ حمل صاير: ز 2407  غيظا منه وحقدا: س؛ عظامه حقدا وغيظا: ز 2408  للبطريرك ان يبتديه: س؛ ان يبتدره البطريرك: ز 2409  ما بالك يا بطريرك: س؛ يا بطريرك ما بالك: ز 2410  وانت: س؛ النك: ز 2411  الروم: س؛ الروم وتستهذهم الى قصدنا وتطمعهم فينا: ز 2412  حمدان: س؛ حمدان ايضا: ز 2413  فتحرك ذلك: س؛ فنهض ابن مانك: ز 2414  قد: س؛ –ز 2415  اعدهم: ز؛ اعده: س 2416  يقلق: س؛ يعاين: ز 2417  الحال: س؛ الرجال: ز 2418  الشبر: س؛ اليسير: ز 2419  خشافة: س؛ خشافا: ز 2420  واللحظ: س؛ واللحظة: ز 2421  استدعاهم: ز؛ استدعاه: س Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 140 فلــو كان عــدو المســلمين422 يــا عيــن الفــارة ومــن هــو كلــه جــرذ423 فكيــف مــا كان424 عــدوك فــي وقــت شــديد425 بــل كان صديقــك والصديــق426 النافــع لــك مخلصــك مــن العــذاب. ولكــن الــذي كانــت نفســه نفــس تمســاح فــي مقابلــة الخير بشر.427 لما امر في بابه428 بما امر مد ذبح429 المسيح عنقه وهو جالس بغير انزعاج منتظرا اخذ راسه. فلــم يكــن مــع اوليــك مشــرفية. بــل خناجــر طــوال. فاقامــه واحــد منهــم قايمــا وضربــه االخــر بخنجــر طويــل. فعبــر430 كل الحديــد فــي بطنــه. وكان ســيف هللا431 مســنونا. اال انــه كان فــي ذلــك الوقــت مــردودا بحســب مــا عليــه العــادة مــن احــكام هللا فــي االنظــار432 الــى وقــت اخــر للمعاقبــة. فلمــا ســقط الشــهيد الــى االرض قطــع راســه ناحيــة واخــذت جثتــه الطاهــرة 126r في النهر وفتح لها الباب في الليل. وشدت على سلم بامر الجاحد هلل ولاحسان. وطرحت للوقت ولــم يســتتر433 ذلــك عــن كافــة النصــارى. بــل لمــا ســقط راعيهــم ذهلــوا واختبطــوا بمــا بدههــم434 مــن ذلــك وجزعــوا جزعــا شــديدا وتفرقــوا فــي بيــوت قــوم مــن المســلمين اســتتروا فيهــا. علــى انهــم435 لــم يطلبــوا مــن احــد. ولكنــه436 كان مــن الواجــب ان يتمــم437 مقــال ابيهــم الــذي تقــدم فقالــه مــن انهــم اذا اشــتفوا منــي بقتلــي وقذفــوا الســم الــذي اكنــوه438 فــي قلوبهــم علي فلن يطلبوا سواي. ]16[ وامــا ذلــك الحيــوان الضــاري439 الصــورة الزايــد فــي الوحشــية440 فلــم يــزل ممســكا الــى وقــت مــن الليــل النــه اوشــك441 ان روعــه مــا كان بعــد قــد442 رجــع اليــه. فلمــا تمــادى بــه الوقــت الــى الســحر عــاد الــى ذاتــه ووجــه اشــراطه قبــل الصبــح الــى البيعــة443 وقايــة البطريــرك. وكانــوا444 جماعــة ليفتشــوا الموضعيــن.445 وامــا قايــة البطريــرك فلــم يجــدوا فيهــا ]lacuna[2422  فدونكن واياه . . . عدو المسلمين: س؛ –ز 2423  جرذ: س؛ جود: ز 2424  ما كان: س؛ مارى: ز 2425  وقت شديد: س؛ شدتك: ز 2426  والصديق: س؛ –ز 2427  بشر: س؛ بالشر: ز 2428  في بابه: س؛ –ز 2429  ذبح: س؛ خروف: ز 2430  فعبر: س؛ جاز: ز 2431  هللا: ز؛ الدولة هللا: س 2432  االنظار: س؛ االنتظار: ز 2433  واخــذت جثته . . . ولــم يســتتر: س؛ وطــرح فــي اتــون الحمــام فــي جــوار دار ابــن مانــك. واخرجــت جثتــه الطاهــرة فــي الوقــت مــن باب المدينة بالليل وطرحت في النهر. ولم يستر: ز 2434  بدههم: س؛ دهمهم: ز 2435  على انهم: س؛ لكنهم: ز 2436  احد. ولكنه: س؛ واحد. النه: ز 2437  يتمم: س؛ يتم: ز 2438  اكنوه: س؛ اكنزوه: ز 2439  الضاري: ز؛ الصيل في: س 2440  الوحشية: س؛ الوحشة: ز 2441  اوسك: س؛ يوشك: ز 2442  بعد قد: س؛ –ز 2443  البيعة: س؛ البيعة التي هي كنيسة القسيان: ز 2444  وكانوا: س؛ فكانوا بها: ز ]lacuna[2445  ليفتشوا الموضعين: س؛ –ز 141 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) غيــر ماكــول مثــل قمــح وتيــن وزيــت وقــد446 احتفــظ بــه لمونــة الكنيســة وقــوت االخــوة بالمســيح. وامــا شــي اخــر فكيــف كان يوجــد ولــم يكــن هنــاك ذهــب مخزونــا.447 وكيــف كان يخــزن والنفقــة كانــت تســبق مــا يدخــل. وال كان هنــاك ايضــا ملبــوس. وكيــف كان يكــون448 لمــن كان لبســه الصــوف مــن449 غيــر اســكيم رهبانيــة كان عليــه. بــل كان هنــاك ثيــاب450 يسيرة نويسة451 للكهنوت كانت معه ولمن452 كان قبله على طول الزمان. فاخذوا جميعا.453 وفتحــوا خزانــة البيعــة. ولمــا لــم يجــدوا فيهــا شــيا يحتفــل بــه454 ظاهــرا عاقبــوا الخــازن الــى ان اظهــر لهــم المســتور كلــه 126v مــع الثيــاب456 الديبــاج ممــا كان يحتفــظ بــه لزينــة الكنيســة. ولــم يتركــوا شــيا غيــر مــن اوانــي455 الذهــب والفضــة نحــاس ومصاحــف لــم تكــن كثيــرة.457 فمــن هــذه الجملــة مــا حبــا بــه الملعــون لمــن تولــى ســفك الــدم النقــي الزكــي458 بحســب مــا كان وافقهــم عليــه. ومــن ذلــك مــا تمســك بــه لماطفــة مــن كان ينتظــره مــن الفــرس القادميــن لقصــد بلــدان459 الــروم. وفيمــا بيــن ذلــك قــدم القــوم وقبلهــم االنطاكيــون جميعــا460 قبــوال بهيــا. وكان461 ذلــك الكافــر اللعيــن المختــص بهــم. ال مــن اجــل مــا حملــه اليهــم فقــط. بــل والنــه كان مشــاركهم فــي قبيلتهــم ولســانهم. واخــذوا فــي الغــارات علــى اطــراف الــروم462 واجتياحها. ]17[ وكان اذ ذاك نقفــور الملــك المغبــوط متشــاغا بقصــد البلغــر.463 فلمــا عــاد464 انفــذ بطــرس االصطراطوبــذرخ.465 وكانــت لــه وقعــة مــع الخراســانية بناحيــة مدينــة االســكندر المعروفــة باالســكندرية. فانهــزم الفــرس بعــد مبالغتهــم فــي القتــال. وقــد كان معهــم جماعــة مــن فتــاك الطرسوســيين المســلمين اشــاروا عليهــم اال466 يلقــوا القتــال وال يصابــرون فــي الحــرب.467 2446  قمح وتين وزيت وقد: س؛ تين وزبيب قد: ز 2447  مخزونا: س؛ وال فضة مخزونة: ز 2448  يكون: س؛ يكون ولبس: ز 2449  من: س؛ –ز 2450  ثياب: س؛ اشياء: ز 2451  نويسة: س؛ نفيسة: ز 2452  معه ولمن: س؛ معد ممن: ز 2453  جميعا: س؛ جميعها: ز ]lacuna[2454  يحتفل به: س؛ –ز 2455  اواني: س؛ اواني البيعة: ز 2456  الثياب: س؛ السلف: ز 2457  كثيــرة: س؛ كثيــرة. واخــذوا ايضــا اليهــم كرســي مــار بطــرس الســليح وهــو مــن خشــب النخــل مصفــح بفضــة وحفظــوه فــي دار شــيخ من شيوخهم يعرف بابن عامر. ولم يزل في داره الى ان ملك الروم المدينة: ز 2458  الزكي: س؛ الذكي جنسه: ز 2459  بلدان: س؛ جهاد: ز 2460  جميعا: ز؛ جمعا: س 2461  وكان: س؛ وكان في مقدمتهم: ز 2462  ولسانهم. واخذوا . . . اطراف الروم: ز؛ –س 2463  البلغر: ز؛ البرغر: س 2464  عاد: س؛ بلغه ذلك: ز 2465  بطرس االصطراطوبذرخ: ز؛ لبطرس االسطراطوس: س 2466  مدينــة االســكندر . . . عليهم اال: س؛ االســكندرية الصغــرى وهــي التــي بيــن المصيصــة وانطاكيــة. لمــا عــادوا مــن غزواتهــم. فاوقــع بهــم وقتــل صناديدهــم واســر ســار العســكر وجماعــة منهــم. وقــد كان مــع الخراســانيين جماعــة مــن المســلمين الطرطوســيين. فاشــاروا عليهــم باال: ز 2467  الحرب: س؛ الحروب: ز Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 142 اذ قالــوا. ان هــذا الجيــش الــذي يقاتلكــم عســكر ملكــي وليســت468 لكــم بهــم طاقــة. فلــم يقبــل منهــم الفــرس. بــل صابــروا الــى ان قتل صناديدهم469 واكثر رجالهم ثم اسر470 روساوهم. وكان الــكل471 مــن القضــا الواجــب عليهــم مــن الســما. اذ كان العــدل هنــاك472 لــم يصبــر عــن االنتصــار لــدم الشــهيد. فمــن هاهنــا اشــبه473 ان يطيــل474 القــول وان كان منــا ضعيفــا فــي تبييــن النظــام العجيــب النافــذ علــى ترتيــب بغيــر انفصــال 127r النفــع يحقــق عنــد الــكل مــن الفعــل الــى ان قوبــل االشــرار علــى اعمالهــم الرديــة. والتخبيــر فــي ذلــك ففيــه شــي مــن مــا جــا فــي النبــوة فــي بــاب الهبــوط والســقوط فــي يــد هللا الحــي. وان ذلــك لمجــزع شــديد.475 وان المجــازاة ربمــا476 اســرعت او اسرع477 بعضها فكان دليا على كون المتاخر فيما بعد. وذلــك ان روســا عســكر الهجرييــن478 الماســورين فــي479 تلــك الحــرب480 كان الواحــد منهــم ســار العســكر. فابتاعــه481 االنطاكيــون بمــال جســيم وثيــاب عــدة وماســورين كانــوا فــي حبــس بانطاكيــة ممــن اســره القــوم. فلمــا افتــك قــدم الــى انطاكيــة وتلقــاه جماعــة اهلهــا واحتفلــوا فــي تلقيــه482 كل االحتفــال. ولكــن بحســب مــا دخــل فــي ذلــك الوقــت مكرمــا وكان تكريمــه وتبجيلــه يزيــد علــى كل كرامــه. كذلــك كان خروجــه اخيــرا اقبــح خــروج واخــزاه. الن االنطاكييــن مــا صبــروا علــى مــا كان يجــري مــن483 رجالــه الذيــن افلتــوا484 مــن القتــال485 النهــم عــادوا هــم عــراة486 وعــاد هــو ايضــا مثلهــم. وكانــت الضــرورة487 تدعوهــم الــى تخطــف488 بمــا يقــوم بهــم. وكانــت ايديهــم تمتــد فــي بعــض االوقــات الــى امــوال االنطاكييــن489 فلــم يصبــروا 2468  وليست: س؛ وليس: ز 2469  صناديدهم: س؛ ابطالهم: ز 2470  اسر: س؛ اسروا: ز 2471  الكل: س؛ ذلك: ز 2472  هناك: س؛ هنالك: ز 2473  اشبه: س؛ اال شبه: ز 2474  يطيل: س؛ نطيل: ز 2475  لمجزع شديد: س؛ لمفزع ومخوف: ز 2476  ربما: ز؛ بما: س 2477  او اسرع: س؛ واسرع: ز 2478  روسا عسكر الهجريين: س؛ رؤساء الخراسانيين: ز 2479  في: ز؛ في في: س 2480  تلك الحرب: س؛ ذلك الوقت: ز 2481  فابتاعه: س؛ فاشتراه: ز 2482  عــدة وماســورين . . . في تلقيــه: س؛ كثيــرة وباالســارى الذيــن كانــوا اســروهم متقدمــا مــن الــروم كانــوا فــي حبــس انطاكيــة. ولمــا تخلص السار ووصل الى انطاكية تلقاه اهلها باالكرام والتعظيم واحتفلوا بلقاه: ز 2483  وكان تكريمه . . . يجري من: س؛ كان فعله معهم بالعكس. الن: ز 2484  افلتوا: س؛ سلموا: ز 2485  القتال: س؛ القتل: ز 2486  عراة: صححته؛ رعاة: س؛ عراة وحفاة: ز 2487  وكانت الضرورة: س؛ الن الضرورة كانت: ز 2488  تخطف: س؛ خطف: ز 2489  وكانت ايديهم . . . اموال االنطاكيين: س؛ فتسلطوا على االنطاكيين وصاروا يتخطفوا اموالهم ورحاالتهم: ز 143 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) لهم490 على ذلك. بل دافعوهم وانتشبت491 الحرب فيما بينهم واخرجهم اهل492 المدينة عراة. وكانــوا االنطاكيــون الذيــن تولــوا قتالهــم493 عصابتيــن. عمــل رييــس احداهمــا علــى رييــس االخــرى فقتلــه. ثــم494 ورد مــن ليغزوهــم497 يســير نقــر ومعــه عــاد496 ثــم هنــاك. وكان الطرسوســيين صعاليــك مــن افلــت مــن495 بعــض مصــر الــى اطــراف الــروم.498 وكان رييــس العصابــة االخــرى499 كرديــا مــن اهــل بوقــا يدعــا اســمه علــوش. وكان الــوارد مــن 127v الرغيلــي.500 وكانــت المدينــة اذ ذاك فــي يــد علــوش.501 فدخــل الرغيلــي يســلم عليــه. فلمــا انكــب مصــر اســود يســما ــن ــى امري ــر عل ــه. وجس ــه503 فقتل ــه ب ــي وضرب ــه الرغيل ــه. فاخترط ــى ركبتي ــا عل ــك معارض ــيف ذل ــده. كان س ــل502 ي يقب كبيريــن504 فــي وقــت واحــد بغيــر تعييــة.505 فاختــراط ســيف رييــس مــن حجــره والمبــادرة506 بغيــر توقــف الــى قتلــه. فتفــرق رجال المقتول وقد كانوا كثيرين. وصار االمر الى القاتل وكان رجاله قليلين جدا. ولكنــه مــا اقــام وال هــذا507 بعــد ذاك وال طالــت مدتــه. بــل قــدم بطــرس االصطراطوبــذرخ بعــد مديــدة يســيرة ومعــه عســكر ضخــم مــن عســاكر نقفــور الملــك الممــدوح فمــع نزولــه فتــح فــي ليلتــه المدينــة العظمــى المذكــورة508 التــي509 مــا كانــت تــرام. وذاك انــه وجدهــا510 ضعيفــة ممــا تقــدم مــن الغــارات علــى اعمالهــا. وضجــع اهلهــا فــي حفظهــا وحراســتها. النهــم مــا كانــوا قــد عرفــوا خبــر قصدهــا511 فــي ذلــك الوقــت. فمــا تمكنــوا فــي وقــت واحــد فــي512 جمــع رجــال يصعــدون 2490  لهم: س؛ لهم االنطاكيون: ز 2491  وانتشبت: س؛ واستوحشوا منهم وانتشب: ز 2492  واخرجهم اهل: س؛ واخرجوهم من: ز 2493  فتالهم: س؛ قتالهم حينئذ: ز 2494  احداهما على . . . فقتله. ثم: س؛ الفريق الواحد على رئيس الفريق االخر فقتله. وذلك انه كان قد: ز 2495  بعض من: س؛ الى انطاكية رجل اسود ممن: ز 2496  الطرسوسيين وكان هناك. ثم عاد: س؛ طرسوس يعرف بالرغيلي: ز 2497  ليغزوهم: س؛ ليغزوا بهم: ز 2498  الروم: س؛ الروم. فهذا كان رأس العصابة الواحدة: ز 2499  االخرى: ز؛ االخرى الباقي: س 2500  وكان الوارد . . . يسما الرغيلي: صححته؛ وكان الوارد من مصر اسود يسما يسما الرغيلي: س؛ –ز 2501  يد علوش: س؛ يده: ز 2502  يقبل: س؛ لتقبيل: ز 2503  به: س؛ به للحال: ز 2504  امرين كبيرين: صححته؛ امرين كثيرين: س؛ امران كبيران: ز 2505  بغير تعيية: س؛ –ز 2506  والمبادرة: س؛ المبادرة به: ز 2507  جدا. ولكنه . . . وال هذا: س؛ واستولى الرغيلي على انطاكية. لكنه ما قام والؤه: ز 2508  بــل قدم . . . العظمــى المذكــورة: س؛ الن بعــد مــدة يســيرة قــدم بطــرس االصطراطوبــذرخ ومعــه عســكر اضخــم مــن عســكر نيقيفــور الممدوح ونزل على انطاكية. واجتمع اليه ميخائيل البرجي المقيم بحصن بغراس. واقاموا يحاصرون المدينة العظمى: ز 2509  التي: ز؛ الذي: س 2510  وذاك انه وجدها: س؛ وهي اذ ذاك: ز 2511  قد عرفوا خبر قصدها: س؛ يشعروا انها تقصد: ز 2512  فما تمكنوا . . . واحد في: س؛ ولم يتمكنوا من: ز Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 144 الــى الجبــل يحفظــون الســور. وبــادر الــروم بالصعــود اليــه فوجــدوه خاليــا فتمكنــوا513 مــن الصعــود اليــه وملكــوا المدينــة واسروا514 جميع من كان فيها. ولم يفلت منهم احد515 اال ذلك الملعون الذي كان اس البلية.516 وانظــر هاهنــا انــت يــا ســامع القــول الــى تاخيــر قضــا العــدل فيمــا تقــدم. واتمهــا اليــك517 فيمــا تاخــر. وذاك انــه كان518 امــره. االول فــي وخفــي االســام. بلــدان مــن كان519 مــا ايــن الــى ينجــو ان طالبــا ليــا المدينــة مــن خــرج 128r خاصــه مــن االســر وحــده فقــط. بــل ولتمكنــه علــى ظنــه مــن الحيلــة والتخــرص وكان مســرورا بذلــك. ال مــن اجــل والكــذب علــى هللا والمايكــة. وانهــم حملــوه فــي الهــوى وخلصــوه. وقــد كانــت جــرت عادتــه قديمــا بمثــل ذلــك. وكان يدقــق520 الحيلــة والمخرقــة والكــذب علــى رب العالميــن. ولكــن قضــا521 العــدل هاهنــا ســبقه وقــدم لــه فــي الطريــق باقولــة522 مــن الســريان فــي جبــل االقــرع مــا كانــوا علمــوا بفتــح المدينــة. فاخــذوه وقدمــوا بــه اليهــا لمــا عرفــوا ممــن كان معــه فتحهــا. وكان االصطراطوبــذرخ وقتيــذ علــى حلــب يطلــب منــه اهلهــا مصالحتــه فواقفــوه علــى امــوال جســيمة يحملونهــا اليــه وعــاد بعــد االســتيثاق منهــم فحمــل اليــه اهــل الباقولــة523 ذلــك الملعــون الــذي كانــوا اســروه. وكان يعــرف بابــن مانــك.524 فســلمه الى من يحتاط عليه الى ان ينظر ما يجب ان يعمل في بابه.525 فاجتمــع روســا العســكر الــى المشــورة فــي ذلــك.526 فاشــار بعــض الروســا بحملــه527 الــى الملــك. وخالفهــم غيرهــم وقالــوا. ــي530 ــدم الزك ــك ال ــا529 لذل ــه انتصاف ــيا قتل ــب االش ــل528 اوج ــة. ب ــرة ملكي ــى حض ــل ال ــل الحم ــى يوه ــذا حت ــو ه ــن ه وم الــذي ســفكه. فاجابهــم531 االخــرون الذيــن كانــوا اشــاروا بحملــه وقالــوا. مــا الصــواب ان يدنــس532 ذلــك الــدم الطاهــر بهــذا الــدم النجــس. فقــال فــي االخــر افســطاثيوس البطريــق اســطراتيغوس الكبــادوك533 المعــروف بالماينــي. هــل البطريــرك 2513  يحفظون السور . . . خاليا فتمكنوا: س؛ ليحفظوا السور. ورآه الروم خاليا فبادروا بالطلوع اليه فلم يروا احدا فيه وتمكنوا: ز 2514  واســروا: س؛ يــوم الخميــس لثلــث عشــر ليلــة خلــت مــن ذي الحجــة ســنة ثمــان وخمســين وثلثمايــة. وطــرح المســلمين النــار لتحيــل بينهم وبين الروم وفتحوا باب البحر وخرج منه جماعة من اهلها وأسر الروم: ز 2515  منهم احد: س؛ منه احد منهم: ز 2516  اس البلية: س؛ رئيس رأس البلية ابن مانك: ز 2517  واتمها اليك: ز؛ واستقالته: س 2518  كان: س؛ كان قد: ز 2519  اين ما كان: س؛ بلد: ز 2520  يدقق: س؛ يتقن: ز 2521  قضا: س؛ القضاء: ز 2522  باقولة: صححته؛ باقولة اي عصبة: ز؛ راقوله: س 2523  الباقولة: صححته؛ الراقوله: س 2524  ما كانوا . . . بابن مانك: س؛ ممن كانوا يغيرون انطاكية. فقبضوا عليه وجاووا به الى االصطراطوبذرخ: ز 2525  بابه: س؛ بابه. وانعم على اهل الباقولة بنعم جسيمة: ز 2526  فاجتمع روسا . . . في ذلك: س؛ –ز 2527  الروسا بحمله: س؛ الرؤساء بحمل ذلك الملعون ابن مانك: ز 2528  ملكية. بل: س؛ الملك. بل من: ز 2529  انتصافا: س؛ انتقاما: ز 2530  الزكي: س؛ الذكي: ز 2531  فاجابهم: ز؛ فاجابه: س 2532  يدنس: س؛ يتدنس: ز 2533  الكبادوك: ز؛ القباذوق: س 145 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) هاهنــا حاضــر534 يامرنــا بقتلــه حتــى يتدنــس مــن هــذا دمــه535 كمــا تقولــون. امــا ذاك فانســان قــد قضــى مــا يجــب عليــه 128v ومضــى وحصــل بحيــث ينتظــر مــن هللا المكافــاة الجميلــة. وامــا نحــن فــان كنــا نصــارى فيجــب لنــا ان ننتصــف لــه من الظلم الجاري عليه. ولمــا قــال لهــم مثــل هــذا القــول اقنعهــم وانفــذ المحكــوم عليــه الــى جســر بــاب البحــر الــذي كان هــو طــرح منــه الجثــة الكريمــة الــى النهــر. وقطــع قطعــة قطعــة بالســيوف ولــم يطــرح536 القطــع فــي النهــر وال اهــل لذلــك. بــل رمــي بــكل واحــدة منهــا الــى حيــث مــا537 اتفــق علــى الحضيــض وحصلــت طعمــا538 للطيــور والــكاب. وامــا االخــران539 اللــذان كانــا شــاركاه في اهراق الدم فكانا قد540 انفذا الى حبس541 طرسوس542 ولم يطلبا في ذلك الوقت وال نفذ في بابهما حكم.543 ]18[ ثــم اتفــق ان544 الملــك مــن قبــل معرفتــه بخبــر انطاكيــة علــى حقيقتــه قتــل وحصــل الملــك البــن السمســيق. وبــادر الــى انفــاذ ثــاودورس الراهــب مــن اهــل قلونيــة وجعلــه بطريــركا علــى مدينــة هللا انطاكيــة. وقدمــه الــى هاهنــا معمــن اوصلــه فســال لوقتــه545 عــن خبــر الشــهيد وطلــب بقيــة جســده الطاهــر. وذاك ان جثتــه كانــت546 ظهــرت بعــد ثمانيــة ايــام مــن شــهادته التــي كانــت فــي547 ليلــة اليــوم الثالــث والعشــرين548 مــن شــهر ايــار.549 وكان ظهورهــا فــي جزيــرة مــن النهــر قــد تعلقــت بطــراش هنــاك. ولــم يكــن الــراس الكريــم معهــا. النــه قيــل ان ذلــك الكافــر كان احرقــه. فخــرج قــوم مــن نصــارى انطاكيــة ســرا ودفنوهــا فــي الديــر المقــدس المعــروف بارشــايا. فلمــا عــرف ذلــك ثــاودورس البطريــرك لــم يتصبــر وال تثاقــل عــن 129r هنــاك. بــل صــار الــى الديــر المقــدس وحمــل ليبســانات551 القديــس ومعــه االكليــرس الطاهــر وخلــق النفــوذ الــى مــا550 مــن المومنيــن. وســاروا قدامهــا الــى المدينــة552 بليتيــن ومحفــل عظيــم. وجعلوهــا فــي جــرن لطيــف مــن الرخــام وحصــل على مايدة553 رخام في مغارب الكنيسة الكبرى. 2534  حاضر: ز؛ حاضرا: س 2535  يتدنس من هذا دمه: س؛ نتدنس نحن بدمه: ز 2536  يطرح: س؛ تطرح: ز 2537  الى حيث ما: س؛ حسبما: ز 2538  طعما: س؛ طعاما: ز 2539  االخران: س؛ ابن محمود وابن دعامة: ز 2540  فكانا قد: س؛ الذكي فانهما كانا: ز 2541  حبس: ز؛ جسر: س 2542  طرسوس: س؛ طرسوس وبقيا فيه مدة طويلة: ز 2543  وال نفذ في بابهما حكم: س؛ –ز 2544  ان: س؛ ان نقفور: ز 2545  وقدمه الى . . . فسال لوقته: س؛ وقدم الى هاهنا. ثم اوصله فسلك لوقته وسأل: ز 2546  كانت: س؛ الكريمة كانت قد: ز 2547  في: س؛ –ز 2548  والعشرين: س؛ والعشرون: ز 2549  ايار: س؛ أيار سنة ست وخمسين وثلثماية للهجرة: ز 2550  الى ما: صححته؛ الى ما الى ما: س؛ الى: ز 2551  ليبسانات: صححته؛ لمسنا: س؛ جسد: ز 2552  الى المدينة: س؛ –ز 2553  وحصل على مايدة: س؛ ووضعوه على مائدة من: ز Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 146 اال ان انبــا554 نقــوال البطريــرك مــن بعــد برهــة مــن الســنين نقلــه مــن هنــاك باكــرام ايضــا. وحصلــه555 فــي جــوف بيــت القديــس مــار بطــرس راس الرســل مــع شــبوقته وكرســيه وحيــول عــدة وليبســانات لبابيــا البطريــرك556 ايضــا واغناطيــوس ــس ــبوقة557 خريصوصطوم ــة وش ــة المكرم ــدان والحرب ــا المعم ــار يوحن ــول م ــن حي ــرى م ــيا اخ ــا. واش ــرك ايض البطري ومنطقة مار سمعان الحلبي العمودي. وغير ذلك مما هو كله في خزانة القديس مار بطرس الى غايتنا هذه. ]19[ لكــن القضــا العالــي لــم يســكن كثيــرا فيمــا بعــد عمــن كان شــريكا فــي القتــل. فالواحــد مــن االثنيــن وهــو ابــن محمــود كان فــي ســجن طرســوس فــي كل شــقا وضــر والــم نفــس وجســم558 يعاقــب باعمالــه الــى ان ســلم559 نفســه الشــقية جاحــدة لاحســان ومقابلــة للمحســن560 بالقبيــح الــذي ال مزيــد عليــه. وامــا االخــر وهــو ابــن دعامــة فبقــي محبوســا الــى ان قــدم الــى انطاكيــة يــد عــدل مــن البطريــق البرجــي561 كان فــي ذلــك الوقــت. فانفــذ مــن احضــره وثقلــه562 بحجــارة وطرحــه فــي النهــر.563 وحصــل الثاثــة وهــم ابــن مانــك وابــن محمــود وابــن دعامــة الذيــن تولــوا قتــل القديــس مكافاتهــم بعــد افعالهــم وفي564 االخرة ينتظرون العقوبة الدايمة. ــان ــع الرهب ــا م ــن. وافق ــا للصديقي ــة. مخالط ــاكنا للكهن ــة مس ــموات العالي ــي الس ــل ف ــس فحص 129v القدي ــا ]20[ وام الناســكين فــي صــف الشــهدا المقدميــن.565 وذاك انــه كان لبعــض هــاوال القديســين تابعــا مقاربــا والحقــا صاقبــا.566 وكان فيهــم مــن مــاراه567 ولــم يبعــد عــن شــاوه568 وال كان متاخــرا عنــه. وفيهــم مــن ســبقه وزاد عليــه بحســب البيــن مــن افعالــه والداليــل المعروفة من اعماله. فابراهيــم569 كان منتقــا بامــر هللا مــن وطنــه570 وصــار ابــا المــم وعــد بهــا.571 افلــم يكــن هــذا ايضــا منتقــا مــن ذاتــه ووالــدا الوالد كثيــرة روحانييــن. واســحق فخطــب رفقــة بمراســلة. وهــذا خطــب البيعــة المقدســة بنفســه. ويعقــوب ورث بركــة ابيــه ولكــن بحيلــة. واخــذ البــن ولكــن البركــة اخذهــا بدقــة مــن الحيلــة المذكــورة.572 واالمراتــان اخذهمــا بعــد تعــب وشــقا شــقيه مــن اجلهمــا. وكان مــع ذاك ناظــرا الــى ثــواب ياخــذه ظاهــرا. وامــا هــذا بغيــر غــش ومــع كل صــدق وصــل الــى 2554  انبا: س؛ القديس: ز 2555  وحصله: س؛ وجعله: ز 2556  وليبسانات لبابيا البطريرك: س؛ ولباسات لآلباء البطاركة: ز 2557  المكرمة وشبوقة: س؛ الكريمة السيدية وشبوقة يوحنا: ز 2558  نفس وجسم: س؛ يقين وجسيم: ز 2559  سلم: س؛ هلكت: ز 2560  جاحدة لاحسان ومقابلة للمحسن: س؛ المقابلة للحسن: ز 2561  يد عدل من البطريق البرجي: س؛ ميخائيل البرجي البطريق: ز 2562  وثقله: ز؛ وثقل: س 2563  النهر: س؛ البحر: ز 2564  مكافاتهم بعد افعالهم وفي: ز؛ ومكافاته بضد فعاله في: س 2565  المقدمين: س؛ القديسين: ز 2566  مقاربا والحقا صاقبا: س؛ مقارنا والحقا صاحبا: ز 2567  ماراه: س؛ جاراه: ز 2568  شاوه: س؛ شأنه: ز 2569  فابراهيم: س؛ الن ابراهيم القديم: ز 2570  بامر هللا من وطنه: س؛ من وطنه بامر هللا: ز 2571  عد بها: س؛ كثيرة: ز 2572  واخذ البن . . . الحيلة المذكورة: س؛ –ز 147 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) بــركات مــن افــواه كثيريــن. والعــروس الروحانيــة التــي اخذهــا فلــم يخــل مــن نصــب573 مــن اجلهــا. ولكنــه مــا نظــر الــى ثواب حاضر. بل تحقق ثوابا مستانفا574 ال يبصر. ودعــة داود لعمــري مــا حصــل لهــذا كلهــا. النــه قــد كان575 تبقــى576 فيــه بقيــة يســيرة مــن عجــب577 الكتــاب. وســبيل الحــق فــي ذلــك ان يقــال اذ كان يمســه مــن ذلــك شــي مــا كان امكنــه بعــد ان يزيلــه بالكليــة. وعســاه قــد كان فــي ذلــك مجتهــدا وكان متمســكا ببعــض ذلــك عمــدا لموضــع الرياســة ومــا يحتــاج اليــه فــي التاديــب. وامــا ســليمان فمــا كان امكنــه ان يصــل 130r الــى حكمتــه. ولكــن كان فيــه عوضــا عــن ذلــك578 ثباتــه علــى االمانــة بــاهلل وعــدم الخضــوع579 الــى االالم واالنســحاب الى الخنى. وهذا580 فهو اشرف من حكمة الدنيا واثر عند هللا. وامــا االبرودرومــس ســاكن البــراري. فمــا كان شــي فــي هــذا منــه581 النــه لــم يكــن نبيــا وال ســابقا وال ســكن بريــة. اال انــه كان مناديــا باالمانــة ومبينــا لحســن العبــادة وكان بذلــك معروفــا. ومــا عمــد لعمــري جماعــة. ولكنــه خلــص كثيريــن مــن اطــراح المعموديــة والنــزوع عنهــا وعاونهــم582 ببذلــه ورفــده علــى حفظهــا ووصــل583 بعــد ذلــك الــى المعموديــة الكبــرى العليى التي ال تتدنس بشي من الوضر واالوساخ الثانية.584 وحصــل لــه مــن بطــرس غليــان االمانــة. ولكنــه ابعــد مــع ذاك عــن الجبــن واالنخــزال.585 وتشــبه مــن بولــص باالنتقــال ولكنــه لــم ينتقــل مــن حــال اضطهــاد الديــن. بــل مــن تخليــط العالــم وعقــاالت لذاتــه. وان كان مــن اورشــليم الــى اللوريقــوس لــم يصــل بالمنــاداة. وذلــك ان بولــص وحــده وصــل الــى ذلــك وهــو الــذي اختطــف الــى الســما الثالثــة وســمع الــكام الــذي ال شــرح.586 ولكــن لــم يقصــر ايضــا وال هــذا فيمــا امكنــه مــن قــوم يســندهم587 ويدعمهــم. وقــوم يعظهــم ويبصرهــم. وقــوم ينهاهم ويزجرهم. في مواضع كثيرة من الشدايد الكبار ينجيهم ويخلصهم. ]21[ ولكــن يــا هامــة588 االهيــة ذات كل طهــارة التــي كانــت عنــدي خاصــة معشــوقة. وعنــد الكافــة عامــة محتشــمة. ويــا مــن كان بجماعــة589 المذكوريــن متشــبها. وللكثيريــن منهــم عاشــقا. والــى كل حســنة ســابقا. اقبــل منــي هــذا القــول. 2573  نصب: س؛ تعب: ز 2574  مستانفا: س؛ سابقا: ز 2575  قد كان: س؛ كان قد: ز 2576  تبقى: ز؛ يبقا: س 2577  عجب: س؛ تحجب: ز 2578  ذلك: س؛ تلك: ز 2579  وعدم الخضوع: ز؛ وعدمه الخفوف: س 2580  الخنى. وهذا: س؛ الحياة. وهذا لعمري: ز 2581  منه: س؛ –ز 2582  والنزوع عنها وعاونهم: س؛ والتروغ عنها وعادتهم: ز 2583  ووصل: س؛ ومهد: ز 2584  الثانية: س؛ الثابتة: ز 2585  ذاك عن الجبن واالنخزال: س؛ ذلك الجبن واالنحراك: ز 2586  وذلك ان . . . ال شرح: س؛ –ز 2587  يسندهم: س؛ يشيدهم: ز 2588  ولكن يا هامة: س؛ ولبس باسلحة: ز 2589  بجماعة: س؛ لجماعة من: ز Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 148 130v فامــا ان تتصــوره مديحــا او تتصــوره مرثيــا او تجبيــرا.590 وخــذه بعيشــك البهــي وان كان قــوال فقيــرا.591 ولكنــه بحســب الطاقــة. وكمــا لــم592 تســتنكف ان تســعى بقدميــك مــن اجلــي حتــى ســلمتني الــى ذلــك المــودب االلهــي الفاضــل. عســاك رجــوت منــي ان اصيــر فاضــا.593 او تقدمــت فعرفــت انــي594 اصيــر كمــا صــرت فــي العلــوم ناقصــا. ولكنــك595 علمــت علــى كل حــال علمــا روحانيــا انــي596 اقــدر فــي بعــض االوقــات ان اكتــب خبــرك ليــا ينســى فــي طــول الزمــان. فكذلــك597 تعطــف علــي وفــي الوقــت هــذا598 واصفــح لــي عــن تاخيــري واجــب المقــال فيــك599 هــذه الغايــة. ال تحرمنــي عنــد وقوفــك االن فــي الســموات امــام المنبــر العظيــم بحســب مــا كنــت مشــتاقا او بحســب مــا كنــت حريصــا مجتهــدا ان تنظــر الــي.600 وتشــفع فــي. وقــد كان والــدي قــد عــول601 علــى عنايتــك فــي خافتــك فــي وفــي اخوتــي رضــي هللا عــن الجميــع. وتبالــغ فــي الســوال والتضــرع فــي ان تغفــر602 خطايــاي وينجــب ســعيي فــي بقيــة عمــري واخلــص مــن الشــدايد وانتقــل الــى مــا يرضــي هللا ويزلف لديه. ]22[ فلــك عــدة مــن التبــاع والمســاعدين االوالد الذيــن اولدتهــم بالمســيح وهديتهــم603 الــى الطريــق الموديــة الــى مــا يرضي هللا. وقد كانوا اغصانا مقدسة وازهارا روحانية ومقدمات من بلدنا النفيس604 االلهي مقبولة. ــمعان ــار س ــر م ــى دي ــس وراس عل ــور القدي ــك نقف ــي المل ــذي لق ــك605 ال ــك وغرس ــر. نصبت ــي الكبي ــا جرج ــم انب فمنه العمودي الحلبي الجبلي.606 131r على باد607 المشرق. ومنهم انبا يوحنا العجيب الذي اهل الن صار كاثوليكا ومنهــم انبــا خاريطــن الثانــي المجتهــد االرشــمندريتس رييــس608 ديــر مــار609 ســمعان العجايبــي البحــري الــذي فــي جبــل اللكام العجيب. 2590  مديحا او . . . او تجبيرا: س؛ موفقا او تتصوره مرتبا او تخبيرا: ز 2591  فقيرا: س؛ قاصرا: ز 2592  لم: ز؛ ال: س 2593  اصير فاضا: س؛ اصف واصبر قليا: ز 2594  اني: س؛ ان: ز 2595  ناقصا. ولكنك: س؛ فاضا. ولكني: ز 2596  روحانيا اني: س؛ وحاشا ان: ز 2597  فكذلك: س؛ فلذلك: ز 2598  وفي الوقت هذا: س؛ في هذا الوقت: ز 2599  فيك: س؛ فيك الى: ز 2600  الي: س؛ الرب: ز 2601  كان والدي قد عول: س؛ كانوا الذين عولوا: ز 2602  تغفر: س؛ يغفر: ز 2603  وهديتهم: س؛ وقدمتهم: ز 2604  بلدنا النفيس: س؛ لدن النفس: ز 2605  وغرسك: س؛ وغرستك: ز 2606  الجبلي: س؛ –ز 2607  باد: ز؛ بلد: س 2608  رييس: صححته؛ رئيس: ز؛ –س 2609  مار: س؛ سابا. ومنهم: ز 149 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) ومنهم انبا يعيش الحبيس610 الذي جاهد في611 انواع من عمد الحبس وصنع القوات العجيبة. ومنهــم انبــا افــرام رجــل هللا الحبيــس الــذي صبــر612 علــى ضيــق المحابــس الكثيــرة. ولــم ينتقــل عــن طريقــة واحــدة. وكان حبيسا بنا مخصوصا613 بل بالمسيح في دير القديس غريغوريوس الثاولوغس.614 ومنهــم انبــا ارميــا رفيقــه العجيــب رييــس ديــر615 الســيدة والــدة االلــه المعــروف بالجراجمــة الــذي انشــاه هــو فــي جبــل اللكام المقدس. ومنهم االب المغبوط افتيكيوس ابن فرخوس.616 ومنهــم617 انبــا غريغوريــوس الكبيــر الفاضــل رييــس ديــر الســيدة والــدة االلــه المعــروف بدفنونــا. وكفــى باشــهاره618 في الفضايل. وكذلــك فقــد ذكــرت لــكل منهــم خبــرا مفــردا علــى حــده619 كمــا اســتاهلوا ان يكونــوا مذكوريــن. وان كنــت اختصــرت فيــه غايــة االختصــار. وكفــا بانهــم620 مــن نصبــك مديحــا لهــم وذكــرا. وشــفاعتك621 وصلواتهــم اجمعيــن فلتكــن لنــا622 مخلصــة وحافظة االن ودايما والى اقصى الدهور كلها.623 امين. >وليقل كافة الشعب امين.<624 2610  الحبيس: س؛ الحلبي: ز 2611  في: س؛ –ز 2612  الحبس وصنع . . . الذي صبر: س؛ الحبيس وصبر: ز 2613  حبيسا بنا مخصوصا: س؛ حبيبا بنا: ز 2614  الثاولوغس: س؛ الثاولوغس ببتياس: ز 2615  دير: س؛ دير الست: ز 2616  فرخوس: س؛ فرجوس: ز 2617  ومنهم: ز؛ ومنهم انا: س 2618  بدفنونا. وكفى باشهاره: س؛ بدقنونا. وكفانا باشتهاره: ز 2619  حده: س؛ حدة: ز 2620  وكفا بانهم: س؛ وكفانا بهم: ز 2621  وشفاعتك: س؛ وشفاعتك وصلواتك: ز 2622  لنا: ز؛ له: س 2623  الدهور كلها: س؛ اخر الدهور: ز 2624  وليقل كافة الشعب امين: س؛ –ز Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 150 Translation 111v In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. The twenty-third day of May. The story of the life of the patriarch of Antioch, the martyr Christopher, and his martyrdom there. Ibrāhīm b. Yūḥannā, the imperial625 prōtospatharios there, composed it in Greek, then also translated it into Arabic. May God benefit us by it, amen. Nature and actions in accordance with the divine image626 are among the deeds of God (blessed be every mention of him). As for sin and all things that diverge from the outlines of that image, they are among the deeds of the Evil One. And as for our own deeds, we say first that they are among the deeds of God, because everything recognizes that he (exalted be his name) created all things that exist out of nothing and ennobled humans by his own hand when he created them in his image. But we mention secondly that they are among the deeds of Iblīs, because he envied our father Adam for the nobility that he had attained, so he deceived and misled him with the hope of divinization, making him sink and fall away from the natural virtues and outstanding traits of the image upon which he was formed. Thus 112r it has become a virtue to establish our nature upon its original foundation and basis and to put an end to our separation from the core of the image, and it has become a shortcoming and a vice to remove ourselves from the duties of our nature, to turn away from its original basis in any direction, to abandon the image’s journey toward that upon which it was formed, and to turn our faces toward its opposite. Thus the prophet’s saying “I will judge you according to the state in which I find you at the end”627 became necessary. By my life, this is one of the most necessary and important things! For God (blessed be his name), who is the first good, made us and created us to do good, so that good might be our goal and intention. After we have deviated from it, we return to it, so that we might begin to ascend toward it after turning away, because the only thing that prevents us from doing so is not God (powerful and great), but our own will. How, then, could this saying not be necessary? From this it follows that he will judge us according to the state in which we are found at the end of our days. So we have come to this point: Whomever we see in a given form at the end, whether they have been good and 625. “Imperial” (malakī) could also be translated “Melkite” in a reference to Ibrāhīm’s Christological affiliation. However, compare MS British Library Or. 8607, fol. 28b, where an Abraham (possibly this author) is described as “the emperor’s scribe,” kātbā d-malkā. See Brock, “Syriac Manuscripts,” 62, 66–67. For more on this translation choice, see Mugler, “Ibrāhīm ibn Yūḥannā,” 192–93; Samuel Noble, “A Byzantine Bureaucrat and Arabic Philosopher: Ibrāhīm ibn Yūḥannā al-Anṭākī and His Translation of On the Divine Names 4.18–35,” in Caught in Translation: Studies on Versions of Late Antique Christian Literature, ed. Madalina Toca and Dan Batovici, 276–312 (Leiden: Brill, 2020), 268–69. 626. The preface uses the roots ṣ-w-r and ṣ-y-r (“image,” “become,” etc.) as a running motif. 627. Ezekiel 7:3? 151 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) righteous all of their days or have returned to goodness and righteousness after straying far away—they have returned, and we must praise and commend them, because we know that nothing prevented them and they have turned toward this form of power without anything to hinder them, unto the ultimate blessing and the furthest remembrance. When we find someone who first made a mistake and then apologized for it in the end, it is no embarrassment to praise and exalt them on account of what they became afterward. So the “chosen vessel,”628 despite his previous 112v acts of persecution, must be highly praised, since his struggle629 ended on the side of truth. The same applies to Matthew, because he became an evangelist after collecting taxes.630 So if anyone is like these two, who first went one way but afterward returned to virtue, they must be praised for what they began to do afterward. And if this is true of those who were in error before, what can we say about one who was not in error before, but was rather in the middle ranks of people, among those who were polluted voluntarily or involuntarily, between the highest and the lowest? The person who fits this description must certainly be considered virtuous and counted among those who should be greatly praised. [1. The Early Years] One person we know who fits this description is Christopher,631 the great patriarch and the noble martyr, because of the payments he received before, when he was a secretary,632 and because he endured his later struggle and devotion, though he did not have an earlier custom or precedent of religious exercise. He had a powerful passion and zeal for even the smallest good works and later had an even greater passion for struggling on behalf of the truth. His homeland was the City of Peace, Baghdad, which the early children of Hagar substituted for the city of Ctesiphon as their capital city, the land of their sciences and their pure language. As for his parents, I do not know what they were like, but they must have been prominent and important to become the parents of someone like him. The period of his education in his own city was brief, consisting only of what he needed to become well educated in the elementary sciences, then to master rhetoric as well as he could, and beyond that to master the skill of handwriting. For when he wrote, no 113r one could decide which was more perfect in his calligraphy: its beauty or its speed. For these two qualities had never been equally present in a single person. In him, not only were they equal, but everyone who saw him thought that they were competing with each other and striving for precedence. 628. Saul/Paul; Acts 9:15. 629. Jihād. 630. Cf. Matthew 9:9. 631. The text of Z begins here and reads “Christopher, the blessed, fortunate one.” 632. Z omits: “because of . . . a secretary.” Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 152 For this reason, and due to his aforementioned virtue—or rather, due to the concern of divine providence for the see of the Head of the Apostles633 that is here—it was not possible for him to dwell in his homeland for long. Once he had become as well educated as he could be, as we have mentioned, he imitated the chosen father634 who had migrated from those regions; he, too, migrated, because he, too, was going to become the great father of a multitude. He migrated from the land of the Chaldeans to the land of the Syrians. And by “the land of the Syrians,” I do not mean “the land of the Canaanites,” which is now the land of Palestine, but I mean the town near us, not far away, the town of Aleppo. The management of all of this was with God, who lays the foundations of things in advance, so that at last they come to a praiseworthy end beneficial to all. He (great and powerful) continuously makes small things the prologue to great things that do not even occur to the imagination beforehand. In this case, Ibn Ḥamdān, whose surname was Sayf al-Dawla and whose renown was great, was important and had a powerful influence in this region. He showed concern for every virtuous person who had nobility and high ambition, so he was like a magnetic stone whose goodness attracted635 people from 113v all other countries. Therefore, the one who had imitated the ancient father in his migration headed in his direction. His name was originally ʿĪsā,636 and he was going to become what he was going to be named—or rather, what he was going to be named came first, so he took that name.637 And just as he had put on Christ in baptism,638 so he would also put him on in his blood. ʿAlī b. Ḥamdān handed him over to one of the great emirs of the wilderness, named Khalīfa b. Jundī, whose emirate was in the area of Shayzar. So ʿĪsā was with him, and all of his affairs were handed over to him. [2. The Christians of Iraq and Central Asia] He was not known among the Antiochians at first; no one had heard of him or knew anything about him, but afterward he became known because of the coming story. Ctesiphon, which we have mentioned, was large and greatly renowned, because it was the limit, frontier, and boundary of the kingdom of the Persians. And there was a community 633. Raʾs al-salīḥiyyīn, that is, Peter, whose first see was in Antioch. 634. Abram/Abraham, whose two names mean “great (or high) father” and “father of a multitude,” respectively; cf. Genesis 11:31–12:9, 17:5. 635. Lacuna in Z omits: “like a . . . goodness attracted.” 636. The typically Muslim name for Jesus (the typically Christian name is Yasūʿ). Z adds: “because he was going to become a patriarch like Abraham, though he did not know it. But he was later named Christopher.” 637. This sentence is confusing, and quite different in the two manuscripts. It seems, however, that the idea is that Christopher was going to live up to his name by becoming a bearer of Christ. The second part of the sentence suggests a correction to the first: he was already a bearer of Christ, and that was why he chose the name Christopher when he became patriarch. This assumes the audience’s knowledge that the Greek name Christopher means “bearer of Christ,” which would have been obvious in the original Greek. 638. Cf. Galatians 3:27. 153 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) of Christians there whose pastor was not called a metropolitan, because the rank of metropolitan was not sufficient to shepherd such a large group throughout all the countries of Persia and to hand over their affairs to bishops alone. For they were also rather few, and the situation called for numerous bishops, so many that it was not possible for one metropolitan to name and ordain them all, so there was a need for numerous metropolitans. Moreover, those regions were distant, far from our city called by the name of God,639 and they were in the kingdom of the Persians, which often prevented travel to 114r Antioch for the appointment of a metropolitan for every place. There was already another policy among the ancients for this situation, the likes of which had been used for different nations and distant places, such as the Georgians,640 the Abkhaz, and the Bulgars: a person was ordained whose authority was greater than the authority of a metropolitan, and he was called a catholicos, as they were called in those places that we mentioned. Our predecessors followed this custom, and the leader of our city ordained a catholicos for the city of Ctesiphon. When the Hagarenes641 built the City of Peace, which is Baghdad, they wanted to move the Christians away from its vicinity, so they moved them to a distant city in the Persian lands, called Shash,642 and sent the catholicos into exile there with his exiled companions. That relocated tribe was called “the community of the Romans,” and naturally their group was called by this name.643 So the residence of the catholicos was in Shash for some time, and no one challenged or disputed it. But when a group of Roman prisoners began to accumulate and some of them obtained their freedom, a dispute began between the two sides. The group of Christians gathered in Baghdad said, “The catholicos belongs to us, and we are more deserving of him, because his residence was in Ctesiphon, and Ctesiphon is near us.” And the people in Shash said, “We are the people of that place, who were moved from there to here with the catholicos of all the East, and as a person is nobler than any piece of land, it is necessary for us to have the catholicos, who moved here with us. We have precedence, as we are rational creatures, and it is more proper 114v for us than for you. You ask that you should have precedence on account of nothing but stones and dust!” While the quarrel between the two sides was ongoing, the current catholicos died, and there was need for another person after him to carry out the ministry of the priesthood there. Therefore, three emissaries came to Antioch from Romagird requesting the ordination 639. A reference to Antioch’s Greek title of Theou Polis, or “City of God.” 640. For “Georgians,” Z reads: al-Khazarān. There is no known catholicate among the Khazars, and Marius Canard suggests that Ibrāhīm intended Jurzān, the Georgians. This seems to be the reading in S, though it could also be read as Khurzān. See Marius Canard, “Une vie du patriarche melkite d’Antioche, Christophore († 967),” Byzantion 23 (1953): 561–69, at 562. 641. For “Hagarenes,” Z reads: “children of Hagar.” 642. Now part of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. 643. Apparently a reference to Rōmagird (Persian)/Rhōmagyris (Greek), the name of this Christian colony in Central Asia. The etymology of the name is disputed and difficult to reconcile with Ibrāhīm’s jamāʿat al-Rūm; see Néophyte Edelby, “Note sur la catholicosat de Romagyris,” Proche-Orient chrétien 2 (1952): 39–46, at 40; Canard, “Vie,” 563. Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 154 of a catholicos. One was a priest and the other two were deacons. I, the speaker and writer, saw them—while I was still a boy—remaining in our church and saying that they would not return until they were given an audience and allowed to take the catholicos whom they had come from the end of the earth to request. And the aforementioned ʿĪsā heard they had come, and he was not pleased with their plan, because he was a Baghdadi and one of their opponents on the topic of the catholicos—in fact, the leader of that side. Working to put an end to their plan,644 he did not delay or rest, but left his work behind and took up the pain of the journey to Antioch to drive them away. There was no one who appointed him to do this; he took up the cause of his own accord, simply out of zeal for his homeland. At that time, the one entrusted with the administration of our town named for God was the late Agapios645 b. Qaʿbarūn, who held the patriarchate before him. So the dispute, discussion, and quarrel over the installation of the catholicos took place in his presence, and the aforementioned ʿĪsā fiercely contended for the people of his country, presenting their arguments and seeking victory for them—to bring the catholicos to their city, which is the City of Peace and the replacement for Ctesiphon. 115r As the patriarch judged, he seemed not to be swayed by what ʿĪsā was requesting, but he recoiled from his skill and was ashamed to face him, so he left the matter hanging.646 ʿĪsā was satisfied and departed, but he had shown the Antiochians that he was a man of great endurance and that he had a fierce zeal for the affairs of the church. [3. His Election to the Patriarchate] It was only a little later that the patriarch died, and it became the concern of the Antiochians to choose a patriarch and pastor to succeed him. For here, the choice did not belong to metropolitans and bishops—who care about nothing except what will improve their own situation, and do not care what will improve the situation of the masses—as is the custom in other places. Here, the choice was available to everyone affected; both commoners and elites cared about it and had a choice in it. Anyone who precisely considers the concept of choice will find that the system used here is unspoiled by personal desires, and therefore also pleasing to God. When the Antiochians set about doing this, a group of them debated at length whether to choose one person or another. But they did not find anyone more agreeable to them or more suitable for their see than ʿĪsā. So when their community agreed to choose him, they brought their request to Sayf al-Dawla, because he was in command of the region. He was pleased with their position, because he was partial and favorable toward ʿĪsā. But he had no way to approve their choice, because he was wary of the impudence of the desert Arab whom he was serving, 115v a man of great ruggedness, boldness, and audacity. He had no doubt that the man would fight to keep ʿĪsā, his secretary. 644. S omits: “because he . . . their plan.” 645. For “Agapios,” S reads: “Agathon.” This is Agapios I (bishop 341–48/953–59). 646. For “he left the matter hanging,” Z reads: “he closed the matter.” 155 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) It was good fortune from God, who (blessed be his name) willed for such a man to become patriarch here, that that Qarmaṭī Bedouin647 went with Sayf al-Dawla on one of his raids.648 His horse slipped on Ṣārikha649 Bridge and he drowned in the Halys650 River. Then Sayf al-Dawla gave permission for the selection of ʿĪsā, and the chosen one was quickly elevated to the exalted and God-honored see of the Head of the Apostles. He received ordination from the metropolitans, as is required. The ordination was splendid and dignified, and he naturally took the name Christopher, for it was obvious from his actions that he bore all goodness within his breast—more precisely, we could say that he bore Christ within his heart. [4. His Asceticism and Piety] From this point on he651 led him away from the path of ease and luxury onto another path, rough and difficult. For although he had not become a monk, he exceeded all monks in his practices: after his ordination, he tasted nothing of meat. Because he had no previous custom of following the monastic lifestyle, he was not satisfied with the things that his monastic predecessors had done, whether in fasting or vigils or rising for prayer. Rather, he exceeded and surpassed them in everything. He fasted every day from nighttime to nighttime, from the beginning of the year to the end, for from the time when he became patriarch, there was not a single day when he ate a bite of food before evening. Nor was he concerned about different types 116r of food; he made no distinctions among the things he ate, and his table was spread in whatever way, often without eggs or fish or any other fine thing. His drinking was not excessive, but it included a little wine and plenty of water. On ordinary days he was awake for a large portion of the night, long before dawn.652 On Sundays, he was awake from the evening before Sunday until the morning. The priests took his vigils as a model because of the great love that he had for God and the greatness of his soul. And often he would not go back to bed for a long time, so that I even saw him nearly fall to the ground on numerous occasions because of the intensity of the practice. 647. Badawī. The Qarmaṭīs were an apocalyptic, revolutionary branch of Ismāʿīlī Shīʿī Islam (at some points also closely associated with Zoroastrianism) that gained numerous adherents in Syria, among other regions, in the early fourth/tenth century. The movement lost much of its appeal, however, after the infamous, bloody Qarmaṭī raid on Mecca during the ḥajj season of 317/930. At this point, numerous Qarmaṭīs entered the service of Sunnī rulers, including the Ḥamdānids. See Canard, Histoire, 1:315–18, 602–6, 632–34. 648. Ghazawāt. 649. For “Ṣārikha,” Z reads: “Mārikha.” 650. For “Halys,” Z reads: “al-Sinn.” As Canard notes, this is a slightly garbled reference to the Halys (Arabic “Alis”), now the Kızılırmak in northern Turkey. Ṣārikha appears in Byzantine and Muslim sources as well, and Canard writes that this text allows us to place it precisely on the Halys, “without doubt upstream from Sivas.” Zayat, on the other hand, takes “al-Sinn” as the correct term and places it on the Tigris. The connection to Ṣārikha (as it appears in S, though it is misspelled in Z) makes Canard’s reading more likely. See Canard, “Vie,” 567; Zayat, “Vie,” 26. 651. That is, Christ. 652. Fajr. Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 156 We have mentioned a few things on this topic to show the difficulty of the life that he led, in which he had no prior experience. Anyone who has experienced this or has heard about it will surely know how difficult this path and practice were for a man who was raised in luxury. [5. The Catholicos Issue] It is now time to discuss what he did after his ordination. It was necessary to ordain bishops for the sees that were vacant. Which sees did he turn to first? He did not turn somewhere uncontested, nor to a see in which he had no history of opposition or favoritism or contention, but to the two sees that he had defended and opposed. His concern for them was not the same as it had been earlier, partial and headstrong. When he realized within himself that he had not acted in an appropriate way, as a result of 116v his favoritism and opposition, he decided to confront the aspects of the situation that he had previously ignored and to reform both his own intention and the things that were now under his control, even reforming his own beliefs. Thus he approached the situation with a just balance, but also with wisdom and kindness. So he weighed the ordination on this balance and created two catholicoi: one for the City of Peace, his homeland, who was a man of Aleppo named David,653 and the other for Romagird (which he had opposed), a man of Antioch named Eutykhios. Who will not praise him for this kind and correct policy that led to peace and harmony? For he did not wrong his own city, but he also looked well upon the other, and he gave them harmony of souls and removed their discord and contention. [6. Other Vacant Sees] But did he then lie down on the issue of the other vacant sees? When he looked into the issue, did he consider bribes or intercessions, or a ruler’s pleasure, or the terror of a powerful person’s frown? No! On the contrary, when he saw that the delegation from a city requesting a bishop had mentioned someone worthy of ordination, and that person was pleasing to God and to him, he would lay his hands upon him immediately and confirm him, being pleased with what pleased them and yielding to their request. Or if he was not pleased with that person, he would choose someone else with whom they were also pleased, and would lay his hands upon him with the consent of the following654 synod. There was no delay, because the metropolitans who were before him could see that his mind was judicious, his determination was strong, no favoritism affected him, and he did not desire gifts or bribes. So how could they contradict him in anything he decided?655 653. For “David,” Z reads: “Mājid.” Tūmā Bīṭār suggests that Mājid (if this is the correct reading) might be the author of a fourth-/tenth-century Arabic commentary on the Nicene Creed, though the evidence is limited, and the variant reading of S makes the identification even less likely. See Tūmā Bīṭār, al-Qiddīsūn al-mansiyyūn fī al-turāth al-Anṭākī (Duma, Lebanon: ʿĀʾilat al-Thālūth al-Quddūs, 1995), 385–86. 654. Lacuna in Z omits: “following.” 655. S repeats: “his determination . . . he decided.” 157 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) [7. Church Administration] 117r He had a strong determination, a great heart, and a zeal to beautify and reform the church. He fought for it and defended it, never being moved or turned back. It should not be a problem for us to mention a story as proof. There was a priest, a physician, who committed a small fault, so the blessed father restrained him and suspended him from exercising the priesthood for some time. This priest was serving one of the Ḥamdānid emirs—a fierce tyrant obedient to no one, not even Ibn Ḥamdān. He asked him to intercede with the patriarch to secure his release and cancel his suspension. His intercession came without delay, because he believed that no one—not even one of the most powerful Muslims—would dare to disobey him. So how could the patriarch, a lowly Christian dhimmī?656 Therefore he addressed the patriarch gladly, saying, “Whatever sin was committed by my physician, the priest, transfer his offense to me, O patriarch, and forgive him.” He answered him, saying, “That is not possible for me, O my lord the emir.” He responded to him, saying, “O uncircumcised man, don’t you fear me? Yet you dare to tell me ‘That is not possible for me’? What could be impossible for you if I have commanded it?” The bold man responded to him, saying “Many things are impossible for me, O emir, if they relate to my religion, my doctrine, and my law.657 For we are in obedience to658 you,659 and in other things it is not possible for us 117v to disobey you. But as for what religion has forbidden, when it comes to these things we are prepared to face prison and the blades of swords.” So he responded to him: “At least let me know what is this grave offense that has violated your religion.” The disciple of Christ said, “Before this, O emir, the crime was only a little one, and it would be easy to make satisfaction for it. But now it is great, and it is undesirable to forgive it, because he asked you to intercede660—you, a Muslim, who disagrees with us in doctrine!661—and the truth of this case is no secret, since the matter concerns only our church.” The Hagarene answered him, saying, “From now on, be armed to the teeth, and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are going to die. I would take your head even if it were on the breast of the Great Emir.” What did this bold man do after that? Was he anxious? Did he relent? Did he bend the knee? Did he stop to send a message about it to Ibn Ḥamdān? Absolutely not! Rather, he considered all of that to be nothing more than scattered dust of no importance. He set out at once for Antioch and entrusted it to God, his defender. At that time he was in Aleppo.662 Praise God, his aim was not off the mark. And this was his zeal and ambition for all that would beautify and adorn the church. 656. For “because he . . . Christian dhimmī,” Z reads: “trusting in his kindliness, especially as he was a dhimmī.” 657. Dīnī wa-madhhabī wa-nāmūsī. 658. For “are in obedience to,” S reads: “do not obey.” 659. Plural. 660. For “he asked you to intercede,” Z reads: “I find it horrible.” 661. Madhhab. 662. Z places “At that . . . in Aleppo” after the word “Antioch” in the previous sentence. Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 158 [8. Care for the Poor] If the way of this virtuous man in these things was as we have described, did he behave the same way in other things—as one who does not bend over or yield, and not663 as the meek lover of humanity who lends his sympathy and inclines his ear to anyone who asks, anyone who needs his mercy and compassion? In other areas, who was stronger in compassion than Christopher, or more tender 118r in sympathy for the afflicted, or stronger in mercy for those in need, or more generous in giving to the pure? His wealth was not abundant, because he was working among the Gentiles, so his revenues were diminished. Nevertheless, as far as it was possible for him, he never cut short his generosity, support, care, and giving—not only once, but many times, and not only occasionally, but continuously—if it was possible, conditions were easy, and he did not face difficult obstacles. He received messages, and he never failed to read them and to record with his own hand that one of the petitioners664 should be given documents,665 another clothing, another food, another drink, and still others similar things. I myself, the composer of this text, saw a priest who had told him a story, so he brought him into his presence and asked him about it, saying, “How many dependents do you have?” He answered him, saying such and such, so he said, “Let him be paid this much wheat, this much oil, and this much wine,” enough to last him a year. When the priest was beginning to leave, he said to him, “Come back here. Where, O unfortunate one, will you get the price of milling666 or any seasoning? No; pay him this, too, whatever is enough for him.” The saint did not let him leave until he had given him enough to satisfy him for the whole year. Furthermore, whenever the story of an imprisoned or unjustly extorted person came to him, if it was possible to redeem them with small gifts, he did not hesitate to give and to redeem them from whatever was demanded of them. But if there was an intense difficulty, he never failed to ride over to the one making the demands, 118v asking them to forgive whatever they wanted the person to pay and to make any possible reduction to the sum. This was the image of a new Nicholas667 among us, passionate in concern for all who were in hardship and need. All of this is evidence of the things he would do of his own accord and of his generous kindness. His head, his zenith, the prototype to which he adhered and whose likeness he bore— Christ, the imitation of whom was always in his thoughts and whom he desperately wished to emulate—was not content to fill the bellies of thousands with a few pieces of bread, but added another satisfying gift with his two pure hands: he washed the feet of his disciples.668 663. Z adds: “How would he then have shown by his actions that he was a worthy disciple of Christ?” 664. For “petitioners,” Z reads: “poor.” 665. Waraq. Potentially paper money. 666. For “milling,” Z reads: “flour.” 667. A fourth-century CE bishop of Myra, famed for his generous gifts; inspiration for the modern Santa Claus and his counterparts. Nicholas was extremely popular in this period. See Roberts, Reason, 68–72, 105–8, 111. 668. Cf. John 13:1–20. 159 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) So this disciple of his also strove669 not to be satisfied with what we have described and added another service with his two hands for those who were his brothers in their connection to his teacher. In Antioch there was an intense famine that naturally affected all the people. Therefore, Christopher gathered a group of those most severely injured by hunger—the elderly, the sick, priests, deacons, young people, and orphans. He gathered them, organized them into schools, and had them sit at tables while he stood, not satisfied just because they had abundant food, but sometimes taking the task into his own hands and serving them drinks, one by one. It is thus clear that he was a faithful slave of Christ, imitating him in a way that no other could match. [9. Educational Works] Since I have now mentioned young people and orphans,670 I must explain who these young people were. It is clear, O listener, that he extended his soul not only in love for the weak but also in excellence of mind and in the benevolent administration of everything for the greater good. He saw how tight and difficult things were and that for this reason people were falling behind in their learning—and that not only the poor and powerless but even the notables, the people of esteem, were failing in it. The holy Church of God was lacking, and most of the people had no 119r thought or care for learning. So he thought of a major program that would show his good administration: he chose from among the powerful671 twelve young people, intelligent and distinguished, and handed them over to an insightful teacher, who would teach them the ecclesiastical sciences that surpass all others. Then he cast lots to choose other people from among the poor, especially orphans in bad situations—150 young people—and handed them over to three teachers who would teach each one whatever they could do skillfully. He ordered that three large kettles full of food should be cooked every day, each one taken to one of the schools, and that every young person should be given whatever was enough for them, along with whatever bread they needed. We must recognize how many benefits he provided here—namely, three major ones: first, food that the eater did not have to labor for; second, education without price or payment; third, noble service to the church.672 These are all among his great deeds in this area. [10. Defending the Faith] He added to this an even greater help for the poor and support for the faith. The Hagarenes extract from all Christians in their countries a tax673 that we call the “head 669. Ijtahada. 670. S omits: “He gathered . . . and orphans.” This lengthy variant is likely an accidental omission in S due to the repetition of “young people and orphans.” 671. For “powerful,” Z reads: “wealthy.” 672. Bīʿa. 673. Jizya. Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 160 tax”674 but they call the “acquittal,”675 because it acquits those who pay it of any damages or prosecution. None of the Christians who live there can escape from paying it, because whoever does not pay is led without a choice into the religion of Islam. An amazing and lamentable spectacle can be seen there among the afflicted. Some Christians pay the acquittal with righteous intentions, if they can, and consider 119v it a charitable gift and a good deed, because it is something they pay on account of their religion. But other people are oppressed by it because they are impoverished. Thus the strongest n religion is not the one who hesitates to pay what they can, but rather the one who gives to assist the weaker person with whatever is demanded of them. When Christopher, who held Christ within his breast, saw the harshness of these things, giving was not enough for him, and he was not satisfied with making additions to people’s acquittal payments; rather, he went beyond that and paid from his own wealth the entire acquittal for people who could not pay. However, his wealth was wearing out, and it was not easy for him to do these things in the way that he believed he should, because he did not have abundant revenues. So how do you think he approached this issue? In precise imitation of John the Merciful,676 master of Alexandria. He happily asked the emir, Sayf al-Dawla, to help him in his love for the poor, and he did not reject him, because he was generous in nature and intensely favorable to the patriarch. He ordered the tax677 collectors to forgive 10,000 dirhams for him every year, and he678 would write messages to them on behalf of whomever he wished to help. So he might write to forgive the entire acquittal for one person and write for another forgiving half of the amount. Thus not a single Christian went over to the religion of Islam during his time. [11. Loyalty to Sayf al-Dawla] So the patriarch received—along with rewards from God—a strong welcome from Sayf al-Dawla the emir, and favor from the same Sayf al-Dawla. For this is part of human nature: not only does the one for whom good is done trust in the patronage of their benefactor, 120r but the benefactor also adds to the benefits given to them. The beneficiary derives benefits from the patronage, but then the benefactor wishes to give them still more benefits, going to great lengths in both quantity and duration—especially if they have goodness in their nature—so that their previous benefaction will not be made futile by their miserliness. Thus when intense opposition and rebellion broke out against Sayf al-Dawla and persisted for a long time, the patriarch alone kept his distance from it and did not join the group of Antiochians who were rebelling against him. He did not even wish to speak to the insurgents. 674. Jizyat al-ruʾūs. 675. Barāʾa. 676. John V, Chalcedonian patriarch of Alexandria 606–16 CE, known for his almsgiving. 677. S calls this tax kharāj; Z calls it barāʾa. 678. That is, Christopher. 161 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) Now, the reason for this rebellion was that the blessed Emperor Nikephoros679 was taking possession of the border country,680 most of it by violence and war. Tarsus alone681 he took by a treaty of safe conduct,682 for hunger had ravished its people, and they had reached a disastrous state, inadequate for war. At the time, Sayf al-Dawla was suffering from paralysis683 in Mayyafariqin.684 As for the people of Tarsus, they came to the city of Antioch with their wives685 and children. The Hagarenes of Antioch were also concerned for themselves, so they went to Ibn al-Zayyāt,686 their governor,687 asking and begging him to stay with them and manage their affairs, since things were falling apart and becoming fragile. When Ibn al-Zayyāt saw that things were in such a state, he began to worry about Emperor Nikephoros. He loathed the idea and absolutely refused to stay. The fear of the Antiochians increased at his refusal, which drove them to seek out Rashīq,688 Ibn al-Zayyāt’s second-in-command. They asked him the same thing they had requested of the other, and he responded positively but indicated that they should submit to Emperor Nikephoros and yield to his rule. He reminded them 120v that this was the way of prosperity and that they would never attain the calm and tranquility that they desired if they did not obey him. They accepted his advice and sent messengers to the emperor, offering to bring money and to secure their agreement with pledges. Because the emperor was unyielding and was wary of them, he responded to the message they had sent, saying, “I do not accept money, because the emperor of the Romans has no need of it, and because the Muslims might give it today and refuse it tomorrow. Nor do I accept pledges, because while they have meaning for some people, most think nothing of them. I request only one thing, whenever you are ready and realize that it is an easy and insignificant thing for you to do: I wish to build on a rock formation within your city a fortress, in which I will have a stratēgos and a small number of others to defend you, and through them I will conquer.” When the Antiochians refused that, Rashīq felt ashamed and thought that he had become completely useless, so he decided to “uncover his head”—as the saying goes—in rebellion 679. Nikephoros II (r. 352–59/963–69). 680. Balad al-thaghr. Zayat translates this phrase as des villes du littoral (“the towns of the coast”), another potential (especially modern) meaning of thaghr, but it seems more likely that this is a reference to the Islamic geographical concept of al-thughūr, the border fortresses on the frontiers of Muslim-ruled territory, especially on the Byzantine border. 681. For “took Tarsus alone,” Z reads: “destroyed Tarsus and took it.” 682. Amān. 683. Aflaja. The primary meaning of this word is “to be victorious,” but the context (along with other historical sources) makes it clear that Sayf al-Dawla was suffering from paralysis, or fālij; see ʿIzz al-Dīn b. al-Athīr, al-Kāmil fī al-tārīkh, ed. Muḥammad Yūsuf al-Daqqāq (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1987), 7:279. 684. Modern Silvan, Turkey. 685. For “wives,” S reads: “young people.” 686. For “Ibn al-Zayyāt,” Z reads: “Ibn al-Zamān.” This variant continues throughout the text. 687. That is, the newly arrived governor of Tarsus; see Canard, Histoire, 648–49. 688. For “Rashīq,” Z reads: “Rashīq al-Nasīmī, who had come from Tarsus.” This is the first of the edits that have been made to Z in order to bring it in line with the Dhayl of Yaḥyā b. Saʿīd al-Anṭākī; see al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 797. Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 162 against Sayf al-Dawla, especially because of his paralysis and inability to move, which made people think little of him. Once Rashīq had made this decision,689 he gathered his supporters together and headed for the city of Aleppo.690 He took it by force without much effort and began to lay siege to the citadel, but it would not budge. A servant of Sayf al-Dawla named Qarghuwayh691 was there, and he would send out men every day to fight Rashīq. One of them—it was not clear who—struck him with a spear thrust during the battle, 121r so he died there, and when he fell dead,692 the others fled to Antioch. When they arrived, they were concerned for themselves, and they set a member of their group at their head as their emir.693 They remained firmly committed to their opposition and rebellion. The one who encouraged them in this was a person of Antioch named Ibn al-Ahwāzī, an intense and dynamic person who had been the manager of their affairs in the time of Rashīq.694 What did the patriarch do during this time of chaos in Antioch, which was only growing more and more difficult? His well-managed mind encouraged him to remain firm in the patronage of Sayf al-Dawla, so he withdrew to the monastery of St. Symeon of Aleppo. For even if Sayf al-Dawla was paralyzed at the time, his mind had not completely faded, and his tongue had not lost the power of speech. So while the patriarch695 was staying in the monastery, his situation was revealed by night to those in Aleppo,696 and it was unbearable for the rebel. He began to investigate the patriarch’s connections and to arrest and harass his closest companions. He sealed up everything in the patriarchal cells697 and said aloud that if the patriarch did not come and take care of it, he would cause him even more grief. Did the patriarch surrender to him, or get worried, or yield? No! He remained completely firm. One of his closest companions—Theodoulos, who became bishop of Seleucia after he 689. For “Once Rashīq . . . this decision,” Z reads: “Then a man of Antioch known as al-Ḥasan al-Ahwāzī attached himself to Rashīq and took over the management of his affairs with the help of the people of Antioch. He was intense and dynamic, and he gave them hope that Sayf al-Dawla would never return to Syria (al-Shām). Dizbar al-Daylamī and a group of Daylamites who were with Qarghuwayh, the servant of Sayf al-Dawla, sought the protection of Rashīq. Rashīq and Ibn al-Ahwāzī set out.” See al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 797–98. 690. Z adds: “Many battles took place between him and Qarghuwayh.” See ibid., 798. 691. The spelling of this name is very uncertain. Zayat transliterates it as Qarghoyah and Canard (Histoire, 649–51) as Qargawaih. 692. For “lay siege . . . fell dead,” Z reads: “lay siege to the citadel for three months and ten days. Afterward Rashīq was killed by a spear thrust that hit him.” Al-Anṭākī includes the “three months and ten days” detail but not the detail about the spear thrust, which is probably a summarized form of S; see al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 798. 693. For “they were . . . their emir,” Z reads: “they were concerned and afraid, and they made Dizbar al-Daylamī their emir and Ibn al-Ahwāzī his manager.” See ibid. 694. For “The one . . . of Rashīq,” Z reads: “Qarghuwayh headed for Antioch and a battle took place between them, but Qarghuwayh fled and returned to Aleppo. Dizbar al-Daylamī went to Aleppo after him, but the companions of Qarghuwayh met him, fought him, and repulsed him, so he returned to Antioch.” See ibid. 695. Z adds: “and those with him.” 696. Z omits: “his situation . . . in Aleppo.” 697. Z adds: “because of the inclination of the patriarch and those with him toward Sayf al-Dawla, which had been revealed to him.” See al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 798. 163 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) was killed and who built two beautiful churches698 in Antioch, for the Arkhistratēgos699 and for Chrysostom—observed him acting in this way. He grew bold and said to him, “Sir, when this is all over, do you intend to tell your church,700 121v ‘I am the good shepherd’?701 Do not leave your sheep for the ravishing wolves to snatch up! Consider the matter, then go and extend a hand to help them, and do not think about what the rebel wants, but about what is best for you and your flock.” The patriarch said, “Hold your tongue and be silent,702 because you do not know what you are saying.” So he had to hold his tongue. After a little while, the servants of Sayf al-Dawla could no longer bear their shame quietly. They got him started on his journey and helped him get up, so he journeyed from Mayyafariqin to the area of Maʿarrat Miṣrīn, and war broke out between the two sides. The victory went to Sayf al-Dawla, and the chief officers of the rebels703 were taken prisoner. He put them in shackles and chains.704 Then the patriarch made his way to Aleppo, as happy as one who had triumphed in an agonizing705 struggle. Sayf al-Dawla gave him the warmest welcome and he became his close companion in all things, a helpful and beloved intercessor. He went from the status of an insignificant follower to that of an influential friend, not to be accused or belittled, because in the time of hardship he had been faithful, constant, and patient in spite of his affliction. What he had given in the time of distress was repaid in the time of happiness with special treatment and preference.706 He saw those who had grieved him punished before his very eyes with beatings, abuse, and other types of torment that are impossible to bear, but he was not pleased as others were. He did not grow arrogant on account of his victory; rather, he mourned, he felt a tightness in his chest, his thoughts were troubled, and he said, “Have mercy, sir, and go easy 698. Haykalayn. 699. For “the Arkhistratēgos,” S reads: al-aksīrātīqūs; Z reads: al-azkisʿūṭus. I take this to be the Greek arkhistratēgos, “supreme commander” (a common epithet of Michael, the “supreme commander” of the heavenly forces), as suggested to me by Dmitry Morozov. Dick’s edition has al-iksābtirīghūs, Greek hexapterygos, meaning “six-winged” (seraph). This must be Dick’s guess at the original word, because it is not supported by either manuscript. The meaning is almost right, however, even if the word is not. See Dīk, Sīra, 15, 46. 700. Bīʿa. 701. John 10:11, 14. 702. Lacuna in Z omits: “Consider the . . . be silent.” 703. For “the chief . . . the rebels,” Z reads: “Dizbar and Ibn al-Ahwāzī and a large group of their soldiers.” See al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 805. The term “rebels” translates khawārij (sg. khārijī), an allusion to the khārijī rebel group of the early Islamic period, but Ibrāhīm uses the term here in a general sense. 704. Z adds: “and brought them to Aleppo, and killed them, and he made his servant Taqī governor of Antioch.” See ibid. 705. This word is omitted in Z and not fully legible in S. Dick’s edition (Dīk, Sīra, 47) reads it as lūyā, but in S there seems to be at least one letter between the wāw and the yāʾ. I have read it here as lawʿiyyan, although the meaning of “agonizing” works for Dick’s reading as well. It could perhaps be emended to lūdīyā and read as a reference (via Greek and/or Syriac) to the gladiator games, Latin ludi. 706. Z adds: “because he was grateful to him for his act of distancing himself from those who rebelled against him, and so he preferred him and gave him special treatment.” See al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 806. Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 164 on those you have defeated, for the sake of 122r the one who helped you stand against them! Do not refuse intercession and forgiveness as much as your duty allows.” When he saw one of his neighbors, one of the Muslims of the city of Antioch,707 being punished and struck with far too many lashes, he did not sit patiently. He stood up, threw himself on the ground, and asked that the man’s crime be given to him, and his request was not rejected. But what misfortune and evil grew out of this for him, I will explain in what follows. And that should not be surprising, even if it is improbable and strange. For so the nature of envy is imprinted on malicious souls, that their fire is ignited by goodness more than it is extinguished by kindness. When that envious one was set free and released from everything that had been imposed on him, he returned to Antioch without any consequences. If only it had not been so!708 [12. Return to Antioch] After that, the patriarch stayed for a little while in Aleppo and then went to his city, bringing signed notes from Sayf al-Dawla to those whom he had dispatched to Antioch in an effort to get even with everyone who had helped the Antiochian rebels709 against him. He ordered them not only to absolve the patriarch and his companions of any responsibility but also to approve his requests—as often as possible—when he interceded on behalf of others, for the patriarch had taken up many such cases. When he arrived in Antioch, he found a governor there, a servant of Sayf al-Dawla710 known as Taqī.711 He also found the patrikios Kulayb712 seizing the wealth of the people, though he had not been commanded to take713 so much, 122v and confiscating all of their possessions. Sayf al-Dawla did not show them the kindness of restraining him from seizing their goods but acted out of pure self-interest, for he could see that these seizures were714 impoverishing the people, ruining the country, and eliminating any revenue. The fines had 707. It is not entirely clear, but it seems from the description in §13 that this may be Ibn Mānik, the future leader of the assassination plot (not actually named in S until §17). 708. Z adds: “Even so, there were many other elders of Antioch with whom Sayf al-Dawla was angry on account of their rebellion and whom he had arrested. The patriarch interceded with him for some of them and acted as his mediator with them, and he granted his request regarding them. So at that time, because they witnessed his powerful position with Sayf al-Dawla, their souls became set in envy and resentment of him.” See al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 806–7. 709. Khārijiyyīn, another allusion to the early Islamic khawārij; see note 104 above. 710. Z omits: “a servant of Sayf al-Dawla.” 711. For “Taqī,” Z reads: “Taqī al-Dīn, whom we have mentioned.” See al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 805. 712. Kulayb, likely a Syriac Orthodox Christian, later became basilikos of Antioch and eventually of Melitene under Byzantine rule; see ibid., 2:369, 373–74, 420. Al-Anṭākī simply calls him a “Christian” (naṣrānī), but Michael the Syrian mentions that he sponsored construction work at a Syriac Orthodox monastery in Melitene; see Michael the Syrian, Chronique, ed. and trans. J.-B. Chabot (Brussels: Culture et Civilisation, 1963), 3:126, 4:553; Catherine Holmes, “‘How the East Was Won’ in the Reign of Basil II,” in Eastern Approaches to Byzantium, ed. Antony Eastmond, 41–56 (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2001), 49. 713. Z omits: “the wealth . . . to take.” 714. Z omits: “but acted . . . seizures were.” 165 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) brought people to such a state that they barely had enough to pay for housing, taxes, and other such things. When the patriarch saw the people of Antioch struggling under these demands, whom did he not deliver and redeem from the bulk of their fines? Whose burden did he not lighten? Whom did he not redeem entirely, if he could? Now, there was a resident715 of Antioch who was very wealthy because he owned extensive real estate and had many sources of income but who thought of nothing but himself. He would hunch over as he walked, never raising his head from the ground, because he was such an arrogant miser. The wretch had never used a bit of his money to help anyone, not even himself. So the companions of Sayf al-Dawla seized him and began to punish him, demanding three and a half qinṭārs716 of gold. He sent to the holy patriarch in the midst of his punishment and said to him, “Have mercy, sir, on a wretch like me.” By my life, the patriarch got to work quickly, as usual, eager to help anyone who asked for his aid. He rode over at that very moment, relieved him of his torment, and mediated for him regarding the amount that was demanded. He did not stop making requests on his behalf until he had reduced the massive sum from 25,000 123r dinars to a tenth of that, that is, 2,500 dinars. The tax collectors said, “He will not pay even this amount without being punished and beaten.” So the disciple of Christ, who resembled him in every way, said, “I am asking you not to go overboard by punishing him any more, but to hand him over to me, and I will be responsible for the whole sum.” He was handed over to the patriarch, and the tax collectors would later demand from the patriarch the entire sum, and then the patriarch would have to717 demand it from him. Whenever the patriarch would write to him about this, it was like his heart was being pierced, as the arrows of envy worked within him. Thus he later consented to kill the one who had been his benefactor. [13. The Assassination Plot] Now the killing of the patriarch—or rather, his martyrdom—was carried out by the decision of this man and others. It was organized in secret and proceeded little by little. For because Sayf al-Dawla was inclined toward him,718 the raw material of envy had accumulated in the hearts of the Muslims. However, they were not all agreed on killing him. On the other hand, those who did agree were among those whom he had most generously benefited, for the father of envy was at work within them. The proof was as follows: after Sayf al-Dawla died,719 people came from the land of Khorasan, warriors hurrying on their way to Antioch.720 That cursed one, whose benefactor 715. It is not entirely clear, but it seems from his description in §13 that this may be Ibn Maḥmūd. 716. From Latin centenarius/Greek kentēnarion, the qinṭār is a variable weight equivalent to 100 arṭāl and sometimes used to refer to an indeterminate (large) amount. Based on the typical Syrian qinṭār of 256 kg, the amount demanded from this miser was likely almost 900 kg (nearly one ton) of gold. 717. S omits: “the entire . . . have to.” 718. That is, Christopher. 719. 25 Ṣafar 356/9 February 967. 720. For “from the . . . to Antioch,” Z reads: “from the land of Khorasan, intending to raid the Romans, so they traveled to Antioch, and its people gave them the most beautiful welcome.” See al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 807. Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 166 the patriarch had been,721 in whom the venom of envy was at work, and who had thought to plot against the patriarch because of his empowerment, was afraid. If he did not communicate with the leader of the Khorasanis,722 he would miss the chance of killing him. So he summoned723 Ibn Maḥmūd, for whom 123v the patriarch had vouched,724 who had made known to him what he had against him in his soul; and he summoned another person, a neighbor of the patriarch called Ibn Diʿāma. He said to them, “What do you say? Do you think we should leave this infidel alive until a governor arrives, so that he will be sitting in court while we are punished, as we were in the time of Sayf al-Dawla?” They said, “That is not right.” So he said, “Then what do you think about requesting a written fatwā725 about him from the jurist?” They praised this idea and with one mind, they all wrote a note called a fatwā.726 They did not mention the patriarch by name but said, “What is your opinion, O jurist, on the just response to someone who plots against a Muslim fortress?” He answered that the person must be killed. The leader of the plot said to the other two, “This fatwā is the way: if we show it to the masses, they will kill him immediately.” This was not actually his opinion; rather, because he was also a Persian and knew the language of the Khorasanis, he was secretly planning to call a group of the soldiers who had been sent to Antioch and show them the fatwā so that they would kill the patriarch without hesitation. This helped to convince them and to spur them toward what he wanted. [14. The Patriarch’s Decision] One of the patriarch’s neighbors, a prominent Muslim named Ibn Abī ʿAmr who was a true friend and adviser to him, found out about this. So he rushed over and said to him, “What are you doing? Get up quickly and look out for yourself! Otherwise, you should be aware that you are going to be killed soon.” He said, “Why? For what reason?” He said, “Because 124r a malicious group gathered against you and consulted the law, and the jurist gave a fatwā that says you must be killed.” He asked for more information and said, “What do you think I should do?” He said, “At the moment you are not under arrest, so leave through the city gate at the end of the day, and when morning breaks, you will be These soldiers were likely coming to reinforce the frontier defenses and preserve Muslim control of Antioch as word spread of Byzantine advances in the region; see Kennedy, Prophet, 238, 240. 721. For “whose benefactor . . . had been,” Z reads: “whom the patriarch had taken under his wing.” This is Ibn Mānik, likely the man whose punishment he alleviated at the end of §11 above. 722. This leader is not named here, but al-Anṭākī (“Histoire,” 807) claims that his name was Muḥammad b. ʿĪsā. 723. Z adds: “three of the elders and model citizens of Antioch for whom the patriarch had mediated and interceded.” See ibid. 724. Z omits: “for whom . . . had vouched.” 725. Throughout this passage, both S and Z use a variety of spellings for this word, including fatwa (in Z), fīta (in S), and futya (in both). 726. Normally, fatwā would refer more specifically to the jurist’s response to their question, but Ibrāhīm apparently uses it to mean both the question and the answer. 167 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) near Aleppo, and no one will follow you. That is what I think.” He said, “Sir, may God reward you with good things. As for me, I must think about what I will do.” The man departed, and the patriarch summoned that man who had said to him when he was at the monastery of St. Symeon, “Why do you not go to Antioch in the time of rebellion? Are you, sir, the sort of person who can say after this, ‘I am the good shepherd’?”727 When he arrived, he728 said to him, “You should know, O man, that our neighbor so-and-so came to me this very hour and told me such-and-such. What do you think?” The man said to him, “What could be better than this, sir? Ask God’s blessing and do it!” He said, “If I do this, O insolent one, you will be among those who mock me afterward, saying, ‘Can you say tomorrow, “I am the good shepherd”?’” The man answered, saying, “Sir, that was different.” So the patriarch said to him, “Yes, it is not hidden from me that it was different.729 That is why, because I did not agree with you then, I did not do it. And when I did not do it, even you knew that none of the Christians would be harmed as a result, because no one was demanding my murder at that 124v time. But now, my murder is demanded, and not simply demanded, but demanded with intense desire and effort. For those who demand my murder are envious, and the venom of envy is concealed within their bodies. So if I slip out of their hands and they cannot inject their venom into me, they will not leave behind a single Christian or a single church. This is the time, O man, when I must say not only ‘I am the good shepherd’ but also that ‘the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.’730 Soon you will see this beard dyed with my blood.” With that, he moved his hand toward it. His speech ended with this saying, and after that he said not another word; he was almost ashamed at the thought. [15. The Assassination] Afterward, he gave it some thought and decided to meet with that evil man who was preparing to act against him. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he had mixed for him the brew731 of death. However, he did not think that he would do this in his home, for no desert Arab,732 nor any esteemed person among the Muslims, would consider this a good way to commit a crime. So after a little while, he sent him a note, showing neither wariness nor fear: “Sir, I would like to meet with you. Please tell me what you think and I will be available to come to you.”733 He saw this message as an opportunity and as potential spoils, 727. See §11. The man’s name is Theodoulos. 728. Christopher. 729. S repeats: “So the . . . was different.” 730. John 10:11. 731. Qahwa. This Arabic word became the word “coffee,” and it is the ultimate source of the beverage’s name in all languages, including English. However, coffee was (most likely) discovered several centuries after the composition of this text. At this time, according to Lisān al-ʿArab, qahwa referred to a type of wine. In any case, the metaphorical meaning of the phrase is clear. 732. Aʿrābī. 733. Z adds: “When Ibn Mānik heard this.” See al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 808. Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 168 and he said, “I am not available at the moment, but later I will send for you.” Then he spent his entire day on the plot and did not send him anything because he was busy deceiving him and strengthening what he had cooking for him. When 125r much of the night had come and gone, and the patriarch had eaten his customary food, he734 sent to him, saying, “I am now available, O patriarch, so if you want to come, then come.” When the lamb of Christ heard this message, at such an unusual time, he was stunned and said to his companions, “What is the right thing to do, O people, when we are facing two irreconcilable options? Going at this time of night is neither proper nor appropriate, because the food is already in my mouth, and my strength—I am too weak to speak at this point. But postponing would also lead to trouble, because then we would be the ones who missed the appointment. But there is a way: can one of you check my breath? If you smell wine on me, we will use that as an excuse and say that it is not possible at this time. But if my breath is clean, we will go anyway.” When one of them checked his breath and there was no odor,735 he went on his own two feet, like a lamb going to the slaughter736 of its own free will. That cursed one welcomed him and greeted him with affection, even as deceit was concealed within his heart. When they sat together, he was full of wrath and hatred against him, so he could not wait for the patriarch to begin speaking, but said to him, “What are you thinking, O patriarch? You are one of the people of this town, dwelling among us, yet you think badly of our interactions and act against us.” The patriarch said, “And how is that, sir? What do you mean?” He said in response, “Because you correspond with the emperor of the Romans,737 and you correspond with the servant of Ibn Ḥamdān.” So he said, 125v “And what is the evidence for that, sir? Who has found such a letter from me?” He738 got up as if he were searching for a letter, then suddenly stood and spoke in Persian, summoning the Khorasanis whom he had prepared for the murder. Still, he was worried and trembling. Not only was he a coward, but to both heart and eye, he looked like a bat. For he was hardly taller than a span,739 only by a little. He looked like a bat in color, facial expressions, and complexion. When those whom he had prepared and summoned arrived, he said to them in their language, his teeth chattering, “This is the one you are looking for! This is the man who wants to hand over this city! This is the enemy of the Muslims! Here you are, and here he is! Cut him to pieces without pity!” If he were the enemy of the Muslims,740 you mouse’s eye, you complete rat, then why was he not your enemy in the time of difficulty? Rather, he was your friend, the friend who 734. Ibn Mānik. Z calls him “that cursed one.” 735. S repeats: “and there was no odor.” 736. Cf. Isaiah 53:7; Jeremiah 11:19; Acts 8:32. 737. Z adds: “and incite them to come toward us, and encourage them against us.” See al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 809. 738. For “He,” Z reads: “Ibn Mānik.” See ibid. 739. A span (Arabic shibr) is the distance from the end of the thumb to the end of the little finger, roughly 23 cm—obviously hyperbole in this case. 740. Lacuna in Z omits: “Here you . . . the Muslims.” 169 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) was helpful to you and delivered you from torment! But when this one whose soul was like that of a crocodile, requiting goodness with evil, gave the command regarding him, the sacrificial lamb of Christ stretched out his neck without any alarm, waiting for his head to be taken. Those people had not swords, but long daggers. One of them made him stand up while the other struck him with a long dagger, and all of the iron passed through his belly. The sword of God741 was sharpened, but at that time it was held back, as God’s judgments often are, awaiting punishment at another time. When the martyr fell to the ground, his head was first cut off, then his pure body was dragged around on a ladder by the command of the one who had rejected both God and goodness. It was immediately thrown 126r into the river after the gate was opened for it at night.742 But this could not be hidden from the Christian populace, and when their shepherd fell, they were stunned, struck by what had happened so suddenly, and intensely anxious. They scattered into the houses of some of the Muslims, where they hid. However, no one sought them out, for it was necessary that the earlier saying of their father should be fulfilled: “If they satisfy their thirst for revenge by killing me, and inject into me the venom concealed within their hearts, they will not pursue anyone but me.” [16. Plundering the Church] As for that animal with the ferocious appearance, ever increasing in beastliness, he kept quiet for most of the night, because he was on the edge of losing his mind for good. But when dawn had come, he returned to himself and directed his guards toward the church743 and the patriarchal cells. There was a group to search each of the two places.744 In the patriarchal cells, they found nothing but some foodstuffs, such as wheat, figs, and oil, preserved as provisions for the church and nourishment for the brothers in Christ. How could they find anything else when there was no gold745 hoarded there? How could he hoard when his expenses exceeded what he took in? Nor was there any clothing. How could any belong to someone whose clothing was only wool,746 without even a monastic habit?747 But there were a few priestly funeral garments there that belonged to his predecessors throughout time, and they took all of them. And they opened the treasury of the church, and when they did not see anything there, they punished the treasurer until he showed them the hidden gold and silver utensils of the 741. Sayf Allāh. In S, the scribe mistakenly wrote Sayf al-Dawla before crossing out al-Dawla and writing Allāh. 742. For “then his . . . at night,” Z reads: “and thrown into the furnace of the bath in the neighborhood of Ibn Mānik’s house. Then his pure body was immediately brought out of the city gate by night and thrown into the river.” See al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 809. 743. Bīʿa. Z adds: “the Church of Cassian” (Kanīsat Qusyān). See ibid., 809–10. 744. Lacuna in Z omits: “to search . . . two places.” 745. Z adds: “or silver.” 746. Ṣūf. 747. Askīm rahbāniyya. Askīm is from the Greek skhēma. Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 170 church, 126v along with the silk garments that were kept to decorate the church. They left nothing but a few copper things and manuscripts.748 Out of all this, the cursed one did not give those who had shed the pure and innocent blood749 everything that they had agreed. He kept back some of it in order to give it as a gift to the Persians whom he was expecting to come on their way to the land of the Romans. In the midst of all this, they arrived, and the Antiochians welcomed them magnificently. That cursed infidel was especially important for them, not only because of what he brought them, but also because he shared their tribe and language. And they began to raid the Roman border regions750 and to devastate them. [17. Divine Retribution] Now the blessed Emperor Nikephoros was busy with the Bulgars. When he returned, he sent Peter the Stratopedarkhēs,751 who had a battle with the Khorasanis near the city of Alexander known as Alexandria,752 and the Persians were put to flight after extensive fighting.753 With them was a group of Muslim assassins of Tarsus754 who had advised them not to fight, nor to keep making war, for they said, “The army that is fighting you is an imperial army, and you have no power against them.” The Persians did not accept this but persisted until their bravest men and most of the others were killed, and their chiefs were taken captive. All of this was a necessary judgment from Heaven, for justice could not delay in avenging the blood of the martyr. Here it seems that we may go on for too long—even if it would be insufficient, coming from us—in clarifying the marvelous and efficient system, working according to an uninterrupted arrangement, by which the wicked received an evil repayment for their deeds. But telling the story contains some 127r benefit, for from these facts everyone can verify what prophecy tells us about falling into the hands of the living God: both that it is terrifying, and that repayment might come quickly, or else only a part of it might come quickly, in which case it is evidence that the remainder will later come to pass. 748. Z adds: “And they also took the chair of St. Peter the Apostle, which was made of palm wood overlaid with silver. They kept it in the house of one of their elders, known as Ibn ʿĀmir, and it remained in his house until the Romans took possession of the city.” See al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 810. 749. Z adds: “those of his nation.” 750. S omits: “and language . . . border regions.” 751. An army commander. S: al-isṭirāṭūs. 752. This is Alexandretta, now known as İskenderun. 753. For “and the . . . extensive fighting,” Z reads: “which is between Mopsuestia and Antioch, as they were returning from their raids. He attacked them, killed their bravest men, and took the sālār of the army and others as captives.” See al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 814. 754. For “Tarsus,” Z reads: “Ṭarṭūs.” 171 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) One of the chiefs of the Hagarenes755 imprisoned in that war was the sālār756 of the army. The Antiochians purchased him for a massive amount of money, garments, and prisoners757 who were in Antioch and whom the people had taken captive.758 When it was done,759 he came to Antioch, and some of its people welcomed him and celebrated his arrival. However, as much as he entered in honor, and they honored and exalted him beyond any legitimate level, in the end he had the most shameful and disgraceful exit. For the Antiochians could not endure what they were undergoing at the hands of his men who had escaped the fighting. They had returned naked, and he like them. Thus necessity forced them to seize whatever would preserve them, and their hands stretched toward the wealth of the Antiochians.760 They did not endure that from them, but resisted them, war broke out between them, and the people of the city drove them out naked. The Antiochians who fought them were in two bands, and the chief of one turned against the chief of the other and killed him. For someone had come from Egypt,761 one of the brigands762 of Tarsus763 who had fled. He returned with a small band to raid the Roman border region.764 The chief of the other band was a Kurd from Būqā765 called ʿAllūsh, and the one who came from Egypt was a Black man named al-Rughaylī.766 127v At that point the city was in the hand of ʿAllūsh.767 Al-Rughaylī entered and greeted him, and when he bent over to take his hand, his sword was sideways on his knees. So al-Rughaylī drew it, struck him with it, and killed him. Thus he dared to do two impressive things at one time and openly: drawing a chief’s sword from his lap, and quickly killing him without a pause. So the followers of the one who was killed were scattered, even though they were many, and command passed to the killer, even though his men were very few.768 However, his rule did not endure and his time was not long, for Peter the Stratopedarkhēs came shortly with a huge contingent from the army of the praiseworthy Emperor 755. Z reads: “Khorasanis.” See al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 814. 756. A Persian word for a chieftain or leader. 757. Z adds: “whom they had previously taken captive from the Romans.” See al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 814. 758. Z omits: “whom the . . . taken captive.” 759. For “When it was done,” Z reads: “When the salār was set free.” See al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 814. 760. For “and their . . . the Antiochians,” Z reads: “so they overpowered the Antiochians and began to seize their wealth and their goods.” See ibid. 761. For “For someone . . . from Egypt,” Z reads: “A Black man had come from Egypt to Antioch.” See ibid., 822. 762. “Brigands” translates ṣaʿālīk. My impression is that this man had escaped from Tarsus during the Byzantine conquest. 763. Z adds: “known as al-Rughaylī.” See al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 822. 764. Z adds: “This was the chief of the first band.” 765. Often spelled Būqa, a fortress and village near Antioch, somewhat important in the early centuries of Islam but eventually lost. 766. Z omits: “and the . . . al-Rughaylī.” As with many of the names in this text, the correct spelling of the name “al-Rughaylī” is uncertain (in Arabic as well as in English). 767. For “in the hand of ʿAllūsh,” Z reads: “in his hand.” 768. Z adds: “and al-Rughaylī took control of Antioch.” See al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 822. Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 172 Nikephoros. When he came, he conquered the great city that very night,769 although he had not even been seeking it. He found it weak because of the previous raids on its territories, and he found its people neglecting to preserve and protect it, because they had not heard the news that someone was coming for it. They could not in one moment gather enough men to climb the mountain and defend the wall,770 so the Romans quickly climbed it. They found it empty, so they were able to climb it. They took possession of the city771 and took everyone in it captive, and no one escaped except that cursed one who was the foundation of the whole catastrophe.772 Now see here, O listener, how the just judgment for earlier actions is delayed but comes to you more perfectly later on. For he had gone out of the city at night, seeking to find safety in some place within the lands of Islam, and at first the affair remained hidden. He was happy, not only because 128r he alone was saved from captivity, but also because he was able—as he thought—to trick, deceive, and lie to God and the angels, so that they had carried him through the air and saved him. This had long been his habit, and he had achieved precision in the art of tricking, swindling, and lying to the Lord of the Worlds.773 However, just judgment got ahead of him, and on the road, a bāqūlā774 of Syrians met him on Jabal al-Aqraʿ.775 They did not know that the city had been conquered.776 They seized him and brought him there once they found out about the conquest from the people who were with him. At that time the stratopedarkhēs was in Aleppo, and its people were seeking 769. For “he conquered . . . very night,” Z reads: “Michael Bourtzēs, who was in charge of the fortress of Baghrās, joined him, and they continuously besieged the great city.” See ibid. 770. Antioch lies at the base of Mount Silpius, and its historic city walls climb up and enclose a portion of the mountain to provide additional protection from higher ground. 771. Z adds: “on Thursday, when thirteen nights had passed from Dhū al-Ḥijja, in the year 358 [28 October 969]. The Muslims threw fire to turn the Romans away from them and opened the Sea Gate, and some people left through it.” See al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 822–23. 772. Z adds: “Ibn Mānik.” See ibid., 823. 773. Rabb al-ʿĀlamīn. 774. S reads: rāqūla, here and below. Z adds: “that is, a gang” (ʿaṣaba). This seems to be an obscure Syriac word, mentioned only in Thomas Audo’s dictionary: the agent-noun form of the equally obscure verb bqal, usually used for plants, meaning “to sprout, blossom, shoot up.” The literal translation would thus be “one who shoots up” or “springs up,” perhaps indicating that these Syrians were a band of outlaws “springing up” in rebellion against the various rulers of Aleppo, Antioch, and beyond. Such outlaws would no doubt find the mountains a congenial site for their operations. Another possibility is that this is the Greek word bakyla, meaning “sticks” or even “fasces,” or the Syriac būqālā (cowherd). Could there be a connection to the Qarmaṭī rebels known as Baqliyya, the “green vegetable people,” thanks to their ascetic vegetarian diet? This is not impossible, especially given the presence of Qarmaṭīs in other parts of the Life, but mentions of the Baqliyya are mostly confined to the Sawād region of southern Iraq, and it would be strange to hear of Qarmaṭīs who are also Suryān (and thus likely Christian). Canard (“Vie,” 565) even suggests that this may be the name of a tribe. If rāqūla is the correct form, the Arabic word rāqūl, referring to a type of rope, is a possible origin, along with the Syriac rakālā (peddler, merchant). The derivation of the present meaning is unclear in any case, and it is no surprise that the scribe of Z—or one of his predecessors—felt the need to insert a less obscure Arabic gloss. 775. Also known as Mount Kasios, now on the border between Turkey and Syria, just south of Antioch. Z adds: “They used to raid Antioch.” See al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 823. 776. Z omits: “They did . . . been conquered.” 173 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) a peace settlement with him. They agreed on a massive amount of money and brought it to him, and after he had checked the amount, he returned. So the people of the bāqūlā brought him that cursed one, whom they had taken captive; he was known as Ibn Mānik.777 He handed him over to someone who would guard him until he could determine what he needed to do with him.778 The chiefs of the army gathered to deliberate on the issue,779 and some of the chiefs advised that he should be brought to the emperor. But others disagreed and said, “Who is this man that he is worthy to be brought into the imperial presence? The most appropriate thing is to kill him, in order to avenge the innocent blood that he shed.” But the others, who were advising that he be brought there, answered them and said, “It is not right to pollute that pure blood with this impure blood.” At last the patrikios Eustathios, stratēgos of Cappadocia, known as Maleinos, said, “Is the patriarch here ordering us to kill him, so that his blood can be ‘polluted,’ as you say? He completed what was necessary for him to do, 128v then departed and arrived at a place where he awaits a beautiful reward from God. But as for us, if we are Christians, then we must avenge the injustice that was done to him.” When he said something like this, it convinced them, and they sent the one who had been judged to the bridge at the Sea Gate, from which he himself had thrown the noble body into the river. He was cut apart with swords, piece by piece, but the pieces were not thrown into the river, for he was not worthy of that. Rather, each one was thrown at random onto the ground, and they became food for the birds and the dogs. As for the other two780 who had shared with him in spilling the blood, they were sent to the prison of Tarsus.781 They were not sought at that time, and no judgment was carried out in their cases.782 [18. The Remains of the Saint] Now as it happened, the emperor783 was killed before learning the news from Antioch, and the empire passed to the son of Tzimiskēs.784 He quickly sent Theodore,785 a monk from Koloneia, and made him patriarch of the City of God, Antioch. He arrived here with those who brought him and immediately began to inquire about the story of the martyr and to seek out the remains of his pure body. For his body had appeared eight days after his martyrdom, which was on the night of the twenty-third day of May.786 It appeared on an 777. For “They seized . . . Ibn Mānik,” Z reads: “They seized him and brought him to the stratopedarkhēs.” 778. Z adds: “And he bestowed massive favors on the people of the bāqūlā.” 779. Z omits: “The chiefs . . . the issue.” 780. For “the other two,” Z reads: “Ibn Maḥmūd and Ibn Diʿāma.” 781. Z adds: “and remained there a long time.” See al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 825. 782. Z omits: “and no . . . their cases.” 783. Z adds: “Nikephoros.” 784. John I (r. 359-65/969–76). 785. Theodore II (bishop 359–65/970–76). 786. Z adds: “in the year 356 of the hijra.” This year corresponds to 967 CE. See al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 809. Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 174 island in the river, where it was caught on an oak tree.787 The noble head was not with it, and it was said that the infidel had burned it. Some Christians of Antioch went out secretly and buried it in the holy monastery known as Arshāyā.788 When Patriarch Theodore learned this, he did not delay in sending for what was 129r there but went to the holy monastery and took up the relics789 of the saint with the pure clergy and a crowd of believers. They went before them to the city with a procession790 and a great assembly and put them in a fine marble sarcophagus, which they placed on a marble table in the western part of the Great Church.791 After a few years, Abba792 Nicholas the patriarch793 again moved him with honor and put him inside the house of St. Peter the Head of the Apostles, with his staff,794 his chair, numerous balms,795 the relics796 of Patriarch Babylas and Patriarch Ignatius, and other things: the balms of St. John the Baptist, the honorable lance, the staff of Chrysostom, the belt of St. Symeon the Stylite of Aleppo, and so on. All of them are in the treasury of St. Peter to this day. [19. More Divine Retribution] However, the highest judgment of those who shared in the killing did not delay long after that. One of the two, Ibn Maḥmūd, was in the prison of Tarsus in total misery, distress, and pain of soul and body. He was punished for his deeds until he handed over his miserable soul, which had rejected goodness and repaid its benefactor with a vileness that cannot be surpassed. The other, Ibn Diʿāma, remained in prison until the just hand of the patrikios797 Bourtzēs came to Antioch. He sent people to take him, weigh him down with a stone, and throw him into the river. So the three—Ibn Mānik, Ibn Maḥmūd, and Ibn Diʿāma, who had taken upon themselves the murder of the saint—received the recompense for their actions, and in the afterlife they await eternal punishment. 787. Ṭarrāsh, from Syriac ṭarāshā. 788. Located just outside Antioch. See Nasrallah, “Auteurs,” 85; Claude Cahen, La Syrie du Nord à l’époque des Croisades et le principauté franque d’Antioche (Paris: P. Geuthner, 1940), 324. 789. For “relics,” Z reads: “body.” S has limsanā, which I take to be a garbled version of the Greek leipsana, “relics.” 790. Lītīn. Zayat and Dick both interpret this word as a transliteration of the Greek litēn (Zayat simply writes it in his French translation as λιτή), meaning “procession.” I see no preferable alternative translation for this enigmatic word, though as Canard notes (“Vie,” 569), “one would like to find there a note and other examples.” 791. This seems to be the Church of Cassian mentioned earlier. 792. For “Abba,” Z reads: “Saint.” 793. Nicholas II (bishop 415–21/1025–30). 794. Shabūqa, from the Syriac shabūqtā. 795. Ḥuyūl. As Canard notes (“Vie,” 568), this is a technical term for a “miraculous liquid that oozes from certain icons,” as described by Zayat in his history of Ṣaydnāyā; see Habib Zayat, Khabāyā al-zawāyā fī tārīkh Ṣaydnāyā (Harissa, Lebanon: Imprimerie de Saint Paul, 1932), 144–51. 796. Libsānāt, from Greek leipsana. Z reads: “clothing” (libāsāt). 797. Z adds: “Michael.” See al-Anṭākī, “Histoire,” 825. 175 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) [20. Comparison with Other Saints] As for 129v the saint, he has reached the dwellings of the priests in the highest heavens, mingling with the righteous, standing with the ascetic monks in the ranks of the earlier martyrs. For he closely followed and tightly adhered to one of the saints; another he contended with—neither far from the target nor far behind—and another he left behind and surpassed, as is obvious from his actions and the well-known evidence of his deeds. For798 Abraham left his homeland by the command of God and became the father of the nations he was promised. Did this man not also set out of his own accord and give birth to many spiritual children? And Isaac became engaged to Rebekah by correspondence,799 but this man became engaged to the holy church directly. And Jacob inherited the blessing of his father, but by a trick—he inherited it as a son, but to be precise, he took the blessing itself by a trick.800 And as for his two wives, he took them only after labor and misery on their account, all the while looking toward an outward reward that he would receive.801 But this man, without fraud and in complete truthfulness, received blessings from the mouths of many, and while he was not lacking in labor for the sake of his spiritual bride,802 he was not looking toward a present reward but was ensuring that he would receive the unseen, anticipated reward. As for the gentleness of David, by my life, he did not possess it completely, for a small remnant of the vanity of the secretaries remained within him. The right way to approach this topic is to say that even if a bit of that still touched him, and he was never able to eliminate it completely, perhaps he struggled with it and even held onto some of it intentionally because of his leadership position and the strictness that goes along with it. As for Solomon, he was not able to attain 130r his wisdom, but as a substitute, he had a firm faith in God and submitted neither to passions nor to the temptation of obscene things. This is nobler than the wisdom of the world and preferable in the sight of God. As for the Prodromos,803 who dwelled in deserts, this man was nothing like him, for he was neither a prophet nor a forerunner and he did not dwell in the desert. However, he did call to faith and display the beauty of worship, and he was well known for this. By my life, he did not baptize a multitude, but he saved many from casting aside and losing baptism, helping them to preserve it by his expenditures and gifts. And afterward, he arrived at the greater, higher baptism, which is not polluted by any dirt or subsequent filth. From Peter he received a fervent sort of faith, but he nevertheless avoided his cowardice and his denial.804 And he resembled Paul in his transformation, though he did not turn from 798. Z adds: “the ancient.” 799. Cf. Genesis 24. 800. Z omits: “he inherited . . . a trick.” Cf. Genesis 27. 801. Cf. Genesis 29:15–30. 802. I take this as a reference to the church, specifically the Church of Antioch, thus establishing (as elsewhere in the text) a parallel between Christopher and Christ; cf. Ephesians 5:22–33. 803. A Greek word meaning “forerunner,” a title of John the Baptist. 804. Cf. Matthew 26:69–75; Mark 14:66–72; Luke 22:54–62; John 18:15–18, 25–27. Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) The Life of Christopher • 176 persecuting religion805 but from the confusion of the world and the bondage of the self. And even if he did not make it from Jerusalem to Illyricum to preach806—for only Paul made it that far, and he is the one who was snatched up to the third heaven and heard the speech that cannot be expressed807—he certainly did not fall short in what he was able to do. There were people whom he supported and strengthened, those he warned and informed, and those he restrained, rebuked, and often rescued and delivered from great difficulties. [21. Address to the Patriarch] But O divine crown, possessor of all purity, especially loved by me and generally venerated by the masses, O you who resembled all of those mentioned here, who loved so many of them and was first to every good deed, receive this discourse from me. 130v Imagine it as an encomium, or imagine it as an elegy or a consolation, and receive it in your blessed life, even if it is a poor speech, for it is done according to my ability. You did not disdain to run the race for my sake until you could hand me over to that learned divine educator—perhaps you hoped that I would become highly learned, or perhaps you knew beforehand that I, like you, would be lacking808 in the sciences. In any case you knew by spiritual knowledge that I was planning to write down your story at some time, so that it might not be forgotten in the course of time. Therefore have compassion on me even now, and pardon me for delaying so long the duty of speaking about you. Do not reject me, now that you are standing in the heavens before the great dais, since I longed—or since I eagerly strove—for you to look upon me and intercede for me. My father relied on you when he made me and my brothers—may God be pleased with all of them809—your disciples. And you go to great lengths, asking and begging that my sins be forgiven, that my actions be noble for the remainder of my life, and that I be saved from difficulties and seek whatever will please God and bring me nearer to him. [22. His Disciples] You had numerous followers and helpers, the children whom you fathered in Christ and guided in the way that pleases God.810 They were holy branches, spiritual flowers, and pleasing first fruits from our precious, divine town. Among them was Abba George the Elder, your plant and seedling, who met the holy Emperor Nikephoros and was head of the monastery of St. Symeon the Stylite of Aleppo, the one on the mountain.811 805. Cf. Acts 9:1–19. 806. Cf. Romans 15:19. 807. Z omits: “for only . . . be expressed.” Cf. 2 Corinthians 12:1–4. 808. For “lacking,” Z reads: “excellent.” 809. Raḍiya Allāh ʿan al-jamīʿ. 810. Several of the disciples listed here, along with Ibrāhīm (the author of this text), became translators in Antioch after the Byzantine conquest; see Treiger, “Beginnings,” 314–32. 811. Z omits: “the one on the mountain.” 177 • Joshua Mugler Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 29 (2021) Abba John the Marvelous was worthy of becoming catholicos 131r over the lands of the East. Abba Chariton II was the diligent archimandrite of the monastery of St. Symeon the Marvelous,812 the one by the sea on the Marvelous Mountain of Lukkām.813 Abba Yaʿīsh the Hermit814 struggled upon various pillars of seclusion and performed marvelous feats. Abba Ephrem, the man of God,815 was a hermit who patiently bore the confinement of many cells and did not turn away from his solitary path. He was mainly confined with us— or rather, with Christ—in the monastery of St. Gregory the Theologian.816 Abba Jeremiah,817 his marvelous companion, was head of the monastery of Our Lady the Mother of God al-Jarājima,818 which he himself founded on the holy mountain of Lukkām. The blessed Father Eutykhios, son of Farkhos. The virtuous Abba Gregory the Elder was head of the monastery of Our Lady the Mother of God Dafnūnā,819 and it suffices to mention how famous his virtues were. I have devoted to each of them an individual account, as they deserve to be remembered, even though I have been far too brief. The simple fact that they were planted by you suffices as a eulogy and commemoration for them. May your intercession and the prayers of all of them save and preserve us, now and ever and until the utmost of all the ages. Amen. May all the people say amen.820 812. Z writes that Chariton was the archimandrite of the monastery of St. Saba and lists Symeon the Marvelous as if he were another disciple of Christopher, but Symeon—also known as St. Symeon the Stylite the Younger or as St. Symeon of the Marvelous/Admirable Mountain—lived in the sixth century CE. Alexander Treiger suggests that the text originally listed two Charitons, one abbot of Arshāyā and the other abbot of St. Symeon’s monastery; see Treiger, “Beginnings,” 323–24. 813. That is, the Black Mountain (“Lukkām” is from the Syriac ūkāmā, meaning “black”), the ancient Amanos, just northwest of Antioch. This monastery is southwest of Antioch, where the southern end of the Lukkām range overlooks the Orontes near its mouth. 814. For “Yaʿīsh the Hermit,” Z reads: “Yaʿīsh of Aleppo.” Yaʿīsh, along with Jeremiah, is mentioned as a contemporary of St. Timon in several synaxarion entries for March 25; see Joseph-Marie Sauget, Premières recherches sur l’origine et les caractéristiques des synaxaires melkites (XIe–XVIIe siècles) (Brussels: Société des Bollandistes, 1969), 367–69. 815. Z omits: “of seclusion . . . of God.” It therefore combines Yaʿīsh and Ephrem into one person. 816. Z adds “in Bityas.” Bityas, also within the Lukkām mountain range, is now called Batıayaz and lies west of Antioch. 817. Jeremiah is mentioned alongside Yaʿīsh as a contemporary of St. Timon in several synaxarion entries for March 25; see Sauget, Recherches, 367–69. 818. The Jarājima, known to the Byzantines as Mardaites, were a Christian group living in the mountains near Antioch, often serving as mercenaries for the Byzantines or their enemies; see Nasrallah, “Auteurs,” 81–82. 819. 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