these laws of 402. A certain merchant had all his money invested in the
prohibited fruit, and lost everything by the seizure and destruction of
his goods. He appeared before the Qadi and summoned Hakim to appear and
make good the destruction caused by his officials. The Khalif appeared
to answer the charge preferred against him, the Qadi treating him like
any other citizen against whom complaint had been made. The merchant
asked for compensation to the amount of 1,000 pieces of gold. Hakim in
his defence says that the fruits destroyed were intended to be used in
the preparation of drinks forbidden by the law of the Qurʾan, but that
if the merchant will swear that they were not intended for this purpose
but only to be eaten he was willing to pay their price. The merchant
refuses to take the oath until the Khalif actually produced the money
before the Qadi. Hakim ordered the money to be brought into court, and
when it is produced the merchant swore that the fruit was intended only
for eating. He then received the money and gave the Khalif a formal
receipt. He then demanded letters of protection from the Khalif that he
might not incur any retaliation for his suit, and these were given. When
the case was concluded the Qadi, who had up to this point treated both
parties as ordinary suitors, rose from his seat and gave the Khalif the
salute customary at court. Hakim admired the Qadi’s conduct, and made him
valuable presents in recognition of his treatment of the case.
This year the ʿAbbasid Khalif assembled the leading ʿAlids and several
prominent canonists at Baghdad, and prepared a manifesto against the
ʿAlid claims of the Fatimid Khalifs. To this we have already referred
(cf. p. 48 supra): how much weight should be attached to it is doubtful,
for the motives and pressure brought to bear are obvious. We know,
however, that Hakim was greatly annoyed by it.
We have come now to the year 403, another bad year of great scarcity and
famine. Early in the year (on the 2nd of Rabiʿ I) the minister, Zara b.
Isa b. Nestorius, was put to death and his place given, twenty-seven
days later, to Husayn b. Taher al-Wazzan, who received the title of Emir
al-Umara “Prince of the empire.” This Husayn began to make a careful
survey of the income and expenditure of the state, and expressed his
plain opinion that Hakim’s constant and lavish presents were unwise, some
measure of economy was urgently called for. It seems that these acts of
generosity had now become excessive. In after years the sacred books of
the Druses in praising Hakim lay especial emphasis on his unexampled
generosity in presenting not only honours and titles but also pensions,
estates, fiefs, etc. upon all his friends (cf. de Sacy: _Chrestom._ ii.
69-70). The Emir even suspended payment of the orders brought to the
treasury bearing the Khalif’s seal, and addressed a remonstrance to
the sovereign. Hakim replied in a tone of kindly remonstrance urging
the treasurer to pay the orders. The Emir did so, but sent in a full
statement of the sums paid and of the gifts made to strangers.
Extravagance was the besetting fault of all the Fatimids, but it reached
its extreme in Hakim. Whilst he was alienating large portions of the
public property which was not, of course, distinguished from his own
private possessions, he was also making lavish gifts to the mosques of
Fustat and Cairo. In Jumada II. of this year he resolved to furnish
the mosque which he had completed in Cairo and which bears the name of
Hakim’s Mosque. A preliminary estimate of the cost of the lamps, chains,
mats, etc. came to 5,000 pieces of gold. Early in Ramadan he presented a
_tannur_ or large candelabrum to the Old Mosque in Fustat. This _tannur_
weighed 100,000 drams and had 1,200 lights. It was carried to the mosque
to the sound of drums and trumpets and with cries of _tehlil_ (“there
is no power or might but in God”) and _takbir_ (“God is great”), the
procession being led by the Kaʾid (Commander-in-Chief). When they came
near the mosque it was found necessary to remove the mastabas or stone
benches outside the houses on the way, and to dig up the roads to enable
the _tannur_ to be brought to the door, and then the upper part of the
door had to be removed by masons to get the lamp in. The Khalif presented
the mosque at the same time with 1,290 copies of the Qurʾan, some of
which were written in letters of gold.
At the beginning of his reign Hakim had forbidden the use of the
honorific titles customarily applied to the Fatimid Khalifs. He now
forbade the custom of kissing the ground before him, and of kissing
his hand or stirrup. These customs, he stated, were imitated from the
Byzantine court and so not seemly for Muslims. In salutation he desired
the use of the simple formula: “Hail to the Commander of the faithful;
may the mercy and blessing of God be on him.” Never in speech or in
writing might the formula be used, “God be propitious to him,” as this
was applied to the patriarchs and saints. In writing petitions, etc.,
the formula should be, “May the peace of God, his abundant favour and
blessing, rest upon the Commander of the faithful.” Similar forms, and no
others, were to be used in praying for the Khalif: in the _khutba_ the
form approved was, “O God, be propitious to Muhammad thy chosen; grant
peace to ʿAli the first of believers, whom thou hast honoured with thy
bounty: O God, grant peace to the princes of the believers, the fathers
of the Commander of the faithful: O God, may thy most excellent peace
rest on thy servant and vicar” (Maq. ii. 288, Ibn Khall. iii. 451).
At the palace the use of cymbals and trumpets when the guard made the
rounds was forbidden, all was to be done without music. A new seal was
engraved for the use of the Khalif bearing the inscription, “By the help
of God most high and beneficent, the Imam ʿAli will be victorious” (Maq.
id.).
Various events of passing interest are associated with the month of
Jumada II. of this year, the month, it will be remembered, in which the
Emir of Mecca abandoned his claim to the Khalifate and was reconciled
to Hakim. On the very day on which the Emir’s envoy was received Hakim
commenced building an observatory at Karafa. This observatory was
never finished. It should be noted in passing that various occasional
references in the historians justify us in regarding Hakim as greatly
interested in astrology as well as in other branches of natural science,
and in this he was true to the Fatimid tradition. After receiving the
submission of the Emir of Mecca Hakim wrote a letter to the Sultan,
Mahmud of Ghazna, the great champion of orthodoxy, asking for his
allegiance. It could hardly be expected that Mahmud would tolerate or
recognise any Shiʿite, least of all the head of the Fatimid dynasty.
On receiving the letter the Sultan tore it in pieces and spat on the
fragments, afterwards sending them to the ʿAbbasid Khalif al-Qadir.
It was perhaps in this year, as De Sacy thinks, although Abu l-Mahsin
refers to 400, the Tarikh Jafari to 404, that a crowd of men, presumably
Shiʿites, came to the palace demanding justice against the Egyptians.
It seems that, as Hakim was now passing through an orthodox phase and,
as we have seen, had abandoned some of his pro-Shiʿite legislation, the
orthodox Egyptians had been teasing the Shiʿites and paying them back for
the insults they had ventured upon in the time of their ascendancy. They
were not able to obtain an interview with the Khalif, but were told to
come again next day. Some go away, but many pass the whole night before
the palace. Next day the clamours recommenced, until at length the Kaʾid
appeared and ordered them to withdraw. They then went to the Qadi who
assured them that he had no power of dealing with their complaints, and
they left his court cursing the “Companions,” that is to say, the early
Khalifs who, though regarded by the Shiʿites as usurpers and enemies of
ʿAli, were admittedly companions of the Prophet (Maq. ii. 288).
This was followed by an order strictly forbidding any persons to curse
the “Companions,” and before long several persons were punished for
this offence. One day Hakim saw such curses written up on a public
inn, no doubt so written at the time when he had commanded the putting
up of inscriptions of this sort. These he ordered to be effaced and
sent officials through the streets reading out an order that all such
inscriptions on inns, shops, streets, etc. must be removed, and great
care was taken to see that the order was carried out. All this was a bid
for popularity with the orthodox, and this year he made a further bid by
assigning property for the support of the indigent, and for the doctors
in the various mosques and the muezzins.
It was in Ramadan of 403 that Hakim showed the zenith of his passing
orthodoxy. Each Friday during this month he attended the Mosque of
Rashida clad simply, with a turban without jewel and having a sword
adorned only with bands of silver, and himself led the public prayers.
During his progress to and from the mosque any person who desired to do
so was free to approach him, and he took the memoranda and petitions
which they presented him, conversing with the petitioners. On Friday the
10th he did thus, clothed plainly in a garment of white wool and riding
to the mosque on an ass. On the 27th of Ramadan he went to the Old Mosque
and made there the _khutba_ and led the Friday prayer, a thing which
no Fatimid had done before. This visit was made without any display;
there was no cortège or led horses, save only ten horses whose saddles
and bridles were plainly adorned with silver; over his head was borne a
plain white parasol without the usual gold fringe; there was no jewel in
his turban, and the pulpit in the mosque was without hangings. The same
simplicity was observed at the Feast of Sacrifice, at which the victims
were slain by the heir, ʿAbdu r-Rahim (Maq. ii. 288). The ceremonial thus
observed at the close of Ramadan was to a large extent of Shiʿite origin,
but it was a concession to the feelings of the people that the Old Mosque
was used. It will be remembered that it was during this month that Hakim
presented the great _tannur_ to the same mosque.
The persecution of Christians and Jews continued, and even became more
severe, during this year (404). The order that Christians should wear
black robes and turbans was renewed; they had to bear crosses of wood a
yard long and a yard wide, and to carry them so that they could be seen.
This was done to many Christians wearing small crosses as ornaments, and
often carrying them beneath the outer garment. Jews received similar
orders as to the billets of wood which served as their distinctive
badge. According to Severus both cross and billet had to be marked with
a lead seal bearing the Khalif’s name: this no doubt means that those
of the proper size and material received this seal as a mark that they
were approved. Both Christians and Jews were forbidden to ride horses;
the mules and asses which they used must have plain saddles of wood and
stirrups of sycamore wood without any ornament. Neither were allowed to
have Muslim servants or to buy a slave of either sex. Muslim owners of
riding animals were forbidden to let on hire to Christians or Jews, and
Muslim sailors similarly were forbidden to take them in their boats. Both
Christians and Jews were forbidden to wear rings on their right hand. All
these orders were proclaimed in the streets of Fustat and Kahira, and
great pains were taken to see that they were rigorously enforced. Many
Christians turned Muslim in order to avoid these vexations (Maq. _loc.
cit._).
It is not easy to date precisely all the anti-Christian and anti-Jewish
legislation. It is certain that it commenced in 393 and came to an end
in 405, that for the most part it increased in severity up to 403, and
then slightly relaxed, but there are various divergences of detail in
the accounts as to the actual orders enforced in each of the intervening
years.
De Sacy thinks that it was about this time (404) that the conference
of the Christians and Jews with Hakim to which reference is made in the
books of the Druses, took place. One day as the Khalif was walking at
Karafa, in the cemetery Kibab attair, a band of representatives of the
two persecuted religions waited upon him. He permitted them to speak
with him and assured them that they might talk freely without fear. They
pointed out to him that his conduct towards them was very different from
that of the Prophet and of his early successors; they asked how he could
justify his policy which was so opposed to the compacts which had been
made with them. Hakim asked them to retire and meet him again in the same
place the following night, to bring their learned men with them, and
assured them again of his protection under which they might speak freely.
Next night Hakim relates to them the conferences which the Prophet had
with Christians and Jews in his day, conferences which were designed to
bring about their conversion but which failed in this result; for four
hundred years Islam has been available, and the reasons brought forward
by the Prophet had been under consideration: now you are offered the
choice of Islam again after all this delay, if you do not now accept the
punishment can be no longer postponed. The representatives admit the
truth of this and retire from Hakim’s presence. It is very doubtful,
however, whether we can regard this description as given in the sacred
books of the Druses as in any way belonging to serious history.
The Khalif this year gave permission to the Christians who wished to do
so to emigrate to the land of the Greeks, or to Nubia, or Abyssinia,
permission which had previously not been conceded, and many did thus
emigrate. De Sacy connects the incident which we have related above with
this permission to emigrate.
Although Hakim had been, and still continued, devoted to the study of
astrology, he now made a decree against the astrologers who are to be
banished. Many of these astrologers went to the Qadi and entered into a
solemn undertaking not to practise their art, and on the strength of this
promise were allowed to remain. Maqrizi notes it as a strange thing that
after this decree one could no longer see astrologers in the streets.
Perquisition was made and any of these found were brought before the
Qadi and expelled from the country. The same treatment was meted out to
professional musicians (Maq. ii. 288, Ibn Khall. iii. 450).
A general report began to circulate in the course of this year that Hakim
intended to have a great massacre of many people, and the report, though
vague, was readily believed, with the result that multitudes fled from
Cairo, so that the markets were suspended and all business came to an end
for the time (Maq. ii. 288).
On the 12th of Rabiʿ I. ʿAbdu r-Rahim, who had killed the victims at
the preceding Feast of Sacrifice and was a great grandson of the Mahdi
who had been the first Fatimid Khalif, was publicly declared heir to
the throne to the exclusion of the Khalif’s infant son. Orders were
given that he was to be saluted in the form: “Hail to the cousin of the
Commander of the faithful, the designated successor of the sovereign of
the Muslims.” His name was placed on the coinage, he received apartments
in the royal palace, his name was inserted in the _khutba_, and he acted
as the Khalif’s deputy in all business of state. Business was at this
time little regarded by Hakim, who spent much of his time riding about in
the city and in the country round, sometimes by day, often also by night.
In the following month he cut off the hands of the Kaʾid’s secretary, Abu
l-Kasim Jarjarai. This secretary had been in the service of the Princess
Hakim’s sister, but fearing that this was a dangerous place had left her
for the service of the Kaʾid. The Princess desired to know the reason
of this change, and the secretary sent her a letter in which he made
reference to a certain matter which he had discovered,—probably Hakim’s
intention to change the succession—and this letter the Princess, fearing
a trap, showed to the Khalif, at which he was very greatly annoyed. ʿAyn
had been Kaʾid (Commander-in-Chief) since 402, and had had one of his
hands cut off in 401, and now on the 3rd of Jumada I. Hakim cut off his
remaining hand, after which he sent him a present of 5,000 pieces of gold
and 25 horses; on the 13th of the same month he had his tongue cut out
and then sent other gifts, but after this the Kaʾid died. Very many were
put to death about this time, for the Khalif seemed to be suffering from
an insane impulse to torture and slay; so great was the alarm that many
fled from the city.
Since 400 the Khalif had been showing favour to the orthodox, but in the
course of this year he changed his attitude, ceased to make gifts to
the mosques, to the muezzins, doctors, etc., and disbanded the college
which he had founded for teaching the Malikite canon law. More than this
he treated the lecturers with great severity, and put to death Abu Bakr
Antaki, the principal, and one of his assistants.
Either in this year or in 405 Hakim made very strict rules about women.
He forbade them to go about the streets at all. The baths used by
women were closed; boot-makers were forbidden to make outdoor boots
for women, and so some of the boot-makers’ shops were closed entirely.
Women were forbidden to look out of doors or windows, or to go out on
terraces. These laws continued in force until the close of the reign. A
case occurred in which some old women who lived by spinning and selling
their work to the merchants were neither able to dispose of it to their
customers nor go out to buy provisions, and remained inside until their
bodies, which showed that they had died of starvation, were found by
the neighbours. When this was reported to the Khalif he conceded that
merchants who bought or sold with women might go to the doors of their
houses and the women might pass out goods or money and receive its
exchange, provided they did not show their faces or hands to the merchant
or any passer-by in the street.
One day Hakim was passing the “Golden Baths” and heard a great deal of
noise within. On making enquiry he found that there were women inside.
He ordered the doors and windows to be walled up and left the inmates
to perish of hunger. The pretext given for these new regulations was
the libertinage of the Egyptian women. Hakim employed many harim spies,
and by means of these old women he heard of various assignations and
intrigues. On several occasions he sent a eunuch with a guard of soldiers
to wait in concealment at the place of assignation, and when the woman
appeared had her seized and thrown into the Nile. On other occasions he
sent guards to private houses to demand by name women whose conduct had
been unfavourably reported, and they were disposed of in the same manner.
It seems almost impossible to excuse Hakim’s conduct at this period
by the supposition that he was an earnest but fanatical puritan: the
frequency of new regulations, the constant changes in so many details,
and the capricious character of his conduct all tend to make the theory
of so many contemporaries that he was insane the more plausible.
In Syria the prestige of Egypt increased. Mansur, the son of Luʿluʿ at
Aleppo, had to ask Hakim’s help against Abu l-Hayja, the grandson of Sayf
ad-Dawla, and this was given. In Ramadan of this year (404) Hakim issued
a charter granting to Mansur Aleppo and its dependencies which were thus
held as tributary to Egypt.
Early in 405 the Chief Qadi, Malik b. Saʿid al-Faraki, was put to death
after holding office for six years, nine months and ten days. His income
was estimated at 15,000 pieces of gold. In Jumada the chief minister,
Husayn b. Taher, was put to death and replaced by the two brothers,
ʿAbdu r-Rahim and Husayn, sons of Abu Saʿid. After holding office for
sixty-two days they were put to death and replaced by Fadl b. Jaʿfar,
who held office only five days and was put to death; then ʿAli b. Jaʿfar
b. Fallah. Maqrizi mentions no other holder, but it does not follow that
ʿAli held the post to the end of the reign as, for some reason, he omits
all mention of Hakim’s later years: no doubt the reason is to be found in
his unwillingness to treat the closing phase of Hakim’s strange career,
and to these last years he makes no reference in any part of his work.
The Chief Qadi was replaced by Ahmad b. Muhammad ibn Abi l-Awwam, who
retained his office until 413, the year following the close of Hakim’s
reign.
Hakim now increased his habit of riding out. He began to use asses in
preference to horses, and went out clothed plainly in black, wearing on
his head a little linen cap without a turban. Orders were given that when
he went out the officials were to remain in their offices and not form
an escort as had been the custom. As the year went on he went out more
and more frequently until he was usually out six or seven times a day,
sometimes riding on his ass, sometimes borne in a litter, and sometimes
going in a boat on the Nile. He became more lavish than ever with his
gifts, and presented estates to the owners of boats, to subordinate
officials of various kinds, and to the Arab tribesmen of the B. Qorra.
Amongst the gifts he made to these latter was the overlordship of the
city of Alexandria and its suburbs.
In Syria Saktekin Shams ad-Dawla was made governor of Damascus, and this
office he held until 408. He was a tyrannical and cruel man. Towards
the end of his career he built the “New Bridge” below the citadel at
Damascus, intending himself to be the first to cross it. One day when
it was nearing completion he saw a horseman riding across the bridge.
In great anger he sends down a messenger to arrest him. But the strange
horseman turned out to be a messenger from Egypt with orders for his
deposition from office.
At Aleppo Murtada ad-Dawla raised up many enemies. The Arabs of the B.
Kalab tribe took up arms against him; he pretended to agree to their
terms and invited them into the city to a feast: as soon as they entered
he had the gates shut, arrested the chief men, and slew about one
thousand. This took place in 402. Salih b. Mirdas, one of the chief men
who had been imprisoned, filed through his irons and escaped in this
year, 405. When he is at large he ravages the whole country, and when
Murtada goes out to check him he is himself taken prisoner by the Arab.
Salih, however, really desired peace, and agreed to liberate Murtada
for a ransom of 15,000 pieces of gold, 120,000 pounds of silver, and
500 pieces of stuff, the freedom of the women and others of his tribe
who were still in prison, the equal division of the towns and lands of
Aleppo between himself and Murtada, and the gift of Murtada’s daughter
in marriage. These extraordinary conditions were granted and Murtada was
set free. But then he proved unwilling to divide the lands and towns of
his principality or to give his daughter in marriage, so Salih makes war
again and blockades Aleppo and starves it into unconditional surrender.
In 406 a quarrel sprung up between Murtada and Fatah Kalai who was the
governor of the citadel. Murtada considered that he had been instrumental
in fomenting Salih’s rebellion. Finally Fatah openly revolted against
Murtada and sent him the message, “Go out of Aleppo, or I give the
citadel to Salih.” Soon after this, as Murtada was in his palace near the
gate Bab al-Jinan, he heard drums and trumpets and cried out: “Hakim, O
Mansur: Salih, O Mansur,” believing that the citadel was in the hands of
the Arab chieftain: so greatly was he frightened that, without enquiring
what was the real cause of the drums and trumpets, he fled out of the
city with his family and escaped to Antioch, where he was given an asylum
by the Greek Emperor. As soon as Fatah heard of his flight he proclaimed
Hakim as sovereign over Aleppo, made terms with Salih and gave him half
the revenues of the city and its suburbs, and presented to him the ladies
of Murtada’s harim whom he had not taken with him in his flight. Salih
sent all Murtada’s wives and the other ladies to Antioch, retaining only
Murtada’s daughter whom he married.
Fatah wrote an account of these events to Hakim, and the Khalif was
very well pleased that he was now not merely suzerain over the ruler
of Aleppo but the actual owner of the city. He conferred the title of
_Mubarak ad-Dawla wa-Saidha_ on Fatah. In the following year (407) Hakim
wrote to the citizens of Aleppo abolishing the imposts and various taxes
which had been paid. Fatah was given all the goods which had belonged to
Murtada and was sent as governor to Tyre, after handing over the citadel
of Aleppo to the Emir ʿAziz ad-Dawla, an Armenian slave who had belonged
to Manjutakin. On this slave Hakim conferred the title _Emir ul-Umara_
or “Supreme Prince,” and presented him with a pelisse of honour, several
horses with harness adorned with gold, and a sword of state. Later on the
Emir revolted against Hakim.