تحفة النظار في غرايب الامصار وعجايب الاسفار 13.51: ذكر أمير علابور واستشهاده

13.51.1

وكان أمير علابور بدر الحبشي من عبيد السلطان، وهو من الأبطال الذين تضرب بهم الأمثال، وكان لا يزال يغير على الكفار منفردا بنفسه فيقتل ويسبى حتى شاع خبره واشتهر أمره وهابه الكفار، وكان طويلا ضخما ياكل الشاة عن آخرها في أكلة! وأخبرت أنه كان يشرب نحو رطل ونصف من السمن بعد غذائه على عادة الحبشة

The amīr of ʿAlābūr was Badr al-Ḥabashī, one of the Sultan's slaves, and one of those heroes who are proverbial. He was constantly raiding the infidels all by himself, killing and taking captives, until his fame spread, his renown became widely known and the infidels came to dread him. He was tall and massive, and would eat a whole sheep at a single meal! I was told that he used to drink about a raṭl and a half of ghee after his meal, after the custom of the Abyssinians

13.51.2

ببلادهم! وكان له ابن يدانيه في الشجاعة، فاتفق أن غار مرة في جماعة من عبيده على قرية للكفار فوقع به الفرس في مطمورة واجتمع عليه أهل القرية فضربه أحدهم بقتارة، والقتارة بقاف معقود وتاء معلوة، حديدة شبه سكة للحرث يدخل الرجل يده فيها فتكسو ذراعه ويفضل منها مقدار ذراعين، وضربتها لا تبقي، فقتله بتلك الضربة وقاتل عبيده أشد القتال فتغلبوا على القرية، وقتلوا رجالها وسبوا نساءها وما فيها وأخرجوا الفرس من المطمورة سالما فأتوا به ولده فكان من الاتفاق الغريب أنه ركب الفرس وتوجه إلى دهلي فخرج عليه الكفار فقاتلهم حتى قتل وعاد الفرس إلى أصحابه فدفعوه إلى أهله فركبه صهر له فقتله الكفار عليه أيضا! ثم سافرنا إلى مدينة كاليور، وضبط اسمها بفتح الكاف المعقود وكسر اللام وضم الياء آخر الحروف وواو وراء، ويقال فيها أيضا كيالير، وهي مدينة كبيرة لها حصن منيع منقطع في رأس شاهق على بابه صورة فيل، وفيال من الحجارة وقد مر ذكره في اسم السلطان قطب الدين ، وأمير هذه المدينة أحمد بن سيرخان فاضل كان يكرمني أيام إقامتي عنده قبل هذه السفرة.

in their country! He had a son who came close to him in courage. It happened that once he raided a village of the infidels with a band of his slaves, and his horse fell with him into a pit. The people of the village gathered around him and one of them struck him with a qattāra (qattāra is spelled with a hard q and a dotted t): an iron implement like a ploughshare into which a man puts his hand, so that it covers his forearm, and a length of two cubits projects beyond it; its blow leaves nothing alive. He killed him with that blow. His slaves fought most fiercely and overpowered the village, killed its men, took captive its women and whatever was in it, and brought the horse out of the pit unharmed. They brought it to his son, and by a strange coincidence he rode the horse and set out for Dihlī; the infidels came out against him and he fought them until he was killed. The horse returned to his companions and they handed it over to his family; a kinsman of his by marriage rode it, and the infidels killed him on it too! Then we travelled to the city of Kālyūr (its name is spelled with a hard k with a, l with i, the last letter of the alphabet [y] with u, then w and r); it is also called Kiyālīr. It is a large city with an impregnable, isolated fortress on top of a lofty height; at its gate is the figure of an elephant with its mahout, of stone, which has already been mentioned under the name of Sultan Quṭb al-Dīn. The amīr of this city was Aḥmad b. Sīr Khān, a virtuous man, who treated me with honour during my stay with him before this journey.

We journeyed thereafter to Galyiir or Guyalyur [Gwalior], a large town with an impregnable fortress isolated on the summit of a lofty hill. Over its gate is an elephant with its mahout carved in stone. The governor of this town was a man of upright character, and he treated me very honourably when I stayed with him on a previous occasion. One day I came before him as he was about to have an infidel cut in two. I said to him “By God I beseech you, do not do this, for I have never seen anyone put to death in my presence.” He ordered the man to be put in prison so my intervention was the means of his escape. From Galyur we went to Parwan, a small town belonging to the Muslims, but situated in the land of the infidels. There are many tigers there, and one of the inhabitants told me that a certain tiger used to enter the town by night, although the gates were shut, and used to seize people. It killed quite a number of the townsfolk in this way. They used to wonder how it made its way in. Here is an amazing thing; a man told me that it was not a tiger who did this but a human being, one of the magicians known as Jugis [Yogis], appearing in the shape of a tiger. When I heard this I refused to believe it, but a number of people said the same, so let us give at this point some account of these magicians. The men of this class do some marvellous things.

13.51.3

ودخلت عليه يوما وهو يريد توسيط رجل من الكفار فقلت له: بالله لا تفعل ذلك، فاني ما رأيت أحدا قط يقتل بمحضري! فأمر بسجنه وكان ذلك سبب خلاصه.

One day I went in to him as he was about to have one of the infidels cut in half at the waist. I said to him, “By God, do not do it, for I have never seen anyone killed in my presence!” He ordered him to be imprisoned, and that was the cause of his deliverance.

13.51.4

ثم رحلنا من مدينة كاليور إلى مدينة برون ، وضبط اسمها بفتح الباء المعقودة وسكون الراء وفتح الواو وآخره نون، مدينة صغيرة للمسلمين بين بلاد الكفار، أميرها محمد بن بيرم التركي الأصل، والسباع بها كثيرة، وذكر لي بعض أهلها أن السبع كان يدخل إليها ليلا وأبوابها مغلقة فيفترس الناس حتى قتل من أهلها كثيرا وكانوا يعجبون في شأن دخوله. وأخبرني محمد التوفيري من أهلها، وكان جارا لي بها أنه دخل داره ليلا وافترس صبيا من فوق السرير، وأخبرني غيره أنه كان مع جماعة في دار عرس فخرج أحدهم لحاجة فافترسه فخرج أصحابه في طلبه فوجدوه مطروحا بالسوق وقد شرب دمه ولم يأكل لحمه.

Then we set out from the city of Kālyūr to the city of Barwan (its name is spelled with a hard b with a, r without vowel, w with a, ending in n), a small city of the Muslims among the lands of the infidels. Its amīr was Muḥammad b. Bayram, of Turkish origin. Wild beasts are numerous there. One of its people told me that a beast used to enter it at night while its gates were shut and prey on the people, until it had killed many of its inhabitants, and they were amazed at how it got in. Muḥammad al-Tawfīrī, one of its people, who was my neighbour there, told me that it entered his house at night and seized a boy from on top of the bed. Another told me that he was with a group in a house where a wedding was being held; one of them went out to relieve himself and it seized him. His companions went out looking for him and found him lying in the market; it had drunk his blood and had not eaten his flesh.

13.51.5

وذكروا أنه كذلك فعله بالناس.

They said that this is how it dealt with people.

13.51.6

ومن العجب أن بعض الناس أخبرني أن الذي يفعل ذلك ليس بسبع وإنما هو أدمي من السحرة المعروفين بالجوكية يتصور في صورة سبع، ولما أخبرت بذلك أنكرته، وأخبرني به جماعة ولنذكر بعضا من أخبار هؤلاء السحرة.

Strangely, some people told me that the one who does this is not a beast but a human being, one of the sorcerers known as the Jūgīs, who takes on the form of a beast. When I was told this I rejected it, but a number of people told me the same. Let us relate some of the stories of these sorcerers.