التاريخ اليميني 34.1-4

34.1

قد كان السلطان يمين الدولة وأمين الملة لما استصفى نواحي الهند إلى حيث لم تبلغه في الإسلام راية، ولم تتل بها قط سورة أو آية، فرحض عنها أدناس الشرك، وقشع دونها أغباش الكفر، وبنى بها مساجد يقوم فيها دعاة الله بالأذان الذي هو شعار الإيمان، رأى أن يطوي تلك الديار إلى واسطة الهند منتقما لله ممن يجحد توحيده، ويضع لعبادة الأنداد من دونه تعالى خده و وريده، ومحكما فيه سيوفا طبعت على غرار الإسلام، وسقيت بماء الإيمان، وصينت في قراب دين الله، وانتضيت بأيدي الأخيار والأبرار من أولياء الله. فندب الرجال، وفرق الأموال، وأخلص اليقين، واستنصر الواحد المعين.

When the Sultan Yamīn al-Dawla wa-Amīn al-Milla had cleared out the regions of Hind as far as places no banner of Islam had ever reached and where no sūra or verse had ever been recited, washing them clean of the filth of polytheism, dispelling from them the gloom of unbelief, and building there mosques in which God's callers stand to give the call to prayer, which is the emblem of faith, he resolved to traverse those lands to the heart of Hind, taking vengeance for God on those who deny His unity and lay their cheek and neck down in worship of rivals set up beside Him, the Exalted, and making judges over them swords forged on the pattern of Islam, tempered in the water of faith, kept in the scabbard of God's religion, and drawn by the hands of the good and righteous among God's friends. So he summoned the men, distributed money, made his certainty pure, and sought help from the One, the Helper.

After the Sultan had purified Hind from idolatry, and raised mosques therein, he determined to invade the capital of Hind, to punish those who kept idols and would not acknowledge the unity of God. He collected his warriors and distributed money amongst them. He marched with a large army in the year 404 H. 1013 A.D. during a dark night, and at the close of autumn, on account of the purity of the southern breezes at that season. When the Sultan had arrived near the frontier of Hind, snow fell, such as had never been seen before, insomuch that the passes of the hills were closed, and mountains and valleys became of one level. The feet of the horses and camels were affected by the cold, so it may be conceived what the faces, hands, and feet of men suffered. The well-known roads were concealed, and the right could not be distinguished from the left, or what was behind from that which was before, and they were unable to return until God should give the order. The Sultan employed himself, in the meantime, in collecting supplies, and sent for his generals from the different provinces. After having thus accumulated the means of warfare, and having been joined by his soldiers, who had come from different directions, in number equal to the drops of an autumnal rain, he left these winter quarters in the spring, and, had the earth been endowed with feeling, it would have groaned under the weight of the iron, the warriors, the horses, and the beasts of burden.

34.2

ونهض في الطم والرم، والليل المدلهم، [وذلك في سنة أربع وأربعمائة] .

And he set out with everything he had, in the dark of night, [and that was in the year 404].

34.3

وسار في أخريات الخريف ثقة بطيب الهواء من جانب الجنوب، فاتفق عند اقتحامه تلك الديار أن سقطت ثلوج لم يعهد قبلها مثلها، فسدت مخارق تلك الجبال، وسوت بين الأباطح والتلال، وكلح وجه الهواء كلوحا أثر في الحوافر والأخفاف، فضلا عن المحاسر و[188 أ] الأطراف، وضلت مهايع الطرق فلم تعرف الميامن من المياسر، ولا المقادم من المآخر. واضطرت الحال إلى الانعطاف إلى أن يأذن الله ثانيا في الانصراف، ولكل شي ء حد محدود، وأمد ممدود.

He marched at the end of autumn, trusting in the mild weather in the south, but it happened, as he pushed into those lands, that snows fell the like of which had never been known before; they blocked the passes of those mountains, levelled valley floors and hills, and the face of the air grew so grim that it affected hooves and camels' feet, let alone bare heads and limbs. The highways were lost, so that right could not be told from left, nor front from back. Circumstances forced him to turn back until God should permit setting out a second time; for everything there is a fixed limit and an extended term.

34.4

وأقبل السلطان على استئناف العدة والعتاد، واستكمال الميرة والأزواد، واستدعاء أعيان الغزاة من أطراف البلاد، حتى إذا تمت العدة والعديد، وباهى العقد بأخواته الفريد، وتضام الناس كقزع الخريف من كل وجه منشورا، وعن كل أوب محثوثا ومحشورا، وأقبل الربيع بطيب المقيل، واعتدال برد الغداة والأصيل، استخار الله في الرحيل، وسار كالبحر الأخضر تضربه الأعاصير، والأمر الحتم تجنبه المقادير. فغدت وحوش الأرض مأسورة، وطيور الجو مقهورة، ولو أحست الأرض لرنت من ثقل الحديد، والمشي الوئيد. وحث الأبطال فوق القب القياديد ، وساق أمامه أدلة يهتدون أعماق تلك البلاد، ولا الشمس عليها طالعة، ولا النجوم بينها مستقيمة وراجعة. وحث الركائب شهرين بين أنهار عميقة الأغوار، بعيدة ما بين الأقطار، وبواد تضل في أرجائها أسراب اليعافير، وتحار في دهنائها أفواج العصافير، حتى إذا قارب المقصد [188 ب] عبأ الخيول كتائب، وميزها عصائب، ورتبها كواكب، وقسمها مناسر ومقانب. ونصب أخاه الأمير نصر بن ناصر الدين في الميمنة في كماة القواد، وحماة الأفراد. وأرسلان الجاذب في الميسرة في البهم الذكور، والبزل الفحول. وجعل أبا عبد الله محمد بن إبراهيم الطائي على المقدمة في مساعير العرب، أحلاس الظهور، وأبناء الصوارم الذكور. ورتب في القلب الحاجب التونتاش وسائر خواصه وغلمان داره، رجال إذا اصطفوا فالجبال الشواهق، أو زحفوا فالسيول الدوافق. ونذر بهم عدو الله ملك الهند، ففزع من فاجى ء الفزع إلى من حوله من تكاكرته ، وأعيان جيوشه وناصرته، ولجأ إلى شعب جبل لحج المدخل، خشن المتوغل، صعب المرتقى والمتوقل، مستعصما بالاحتجاز عن البراز، وبالاحتراس من وقع البأس. وسد مفغر الجبلين بفيلة له يراها الراؤون هضابا نابتة، وجبالا ثابتة. وبث النفير في أطراف مملكته يستنهض من يحمل حجرا، فضلا عمن يلقم القوس وترا، أو يحسن بالسيف أثرا. ومد في طول المطاولة كي يلقى [عسكر السلطان] بقوة وافية، وعدة متوافية، أو يلجى ء أولياء الله إلى الإخلال من فرط الملال، أو النفور من ضيق الصدور، ولم يعلم أن الله [189 أ] من وراء المؤمنين، وأن الله موهن كيد الكافرين .

The Sultan then set about renewing equipment and gear, completing provisions and supplies, and summoning the leading ghāzīs from the borders of the lands, until, when the equipment and the numbers were complete, and the necklace vied with its sisters in its unique pearl, and people had gathered like autumn cloud-wisps, spread out from every side and urged and mustered from every quarter, and spring came with its pleasant noontide rest and the mild coolness of morning and evening, he sought God's guidance about departing, and marched like the green sea lashed by whirlwinds, like a decree the fates do not avoid. The wild beasts of the earth became captive and the birds of the sky subdued; had the earth had feeling, it would have groaned from the weight of iron and the heavy tread. He drove the heroes on lean, long-necked steeds, and sent ahead of him guides to find the way through the depths of those lands, where neither does the sun rise over them, nor do the stars move straight or retrograde among them. He drove the mounts for two months between rivers of unfathomed depths and far-apart banks, and through deserts in whose expanses herds of gazelles lose their way and in whose sandy wastes flocks of sparrows are bewildered, until, when he neared his goal, he arrayed the horse in squadrons, sorted them into bands, ranged them in troops, and divided them into vanguards and detachments. He set his brother the Amīr Naṣr ibn Nāṣir al-Dīn on the right wing with the armoured warriors among the commanders and the defenders among the picked men; Arslān al-Jādhib on the left wing with the bold, manly warriors and the seasoned stallions; and he put Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Ṭāʾī over the vanguard with the firebrands of the Arabs, men who never leave the saddle, sons of keen swords. In the centre he placed Altūntāsh the Chamberlain and the rest of his intimates and household slaves, men who, when they lined up, were towering mountains, and when they advanced, gushing torrents. The enemy of God, the king of Hind, got word of them, and in the suddenness of his alarm he fled to the Thakkurs around him and the leading men of his armies and his helpers, and took refuge in a mountain defile narrow of entrance, rough to penetrate, hard to climb and scale, seeking protection by holding back from open combat and guarding himself against the blow of war. He blocked the mouth between the two mountains with his elephants, which onlookers took for sprouting hills and fixed mountains. He sent the call to arms through the borders of his kingdom, rousing anyone who could carry a stone, let alone one who could string a bow or leave a mark with the sword. He drew out the delay so that he might meet [the Sultan's army] with ample strength and complete equipment, or drive God's friends to slacken out of excessive weariness or to turn away from distress of heart; and he did not know that God stands behind the believers, and that God weakens the scheming of the infidels.

The guides marched on in front over hill and dale, before the sun arose, and even before the light of the stars was extinguished. He urged on his horses for two months, among broad and deep rivers, and among jungles in which wild cattle even might lose their way. When the Sultan arrived near the end of his destination, he set his cavalry in array, and formed them into different bodies, appointing his brother, Amir Nasr, son of Ndsiru-d din, to command the right wing, consisting of valiant heroes; Arslanu-1 Jdzib to the left wing, consisting of powerful young men; and Abu 'Abdu-lla Muhammad bin Ibrahimu-t Tai to the advance-guard, consisting of fiery Arab cavaliers. To the centre he appointed Altuntash, the chamberlain, with the Sultan's personal slaves and attendants, as firm as mountains. Nidar Bhim, the enemy of God and the chief of Hind, alarmed at this sudden invasion, summoned his vassals and generals, and took refuge within a pass, which was narrow, precipitous, and inaccessible. They entrenched themselves behind stones, and closed the entrance to the pass by their elephants, which looked like so many hills from their lofty stature. Here he remained in great security, being persuaded that the place was impervious to attack, but he did not know that God is the protector of the faithful, and the annihilator of infidels!