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Nur al-Din and His Admiring Biographers
The biographical note on Nur al-Din (1118-1174) written by Ibn'Asakir (1105-1176), a contemporary historian and sympathizer, is a very important political document from the twelfth century. Ibn Asakir's first presentation of Nur al-Din is the embodiment of simplicity: "Mahrrmd ibn Zanki, the son of Aq Sunqur Abu 1-Qasim, the son of Abu Sa'id Qasim alDawla, the Turk, the Just King, the Light of Religion, the Helper of the Commander of the Believers". This captivating simplicity hides a wellwritten, coherent, and complex account that sheds light on the political, religious, and social life of the twelfth-century Muslim Middle East.1
Ibn !Asakir's declared aim was to enumerate Nur al-Din's virtues (manaqib), which, in his view, pertain to both Nur al-Din's personality and his deeds. Nur al-Din is depicted as an educated person with an aptitude for learning, especially religious learning, who was actively involved in the world of scholarship. He was an avid buyer of books and, for example, was ready to pay high prices for his acquisitions of the canonical collections of Prophetic traditions. He was scrupulous in his performance of religious duties (various prayers, the observance of the fast, the distribution of charities fsadaqaj) and followed the example of the righteous ancestors (salaf). According to the text, Nur al-Din was restrained in his pursuit of culinary and sexual pleasures; he wore simple clothing and refrained from squandering money. He showed compassion toward the defeated Christian enemy and, through him, God spared bloodshed and brought comfort to people. These last remarks can be understood as references to an earlier section of the text that dealt with Nur al-Din's conquests, where it states that most places surrendered to Nur al-Din and, thus, the needless spilling of Muslim blood was avoided. Ibn 'Asakir also alludes to Nur al-Din's treatment of his military slaves and the families of those who died in the Holy War, describing how upon reaching adolescence he set his military slaves free and married them off, while the families of his dead soldiers were supported and their sons appointed to governmental posts.
The tendency to attribute Nur al-Din's policies to his own personal predilections permeates the text. The personalization of policy was an explanatory tool or device adopted by...