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, al-Malik , the title of several Ayyūbid princes. Among these the most important and intriguing figure is doubtless al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam S̲h̲araf al-Dīn ʿĪsā b. al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Abī Bakr b. Ayyūb b. S̲h̲ād̲h̲ī b. Marwān. Born in Cairo in 576/1180, he was made ruler of Damascus in 594/1198, a position which he retained until his death from natural causes in 624/1227. Al-Muʿaẓẓam’s career as prince of Damascus, especially its last six years, illustrates with extraordinary clarity the political dynamics of the Ayyūbid confederation’s middle phase between the death of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn [ q.v.…

(a.) “date, dating, chronology, era”, then also “annals, history”. ¶ I. Dates and Eras in the Islamic World 1. In the sense of “date, dating”, etc. i. Etymology . The non-Arabic origin of this word was recognised by the mediaeval philologists, but the often-cited derivation of the participle muʾarrak̲h̲ “dated”, from a supposed Persian compound māh-rōz “month-day”, is naturally fanciful. In fact, it clearly belongs to the common Semitic root for “moon” and “month”; cf. Akkadian ( w) arḫu , Sabaic wrḫ , Ethiopic wärḫ , Mehri wark̲h̲ , or, with the usual Northwe…

, the name of two Ayyūbid sultans. I. al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Dāwūd b. al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam , born in D̲j̲umādā I 603/December 1205) in Damascus. After the death of his father at the end of D̲h̲u ’l-Ḳaʿda 624/November 1227 Dāwūd succeeded him on the throne of Damascus and the Mamlūk ʿIzz al-Dīn Aybak acted as regent. Dāwūd’s uncle however, covetous of territory, did not leave him long in peace. Al-Malik al-Kāmil [ q.v.] first of all claimed the fortress of al-S̲h̲awbak [ q.v.], and when it was refused him he occupied Jerusalem, Nābulus and other places (625/1228). In t…

, ʿIzz al-Dīn , fifth Zangid Atābak of al-Mawṣil (Mosul) (576-89/1180-93). Masʿūd’s public career was entangled from beginning to end with that of his great adversary Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn, and it is easy to regard him as no more than a troublesome shadow in the latter’s path. But Masʿūd had a positive policy of his own—to maintain, under his leadership, the legacy of Zangī and Nūr al-Dīn in ¶ North Syria and the D̲j̲azīra. Though he had neither the material resources nor the political imagination to block Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn’s ambitions altogether, he ne…

, Banū , a clan prominent in Syrian (and to a lesser extent Egyptian) affairs from the middle of the 5th/11th century to the end of the 6th/12th century. Between 474/1081 and 552/1157 their principal possession was S̲h̲ayzar. a fortified town perched on a crag overlooking the Orontes (al-ʿĀṣī [ q.v.]) River, some 15 km. northwest of Ḥamāt [ q.v.]. After S̲h̲ayzar was destroyed and most of the clan killed in the disastrous earthquake of 552/1157, its remaining members were compelled to pursue careers in the service of the various princes of Syria and Egy…