by Jurji Zaydan
fast as the speed of light, I fl ew to Qadhimiyya and brought her back, disguised as you now see.”
Rukn al-Din thanked him again profusely, but ‘Abid merely replied, “Th
e
Imam Ahmad must on no account stay here a moment longer. Th
ough the Tatar
have temporarily left us in peace, Sahban shall surely go to the Khakan or one of his ministers and inform them of the Imam’s escape. On the way back from Qadhimiyya, I witnessed atrocities that would strike terror in the staunchest hearts.”
“What have you seen, good ‘Abid?” Rukn al-Din demanded. “Have the Tatar
occupied the entire city?”
“My Lord, they have descended upon the Imperial Palaces with Hulagu in
person at their head. Th
e palaces have been ransacked and the women taken pris-
oner and bestowed as slaves upon the Khan’s offi
cers.”
A shocked hush fell upon the company at this devastating news.
“And the Caliph?” the Imam Ahmad was fi nally roused to ask. “What have
they done with him?”
“I have heard that the Minister Mu’ayyid al-Din convinced the Abbasid
princes and the entire Imperial administration to go out to the Tatar pavilion
and that they were all cruelly slaughtered. Th
en, at sunset, the Tatar attacked the
palaces and murdered the remaining princes of the blood. Th
e youngest ones
they took as prisoners. Sword and fi re rage through Baghdad as we speak, and
the streets run red with blood. Baiju has crossed the bridge to Karkh, and his
men are engaged in pillage, rape, and murder throughout the city. I have also
heard that the Imperial Libraries have been emptied and their innumerable trea-
sures thrown into the Tigris. His Excellency the Imam’s name is on every tongue,
| t r e e of pe a r l s , qu e e n of e g y p t for his absence from the Imperial pavilion was noted. His former residence, the
Firdaws Palace, has already been searched, and soon he shall be sought through-
out the city. Th
is is why I urgently recommend that his Excellency quit this place
immediately.”
Terror struck the Imam Ahmad’s heart at these words. Rukn al-Din turned
to ‘Abid. “You are a native of this country,” he said. “Guide us therefore to a place where we may hide his Excellency until calm returns to these lands.”
‘Abid bowed in obedience and replied, “Gladly, my Lord. Leave this matter
to me. Pray you order the servants to pack his Excellency’s most essential possessions on the instant.”
Th
e Imam Ahmad gladly submitted to ‘Abid’s urgent counsel, and aft er his
few possessions had been packed, the small company mounted just before dawn
and were led out of the city by the faithful eunuch. Th
e following day, when news
reached them that the Tatar had discovered their fl ight and were following in hot pursuit, the Imam Ahmad, with ‘Abid in attendance, took refuge with one of the
hardy Arab tribes that roamed the adjacent Iraqi countryside, while Rukn al-Din, having assured himself of the Imam’s safety, continued on his journey to Egypt
with Shwaykar.
Epilogue
the happy couple were married as soon as they reached Cairo. Nur al-Din,
son of ‘Izz al-Din, was now Sultan of Egypt, just as Sallafa had claimed. Rukn
al-Din easily incited the princes against the boy-sultan and they invested Sayf
al-Din Qutuz, a noble scion of the Kings of Khurasan, in his stead in 1259.
Rukn al-Din, meanwhile, bade his time, and patiently set about laying his ambi-
tious plans to seize the throne and transfer the Caliphate to Egypt.
In the following year, Hulagu marched upon Syria and sent his messengers
to threaten Qutuz, Sultan of Egypt, whereupon the Sultan consulted his com-
manders and, Rukn al-Din foremost among them, they advised him to declare
war. Hulagu was forced to withdraw from Syria with the greatest part of his army, thanks to the sudden death of his sire, Genghis Khan. Th
e forces that remained
met Qutuz’s army in battle in Palestine, and the Egyptians were victorious.
Before the Egyptian army had returned to Cairo in triumph, Rukn al-Din seized
the opportunity that thereby presented itself and assassinated Qutuz, having previously conspired with a faction of the princes to this end. Th
e princes agreed to
elevate Rukn al-Din to the Sultanate, and he was crowned in Cairo in 1260 as Al-
Zahir, the Manifest King. As soon as Rukn al-Din had fi rmly secured his throne, he sent for the Imam Ahmad from the deserts of Iraq. Th
e Imam arrived at Cairo
in the following year. He was invested as Commander of the Faithful under the
title of Al-Mustansir Billah, and this is how it came to pass that the Abbasid
Caliphate was reborn in Egypt.
Tree of Pearls
A N A FTERWOR D
Roger Allen
what’s in a name? My own acquaintance with the woman known as “Tree of
Pearls”—Shagret ad-Durr, to cite the Egyptian pronunciation of her name—goes
all the way back to my graduate student days in Cairo in 1966. At that time I was Director of Music at the city’s Anglican Cathedral and had diplomats as members of the choir, and was thus fortunate enough to be invited to live in a British embassy house. Th
e house stood on Shagret ad-Durr Street in Zamalek, the tree-
lined island community close to the center of the city that was then devoid of the multiple high-rise buildings that have now completely transformed its appearance. Needless to say, I was curious to fi nd out about the person, and a female person at that, aft er whom the Cairene street in which I was living was named.
Th
us did I discover the history of this illustrious woman.
Tree of Pearls belongs on a relatively short list of Muslim women who played
signifi cant roles in the public life of their region and culture during the pre-modern era of Islamic history. Among those women we would also include two elegiac
poets from the earliest period of poetic creativity: Al-Khansa’ (d. aft er 644) and Layla al-Akhyaliyya (d. 704); two princesses of caliphal families: the Umayyad
Wallada bint Mustakfi in Spain (d. ca. 1091), and ‘Abbasa (9th cent.), the sister of the Abbasid caliph, Harun al-Rashid, in Baghdad; and the renowned Sufi , Rabi‘a
al-‘Adawiyya (d. 801). If we were to expand the purview to include Middle East-
ern women from various time frames and regions, we would also need to cite
from pre-Islamic times Cleopatra of Egypt (d. 30 BCE) and Zenobia (d. ca. 274)
of Palmyra in Syria; and, from the contemporary era, Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan
a n a f t e rwor d |
(d. 2007), Shaykh Hasina (b. 1947) of Bangladesh, and Megawati Sukarnoputri of
Indonesia (b. 1947).
In the case of Tree of Pearls, Shajar al-Durr (the Library of Congress’s pre-
ferred transliteration of her name), we are dealing with Egypt in the thirteenth century. In fact, she herself already had a female predecessor as de facto ruler of that particular country, namely Sitt al-Mulk (d. 1023), the sister of the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah (d. 1021). However, the circumstances in which
Sitt al-Mulk assumed power were somewhat diff erent. Her Fatimid caliph brother
was widely believed to have severe mental problems (perhaps diagnosable now as
schizophrenia). He certainly issued some peculiar decrees in his lifetime: ban-
ning the pilgrimage to Mecca; requiring that Egyptians work at night and sleep
by day; and ordering the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in
Jerusalem because he did not like the sound of bells. However, his ecstatic utter-ances proved to be inspirational for a community of his followers who, aft er his mysterious death, moved to the mountains of Syro-Lebanon, where they became
the Druze community, regarding Al-Hakim as having gone into occultation. Th
e
actual circumstances of the caliph’s death are obscure, in that he “disappeared”
while indulging in his favorite pastime of star-gazing. Certain historians are of the opinion that his sister, Sitt al-Mulk, was involved in what was actually a case of murder. But whatever the truth of the matter, for the two years until her own death she became the de facto ruler of Egypt as regent on behalf of her young
nephew, Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali (known as Al-Zahir li-I‘zaz Din Allah).
By way of contrast, when we consider the life of the later female ruler of
Egypt, the woman renowned as “Tree of Pearls,” we fi nd ourselves dealing with
the almost fabulous career of someone born a slave of Turkic origins who becomes the concubine and wife of a Sultan and accompanies him to Egypt. Her husband’s
death coincides with the arrival in Egypt of the European forces of the Seventh
Crusade (led by King Louis IX) in 1249. Th
us, in full collusion with Egypt’s gov-
erning authorities, she conceals her husband’s death and rules in his place before being declared “Sultana” in 1250. Her brief reign witnesses enormous amounts of
political intrigue, as the defenders of Egypt, primarily the Mamluks (themselves manumitted slaves), fi ght against the Crusader armies and amongst themselves.
In fact, her reign can be seen as marking the end of the Ayyubid dynasty that
had ruled Egypt ever since the demise of the Fatimids in 1171 and the transfer of authority to a prolonged period of Mamluk rule.
| t r e e of pe a r l s , qu e e n of e g y p t War, political intrigue, murder, and a Muslim female ruler who is born a
slave: these are clearly the elements of a potentially exciting historical novel, and Jurji Zaydan clearly relishes the opportunity. He has also borne in mind, no doubt, that the same events are also recounted in one of Arabic’s most famous
popular sagas, Sirat al-Zahir Baybars, Rukn al-din Baybars being the name of the Mamluk commander who not only crushes the forces of the Seventh Crusade
(and captures King Louis) but also goes on to defeat the invading Mongol armies
at the famous battle of ‘Ayn Jalut (Goliath’s Spring) in 1260. While aspects of the
“story” in this popular account may be somewhat altered, the basic facts of Tree of Pearls’s life remain the same.
Zaydan begins his novel, Tree of Pearls, in full educational mode, placing us in the historical moment and context and reminding us thereby of his overall
pedagogical intentions as a combination of journal editor, historian, and novel-
ist. As we read his novels, it is as well to recall that they originally appeared, like many of their European analogues, in serialized form: in his case, in the journal that he founded, Al-Hilal (still published in Cairo), and subsequently at his own publishing house, Dar al-Hilal. Th
e introductory section of this novel also illus-
trates another interesting aspect of his compositional method as a student of history and historical novelist: he tends to study a wide variety of historical sources devoted to a particular period (always cited at the beginning of each novel) and then composes more than one novel based in the period in question. Th
us, Tree
of Pearls, originally published in 1914, comes directly aft er a novel about Saladin and the Assassins (1913)—a work to which he makes direct reference on the very
fi rst page of this novel (almost as though the “serial” started in one novel is being continued in the next). Similar earlier novelistic clusters include one devoted to Andalusian history and another concerning the early Abbasid caliphate.
Th
e historical context of this novel is established from the outset: Al-Salih,
Tree of Pearls’s “husband,” has died; the Crusaders have been defeated; and Bay-
bars brings her the news of the assassination of Al-Salih’s presumed successor,
Turan Shah. In other words, the Ayyubid line is at an end; the date is May 1250.
Th
e beautiful Tree of Pearls sits with her songstress handmaid, Shwaykar, in her
palace on the banks of the Nile, receiving this news. At this early stage in the narrative, the reader is also made aware of another essential element in a Zaydan historical novel: the existence of a love aff air, in this case between Tree of Pearls and one of the Mamluk commanders, ‘Izz al-din Aybak. Juxtaposed against this,
a n a f t e rwor d |
her handmaid has been off ered in gratitude to the Mamluk Baybars (who is to
become the hero of the popular saga mentioned above). With the announcement
that the Mamluks have decided to acknowledge Tree of Pearls as Queen of Egypt,
the stage and the central elements of the story are set.
Fully the fi rst third of the novel is concerned with a vividly character-
ized description of the multiple strands of intrigue connected with the power-
struggles in Cairo that follow Tree of Pearls’s coronation as queen: the cunning manipulations brought about by Sallafa, a rival concubine of Tree of Pearls, and the increasing rivalry between the Mamluk commanders ‘Izz al-din Aybak and
Rukn al-din Baybars. Th
en, in a typical Zaydanian narrative move—“and now let
us take leave of these Egyptian intrigues for the time being and move our story
to Baghdad, Capital of the Abbasid Caliphs”—the scene is transferred to another
theater within the overall historical framework. Once again, Zaydan the educator introduces his readers to the history of the Abbasid caliphate and the topography of Baghdad, the purpose-built Abbasid city. Th
e linkage to the earlier part of the
novel is provided by reference to the Shi‘i community in Baghdad, then suff ering under the intolerant Sunni rule of the Abbasids. Sahban, a Baghdad-born Shi‘ite
now residing in Egypt, has traveled all the way back to his homeland from Egypt
to discuss with his colleagues in Baghdad the possibility of restoring the (Shi‘ite) Fatimid dynasty in Egypt, only to witness for himself the violence being wrought against his friends in the Baghdad Shi‘ite community by the henchmen of the
Sunni Abbasid Caliph al-Musta‘sim—the last of the Abbasid Caliphs in Baghdad.
Sahban immediately goes to see Mu‘ayyid al-din, a Shi‘ite minister of the Caliph, and the reader is thus introduced to another major element in the plot, one that will have an enormous impact on the city of Baghdad and the Abbasid caliphate—the Mongol assault on the city in 1258. Mu‘ayyid al-din has received a mys-
terious dervish visitor who has assured him that the great Mongol Khan, Hulagu,
has no desire to do harm to the Shi‘i community but is instead intent on getting rid of the Abbasid rulers. Only when the dervish has departed, leaving behind a
letter, does Mu‘ayyid al-din discover that his nocturnal visitor was in fact Hulagu Khan in person. A Mongol assault thus seems to be imminent, and Mu‘ayyid
al-din sends a hidden message to the Khan to initiate it. Within the novel’s narrative framework the very seriousness of the situation is cleverly emphasized by the insouciance and frivolity encountered at the caliphal court, where Mu‘ayyid
al-din’s loyalty is tested by a dispute over ownership of the Egyptian songstress,
| t r e e of pe a r l s , qu e e n of e g y p t Shwaykar—Tree of Pear
ls’s erstwhile companion—, who has been stolen on her
way to the Caliph’s palace by the Caliph’s own reprobate son.
Now, again, the scene shift s. We remain in Baghdad, but move from the pub-
lic domain to the interior of the caliphal harem. Aft er Zaydan has provided the reader with a description of that institution’s traditional hierarchy, we discover that Shwaykar’s sworn enemy, Sallafa, is in Baghdad and indeed inside the harem
quarters, still determined to thwart the interests and love of Baybars, he being someone for whom she herself nurses a strong passion. As the Mongol armies
infest the city, the intricate web of interests and relationships is rendered that much more complicated by the arrival in the city of Baybars, himself. He is able to witness the size and effi
ciency of the Mongol army and is also aware of the
tensions surrounding the Caliph and the contrasting interests of the Sunni and
Shi‘i communities. In a climactic scene, Sallafa tries to win Baybars’s heart by informing him of the details of her nefarious schemes in Cairo, whereby she
claims to have orchestrated the deaths of ‘Izz al-din Aybak and Tree of Pearls,
all in order that Baybars could become Sultan himself—and, of course, marry
her. When Sallafa fi nally informs Baybars that she has also ordered the murder
of his beloved Shwaykar, he stabs her to death. Little has she realized how closely her plans in Egypt have managed to mirror those that have been forming in Baybars’s own mind. Th
e novel draws to a rapid conclusion as the Mongols sack the
city of Baghdad and obliterate the Abbasid family, and Baybars is at last reunited with his beloved—who has been rescued from drowning in the River Tigris—and
returns to Egypt, taking with him the sole surviving Abbasid, whose function
will be to legitimize his own rise to power.
Th
e historical accounts of this particular period in Islamic history are them-
selves replete with incident: battles, murders, court intrigues, and contested successions—as we have already suggested, all of them off ering fi ne material for an event-packed historical novel. Th