Last article tackled Caliph Al-Zafir bi Amr Allah (544- 549 AH) (1149- 1154 AD), the son of Al-Hafiz li Din Allah. He was the ninth Fatimid caliph of Egypt, he assumed caliphate at the age of seventeen, so he did not maintain control over the country affairs, but had turbulent days; during his first ruling year, IbnMassal, the Minister of Egypt, had a conflict with Ibn Al-Sallar the Governor of Alexandria that they fought one another, IbnMassal was killed, leaving the ministry to be taken over by Ibn Al-Sallar, yet he was killed afterwards at the hand of Abbas Abi Nasr, who became the minister of al-Hafiz. During Al-Zafir’s fourth ruling year, the Turks took over the Seljuks’ authority. He was murdered by his friend, the son of Minister Nasr ibn Abbas -as most historians agreed- to be succeeded by his son, Al-Fa’ez bi Nasr Allah.
Al-Fa’ez bi Nasr Allah (549- 555 AH) (1154- 1160 AD)
He is the tenth Fatimid caliph of Egypt, was called Aba Al-QassimEissa; he assumed caliphate at no more than five years old! Historians stated that when Minister Abbas was informed about the disappearance of Caliph Al-Zafir, he murdered Al-Zafir’s two brothers and cousin, accusing them of killing Al-Zafir, then he carried the little boy on his shoulders, went out to people and pledged allegiance for him, giving him the name Al-Fa’ez bi Nasr Allah! A number of historians mentioned that the little boy was terrified seeing the murdered people and hearing people’s noise, Al-Hafiz Abu Abdullah Al-Zahaby says: “MinisterAbbas carried him on his shoulders, stood in the courtyard of the house, showing sadness and gloominess, ordered the princes to enter and said to them: This is the son of your master, his uncleskilled your master, and I have killed them both as you see, pointing to the dead people. It is obligatory to show obedience to this child, so they all replied: We have heard and we obeyed, making all a noise. The child (Al-Fa’ez) was terrified; he leaned on Abbas’ shoulder out of fear. He was called Al-Fa’ez and was taken to his mother. Reportedly, his mind was lost due to that noise, that he used to move at times and was epileptic.”
Thus, the de-facto rulerwas Minister Abbas, until he fled with his son after the revolution of Cairo people and the soldiers, seeking revenge for the death of Al-Zafir; they wrote the Armenian governor of MunyatBaniKhasib (Al-Minya currently) Tala’i’ ibnRuzaik,who chased the minister and his son; they fled after collecting whatever money they could carry to the Levant. It was said that the sister of Al-Zafir (Tala’i bin Ruzaik in other accounts) sent to the Franks in Ashkelon and promised them a large sum of money in case they arrested Abbas and his son Nasr, so the Franks went out and fought them both, murdering Abbas, arresting his son Nasr and sent him to Egypt.Ibn al Taghri mentions: “The Franks sent Nasr ibn Abbas to Egypt in an iron cage. Upon arrival, their messenger received the money, and that was in Rabi al-awwal in 550 AD…” As for Nasr, he was severely beaten, severely tortured, and crucified until he died.
Tala’i bin Ruzaik became the ruler of Egypt, and took charge of the child Caliph Al-Fa’ez, and he was nicknamed “Al Malek Al Saleh” (The Good King). As for Al-Fa’ez, he maintained nothing of the ruling affairs other than having the title of a ruler because of his young age.About the matters of governance, Ibn al-Taghri states: “When Al SalehTala’ibecame of aggravated behavior, he began to collect money; He was greedy and eager to collect money… so he assigned money on the employees and started working on the princes who came in the state.” He had conflicts with Nasir al-DawlaYaqut, who assumed a rank below ministry, known as “the junior ministry”, Al-AwahdIbnTamim, the governor of Damietta andTenis, and Qaymaz, a senior prince and others; they were killed and had their houses looted by order of Al-SalehTala’i. Ibn al-Taghricontinues: “Then, Cairo was void of someone like Tala’i bin Ruzaik. He showed the doctrine of the “Imamiyyah”, sold the states to the princes and set prices for them to be sold for a six-month-period; people were harmed by being visited by the rulersevery six months.” And…stories about beautiful Egypt never end!
The General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
