BARQUQ: What happened between them — may God show no tolerance to those who give offence?
IBN KHALDUN: The Ayyubid amir sent the Almohad sultan a gift and asked him to dispatch his fleet to blockade the French off the coast of Syria. The initiative was a complete failure, but only because he did not insert the phrase ‘Commander of the Faithful’ into his official letter. That at least is what the chroniclers tell us. And God knows the contents of men’s hearts.
BARQUQ: I wonder, Wali al-Din. Do you think I’ll need Maghribi troops and equipment in my war against Timur?
IBN KHALDUN: When I first arrived in Egypt, I thought the people here looked as though they had just emerged from the Day of Reckoning. Today it’s the same or even more so. As a whole they’re either people of modest demands and expectations — that being the vast majority, or else highly cultured people spoiled by excess and luxury. They’ve become more cowardly than a group of women flat on their backs. That’s why for defense and attack purposes you’re going to need the army to be reinforced by warriors and mercenaries from neighboring Muslim countries. The Maghrib, with its Bedouins and Berbers, is a veritable goldmine for sturdy fighters ready for hardships and battle. In addition there are the horses that my lord is always eager to ride, animals that seem created for toil and conflict. Gifts and presents, they will prepare the way for the declaration of jihad and mobilization.
BARQUQ: This is another reason why I have summoned you here tonight, Wali al-Din. You are aware that five or more years ago I wrote to one of the Bedouin chiefs of the Maghrib a letter of request to his Marini sultan, Abu al-’Abbas. I charged him with the task of selecting some horses from his region and bringing them back to me here. I have no idea what has delayed him in carrying out the task. Today I am going to entrust the Mamluk Qutlubagha with the task of taking gifts of cloth, perfume, and bows to the monarchs of the Maghrib. I am relying on you to give him appropriate advice as to how to conduct himself.
IBN KHALDUN: My lord, accepting such an honor I regard as an obligation.
BARQUQ: Is there anything else we need to discuss on this matter?
IBN KHALDUN: Yes, there is something more I would like to say by way of conclusion. I would ask the recorder to note it down.
BARQUQ (still fighting exhaustion): Then by all means proceed, even though we stay up till dawn.
IBN KHALDUN: My lord, I have no detailed knowledge of the arts of warfare, but I am still of the opinion that any resistance to the Mongol attack may well require a cluster of skills either simultaneously or in sequence: attack and retreat; marching in ranks and phalanxes; advancing and fortifying redoubts and trenches. Furthermore, I think that you should not expect to rely on lines of lancers and archers, the pride of the Mamluk army. It will be much more effective for commanders and strategists to make use of Timur’s most deadly and effective weapon, deceit and trickery.
IBN AL-TUNSI (eyes closed): In The Prevalent Model, Diya’ al-Din ibn al-Athir says that the person with a trick is more useful than an entire tribe. The Lord of Creation and Victor over Polytheists says, “War is deceit.”
IBN KHALDUN: As weapons, deceit and trickery only work properly when they’re used by someone who is completely versed in the finer points of strategic planning and can thus benefit from the various categories of useful information they provide. That’s why you’ll find Timur always surrounded by the most-qualified experts in every specialty. He never enters a city without first getting to know its religious scholars and co-opting some of them to his team. For example, he dispatched some of them to Samarqand to look into rebuilding and decorating its monuments. He’s done the same thing more recently in Raha, Tikrit, Aleppo, and elsewhere. My lord, if you would like me to prepare a document of the things that I think most important and urgent, then by all means entrust me with such a task.
BARQUQ: Indeed, I would very much like you to prepare such a document.
IBN KHALDUN: God willing, the chapters will follow a logical progression. We’ll start by recalling the Mamluk victory over the Mongols at the battle of ‘Ayn Jalut, the interest in Ibn ‘Abd al-Zahir’s version of the heroic tale of Baybars who defeated the Mongol invaders, and the command that it be translated into both Turkish and Tatar; then a chapter on Timur’s retreat in the face of Sultan al-Zahir Barquq’s advance and the dispatch of trustworthy spies and agents to infiltrate his army ranks and tribes. God alone grants success.
BARQUQ: Power to you, Wali al-Din, power to you! (Gesturing to Sudun.) Escort Judge Ibn al-Tunsi out. He has fallen asleep.
IBN AL-TUNSI (waking up): Heaven forbid! Neither slumber nor sleep take him. God’s peace on my lord the sultan!
BARQUQ (gesturing to Ibn Khaldun to come closer): Bata, the person who has always protected you against the evil designs of Sudun, has died. Sudun’s fanaticism is part of a long-standing obligation I have, as you well know. But, God willing, I intend very soon to appoint you chief Maliki judge in Ibn al-Tunsi’s place, whether he’s alive or dead. And there’s something else I want you to know: I’m feeling weaker and weaker and I don’t imagine that any attack on Timur’s part will happen while I’m alive. It’s far more likely to be during the reign of my heir-apparent, my son al-Nasir Faraj. I’m asking you now, Wali al-Din, to take good care of the boy; be a steadfast counselor and supporter. Now you can get up and leave. Just one prayer I ask of you as dawn breaks on this day, that I might sleep a little. (He embraces Ibn Khaldun.) Go in peace.
When Ibn Khaldun woke up at midday, he was greeted by the beaming smile of his wife. He was surprised that she did not ask him why he had been out most of the night, and invited her to ask him. She did so, but still smiling and without the slightest show of concern.
“There have been many deaths,” she went on, “so I suppose you’ve been offering your condolences again.”
He paid no attention to this sarcastic remark.
“No, not that,” he replied with a frown. “I spent the night with the sultan discussing crucially important matters.”
“With the sultan? How is he?”
“Not at all well, Umm al-Batul, not at all well.”
“A sultan, and he’s not feeling well. So what’s a poor citizen supposed to say?”
So saying she went off to prepare the meal. ‘Abd al-Rahman meanwhile sat there, thinking about the fact that his wife did not seem to be so jealous any longer and wistfully reflecting on the passage of time that was certainly not working in his favor within his own household.
As soon as lunch was over, the master played with this little daughter for a while and fell asleep by her side. When he felt a certain amount of renewed vigor, he went upstairs and spent many hours till the middle of the night composing the document he had promised the sultan and letters to be dispatched by the hand of Qutlubagha to the religious scholars in the Maghrib in which he was asking for their counsel regarding the Mongol menace and their attitude toward Timur. Next morning, he went back to the palace and was one of the most prominent participants in the departure ceremony for the sultan’s mission. He gave the emissary the benefit of his best advice and suggested the most direct route to get to the kingdoms to the west.
Ah, the vicissitudes of time and events. Ah, the effect of time on the human frame! At the very end of 799, emissaries reached Egypt from the three kings of the Maghrib. There was a superb caravan loaded down with the most costly luxuries and expensive gifts. The most opulent and lavish gifts — truth to tell — came from the Marini, Abu ‘Amir. The royal household grabbed the smaller items and made off with them, leaving for the sultan some magnificent horses with gold-encrusted bridles and saddles. The day when these items were displayed in front of him was a notable day indeed. ‘Abd al-Rahman meanwhile was busy talking to the Maghribi emissaries either in the palace itself or in his own home. He made all the necessary arrangements for their stay, gave them a warm welcome, and did not lose a single moment in questioning them at length about the conditions of both monarch and people in their countries. He repeated the procedure when they all returned to Cairo after completing the obligation of the pilgrimage to the Holy Places. They stayed in the city for a few days to rest before embarking on the long journey back to their homeland, duly honored with gifts from the generous hand of the sultan.