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The 'century calamity' pattern al-Suyuti sets at his book's close, from Abd Allah ibn Amr's saying that each century's head brings an affair: the first, al-Hajjaj's strife; the second, al-Ma'mun's civil war and the mihna — 'the greatest of this umma's trials'; the third, the Qarmati, al-Muqtadir's deposition-day slaughter and the Ubaydi state's dawn; the fourth, al-Hakim's strife; the fifth, the Franks' taking of Syria and Jerusalem; the sixth, the unprecedented famine and the Tatars' beginning; the seventh, the great Tatar calamity 'that poured seas of Muslim blood'; the eighth, Timur's, which dwarfed it. His prayer to be taken before the ninth was answered, his student Jaramard writes — for that fitna was Selim Shah's conquest of Egypt ¹.

Overview

A historical rule that al-Suyuti cites at the end of Tarikh al-khulafa', from Abd Allah ibn Amr ibn al-As (may God be pleased with him): whatever has been since the world began, at the head of every hundred years there has been a matter. ²

What al-Suyuti counts

The first century: the tribulation of al-Hajjaj.
The second: the tribulation of al-Ma'mun and his wars with his brother, then the testing of people over the createdness of the Qur'an, which he counts among the greatest tribulations of this community.
The third: the rising of the Qarmatian and the tribulation of al-Muqtadir and the dispersal of unity, and from it began the Ubaydid state.
The fourth: the tribulation of al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.
The fifth: the Franks' seizure of Syria and Jerusalem.
The sixth: a famine unheard of, and the beginning of the affair of the Tatars.
The seventh: the great tribulation of the Tatars.
The eighth: the tribulation of Timur Lang.

The ninth century

Al-Suyuti asked God to take him before the tribulation of the ninth century. His student Jarmard al-Nasiri al-Hanafi said that it was the tribulation of Selim Shah ibn Uthman, his wars, and his entry into Egypt, and that God answered the prayer of his teacher. ²

This is the classification of al-Suyuti and his student, not a ruling by the museum.

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At a glance

Overview

What al-Suyuti counts

The ninth century

Sources

Ideas