From time to time, I watch videos of Dr. Mustafa El-Feki on one of the Arab channels. He narrates his testimony like a black box, distinguished by his abundant information, sense of humor, and good disposition. I love listening to his responses when questions require a decisive opinion, and I see him dispel them with a joke or a smile. He recounted a story that took place between the great satirical writer Mahmoud El-Saadani and Mubarak. He said: El-Saadani asked him, “You are sitting in the chair of Saif al-Din Qutuz, Muhammad Ali, and Abdel Nasser.” Mubarak replied, “If you like the chair, take it and leave!” El-Feki commented on his response, saying, “He did not like pedantry or philosophy in speech. He did not like long sentences and elaborate words in his speeches. He was an enemy of what he did not know.” I think he did not know Qutuz and did not ask about him. This is an opportunity to point him out in these lines: He is King Al-Muzaffar Saif al-Din Qutuz Mahmud ibn Mamdud ibn Khwarazmshah, a Mamluk sultan who assumed power in the year 657 AH (1259 AD). Qutuz is considered the hero of the Battle of Ain Jalut and the conqueror of the Mongol Tatars.
The Tatars gave him the nickname Qutuz, due to his fierce resistance to them when they kidnapped him and sold him as a child. Qutuz means “mad dog” in Mongolian and Turkish (in Ottoman Turkish: Quduz). Qutuz’s lineage goes back to Prince Mamdud al-Khwarazm, cousin of Sultan Jalal ad-Din Khwarazmshah, Sultan of the Khwarazmian Empire, and husband of his sister. Qutuz was raised as a prince and trained in martial arts by his uncle. After the fall of the Khwarazmian Empire, he was sold as a Mamluk in the Levant. He then moved to Egypt and was sold as a Mamluk to King al-Salih Najm ad-Din Ayyub, the last king of the Ayyubid Empire. He learned martial arts and military tactics in Mamluk schools.
He participated in King al-Salih’s army in repelling the Seventh Crusade and achieving victory at the Battle of Mansoura in 648 AH (1250 AD). Qutuz rose through the ranks of power until, on Saturday, Dhu al-Qi’dah 24, 657 AH (November 11, 1259 AD), he was installed as the third Mamluk Sultan of Egypt.
When Qutuz returned victorious from Ain Jalut to Egypt, some Mamluk princes, led by Baybars, conspired against him. They killed him between al-Qurabi and al-Salihiyah. He was buried in al-Qusayr, and his grave was later moved to Cairo.
Qutuz grew up like any other purchased Mamluk, like the rest of the slave Mamluks who came from Transoxiana, the lands of the Mongols and Turks. The Turks were part of the Mongol tribes that inhabited East Asia, including the Tatars, from whom Genghis Khan and Hulagu emerged.
The important thing is that Mubarak did not ask about Qutuz or request any information about him from the President’s Secretary for Information, but he made himself comfortable and said: Take the chair with you when you go. It seems that he did not like history or geography, as he said about himself in another place. This is how Al-Fiqi used to talk about Mubarak. Mubarak used to say: Al-Fiqi wants to live!
