How a concubine became the ruler of Egypt - Abdallah Ewis

翻译人员: Elena W 校对人员: Helen Chang

The year is 1249 CE.

公元 1249年，

The French King Louis IX is sailing the Nile,

法国国王路易十五世 在尼罗河上航行，

threatening to overthrow the Egyptian sultan and capture Egypt.

威胁要推翻埃及苏丹国并占领埃及。

Egypt’s army commanders ask the sultan’s wife, Shajar Al-Durr,

埃及的军事指挥官请求 苏丹的老婆，沙贾尔·杜尔，

to report this news to the sultan, who has been injured in battle.

把这个消息汇报给 在战场上受伤的苏丹。

But they don’t know the truth:

但是他们不知道真相：

the sultan is already dead,

苏丹已经去世了，

and Shajar Al-Durr is secretly ruling in his stead.

沙贾尔·杜尔（Shajar AI-Durr) 在偷偷地替他统治。

Born around 1220 CE, Shajar Al-Durr, whose name means “tree of pearls,”

出生在公元1220年的沙贾尔·杜尔 名字意为珍珠之树，

was sold into slavery.

被卖身为奴。

This was a common fate for Christian children from Turkic countries like her.

对于像她这种从突厥国家来的 基督教儿童，这样的遭遇很常见。

Enslaved boys, or mamaleek, were trained to be elite military personnel

被奴役的男孩， “mamaleek” 从小被训练成军人，

serving the Egyptian Sultanate,

为埃及苏丹国服务，

while enslaved girls were forced to become concubines.

而被奴役的女孩被强迫成为小妾。

As a teenager, Shajar Al-Durr became a concubine

青少年的沙贾尔·杜尔成为了

to the son of the Egyptian sultan, As-Salih Ayyub.

埃及苏丹儿子 萨利赫·阿尤布的小妾。

They had a son named Khalil who died in infancy,

他们有一个在婴儿期就 去世了的儿子，名叫哈利勒，

and As-Salih freed her so he could court her formally.

之后，萨利赫释放了她， 以便正式向她求婚。

As-Salih became sultan, and he and Shajar Al-Durr married.

萨利赫成了苏丹， 然后与沙贾尔·杜尔成了婚。

When As-Salih died in the middle of the conflict with the crusaders,

当萨利赫死于与十字军的战争中时，

Shajar Al-Durr knew King Louis IX had already succeeded

沙贾尔·杜尔知道国王 路易九世已经成功地

in conquering important Egyptian port cities.

征服了埃及重要的港口城市。

Fearing that her husband’s death would threaten the army’s morale,

她担心丈夫的死 会威胁军队的士气，

she decided to keep it a secret.

所以决定隐藏这个秘密。

To conceal his death, she had food brought to his tent,

为了掩盖他的死亡， 她把食物带到他的帐篷里，

and forged his signature on decrees to govern the sultanate

在法令上伪造了他的签名 来管理苏丹国，

and advise military commanders.

并向军事指挥官提供建议。

When the crusaders attacked the Egyptian city of Al-Mansurah,

当十字军进攻埃及城市曼苏拉时，

Egyptian soldiers ambushed the crusaders and took the French king hostage.

埃及士兵伏击了十字军 并将法国国王劫持为人质。

Meanwhile, the truth about the sultan’s death began to leak.

与此同时，苏丹之死的真相开始泄露。

Shajar Al-Durr invited her late husband’s son with another woman

沙贾尔·杜尔邀请她已故丈夫 和另一名妇女的儿子

to claim the title of sultan.

来继承苏丹的头衔。

At first, both she and her mamaleek advisers supported

起初，她和她的mamaleek 顾问们都支持

her stepson’s claim to the throne.

这位继子来继承王位。

But then he began threatening to exile her and kill the mamaleek,

但后来继子开始威胁要 放逐她，杀死mamaleek，

making wild accusations about them.

对他们进行荒谬的指控。

The mamaleek had served Shajar Al-Durr’s husband before her,

Mamaleek在她之前曾为 沙贾尔·杜尔的丈夫当过顾问，

and seen her capable rule so far.

也见证了她优秀的统治。

They thought she would make a better ruler than the unpredictable prince,

他们认为她会比善变的王子 成为更好的统治者，

and conspired with her to assassinate him.

并与她密谋暗杀王子。

In May of 1250, with the support of the mamaleek military,

1250年5月， 在mamaleek军队的支持下，

Shajar Al-Durr was inaugurated as Sultana of Egypt.

沙贾尔·杜尔宣誓就任埃及苏丹娜。

Days later, she negotiated the ransom of the French king and his army

几天后，她在谈判中 用法国国王和他的军队

in exchange for an enormous sum of money

换取巨额的金钱

and the surrender of the occupied port city.

以及被占领的港口城市的投降。

In spite of her success leading Egypt through this military crisis,

尽管她成功地领导埃及 度过了这场军事危机，

she had to work to cement her credibility in the eyes of the public.

她必须努力巩固自己 在公众眼中的信誉。

As a formerly enslaved person,

作为一个曾经被奴役的人，

her rise to power wasn’t linked to royal ancestry,

她掌权与皇室血统无关，

while as a woman, societal restrictions prevented her

而作为一名女性，社会限制使她

from participating in many of the events a sultan would typically attend.

无法参加苏丹通常 会去参加的许多活动。

To increase her visibility and solidify her claim to the throne,

为了提高她的知名度 并巩固自己对王位的所有权，

she constructed a public mausoleum for her husband,

为她的丈夫建造了一座公共陵墓，

issued the currency under her name, and signed decrees as Walidat Khalil,

以她的名义发行货币， 并在签署法令时

the mother of Khalil.

用瓦利达·哈利勒之名， 意为哈利勒的母亲。

Unfortunately, the sultanate’s premier religious authority,

不幸的是，苏丹国的主要宗教权威

the caliph of Baghdad, still objected to having a woman rule.

巴格达哈里发仍就 反对女性统治。

Under threat of revolt,

在造反的威胁下，

Shajar Al-Durr married on the condition

沙贾尔·杜尔同意结婚，

that her new husband must divorce his first wife.

条件是她的新婚丈夫 必须与第一任妻子离婚。

Shajar Al-Durr intended to maintain her status as supreme ruler.

沙贾尔·杜尔打算保持 她作为最高统治者的地位。

Her new husband threatened to undermine her rule

但她的新婚丈夫 威胁要破坏她的统治，

by arranging a political marriage between himself and a princess from Mosul.

他为自己安排了政治婚姻， 与摩苏尔的一位公主。

So Shajar Al-Durr ordered his assassination.

于是沙贾尔·杜尔下令暗杀他。

The news reached his first wife,

这一消息传到了他 第一任妻子那里，

who successfully plotted to murder the Sultana.

她成功地策划了 谋杀苏丹娜的阴谋。

Shajar Al-Durr’s killers threw her body from the Cairo citadel.

沙贾尔·杜尔的凶手把她的尸体 从开罗城塞扔了出去。

Shajar Al-Durr left no personal writings, but her legacy was lasting.

沙贾尔·杜尔没有留下任何个人写作， 但她的遗产是持久的。

Before her death, she built her own mausoleum

去世之前，她建造了自己的陵墓，

with a madrasa, garden, public shower, and palace,

里面有宗教学校、花园、 公共淋浴和宫殿，

decorated with her signature tree of pearls

并且用她标志性的 珍珠树作为装饰，

to remind Egyptians who made it.

来提醒埃及人是谁做的。