Читать книгу The Epistle of Forgiveness - Abu l-'Ala al-Ma'arri - Страница 6
ОглавлениеHeretics, Apostates, and Impious Poets
Al-Mutanabbī and the Diminutive
26.1.1
فأمّا ما ذكره من قول أبي الطيّب:
أذُمُّ إلى هذا الزمان أُهَيْلَهُ
فقد كان الرّجل مُولَعًا بالتّصغير، لا يقنع من ذلك بخُلسة المُغير؛ كقوله:
| من لي بفَهم أُهيْلِ عصرٍ يدّعي | أن يحسُب الهنديَّ فيهم باقلُ؟ |
وقوله:
حُبيّبتا قلبا، فؤادا هَيا جُمْلُ
وقوله:
مَقالي للأُحيمق يا حليمُ
وقوله:
ونام الخُويدمُ عن ليلنا
وقوله:
أفي كل يوم تحت ضِبْني شُويعرٌ
وغير ذلك مما هو موجود في ديوانه، ولا ملامةَ عليه، إنما هي عادة صارت كالطبع، فما حسُن بها مألوف الرَّبْع، ولكنها تُغتفر مع المَحاسن، والشامُ قد يظهر على المراسن.
As for the Sheikh’s quotation of Abū l-Ṭayyib’s verse:
I blame the little people of these times118
the man was fond of using the diminutive,119 not being content merely with what a raider snatches away, as when he says:
Who can help me make the little people of these days understand,
who claim that a Bāqil among them can compute with Indian numerals?120
and:
Little darling of my heart! O my heart, my heart! Ah, Juml!121
and:
. . . My addressing that little moron with “O wise one!”122
and:
That little servant slept at night, when we. . .123
and:
Must I carry a little poet under my arm every day?124
There is more of this in his collected verse. He should not be criticized for this: it is merely a habit that has become like second nature. The familiar abode has not become beautiful with this(?),125 but it is to be forgiven in view of his many beautiful other things. Sometimes moles appear on noses!
26.1.2
وهذا البيت الذي أوله:
أذُمّ إلى هذا الزمان أُهيلَهُ
إنما قاله في عليّ بن محمد بن سيّار بن مُكرِم بأنطاكية قبل أن يمدح سيفَ الدولة عليّ بن عبد الله بن حَمْدان، والشعراء مطلَقٌ لهم ذلك، لأن الآية شهدت عليهم بالتخرص وقول الأباطيل: {أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّهُمْ فِي كُلِّ وادٍ يَهِيمُونَ وَأنَّهُمْ يَقُولُونَ ما لا يَفْعَلُونَ}. وأهلٌ كلمةٌ أصلُ وضعِها للجماعة، فيقال: ارتحل أهل الدار،فيعلم السامع أن المتكلم لا يقصِد واحدًا بما قال، إلا أن هذه الكلمة قد استُعملت للآحاد، فقيل: فلانٌ أهل الخير وأهل الإحسان، قال حاتم الطائيّ:
| ظلَّتْ تلوم على بَكرٍ سمحتُ به | إنّ الرزيئةَ في الدنيا ابنُ مسعودِ |
| غادَره القومُ بالمَعْزاء منجدِلًا | وكان أهلَ النَّدى والحزْمِ والجودِ |
وكأنّ هذه اللفظة أصلُها أن تكون للجمع، ثمّ نُقلت إلى الواحد، كما أن صديقًا وأميرًا ونحوهما إنما وُضعن في الأصل للأفراد، ثم نُقلن إلى الجمع على سبيل التشبيه. وكذلك قولهم: بنو فلان أخ لنا. ويقال: أهلٌ وأَهْلةٌ، وأَهَلاتٌ في الجمع، قال الشاعر:
| فهم أهَلاتٌ حوْل قيس بن عاصمٍ | إذا أدلجوا بالليل يدْعون كوْثرا |
وقال بعض النحويين في تصغير آلِ الرجل: يجوز أُويْل وأُهيْل، كأنه يذهب إلى أن الهاء في أهل أُبدلت منها همزة، فلما اجتمعت الهمزتان جُعلت الثانية ألفًا، ومثل هذا لا يثبُت. والأشبه أن يكون آلُ الرجل مأخوذًا من آلَ يؤول، إذا رجع، كأنهم يرجعون إليه أو يرجع إليهم.
With this verse that begins with
I blame the little people of these times
he addressed ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Sayyār ibn Mukrim in Antioch, before he composed panegyric poetry on Sayf al-Dawlah ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥamdān. Poets are free to do so, for the Qurʾanic verse attests that they produce lies and speak idle words:126 «Have you not seen that they127 roam in every valley, and that they say what they do not do?»
Ahl (“people”) is a word that conventionally refers to a group, originally.128 One says: “The people of the house departed”; then the hearer knows that the speaker does not mean one person by his statement. Nevertheless, this word is also used for individual persons, as when one says: “So-and-so is ahl (someone doing) good” or “ahl (a man) of beneficence.”129 Ḥātim al-Ṭāʾī said:130
She kept blaming (me) because of a young camel I had generously given (?).
(The loss of) Ibn Masʿūd is a great calamity to the world.
The men left him on the stony ground, thrown down;
he was a man (ahl) of liberality, prudence, and generosity.
It seems that this word was originally used for a plural and then also transferred to a singular, just as ṣadīq (“friend”), amīr (“commander”), and similar words were conventionally used only for individuals originally, but subsequently transferred to a plural, by way of making them similar. Thus people will say: “The sons of So-and-so are a brother to us.” One says ahl, ahlah, and ahalāt in the plural. A poet says:131
They are people (ahalāt) standing around Qays ibn ʿĀṣim
when they set out at night, calling “O abundant giver!”
A certain grammarian132 said about the diminutive form of āl (“the clan, family”) of a man that it may be uwayl or uhayl. It seems that he believes that the h in ahl was replaced by a glottal stop, and that when two glottal stops came together the second was turned into an alif.133 Something like this cannot be ascertained. The most likely thing is that the āl (“the clan”) of a man is derived from the verb āla – yaʾūlu (“he went back – he goes back”), i.e., “he returned,” as if to say that his clan returns to him, or that he returns to them.
Al-Mutanabbī, the Would-be Prophet?
26.2
وأمّا ما ذكره من حكاية القُطْرَبُّليّ وابن أبي الأزهر، فقد يجوز مثله، وما وضح أن ذلك الرجل حُبس بالعراق، فأما بالشام فحبْسه مشهور.
وحُدّثتُ أنه كان إذا سئل عن حقيقة هذا اللقب قال: هو من النَّبْوة، أي المرتفع من الأرض. وكان قد طمِع في شيء قد طمع فيه مَن هو دونه. وإنما هي مقادير، يديرها في العلوّ مُدير، يظفر بها من وُفّق، ولا يُراع بالمجتهد أن ُيخْفِق.
وقد دلّت أشياءُ في ديوانه أنه كان متألها، ومثلَ غيره من الناس متدلها، فمن ذلك قوله:
ولا قابلًا إلا لخالقه حُكما
وقوله:
| ما أقدرَ اللهَ أن يُخْزي بريّتَه | ولا يصدِّق قومًا في الذي زعموا |
وإذا رُجع إلى الحقائق، فنُطقُ اللسان لا ينبئ عن اعتقاد الإنسان، لأن العالَم مجبول على الكذب والنِفاق، ويُحتمل أن يُظهر الرجل بالقول تديّنا، وإنما يجعل ذلك تزيّنا، يريد أن يصل به إلى ثناء، أو غرض من أغراض الخالبة أُمّ الفَناء، ولعله قد ذهب جماعة هم في الظاهر متعبدون، وفيما بطن مُلْحِدون.
As regards the story told by al-Quṭrabbulī and Ibn Abī l-Azhar, which the Sheikh mentions, such things happen.134 It is not evident that the fellow was imprisoned in Iraq, whereas everyone knows that he was imprisoned in Syria. I was told that when he was asked about the true origin of this nickname135 he said, “It is from nabwah,” i.e., an elevated piece of land. He had aspired to something that lesser men than he had also aspired to. These things are divinely decreed, directed by a Director on high. Those favored with success will attain them, and those who strive earnestly should not be dismayed if they fail. Various things in his collected verse show that he was (generally) devout and (at times, however) bereft of reason,136 like other people. Thus he says:
. . . Not accepting any judgment except from his Creator.137
And:
How all-powerful is God, to shame His creatures
and not to prove the truth of what some people maintain!138
When one reverts to the facts, then what the tongue utters says nothing about a person’s firm belief, for the world is formed with a natural disposition toward lying and hypocrisy. It is possible for a man to proclaim something openly, showing his religiousness, while he does this merely in order to adorn himself with a fine appearance, wishing to gain praise or some other intention of the deceptive world, “mother of extinction.” Perhaps a number of people have come and gone who were outwardly devout but heretics inside.
Other Poets: Diʿbil and Abū Nuwās
26.3
وما يلحقني الشكّ في أن دِعْبِل بن علي لم يكن له دين، وكان يتظاهر بالتشيّع، وإنما غرضُه التكسّب، وكم أثبت نَسَبًا بتنسُّب ولا أرتاب أن دعبلًا كان على رأي الحَكَمي وطبقته، والزندقة فيهم فاشية، ومن ديارهم ناشية.
وقد اختُلِف في أبي نواس: ادُّعي له التألهُ وأنه كان يقضي صلواتِ نهاره في ليله، والصحيح أنه كان على مذهب غيره من أهل زمانه، وذلك أن العرب جاءها النبيّ صلى الله عليه، وهي ترغب إلى القصيد، وتقصُر هِمَمها عن الفصيد، فاتّبعه منها متّبعون، ﴿وَٱللهُ أَعْلَمُ بِما يُوعُونَ﴾.
I am not beset by any doubt that Diʿbil ibn ʿAlī had no religion. He made a show of being a Shi’ite but his only motive was mercenary. How many a lineage he established to lay claim to a false genealogy!139 I do not doubt that Diʿbil held the same views as al-Ḥakamī and his sort. Heresy became widespread amongst them and sprang up in their country.
People differ of opinion about Abū Nuwās. It has been alleged that he was pious and performed his missed daily ritual prayers at night. The truth is that he believed what other people of his time believed. The Prophet (God bless and preserve him) came to the Arabs while they were desirous of thick marrow and their concerns fell short of black pudding.140 Some of them followed in his stride; «God knows well what they hide!»141
Heretics in Islam: Quraysh
26.4
فلما ضرب الإسلام بجِرانه، واتّسق مُلكه على أركانه، مازَج العربُ غيرَهم من الطوائف، وسمعوا كلام الأطبّاء وأصحاب الهيئة وأهل المنطق، فمالت منهم طائفة كثيرة.
ولم يزل الإلحاد في بني آدم على ممرّ الدهور، حتى إن أصحاب السِّيَر يزعُمون أن آدم صلّى الله عليه بَعث إلى أولاده فأنذرهم بالآخرة وخوّفهم من العذاب فكذّبوه وردّوا قوله، ثم على ذلك المنهاج إلى اليوم.
وبعض العلماء يقول إنّ سادات قُريش كانوا زنادقةً. وما أجدرَهم بذلك! وقال شاعرهم يرثي قتلى بَدْر، وتُروى لشدّاد بن الأَسْود اللَّيثي:
| ألمّتْ بالتحيّة أمُّ بكْرِ | فحيُّوا أمَّ بكرٍ بالسلامِ |
| وكائنْ بالطَّويّ طويّ بَدْرٍ | من الأحساب والقوم الكرامِ |
| وكائنْ بالطويّ طويّ بدر | من الشِّيزَى تُكلَّل بالسَّنامِ |
| ألا يا أمَّ بكر لا تُكِرّي | عليَّ الكأسَ بعد أخي هشامِ |
| وبعد أخي أبيه وكان قَرْمًا | من الأقوام شُرّابِ المُدامِ |
| ألا مَن مُبْلغ الرحمنِ عنّي | بأني تاركٌ شهرَ الصيامِ |
| إذا ما الرأس زايلَ منكِبيْه | فقد شبِع الأنيسُ من الطعامِ |
| أيُوعِدنا ابنُ كَبْشةَ أن سنَحْيا | وكيف حياةُ أَصداءٍ وهامِ |
| أتترُك أن ترُدَّ الموتَ عنّي | وتُحْيِيَني إذا بَلِيَتْ عِظامي؟ |
ولا يدّعي مثلَ هذه الدعاوي إلا من يستبسل وراءها للحِمامِ، ولا يأسف له عند الإلمام.
When Islam established itself and its empire rested on its cornerstones in good order, the Arabs came to mix with other nations. They heard what was said by physicians, astronomers, and logicians, and a large group of them felt inclined towards them.142 Unbelief has always existed among mankind throughout the ages, to the extent that historians maintain that when Adam (God bless him) sent for his children and warned them about the Hereafter, filling them with fear of torment, they called him a liar and rejected his words. And thus it continues until today. Some scholar says that the leaders of Quraysh were heretics. And it is very likely that they were, too! A poet of theirs said the following lines, lamenting those killed at Badr; they are attributed to Shaddād ibn al-Aswad al-Laythī:143
Umm Bakr paid a visit, greeting (us);
so return the greeting to Umm Bakr!
So many, in the brick-covered well, the well of Badr,
good reputations and noble men!
So many, in the brick-covered well, the well of Badr,
bowls that are crowned with camel-hump!144
O Umm Bakr, do not hand to me, again,
the cup, after the death of Hishām’s brother,
And of his father’s brother. He was a leader
of men, drinkers of vintage wine.
Ah, who will bear my message to the Merciful
that I renounce the month of fasting!145
When the head has left its shoulders
the cheerful companion has had his fill of food.
Does Kabshah’s son promise us that we shall live?146
But what kind of life has a screech owl?147
Will you omit to hold death away from me
but revive me when the bones have decayed?
Assertions such as these are made only by someone who seeks nothing further than a reckless death in battle and who has no regrets about it when it happens.
Stories About al-Mutanabbī
26.5
وحُدّثتُ أن أبا الطيّب أيامَ كان إقطاعه بصَفّ رُئيَ يصلّي بموضع بمعرّة النُّعمان يقال له كنيسة الأعراب وأنه صلّى ركعتين، وذلك في وقت العصر، فيجوز أن يكون رأى أنه على سَفَر، وأن القصْر له جائز.
وحدثني الثقة عنه حديثًا معناه أنه لما حصل في بني عَديّ وحاول أن يخرج فيهم، قالوا له وقد تبيّنوا دعواه: هاهنا ناقةٌ صعبة، فإن قدرت على ركوبها أقررنا أنك مُرسَل. وأنه مضى إلى تلك الناقة وهي رائحة في الإبل، فتحيّل حتى وثب على ظهرها، فنفرتْ ساعةً وتنكّرت بُرهةً، ثم سكن نِفارُها ومشت مَشْيَ المُسْمِحة، وأنه ورد بها الحِلّة وهو راكب عليها، فعجبوا له كل العَجَب، وصار ذلك من دلائله عندهم.
وحُدّثتُ أيضاً أنه كان في ديوان اللاذقيّة، وأن بعض الكتّاب انقلبت على يده سكّينُ الأقلام فجرحته جُرحًا مفْرطًا، وأن أبا الطيّب تفل عليها من رِيقه، وشدّها غير منتظر لوقته، وقال للمجروح: لا تحُلَّها في يومك. وعدّ له أيّامًا وليالي، وأن ذلك الكاتب قبِل منه، فبرىء الجرح، فصاروا يعتقدون في أبي الطيّب أعظمَ اعتقاد، ويقولون: هو كمُحْيي الأموات.
وحدّث رجل: كان أبو الطيّب قد استخفى عنده في اللاذقية أو في غيرها من السواحل، أنه أراد الانتقال من موضع إلى موضع، فخرج بالليل ومعه ذلك الرجل، ولقيهما كلبٌ ألحّ عليهما في النُّباح ثم انصرف، فقال أبو الطيب لذلك الرجل وهو عائد: إنك ستجد ذلك الكلبَ قد مات. فلما عاد الرجل ألفى الأمر على ما ذكر. ولا يمتنع أن يكون أعدّ له شيئًا من المطاعم مسمومًا وألقاه له وهو يُخفي عن صاحبه ما فعل. والخَرْبَق سمّ الكلاب معروف.
I was told that, in the days when he had an estate in Ṣaff, Abū l-Ṭayyib148 was seen to perform the ritual prayer at a place in Maʿarrat al-Nuʿmān, called “the Bedouins’ Church,” and that he performed two “bows,” which was at the time of the afternoon prayer.149 It is possible, therefore, that in his view he was traveling and that shortening was permissible.
A reliable person told me a story about him to the intent that when he had arrived at the Banū ʿAdī and attempted to raise a rebellion among them, they understood his claim and said to him:150 “Here is a refractory she-camel. If you are able to ride her we will attest that you are sent by God.” He went toward that camel as she was returning home in the evening with the other camels. Cleverly he managed to jump on her back. She bolted for a bit and resisted him for a moment. But then she stopped bolting and she began to walk like a docile animal. He rode her, it is said, to the tribal settlement. They were much amazed and this became one of his prophetic signs for them.
I was also told that he was in the administrative department in Latakia, when a pen-knife cut the hand of one of the scribes, wounding him severely. Abū l-Ṭayyib spat on it and bandaged it without delay. “Do not undo it today,” he told the wounded man. He told him to wait a number of days and nights. The scribe accepted the advice and the wound healed. Then they started to form the strongest beliefs about Abū l-Ṭayyib, saying, “It is as if he can revive the dead!”
A man at whose place Abū l-Ṭayyib had been hiding in Latakia, or some other place on the coast, told that he wanted to go from one place to another. He left at night, in the man’s company. They came across a dog that pestered them with its barking and then went away. Abū l-Ṭayyib said to that man as he was returning, “You will find that that dog has died.” When the man returned he found that it was as he had said. It is not impossible that he had prepared some poisoned food and thrown it to the dog, hiding his action from his companion. Hellebore is a well-known poison for dogs.
On Collaborative Authorship
26.6
وأما القطربُّلي وابن أبي الأزهر فمن الزوْل اجتماعُهما على تأليف كتابٍ، وقلّ ما يُعرف مثلُ ذلك. ونحوٌ منه قصةُ الخالدييْن اللذيْن كانا في الموصل وهما شاعران، وقد كانا عند سيف الدولة وانصرفا على حدّ مغاضَبة. ولهما ديوان يُنسب إليهما لا ينفرد فيه أحدهما بشيء دون الآخر إلا في أشياءَ قليلةٍ. وهذا متعذر في ولد آدم إذ كانت الجِبِلّة على الخلاف وقلّة الموافقة.
فأما أن يعمل الرجل شيئًا من كتابٍ، ثم يتمّه الآخر، فهو أسْوغُ في المعقول من أن يجتمع عليه الرجلان. والبغداديون يحكون أن أبا سعيد السيرافيّ عمل من كتابه المعروف بالمُقْنِع أو الإقناع إلى باب التصغير، ثم تُوُفّي وأتمّه بعده ولدُه أبو محمد.
وقد يجوز مثلُ هذا، وليس عندهم فيه ريب، وحكى لي الثقة أن أبا عليّ الفارسيّ كان يذكر أن أبا بكر بن السرّاج عمل من المُوجَز النصفَ الأول لرجل بزّاز، ثم تقدّم إلى أبي عليّ بإتمامه، وهذا لا يُقال إنه من إنشاء أبي علي لأن الموضوع من الموجز، هو منقول من كلام ابن السرّاج في الأصول وفي الجُمَل، فكأنّ أبا عليّ جاء به على سبيل النسْخ، لا أنه ابتدع شيئًا من عنده.
It is extraordinary that al-Quṭrabbulī and Ibn Abī l-Azhar wrote a book together: such a thing is little known. A similar case is the story of the two Khālidī brothers who lived in Mosul, both being poets.151 They were attached to Sayf al-Dawlah’s court but left after a quarrel. Their collected poetry is in both their names and only very few pieces are by one of them individually. This is a thing that is very difficult to achieve among humans, because human nature tends to contrariety and a lack of agreement. It is easier to understand that one man produces a piece of writing which is then completed by another, than that two men collaborate. The people of Baghdad relate that Abū Saʿīd al-Sīrāfī152 wrote his book known as The Sufficient, or The Sufficiency, as far as the chapter on the diminutive. Then he died and his son Abū Muḥammad completed it after his death. Such a thing is possible, people do not doubt it. A reliable person told me that Abū ʿAlī al-Fārisī mentioned that Abū Bakr ibn al-Sarrāj wrote the first half of his The Concise [Book on Syntax] for a cloth merchant, after which he asked Abū ʿAlī to complete it. This part, however, cannot be said to have been “written” by Abū ʿAlī, because the subject matter of The Concise is taken from Ibn al-Sarrāj’s own words in his The Principles [of Syntax] and The Sentences, so it is as if Abū ʿAlī merely copied them and did not produce anything original himself.
Al-Mutanabbī on Time
26.7.1
والذين روَوْا ديوان أبي الطيّب يحكون عنه أنه وُلد سنة ثلاث وثلثمائة. وكان طلوعه إلى الشام سنة إحدى وعشرين، فأقام فيه بُرهة ثم عاد إلى العراق ولم تطُلْ مُدّتُه هنالك. والدليل على صحّة هذا الخبر أن مدائحه في صِباه إنما هي في أهل الشام إلا قوله:
كُفّي أراني ويْكِ لوْمَكِ ألْوَما
وأما شكيَّتُه أهلَ الزمان إليه، فإنه سلك في ذلك منهاج المتقدمين، وقد كثر المقال في ذمّ الدهر حتى جاء في الحديث: لا تسُبّوا الدهر فإن الله هو الدهر، وقد عُرف معنى هذا الكلام، وأنّ باطنه ليس كظاهره، إذ كان الأنبياء عليهم السلام لم يذهب أحدٌ إلى أن الدهر هو الخالق ولا المعبود. وقد جاء في الكتاب الكريم: {وَما يُهْلِكُنا إلا ٱلدَّهْرُ} وقول بعض النّاس: الزمان حركة الفَلَك، لفظٌ لا حقيقة له. وفي كتاب سيبويه ما يدلّ على أن الزمان عنده: مُضِيُّ الليل والنهار. وقد تُعُلّق عليه في هذه العبارة.
وقد حددْتُه حدًّا ما أجدرَه أن يكون قد سبق إليه إلا أني لم أسمعه، وهو أن يقال: الزمان شيء أقلُّ جزءٍ منه يشتمل على جميع المُدْرَكات، وهو في ذلك ضدُّ المكان، لأن أقلَّ جزءٍ منه لا يمكن أن يشتمل على شيء كما تشتمل عليه الظروف، فأما الكون فلا بدّ من تشبُّثه بما قلّ وكثُر.
Those who transmit the collected verse of Abū l-Ṭayyib relate about him that he was born in the year 303153; he went to Syria in the year 321154 and stayed there for a while. Then he returned to Iraq, but he did not remain there for any length of time. That this report is correct is proved by the fact that his panegyric odes composed during his younger years are all on Syrians, except his poem that begins:155
Woman, stop! [My worries] have made your blaming (woe unto you!) look more blameworthy to me.
With his complaint, to Time, of the people living in it he followed the path of the ancients. So much has been said in condemnation of Time that there is even a hadith: “Do not revile Time, because God is Time.”156 The meaning of these words is well known, but the hidden sense is not like the superficial meaning; for none of the prophets (peace be upon them) held the view that Time is the Creator or is to be worshipped. In the Noble Book it says:157 «Nothing but Time destroys us». What some people say, that time is the movement of the celestial sphere,158 holds no truth. In Sībawayh’s book there is an indication that in his view time is the passing of night and day, an expression that has been glossed by commentators. I159 have given a definition that very likely has been given before, but I have not heard it: namely, that “time” is something the smallest part of which contains all things that can be comprehended. In this respect it is the opposite of “space,” because the smallest part of it cannot contain a thing in the manner that circumstances can contain it. As for “being,” it is necessarily attached to what is little or large in quantity.
26.7.2
والذين قالوا: وما يُهلكنا إلا الدهرُ وغير ذلك من المقال، مثل البيت المنسوب إلى الأخطل، وذكره حبيب بن أوسٍ لشَمْعَلة التغْلبي، وهو:
| فإنّ أمير المؤمنين وفِعله | لكالدهر لا عارٌ بما فعل الدهرُ |
وقول الآخر:
| الدهر لاءمَ بين أُلفتنا | وكذاك فرّق بيننا الدهرُ |
وقول أبي صَخْر:
| عجِبتُ لسعْي الدهر بيني وبينها | فلمّا انقضى ما بيننا سكن الدهرُ |
لم يُدّعَ أن أحدًا منهم كان يقرّب للأفلاك القرابين، ولا يزعم أنها تعقِل، وإنما ذلك شيء يتوارثه الأُمم في زمان بعد زمان.
وكان في عبد القيس شاعر يقال له شاتم الدهر، وهو القائل:
| ولما رأيتُ الدهر وعْرًا سبيلُه | وأبدى لنا وجهًا أزبَّ مجدَّعا |
| وجَبهةَ قِرْدٍ كالشِّراك ضئيلةً | وأَنفًا ولَوّى بالعثانينِ أخدعا |
| ذكرتُ الكرامَ الذاهبين أُولي النَّدى | وقلتُ لعمرو والحُسام ألا دَعا |
As for those who said «Nothing but Time destroys us» and similar things, such as the verse attributed to al-Akhṭal (Ḥabīb ibn Aws quotes it as if by Shamʿalah al-Taghlibī):160
The Commander of the Believers and his deeds
are like Time—there is no shame in what Time does.
or the verse by another:161
Time brought our companionship harmoniously together;
likewise Time has separated us.
or Abū Ṣakhr’s verse:162
I was amazed at the mischief that Time did between us;
but when what existed between was at an end, Time was quiet.
One cannot maintain that any of them used to offer sacrifices to the celestial spheres, or claimed that these spheres are rational beings. It is merely a motif that communities have inherited successively from one time to another. There was a poet called “Time’s Reviler” in the tribe of ʿAbd al-Qays, who said:163
When I saw how rough was the path of Time
and that it showed us a shaggy face with the nose cut off,
And a monkey’s forehead, as narrow as a shoe-strap,
and a nose,164 while it twisted its neck-veins with its beard,165
I was reminded of the noble departed, the generous ones,
and I said to ʿAmr and al-Ḥusām:166 Ah, leave it!
More Heretics and Apostates
27.1
وأما غيظه على الزنادقة والملْحدين فأجَره اللهُ عليه، كما أجره على الظمأ في طريق مكّة، واصطلاء الشمس بعَرَفة، ومَبيته بالمزْدلِفة. ولا ريْب أنه ابتهل إلى الله سبحانه في الأيام المعدودات والمعلومات، أن يُثبّت هِضابَ الإسلام، ويقيم لمن اتّبعه النيّر من الأعلام. ولكن الزندقة داءٌ قديم، طالما حلِم بها الأديم. وقد رأى بعض الفقهاء أن الرجل إذا ظهرت زندقته ثم تاب فَزَعًا من القتل، لم تُقبل توبتُه. وليس كذلك غيرهم من الكُفّار، لأن المرتدّ إذا رجع قُبل منه الرجوع.
ولا ملّة إلا ولها قوم ملحدون، يُرُون أصحاب شرْعهم أنهم موالفون وهم فيما بطن مخالفون، ولا بدّ أن ينهتكَ مُخادع، وتبدُوَ من الشرّ جَنادع. وقد كانت ملوك فارسَ تقتُل على الزندقة.
As for the Sheikh’s anger with the heretics and apostates, may God reward him for it, as He may reward him for his being thirsty on the road to Mecca, for being burned by the sun at ʿArafah, and his spending the night at al-Muzdalifah. No doubt he prayed humbly to God, praised be He, during the appointed, known days,167 asking Him to fortify the hills of Islam, and to erect beaming beacons for its followers.168 However, heresy is an old disease by which people have so often been afflicted!169 One legal scholar is of the opinion that when a man openly professes heresy and then repents, merely because he is afraid of being executed, his repentance cannot be accepted, unlike other unbelievers, for an apostate is accepted if he returns to Islam.
There is no religion that has no heretics, who give their co-religionists the appearance of siding with them, whereas they secretly oppose them. A deceiver like this must be exposed and the first buds of evil must be laid bare. The kings of Persia used to execute people for heresy.
27.2.1
والزنادقة هم الذين يسمَّون الدهريةَ، لا يقولون بنبوّة ولا كتاب. وبشّار إنما أخذ ذلك عن غيره، وقد رُوي أنه وُجد في كتبه رُقعةٌ مكتوب فيها: إني أردت أن أهجو فلان بن فلان الهاشميّ فصفحتُ عنه لقرابته من رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم. وزعموا أنه كان يُشارّ سيبويه، وأنه حضر يومًا حلقةَ يونس بن حبيبٍ فقال: هل ههنا من يرفع خبرًا؟ فقالوا: لا، فأنشدهم:
| بني أُميّةَ هُبّوا من رُقادكُمُ | إنّ الخليفةَ يعقوبُ بن داودِ |
| ليس الخليفةُ بالموجود فالتمِسوا | خليفةَ الله بين الناي والعودِ |
وكان في الحلقة سيبويه، فيدّعي بعض الناس أنه وشى به.وسيبويه فيما أحسبُ كان أجلّ مَوضعًا من أن يدخُل في هذه الدنيّات، بل يعمِد لأمور سنيّات. وحُكي عنه أنه عاب عليه قوله:
| على الغَزَلَى منّي السلامُ فطال ما | لهوتُ بها في ظلّ مخضَرّةٍ زُهْرِ |
فقال سيبويه: لم تستعمل العرب الغَزَلَى، فقال بشّار: هذا مثل قولهم البَشَكَى والجَمَزَى، ونحو ذلك.
The heretics are those that are called “Eternalists.”170 They believe neither in prophethood nor in scripture. Bashshār171 adopted this belief from others. It is said that a note was found among his papers. The phrase “I wanted to lampoon So-and-so, the Hāshimite, but I forgave him because of his kinship with the Messenger of God, God bless and preserve him” was written on it.172 They assert that he was hostile to Sībawayh and that one day he attended the circle of Yūnus ibn Ḥabīb, where he said, “Is there anyone here who will inform on me?” They replied, “No.” Then he recited to them:
Umayyads, wake up from your slumber!
The caliph is Yaʿqūb ibn Dāwūd!
The caliph is not to be found, so seek
God’s caliph between flute and lute!173
Sībawayh was present in the circle, and one of the people claimed that Bashshār had slandered him.174 But Sībawayh, I think, would have been above entering into such lowly matters; he aimed at higher things. It is related that he criticized Bashshār’s verse:
To the flirteous one (al-ghazalā) from me a greeting! So often
have I amused myself with her in the shade of a bright green spot!
Sībawayh said, “The true Arabs do not use ‘flirteous.’” Thereupon Bashshār replied, “But this is like when they say ‘courteous’ and ‘righteous’ and the like.”175
27.2.2
وجاء بشار في شعره بالنينان جمع نُونٍ من السمك، فيقال إنه أنكره عليه، وهذه أخبار لا تثبُت. وفيما رُوي في كتاب سيبويه أن النون يُجمع على نينان، فهذا نقضٌ للخبر.
وذكر مَن نقل أخبار بشّار أنه توعّد سيبويه بالهجاء، وأنه تلافاه واستشهد بشعره. ويجوز أن يكون استشهاده به على نحو ما يذكره المتذاكرون في المجالس ومجامع القوم. وأصحاب بشارٍ يروون له هذا البيت:
| وما كلّ ذي لُبٍ بمؤْتيك نُصحَه | وما كلّ مؤْتٍ نصحَه بلبيبِ |
وفي كتاب سيبويه نصفُ هذا البيت الآخر، وهو في باب الإدغام لم يُسمِّ قائلَه. وزعم غيرُه أنه لأبي الأَسود الدؤلي.
ويقال: إن يعقوب بن داود وزيرَ المهديّ تحامل على بشّار حتى قُتل، واختُلف في سِنّه: فقيل كان يومئذ ابن ثمانين سنة، وقيل أكثر، والله العالم بحقيقة الأمر.
ولا أحكُم عليه بأنه من أهل النار، وإنما ذكرتُ ما ذكرت فيما تقدّم لأني عقدْتُه بمشيئة الله، وإن الله لحليمٌ وهّاب.
Bashshār also used the word nīnān in his verse, the plural of nūn, “fish.” Sībawayh is said to have disapproved of this.176 But these are unconfirmed reports; it is transmitted in Sībawayh’s Book177 that the word nūn has a plural nīnān, which contradicts the report. The person who transmitted the reports about Bashshār mentions that he threatened Sībawayh with making lampoons, so the latter placated him by citing his poetry as linguistic evidence. It is possible that he cited his poetry in this manner just as people do when quoting things in sessions and gatherings. The partisans of Bashshār transmit this verse as being his:
Not every intelligent man will provide you with his advice;
nor is everyone who gives his advice intelligent.
In Sībawayh’s Book the second hemistich of this verse is found in the chapter on assimilation, without mention of the poet. Others say that it is by Abū l-Aswad al-Duʾalī.178
Yaʿqūb ibn Dāwūd, the vizier of al-Mahdī, is said to have intrigued against Bashshār until he was executed. People differ about his age: it is said that at the time he was eighty years old, others say he was older. God knows best the truth of the matter.
I shall not say categorically that he is one of the people of hell-fire.179 I said what I said previously because I connected it with God’s will;180 but God is forbearing and munificent.
27.3.1
وذكر صاحبُ كتاب الوَرَقة جماعة من الشعراء في طبقة أبي نواس ومَن قبلَه، ووصفهم بالزندقة، وسرائر الناس مغيَّبة، وإنما يعلم بها علّامُ الغيوب. وكانت تلك الحال تُكتَم في ذلك الزمان خوفًا من السيف، فالآن ظهر نجيثُ القوم، وانقاضت التريكةُ عن أخبثِ رأل.
وكان في ذلك العصر رجل له أصدقاء من الشيعة وصديقٌ زنديقٌ، فدعا المتشيعة في بعض الأيام، فجاء الزنديق فقرع حلقة الباب وقال:
| أصبحتُ جمَّ بَلابل الصدرِ | متقسمَ الأشجان والفكْرِ |
فقال صاحب المنزل: ويحك! ممّ ذا؟ فتركه الزنديق ومضى، فلقيه صاحبُ المأدُبة فقال له: يا هذا، أردتَ أن تُوقِعني فيما أكرهُ، خوفًا من أن يظُنّ أصدقاؤه أنه زنديق، فقال: ادعُهم ثانيةً وأعْلِمْني بمكانهم. فلما حصلوا عنده جاء الزنديق فقال:
| أصبحتُ جم بلابل الصدرِ | متقسمَ الأشجان والفكرِ |
فقالوا: ويحك! مما ذا؟ فقال:
| مما جَناه على أبي حَسَنٍ | عُمَرٌ وصاحبُه أبو بكرِ |
وانصرف. ففرح الشيعةُ بذلك، ولقيه صاحب المنزل فقال: جُزيتَ عني خيرًا، فقد خلصتَني من الشُّبهة!
The author of The Folio Book181 mentions a number of poets of the generation of Abū Nuwās and before, describing them as heretics. People’s inner thoughts are hidden and only He who knows all hidden things knows them. At that time such beliefs were concealed, for fear of the sword, whereas now people’s hidden secrets have become evident and the abandoned ostrich-shell has broken to reveal the ugliest chick! In that period there was a man who had friends who were Shi’ites and another friend who was a heretic.182 One day he invited the Shi’ites; then the heretic arrived, knocked on the door, and said:
“This morning my breast is full of perturbations,
jointly beset with various anxieties and thoughts.”
The master of the house said to him, “Mercy on you! Why is that?” But the heretic left him and went away. Afterward the man who had given the banquet met him and said to him, “Did you want to get me into trouble?”— afraid that his friends would think he was a heretic himself. The other replied, “Invite them again and let me know where they will be.” When they had arrived at his place the heretic came and said,
“This morning my breast is full of perturbations,
jointly beset with anxieties and thoughts.”
They all said, “Mercy on you! Why is that?” and the man continued:
Because of the crime committed against Ḥasan’s father
by ʿUmar and his fellow, Abū Bakr.183
Then he left. The Shi’ites were delighted by this. The master of the house met him and said, “May God recompense you for the good that you have done me! You have saved me from suspicion!”
27.3.2
وكان يجلس في مجلس البصرة جماعة من أهل العلم، وكان فيهم رجل زنديق له سيفانِ، قد سمَّى أحدَهما الخيرَ والآخَرَ الفَلَح فإذا سلّم عليه رجل من المسلمين قال:
صبّحك الخيرُ ومسّاك الفَلَحْ
ثم يلتفت لأصحابه الذين قد عرفوا مكان السيفيْن فيقول:
سيفان كالبَرْق إذا البرقُ لَمَحْ
فأما قول الحَكَميّ:
تِيهُ مُغنٍّ وظَرْفُ زنديقِ
فقد عِيب عليه هذا المعنى، وقيل إنه أراد رجلًا من بني الحارث كان معروفًا بالزندقة والظرف، وكان له موضع من السلطان.
[وأما]١ قوله في صدر هذا البيت:
نديمُ قيْلٍ مُحدِّثُهْ مَلِك
فهو نحو من قول امرئ القيس:
| فاليومَ أِشْرَبْ غيرَ مستحقِبٍ | إثمًا من الله ولا واغلِ |
وليس ينبغي أن يُحمل على قول مَن وقف على الهاء كما قال:
يا بيْذَرَهْ، يا بيذرهْ، يا بيذرهْ
وكما قال الآخر:
| يا رُبَّ أبّاز من العُصْم صَدَعْ | تقبّضَ الظِّلُّ عليه فاجتمعْ |
| لما رأى ألا دَعَهْ ولا شِبَعْ | مال إلى أرْطاةِ حِقْفٍ فاضطجَعْ |
لأن هذا حسُنَ فيه إظهار الهاء، إذ كان الكلام تامًّا يحسُن عليه السكوت، وقوله: مُحَدّثُهْ ملك، مُضاف ومضاف إليه، فلا يحسُن فيه مثلُ ذلك، إذ كان الاسمان كاسم واحد.
١ زيادة ليست في المخطوطات وأضافتها بنت الشاطئ لمقتضى السياق.
A number of scholars used to sit in a gathering in Basra. Among them was a heretic who had two swords, one of which he called “Welfare” and the other “Prosperity.” Whenever a Muslim greeted him he would reply,
Welfare to you in the morning, Prosperity to you in the evening!
Then he would turn to his companions, who knew about the two swords, and say:
Two swords like lightning when the lightning flashes!
Take the verse by al-Ḥakamī:184
The conceitedness of a singer and the sophistication of a heretic.
He was criticized for this motif.185 It is said that he meant a man of the tribe of Banū l-Ḥārith who was well known for his heresy and his sophistication; he held a favored position with the ruler.186
As for the first hemistich of this verse:
A prince’s boon companion, on speaking terms with a king,187
this is like the verse by Imruʾ al-Qays:188
Today I’ll drink without incurring
sin with God, nor as an uninvited guest.
One cannot consider it analogous to the use of the pausal form -ah, as in:
O Baydharah, O Baydharah, O Baydharah!189
Or as someone else said:190
Over many a leaping white-footed ibex, fair-sized,
The shadows contracted and then shrank together;
When it saw there was no chance to rest (daʿah) 191 or eat its fill,
It turned aside to an arṭā tree on a sand dune and lay down,
because here it is good to make the h distinct, since the utterance is complete and it is good to pause there, whereas in muḥaddithuh malikin one has a pre-genitive and a genitive,192 where such a thing is not good, for the two nouns are like one noun.
Ṣāliḥ ibn ʿAbd al-Quddūs
27.4
وأما صالح بن عبد القُدّوس فقد شُهر بالزندقة، ولم يُقتل، ولله العلم، حتى ظهرت عنه مقالات توجِب ذلك. ويُروى لأبيه عبد القدوس:
| كم أهلكتْ مكّةُ من زائرٍ | خرّبها الله وأبياتَها |
| لا رَزق الرحمنُ أحياءها | وأشْوتِ الرحمةُ أمواتَها |
وقد كان لصالح ولدٌ حُبس على الزندقة حبسًا طويلًا، وهو الذي يُروى له:
| خرجْنا من الدنيا ونحن مِنَ ٱهْلها | فما نحن بالأحياء فيها ولا الموْتَى |
| إذا ما أتانا زائرٌ متفقّدٌ | فرِحْنا وقلنا: جاء هذا من الدنيا |
وأما رجوعه عن الزندقة لمّا أحسّ بالقتل، فإنما ذلك على سبيل الخَتْل. فصلى الله على محمد، فقد رُوي عنه أنه قال: بُعثتُ بالسيف، والخير في السيف، والخير بالسيف. وفي حديث آخر: لا تزال أُمّتي بخيرٍ ما حملتِ السيوفَ. والسيف حمل صالحًا على التصديق، وردّه عن رأي الزنديق، وتلك آية من آيات الله إذا هي ظهرت للنفس الكافرة، فقد فَنِيَ لا ريبَ زمانُها، ولا يُقبل هناك إيمانُها: {لَمْ تَكُنْ آمَنَتْ مِنْ قَبْلُ} وللسفَه طَلّ ووَبْل.
Ṣāliḥ ibn ʿAbd al-Quddūs193 was notorious for his heresy but he was not killed—God knows best—until statements came to light from him that made it inevitable. The following lines are attributed to his father, ʿAbd al-Quddūs:
How many visitors has Mecca brought to perdition!
May God destroy it and its houses!
May the Merciful not give sustenance to its quarters
and may His mercy pass over its dead!
Ṣāliḥ had a son who was imprisoned for a long time because of heresy. The following lines are attributed to him:194
We left the world when we belonged to it;
and now we are neither living in it nor dead.
Whenever a visitor comes seeking us
we rejoice and say, “This man comes from the world!”
Ṣāliḥ’s recanting from heresy when he thought he would be executed was merely deception. God bless Muḥammad, who is reported to have said, “I have been sent with the sword. There is good in the sword and there is good through the sword.” And in another hadith: “My community will be well as long as it carries swords.” The sword made Ṣāliḥ assent to the truth and renounce his heresy. This is one of God’s signs when it becomes evident to an unbelieving soul, whose time has come to an end, no doubt about it! For at this stage its belief will not be accepted. «It has not believed before».195 Folly comes as drizzle and as a downpour!
The Fuller, the Box-Maker, and Others
27.5.1
وأما القصّار فجهلٌ يُجْمَع ويُصار، ولو تبع حِقًّا مقروبا، لَكُفيَ سمًّا مشروبا، ولكن الغرائز أعادٍ، ولا بدّ من لقاء الميعاد.
وأما المنسوب إلى الصناديق، فإنه يُحسَب من الزناديق. وأحسبُه الذي كان يُعرف بالمنصور، ظهر سنةَ سبعين ومائتين، وأقام بُرهة باليمن، وفي زمانه كانت القِيان تلعب بالدُّفّ وتقول:
| خُذي الدّفَّ يا هذه والعَبي | وبُثّي فضائلَ هذا النبي |
| تولّى نبيُّ بني هاشمٍ | وقام نبيُّ بني يَعْرُبِ |
| فما نبتغي السعْيَ عند الصَّفا | ولا زوْرةَ القبر في يَثْرِبِ |
| إذا القوم صلَّوْا فلا تنهَضي | وإن صوّموا فكُلي واشْرَبي |
| ولا تحرِمي نفسَكِ المؤمنيـ | ـنَ من أقربينَ ومن أجْنبي |
| فكيف حللتِ لذاك الغريبِ | وصِرتِ محرَّمةً للأب؟ |
| أليس الغِراسُ لمن ربَّهُ | وروّاه في عامه المُجْدِبِ؟ |
| وما الخمر إلا كماء السحا | بِ طِلْقٌ فقُدِّسْتَ من مَذهبِ |
فعلى معتقِد هذه المقالة بَهْلةُ المبتهلين.
Al-Qaṣṣār, “the Fuller”196 was altogether full of folly. Had he followed an old camel, its flanks aching, he would have been spared the poison-taking!197 But one’s natural dispositions are one’s enemies, and one cannot escape the appointed hour.
The one connected with “box”198 is to be considered a heretic, unorthodox. I think he was known as al-Manṣūr. He appeared in the year 270;199 he stayed for a while in Yemen. In his day, singing girls used to play the tambourine and sing:
Girl, pick up the tambourine and play!
Proclaim the virtues of this prophet!
Gone is the prophet of the Banū Hāshim200
and the prophet of the Banū Yaʿrub201 has arisen.
We no longer want to run at Ṣafā
or to pay a visit to the tomb in Yathrib.202
If they perform the ritual prayer, don’t stand up;
if they are fasting, eat and drink!
Don’t hold yourself taboo to the believers,
whether close kin or strangers!
For why should you be free to marry any stranger
but be forbidden to your father?
Doesn’t a plant belong to him who reared it
and who watered it in a year of drought?
And what is wine but like the water of the clouds,
permitted? Hallowed be you as a faith!
May the adherents of this doctrine be cursed by all who pray!
27.5.2
وهذه الطبقة، لعنها الله، تستعبد الطَّغام بأصناف مختلفة، فإذا طمعت في دعوى الربوبية لم تتّئبْ في الدعوى، ولا لها عمّا قبُح رَعْوى، وإذا علمتْ أن في الإنسان تميّزا، أرتْه إلى ما يحسن تحيّزا.
وقد كان باليمن رجل يحتجب في حِصن له، ويكون الواسطةُ بينه وبين الناس خادمًا له أَسودَ قد سمّاه جبريل، فقتله الخادم في بعض الأيام وانصرف. فقال بعض المُجّان:
| تبارك الله في عُلاه | فرّ من الفِسق جَبرئيلُ |
| وظلّ مَن تزعُمون ربًّـا | وهْو على عَرشه قتيلُ |
ويقال إنه حمله على ذلك ما كان يكلّفه من الفِسق.
وإذا طمع بعضُ هؤلاء، فإنه لا يقتنع بالإمامة ولا النبوّة، ولكنه يرتفع صُعُدًا في الكذب، ويكون شُربه من تحت العَذِب، أي الطُّحْلُب.
People like this—God curse them!—use various methods to enslave the common people. When they are eager to claim divinity they are not ashamed to make a proclamation and they balk at no abomination; but when they know somebody has discernment they show him that the good is their preferment. There was a man in Yemen who had secluded himself in a castle he owned. His only contact with other people was a black servant, whom he called Jibrīl.203 One day the servant killed him and ran off. Some irreverent jester quipped:
Blessed be God on high!
Jabraʾīl has fled from his depravity,
And he that you maintained was Lord
lies murdered on his throne.
It is said that the depravity his master would impose on him moved him to commit this deed.
When one of this lot is ambitious he is not content with being an imam or even a prophet but mounts higher still in his lies. His drink will be foul water from under the scum (i.e., the pondweed).
27.5.3
ولم تكن العرب في الجاهلية تُقْدِم على هذه العظائم، والأمورِ غيرِ النظائم. بل كانت عقولهم تجنَح إلى رأي الحكماء، وما سلف من كتب القدماء. إذ كان أكثر الفلاسفة لا يقولون بنبيّ، وينظرون إلى من زعم ذلك بعين الغبيّ.
وكان ربيعة بن أُميّة بن خَلَفٍ الجُمَحيّ جرى له مع أبي بكر الصدّيق، رحمة الله عليه، خَطْب، فلحِق بالروم، ويُروى أنه قال:
| لحِقتُ بأرض الروم غير مفكّرٍ | بتركِ صلاةٍ من عِشاء ولا ظُهْرِ |
| فلا تتركوني من صَبوحِ مُدامةٍ | فما حرّم الله السُّلاف من الخمرِ |
| إذا أمرتْ تيْمُ بن مُرّةَ فيكُمُ | فلا خيرَ في أرض الحجاز ولا مِصْرِ |
| فإن يَكُ إسلامي هو الحقّ والهُدَى | فإنِّيَ قد خلّيْتُه لأبي بكرِ |
وافتنّ الناسُ في الضلالة حتى استجازوا دعوى الربوبية، فكان ذلك تنطّسًا في الكُفر، وجمعًا للمعْصِيَة في المزاد الوُفْر. وإنما كان أهل الجاهلية يدفعون النبوّة ولا يجاوزون ذلك إلى سِواه.
ولما أجْلى عمرُ بن الخطّاب، رحمة الله عليه، أهلَ الذمّة عن جزيرة العرب، شقّ ذلك على الجالين، فيقال إن رجلًا من يَهودِ خيْبر يُعرف بسُميْر بن أدكن قال في ذلك:
| يصول أبو حَفصٍ علينا بدِرّةٍ | رُويدَكَ إنّ المرءَ يطفو ويرسُبُ |
| كأنك لم تتْبع حَمولةَ ماقطٍ | لتَشبَع إنّ الزاد شيءٌ محبَّبُ |
| فلو كان موسى صادقًا ما ظهرتُمُ | علينا ولكنْ دولةٌ ثُمّ تذهبُ |
| ونحنُ سبقْناكمْ إلى الميْن فاعرفوا | لنا رُتبةَ البادي الذي هو أكذبُ |
| مشيْتمْ على آثارنا في طريقنا | وبُغْيتكم في أن تَسودوا وتُرْهَبوا |
The Arabs, in pre-Islamic times, did not commit such enormities and irregularities. On the contrary, their minds tended toward the opinion of the sages and the books of the ancients from the past. Most philosophers did not believe in a prophet and considered anyone who asserted prophethood to be a fool. There was an incident involving Rabīʿah ibn Umayyah ibn Khalaf al-Jumaḥī and Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (may God have mercy on him!),204 whereupon Rabīʿah joined the Byzantines. It is related that he said:
I went to live in the land of the Byzantines, not minding
my giving up the evening or the midday prayer.
But don’t leave me without a morning draught of wine,
for God has not forbidden choicest wine!
If Taym ibn Murrah rules among you,
then there’s no good in the land of the Hijaz or Egypt.
My Islam may have been Truth and Right Guidance,
but I hereby leave it to Abū Bakr!
There are many different ways in which people have gone astray, even to the point of thinking it possible to claim divinity. This was unbelief most thorough and refined, a piling of disobedience into bags of the amplest kind! The people of the time of Ignorance merely rejected prophethood and went no further. When ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (God have mercy upon him) expelled the adherents of the protected religions205 from the Arabian Peninsula, the displaced were distressed. It is said that a man of the Jews of Khaybar known as Sumayr ibn Adkan said on this:206
Abū Ḥafṣ attacks us with his leather whip.
Gently does it! A man now surfaces, now sinks.
It seems you never followed a loaded camel of a beating driver207
to get a bellyful. Provision is a much-loved thing!
Had Moses spoken the truth you would not have had the upper hand
against us. But a dynasty may come and go again.
We were liars before you. Know therefore that we have
the honor of being first and thus the worst!
You merely walked in our tracks, on our path;
your wish is to rule and be feared.
27.5.4
وما زال اليمن منذ كان مَعْدِنًا للمتكسبين بالتديّن، والمحتالين على السُّحْت بالتزيّن. وحدّثني مَن سافر إلى تلك الناحية أن به اليوم جماعة كلهم يزعُم أنه القائم المنتظَر، فلا يَعدَم جبايةً من مالٍ، يصِل بها إلى خسيس الآمال.
وحُكي لي أن للقرامطة بالأحساء بيتًا يزعُمون أن إمامهم يخرج منه، ويقيمون على باب ذلك البيت فرسًا بسَرجٍ ولِجام، ويقولون للهَمَج والطغام: هذا الفرس لركاب المهديّ، يركبه متى ظهر بحقّ بديٍ. وإنما غرضهم بذلك خَدْعٌ وتعليل، وتوصّلٌ إلى المملكة وتضليل.
For as long as it has existed, Yemen has been a breeding ground of people who through religion earn their livelihood, and by fair pretense contrive to get ill-gotten good. Someone who traveled there told me that to this very day a group of people live there, each of whom claims to be the expected messiah208 and they never fail to receive money through a taxation, for their base ambitions’ gratification. I have been told that the Carmathians in al-Aḥsā keep a house from which, as they claim, their imam will come forth. They have a horse, saddled and bridled, standing at its door and say to the common people and the vulgar herd: “This horse is destined for the stirrup of the Mahdi, who will mount it when he appears with unprecedented Truth.” Their only object in this is quite simply deceit and specious argumentation, to lead people astray and gain domination.
27.5.5
ومن أعجب ما سمعتُ أن بعض رؤساء القرامطة في الدهر القديم، لما حضرته المنيّةُ جمع أصحابَه وجعل يقول لهم لمّا أحسّ بالموت: إني قد عزمت على النُّقلة، وقد كنت بعثتُ موسى وعيسى ومحمدًا، ولا بُدّ لي أن أبعث غيرَ هؤلاء! فعليه اللعنة، لقد كفر أعظمَ الكفر، في الساعة التي يجب أن يؤمن فيها الكافرُ، ويؤوب إلى آخرته المسافر.
One of the strangest things I have heard is that long ago, when one of the leaders of the Carmathians was on his deathbed and felt death approaching, he gathered his followers and began to say, “I am resolved to migrate. I have already sent Moses, Jesus, and Muḥammad; now I must send someone else.” A curse upon him! He committed the gravest kind of unbelief, at the moment when it is incumbent on the unbeliever to believe and on the traveler to return to his final destination.
Al-Walīd ibn Yazīd
28.1.1
وأما الوليد بن يزيد فكان عقله عقلَ وليد، وقد بلغ سنّ الكهل الجليد، ما أغنتْه نيةٌ سابجةٌ، ولا نفعت البُنابجة. وشُغل عن الباطية، بجريرة النفس الخاطية. دحاه إلى سَقَرَ داحٍ، فما يغترف بالأقداح. وقد رُويت له أشعار، يلحق به منها العار، كقوله:
| أَدْنِيا منّي خليلي | عَبْدَلًا دونَ الإزارِ |
| فلقد أيقنتُ أني | غيرُ مبعوثٍ لنارِ |
| واتْركا مَن يطلب الجنّـ | ـةَ يسعى في خَسارِ |
| سأروض الناسَ حتى | يركبوا دين الحِمارِ |
فالعَجبُ لزمانٍ صيّر مثله إماما، وأَورده من المملكة جِماما، ولعل غيره ممن مَلَكَ يعتقد مِثلَه أو قريبا، ولكن يساتر ويخاف تثريبا. ومما يُروى له:
| أنا الإمام الوليد مفتخرًا | أجُرّ بُرْدي وأسمعُ الغَزَلا |
| أسحَبُ ذيْلي إلى منازلها | ولا أُبالي مَن لام أو عذلا |
| ما العيش إلا سماعُ مُحْسِنةٍ | وقهوةٌ تترُك الفتى ثمِلا |
| لا أرتجي الحُور في الخلود وهل | يأمُل حُورَ الجِنان من عقَلا؟ |
| إذا حَبَتْك الوِصالَ غانيةٌ | فجازِها بَذْلَها كمَنْ وصَلا |
Al-Walīd ibn Yazīd209 he had the intelligence of an infant indeed, though he had reached the age of solid maturity. A firm(?)210 intention did not avail him, nor was the vessel(?) of any use to him. He was distracted from the wine pitcher by the sin of his erring soul.211 He was driven into Hellfire, where he does not ladle cups of wine! Some poems are attributed to him that bring him disgrace, such as:212
Bring me, you two, my friend
ʿAbdal without his loin-cloth,213
For I am certain I shall not
be resurrected and be sent into a Fire.
Let those who seek Paradise
waste their efforts!
I’ll train those people until
they follow the religion of a donkey.214
It was an amazing time that made someone like him the leader of the community and brought him to the brimful well of power! It may well be that other rulers held identical or similar beliefs, but kept them hidden and feared being upbraided. The following is also transmitted as being by him:215
I, al-Walīd, am the imam, and proud of it.
I trail my mantle and listen to love poetry.
I drag my robe’s hem to her dwellings,216
not caring about who censures or reproaches me.
The good life is nothing but listening to a skilled singing girl
and wine that leaves a man intoxicated.
I do not expect to meet black-eyed damsels in the eternal abode.
Does any sensible person hope for the houris of Paradise?
When a pretty girl grants you her favors, reward her
liberally, as someone who bestows a present.217
28.1.2
ويقال إنه لمّا أُحيط به، دخل القصرَ وأغلق بابه وقال:
| دَعُوا لِيَ هِنْدًا والرَّبابَ وفَرْتَنى | ومُسْمِعةً حسْبي بذلك مالا |
| خُذوا مُلككمْ لا ثبّت اللهُ مُلككمْ | فليس يساوي بعد ذاك عِقالا |
| وخَلُّوا سبيلي قبل عيْرٍ وما جرى | ولا تحسُدوني أن أموت هُزالا |
فأُلِب عن تلك المنزلة أيّ أَلْب، ورئي رأسه في فم كلب.
كذلك نقل بعض الرواة، والله القائم بجزاء الغُواة. ولا حيلةَ للبشر في أمّ دَفْرٍ، أعْيت كل حَضرٍ وسَفْرٍ. كان حَقّ الخلافة أن تُفْضي إلى من هو بنُسكٍ معروفٌ، لا تصرِفه عن الرشد صروف، ولكن البليّة خُلقت مع الشمس، فهل يخلُص مَن سكن في رَمْس؟
It is said that when he was besieged218 he entered his palace, shut the door, and said:219
Leave me Hind, al-Rabāb, and Fartanā,220
and a singing girl: that is all the wealth I need!
Take your kingdom—may God not establish your kingdom!—
for after this it isn’t worth a camel’s hobble!
Let me go free before the blinking of an eye
and do not begrudge me a death from starvation!
How he was chased from that high estate! His head was seen being carried in the mouth of a dog, as some relate. God punishes the reprobate. People are helpless in this world, “Mother Stink,” which renders powerless those who stay at home and those who travel alike. The office of being a caliph should by rights come to somebody known for his piety, who is not turned from the right path by time’s adversity. However, affliction was created together with the sun. Will those who dwell in the grave be set free?
Abū ʿĪsā, the son of al-Rashīd
28.2
وأمّا أبو عيسى بن الرشيد، فليس بالناشد ولا النشيد. وإن صحّ ما رُوي عنه فقد باينَ بذلك أسلافَه، وأظهر لأهل الديانة خلافه.
وما يحفل ربُّه بالعبيد صائمين للخِيفة ولا مُفطرين، ولكن الإنس غدَوا مُخطرين١. وربما كان الجاهل أو المتجاهل، ينطِق بالكلمة وخَلَدُه بضدّها آهل، وإنما أقول ذلك راجيًا أن أبا عيسى ونُظَراءه، لم يتّبعوا في الغيّ أُمراءه، وأنهم على سِوى ما علن يبيّتون، لقد وعَظَهم الميّتون.
ورأى بعضهم عبدَ السلام بن رَغْبان، المعروف بدِيك الجِنّ، في النوم وهو بحسن حالٍ، فذكر له الأبيات الفائيّة التي فيها:
| هي الدنيا وقد نعِموا بأُخرى | وتسويفُ الظنون من السُّوافِ |
أي الهلاك. فقال: إنما كنتُ أتلاعب بذلك ولم أكن أعتقده. ولعل كثيرًا ممن شُهر بهذه الجهالات تكون طويّتُه إقامةَ الشريعة، والإرتاع برياضها المَريعة. فإن اللسان طمّاحٌ، وله بالفَنَد إسماح. وكان أبو عيسى المذكور يُستحسن شعرُه في البيتين والثلاثة، وأنشد له الصُّولي في نوادره:
| لساني كَتومٌ لأسراره | ودمعي نَمومٌ بسِرّي مُذيعُ |
| ولولا دموعي كتمتُ الهوى | ولولا الهوى لم يكن لي دموعُ |
فإن كان فرّ من صيامِ شهر، فلعله يقع في تعذيب الدهر، و {لا يَيْأَسُ مِنْ رَوْحِ ٱللهِ إلّا ٱلْقَوْمُ ٱلْكافِرُونَ}.
١ في جميع الطبعات: محظرين.
Abū ʿĪsā, the son of al-Rashīd,221 is neither seeking nor sought.222 If the reports about him are true, he set himself apart thereby from his ancestors and showed his opposition to religious people. The Lord does not care whether His servants keep the fast through fear or break it; but people have been warned(?).223 Sometimes an ignoramus, or someone pretending to be so, will utter a statement though in his heart he is well aware that the opposite is true. I say this in the hope that Abū ʿĪsā and his likes did not follow those who lead into error, and that, having pondered it at night, they think differently from what was said openly. Certainly, the dead taught them a lesson.
Somebody dreamed he saw ʿAbd al-Salām ibn Raghbān, who is known as Dīk al-Jinn, looking fine. He mentioned to him the lines rhyming in -āfī, including the following:224
This is the [real] world, though they are happy with [the thought of] another:
to fix one’s thoughts on things to come is fell.
(“Fell” means “deadly.”) The poet replied, “I said that only in jest; I did not really believe it.” Perhaps many of those who are notorious for saying such ignorant things upheld the shariah in their innermost thoughts, staying within its bounds and grazing in its rich pasture-grounds. For the tongue is full of avidity and will yield to error and stupidity.
The poems consisting of two or three lines by the aforementioned Abū ʿĪsā were admired. Al-Ṣūlī, in his Anecdotes, quotes the following poem of his:225
My tongue keeps its secrets hidden,
but my tears betray my secret and divulge it.
But for my tears I would have hidden my passion;
but for my passion, I would not have shed tears.
Even though he fled from the month-long fasting, he may perhaps [not]226 fall into everlasting torment. «Only unbelieving people despair of God’s comfort».227
Al-Jannābī
28.3
وأمّا الجَنّابيّ فلو عوقب بلدٌ بمن يسكُنه، لجاز أن تؤخذ به جَنّابةُ، ولا يُقبل لها إنابة. ولكن حُكْم الكتاب المُنزل أجدرُ وأحرى: {أَلا تَزِرُ وازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى}. وقد اختُلف في حديث الرُّكن معه: فزعم من يدّعي الخبرة به أنه أخذه ليعبُده ويعظّمه، لأنه بلغه أنه يد الصنَم الذي جُعل على خَلْق زُحَل. وقيل: جعله مَوْطئًا في مرتفَق، وهذا تناقضٌ في الحديث. وأيّ ذلك كان، فعليه اللعنة ما رسا ثَبير وهَمى صَبير.
As for al-Jannābī,228 if a town were punished for its inhabitants, then it would be possible for Jannābah to be punished because of him and its repentance not be accepted. But the judgment of the revealed Book is more apt and more appropriate: «That no burdened soul shall bear the burden of another».229 There are different versions of the story about him and the cornerstone of the Kaaba. Some who claim they were well acquainted with him assert that he took it in order to worship and glorify it, because he had heard that it was the hand of the idol that was made in the likeness of Saturn.230 Others say he used it as a footstep in a privy. These stories contradict each other, but whatever was the case, a curse be upon him, for as long as Mount Thabīr stands and rain from white clouds falls.
The Leader of the Zanj
28.4.1
وأما العَلَويّ البصريّ فذكر بعض الناس أنه كان قبل خروجه يذكر أنه من عبد القيس ثمَّ من أنمار. وكان اسمُه أحمد، فلمّا خرج تسمّى عَليًّا. والكذب كثير جَمّ، كأنه في النَّظر طوْد أشمّ؛ والصدْق لديه كالحَصاة، تُوطأ بأقدامِ عُصاة. وتلك الأبيات المنسوبة إليه مشهورة وهي:
| أيا حِرفةَ الزَّمْنى ألمَّ بك الرَّدى | أما لي خلاصٌ منكِ والشَّمْلُ جامعُ |
| لئن قنِعتْ نفسي بتعليم صِبْيةٍ | يدَ الدهّر إني بالمَذَلّة قانعُ |
| وهل يرضَيَنْ حُرٌّ بتعليم صبْيةٍ | وقد ظُنَّ أنَّ الرزق في الأرض واسعُ |
وما أمنعُ أن يكون حَمَله حُبّ الحُطام، على أن غرِق في بحرٍ طامٍ، يسبَح فيه {ما دامَتِ السَّمٰواتُ والأرْضُ إلا ما شاءَ ربُّك إنَّ رَبَّكَ فَعَّالٌ لِما يُرِيدُ}.
|Someone reported that before the ʿAlid from Basra231 came out in rebellion he used to say he belonged to the tribe of ʿAbd al-Qays, more specifically to Anmār. His name was Aḥmad, but when he rebelled he called himself ʿAlī—there is a lot of lying!—as if he were a lofty mountain in terms of profound insight. Truth was to him like pebbles, to be trodden underfoot by the feet of rebels! The following well-known lines are attributed to him:232
O trade of the chronically ill,233 may perdition come upon you!
Is there no escape for me from you, not even when the assembled people gather?234
If my soul is content to teach young children forever,
I would surely be content with being humiliated.
Would a free man take pleasure in teaching children
when it is thought that there are ample means of subsistence on earth?
I do not hold it for impossible that love of the world’s vanity moved him to the point of drowning in an overflowing sea, where he will swim «as long as the heavens and the earth endure, unless your Lord wills otherwise. Your Lord carries out whatever He wishes».235
28.4.2
وقد رُويت له أبياتٌ تدُلّ على تألّهٍ، وما أدفعُ أن تكون قيلت على لسانه، لأنّ مَنْ خبر هذا العالَم حَكَم عليه بفجور وميْن، وأخلاق تبعُد من الزَّين. والأبيات:
| قتلتُ النّاس إشفاقًا | على نفسِيَ كيْ تَبْقَى |
| وحُزتُ المال بالسَّيفِ | لكيْ أنعَم لا أَشقى |
| فمَنْ أبصَر مَثواي | فلا يظلِمْ إذًا خَلْقا |
| فواويْلي إذا ما مـُ | ـتُّ عند الله ما ألقى |
| أخُلدًا في جِوار اللّـ | ـه أمْ في ناره أُلْقى؟ |
وأنشدني بعضهم أبياتًا قافيّة طويلة الوزن، وقافِيَتها مثلُ هذه القافية، قد نُسبت إلى عَضُد الدّولة. وقيل إنّه أفاق في بعض الأيّام، فكتبها على جدار الموضع الذي كان فيه، وقد نُحِيَ بها نحو أبيات البصريّ. وأشهدُ أنها متكلَّفة، صنعها رقيعٌ من القوم، وأنّ عضد الدولة ما سمع بها قطّ.
Some verses are transmitted as being by him indicating that he was pious, but I will not deny that these lines may have been put into his mouth, for those with experience of this world pronounce it to be full of immorality and falsehood, with a character far from beautiful. The lines are these:
I have killed people, anxious
to keep myself alive;
I have laid hands on property by the sword
that I might be happy and not wretched.
Whoever sees my last resting place,
let him not wrong any creature!
Woe unto me when I die,
before God, what will happen to me?
Will it be eternal life in God’s protection,
or will I be thrown into His fire?
Someone recited to me some verses attributed to ʿAḍud al-Dawlah236 in a long meter237 with the same rhyme letter as in the preceding lines. It is said that one day, having recovered from an illness, he wrote them on the wall of the room he was in. They are modeled on the lines by the man from Basra. However, I testify that they are contrived, fabricated by some shameless person, and that ʿAḍud al-Dawlah had never heard of them.
28.5.1
وأمّا الحكاية عن أصحاب الحديث أنهم صحّفوا رَخَمةَ فقالوا: رَحْمة، فلا أصدِّق بما يجري مجراها، والكذب غالب ظاهر، والصدق خفيّ متضائل، فـ {إنّا لِلّهِ وَإِنّا إِليْهِ راجِعونَ}. وكذلك ادّعاء من يدَّعي أنَّ عليًا، عليه السلام، قال: تهلِك البصرة بالزنج؛ فصحَّفها أهل الحديث: بالريح، لا أومِنُ بشيء من ذلك. ولم يكن عليّ، عليه السلام، ولا غيره ممن يُكشَف له علم الغيب، وفي الكتاب العزيز: {قُلْ لا يَعْلَمُ مَنْ فِي السَّمٰواتِ وَالأَرْضِ الْغَيْبَ إلّا ٱللهُ} وفي الحديث المأثور: أنه سمع جَوارِيَ يغنّين في عُرس ويقلن:
| وأهدى لنا أكبُشًا | تُبحبح في المِرْبَدِ |
| وزوجُكِ في النّادي | ويعلمُ ما في غدِ |
فقال: لا يعلم ما في غدٍ إلا الله. ولا يجوز أن يُخبر مخبر منذ مائة سنة أن أمير حلب، حرسها الله، في سنة أربع وعشرين وأربعمائة، اسمه فلان بن فلان، وصفته كذا؛ فإن ادّعى ذلك مُدّعٍ فإنمّا هو متخرِّص كاذب.
As for the story about the Hadith scholars who misspelled Rakhamah as raḥmah (“mercy”), I do not believe anything of the kind happened. Untruthfulness will have the upper hand and be evident, truth is hidden and feeble. «We belong to God and to Him we shall return.»238 It is the same with the claim of those who assert that ʿAlī (peace be upon him) said, “Basra will perish at the hands of the Zanj” and that the Hadith scholars then misspelled it as “through the wind.”239 I believe none of this. The knowledge of the unseen240 was not revealed to ʿAlī (peace be upon him) or to anyone else. As it says in the Holy Book:241 «Say: None in the heavens or on earth know the unseen except God.» And in a transmitted hadith it is said that the Prophet once heard girls sing the following verses at a wedding:242
He gave us rams
that occupy the middle of the pen;
And your spouse sits in a gathering
and knows what will happen tomorrow.
Thereupon the Prophet said, “No one but God knows what will happen tomorrow!”
Nor is it possible that somebody would have announced one hundred years ago that the Emir of Aleppo (may God protect it!) in the year 424 would be called So-and-so, son of So-and-so, and would look like this.243 If someone were to make this claim he would be a confirmed liar.
28.5.2
وأمّا النجوم فإنمّا لها تلويح لا تصريح، وحُكي أنَّ الفضل بن سَهْل كان يتمثل كثيرًا بقول الراجز:
| لئن نجوتُ ونجتْ ركائبي | من غالبٍ ومن لفيفِ غالبِ |
| إنّي لَنجَّاءٌ من الكرائب |
وأنّ غالبًا كان فيمن قتله، فهذا يتّفق مثلُه. وأجدِرْ بهذه الحكاية أن تكون مصنوعة. فأمّا تمثّله بالشعر فغير مستنكَر، وربما اتفق أن يكون في الوقت جماعة يُسمّون بهذا الاسم، فيمكن أن يقترن معنى بلفظٍ، على أنّ في الأيام عجائب، وفوق كلّ ذي علم عليم.
وقد حُكي أنّ إياس بن معاوية القاضي كان يظُنّ الأشياء فتكون كما ظنّ، ولهذه العلِّة قالوا: رجل نِقاب وألمَعِيّ، قال أوْس:
| الألمعيُّ الذي يظُّن لك الظـ | ـنَّ كأن قد رأى وقد سمِعا |
وقال:
نِقابٌ يحدِّث بالغائبِ
The stars merely hint and do not state explicitly. It is related that al-Faḍl ibn Sahl often quoted the following lines by a rajaz poet:
If I escape and my mounts escape
From Ghālib and the band of Ghālib,
I surely will escape from all adversities!
Someone called Ghālib was in fact among those who killed him.244 Such things do happen, although it is more likely that this story was invented. It is not implausible that he used to quote the verses, and perhaps it happened that at the time some people were called this.245 It is possible for a meaning to be joined with an expression.246 Strange things may happen in the course of time; but above any man of knowledge is the All-Knowing. It is related that Iyās ibn Muʿāwiyah, the judge, would surmise things which then happened just as he had surmised. It is for that reason that one speaks of a man as being “sharp-witted” or “brilliant.” Aws said:247
A brilliant mind, who surmises something
as if he saw and heard it.
He also said:
A sharp-witted man, who speaks of unseen things.
Al-Ḥallāj
29.1.1
فأمّا الحسين بن منصور فليس جهله بالمحصور. وإذا كانت الأُمّة ربّما عبدت الحَجَر، فكيف يأمن الحصيفُ البُجَر؟ أراد أن يدير الضلالة على القُطْب، فانتقل عن تدبير العُطْب، ولو انصرف إلى عِلاج البِرس، ما بقي ذِكرٌ عنه في طِرس، ولكنّها مقادير، تغشى النّاظر بها سماديرُ. فكونُ ابن آدم حصاةً أو صخرةً، أجملُ به أن يُجعل سُخرةً. والناس إلى الباطل سِراع، ولهم إلى الفِتن إشراع.
The ignorance of al-Ḥusayn ibn Manṣūr knew no bounds. If a whole nation sometimes worships a stone, how could a judicious man be safe from defects?248 He wanted to turn error on its axis249 and therefore left dealing with cotton. 250 If only he had applied himself to cotton, his name would have remained unmentioned on any page and forgotten! But these are the workings of Fate that occur, whereby the eye is covered with a blur. It were better for a human being to be a pebble or a rock than be made a laughingstock. People hasten to whatever is vain; they turn their eyes to every temptation.
29.1.2
وكم افتُري للحلّاج، والكذبُ كثير الخِلاج، وجميع ما يُنسب إليه مما لم تجرِ العادة بمثله فإنّه المَين الحَنْبَريت، لا أُصدّق به ولو كَرِيتُ. وممّا يُفتعل عليه أنه قال للّذين قتلوه: أتظنّون انكم إيّاي تقتلون؟ أنمّا تقتلون بَغْلة الماذَرائي، وأنّ البغلة وُجدت في إصطبلها مقتولة.
