Al-Uqud al-Durriyya - Ibn Abd al-Hadi - (الكتاب/331)

pastimes (1) that distracted them from their situation—chess, backgammon, and similar diversions that caused them to miss the prayers. The Shaykh condemned this most vehemently and ordered them to keep up the prayer, turn to Allah through righteous deeds, glorify Him, seek His forgiveness, and make supplication. He taught them from the Sunnah what they needed to know, encouraged them to perform good works, and urged them to persevere in them, until the prison—with what it now contained (2) of devotion to knowledge and religion—became better than many (3) a zawiya, ribat, khanqah, or madrasa. Some of the inmates, when released, would choose to remain with him, and the number of visitors increased until the prison (4) was filled with them.

When the gatherings around him and the people’s visits multiplied, his enemies were distressed and their breasts constricted. They therefore requested that he be transferred to Alexandria, imagining that its inhabitants’ hearts were devoid of love for him. They wished to remove all news of him—or perhaps to have him killed (5) so that his influence would disappear.

Thus he was sent to the port city of Alexandria on a night whose dawn broke (6) on Friday, the last day of Safar in the year 709 AH.

(1) MS B reads: “yatalahhawna” (they amuse themselves). (2) The other manuscripts have: “mimma” (of what). (3) The phrase “kathir min” (many of) is missing in MS K, while the single word “min” (of) is preserved in the base manuscript. (4) MS B reads: “ilayhi kana al-habs …” (“to him was the imprisonment …”). (5) The remaining manuscripts read: “yaqtulunahu” (they kill him). (6) MS K has “sahibuha” (its owner), a scribal corruption.

اللَّعب يلتهون (١) بها عمَّا هم فيه، كالشِّطرنج والنَّرْدِ ونحو ذلك من تضييع الصلوات= فأنكر الشيخُ ذلك عليهم أشدَّ الإنكار، وأمرهم بملازمة الصلاة، والتوجُّه إلى الله بالأعمال الصالحة، والتسبيح والاستغفار والدُّعاء. وعلَّمهم من السُّنة ما يحتاجون إليه، ورغَّبهم في أعمال الخير، وحَضَّهم على ذلك، حتى صار الحبسُ بما (٢) فيه من الاشتغال بالعلم والدين خيرًا من كثير من (٣) الزَّوايا والرُّبط والخوانق والمدارس، وصار خلقٌ من المحابيس إذا أُطْلقوا يختارون الإقامة عنده، وكثر المتردِّدون إليه حتَّى كان السِّجن (٤) يمتلئ منهم. فلما كَثُر اجتماعُ الناس به، وتردُّدُهم إليه، ساءَ ذلك أعداءَه، وحَصِرتْ صدورُهم. فسألوا نقله إلى الإسكندرية، وظنُّوا أنَّ قلوبَ أهلها عن محبَّته عَرِيَّة، وأرادوا أن يَبْعُد عنهم خبرُه، أو لعلهم يقتلوه (٥) فينقطع أثرُه. فأُرْسِل به إلى ثغر الإسكندرية، في ليلةٍ يُسْفر صباحُها (٦) عن يوم الجمعة سلخ صفر من سنة تسع وسبعمائة.

(١) (ب): «يتلهون». (٢) بقية النسخ: «مما». (٣) «كثير من» سقطت (ك). و «من» من الأصل. (٤) (ب): «إليه كان الحبس ... ». (٥) بقية النسخ: «يقتلونه». (٦) (ك): «صاحبها» تحريف.