Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (17/180)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Indeed, the one whose right hand now commands my obedience—
If he be not the moon itself, he is surely its equal;
My humble submission in love proceeds from the power he wields,
And the wasting of my body mirrors the languor of his eyes. (1)

Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr said: Ibn al-Faradī recited to us from his own composition:

A captive of sins, I stand at Your door,
Trembling at that which You already know.
He dreads offences whose unseen is never hidden from You,
Yet hopes in You regarding them—at once hopeful and afraid.
Who is there to hope in and to fear besides You,
When no one can oppose You in issuing judgement?
So, my Master, do not disgrace me by what is written in my scroll,
When on the Day of Reckoning the records are laid bare. (2)

He was slain—may Allah have mercy on him—in 403 AH, while still in the vigor of manhood.

102 – The Lord of Yemen, Ibn Ziyād

Ibn Ziyād and his household had ruled Yemen as kings for more than two hundred years. When their dynasty began to wane, they placed a young minor on the throne and entrusted the conduct of affairs to his freedman, Ḥusayn ibn Salāmah. (3)

(1) These two lines are quoted in: Ibn Hazm, Jadwat al-Muqtabis, p. 256; Ibn al-Azraq, Bughyat al-Multamis, p. 336; Ibn Bashkuwal, al-Sila, 1 / 255; Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-Ayan, 3 / 106; Ibn Bassam, al-Dhakhira, part 1, vol. 2, p. 616; al-Maqari, Nafh al-Tib, 2 / 130; and al-Dhahabi, Tadhkirat al-Huffaz, 3 / 1078. (2) The verses are also found in: Wafayat al-Ayan, 3 / 105; Nafh al-Tib, 2 / 129; al-Sila, 1 / 253; and Tadhkirat al-Huffaz, 3 / 1078. They are followed there by these two additional lines: “Be my companion in the grave’s darkness when my loved ones turn away and familiar friends shun me. If Your boundless pardon—on which I rely despite my excesses—were to be withheld, I would be utterly lost.” (*) Further references: Yaqut, Muʿjam al-Buldan, 4 / 441 and 5 / 157; Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, 9 / 455, which dates his death to 428 AH; al-Hakami, Tarikh Thaghr ʿAdan (MS); al-Jawadhal al-Mardiyya (MS); Bulugh al-Maram, p. 13, which gives the year 403 AH or slightly earlier; and al-Zirikli, al-Aʿlam, 2 / 238. (3) Yaqut adds that the person in question was his mother; see Muʿjam al-Buldan, 4 / 441.

إِنَّ الَّذِي أَصْبَحْتُ طَوْعَ يَمِيْنِهِ ... إِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ قَمَراً فلَيْسَ بِدُوْنِهِ ذُلِّي لَهُ فِي الحُبِّ مِن سُلْطَانِهِ ... وَسَقَامُ جِسْمِي مِنْ سَقَام جُفُونِهِ (١) وَقَالَ ابْنُ عَبْدِ البَرِّ: أَنْشَدَنَا ابْنُ الفَرَضِيّ لِنَفْسِهِ: أَسِيْرُ الخَطَايَا عِنْدَ بَابِكَ وَاقِفٌ ... عَلَى وَجَلٍ مِمَّا بِهِ أَنْتَ عَارِفُ يَخَافُ ذُنُوباً لَمْ يَغِبْ عَنْكَ غَيْبُهَا ... وَيَرْجُوكَ فِيْهَا فَهُوَ رَاجٍ وَخَائِفُ وَمَنْ ذَا الَّذِي يَرْجُو سِواكَ وَيَتَّقِي ... وَمَالِكَ فِي فَصْلِ القَضَاء مُخَالِفُ فَيَا سَيِّدِي لاَ تُخْزِنِي فِي صَحِيْفَتِي ... وَإِذَا نُشِرَتْ يَوْمَ الحِسَابِ الصَّحَائِفُ (٢) قُتِلَ ﵀ سَنَةَ ثَلاَثٍ وَأَرْبَع مائَة كَهْلاً. ١٠٢ - صَاحِبُ اليَمَنِ ابْنُ زِيَادٍ * كَانَ ابْنُ زِيَادٍ وآلُه مُلُوْكَ اليَمَن مِنْ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ مائَتَي عَام، وَبدأَتْ دَوْلَتُهُم تُوَلِّي وَمَلَّكوا صَغِيْراً قَامَ بتدبيرِه مَوْلاَهُ حُسَيْنُ بنُ سَلاَمَةَ (٣)

(١) البيتان في " جذوة المقتبس " ٢٥٦، و" بغية الملتمس " ٣٣٦، و" الصلة " ١ / ٢٥٥، و" وفيات الأعيان " ٣ / ١٠٦، و" الذخيرة " ق ١ / ج ٢ / ٦١٦، و" نفح الطيب " ٢ / ١٣٠، و" تذكرة الحفاظ " ٣ / ١٠٧٨. (٢) الابيات في " وفيات الأعيان " ٣ / ١٠٥، و" نفح الطيب " ٢ / ١٢٩، و" الصلة " ١ / ٢٥٣، و" تذكرة الحفاظ " ٣ / ١٠٧٨ وبعدها هذان البيتان: وكن مؤنسي في ظلمة القبر عندما * يصد ذوو ودي ويجفو الموالف لئن ضاق عني عفوك الواسع الذي * أرجي لاسرافي فإني لتالف. (*) معجم البلدان ٤ / ٤٤١ و٥ / ١٥٧، الكامل لابن الأثير ٩ / ٤٥٥ وفيه وفاته ٤٢٨ هـ، تاريخ ثغر عدن خ، الجداول المرضية خ، بلوغ المرام ١٣ وفيه وفاته ٤٠٣ أو قبلها بسنة، الاعلام للزركلي ٢ / ٢٣٨. (٣) قال ياقوت: وهي أمه. " معجم البلدان " ٤ / ٤٤١.