Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (18/28)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

—namely through his book(1) in which he set himself up as a challenger to the Quran, titling it The Sections and the Ultimate Aims in Imitation of the Surahs(2) and the Verses.

Ghars al-Niʿmah, Muḥammad ibn Hilāl ibn al-Muḥassin(3), said: “He has an abundance of poetry and vast learning, yet he is charged with unbelief; his own poems point to what he is suspected of.(4) He never ate meat, eggs, or dairy; he confined himself to plants, deemed it unlawful to injure any living creature, and made a show of perpetual fasting.

“He added: ‘We shall quote some of the verses for which he was reproached; among them are:(5)

The hoped-for conjunction of Jupiter with Saturn
is sought to rouse dull eyes from their torpor.

People have passed away, generation after generation,
while the stars remain exactly as you see them.

The bearer of the Torah, Moses, stepped forth
and brought ruin upon all who forged it.

Some of his men declared, “A revelation has reached him,”(6)
while others retorted, “No, he invented it.”

My pilgrimage(7) is not to a house of stone—
wine-cups are drunk upon its lofty heights!

When the sage(8) returns to his full reason,
he makes light of the sects and holds them in contempt.’”

(1) Al-Bakharzi notes: for the book that people claimed he composed as a counter-part to … (2) One manuscript of al-Dumya has: “and in parallel to the surahs”; another: “parallel to the surahs”; a third: “in opposition to the surahs.” For the title of the work and the debate around it, see the book’s introduction, where the editor names it al-Fusul wa-l-ghayat fi tamjid Allah wa-l-mawaiz (Chapters and Ultimate Aims in the Praise of God and Exhortations), Dar al-Afaq al-Jadida edition, edited by Mahmud Hasan Zanati. (3) He is Abu al-Hasan Muhammad ibn Hilal ibn al-Muhsin ibn Ibrahim al-Sabii, nicknamed Ghars al-Niʿma (d. 480 AH/1087 CE). He appended a supplement (dhayl) to his father’s Chronicle; the father’s work was itself a supplement to the Chronicle of Thabit ibn Sinan, whose Chronicle had been a supplement to the History of Ibn Jarir. (4) I.e. he is being accused. (5) The verses are recorded in al-Luzum, 2/622–623, though in a different order. (6) Al-Luzum reads: wa-qala (“and he said”). (7) Al-Luzum reads: wa-ma sayri (“and my course”). (8) Al-Luzum reads: al-hasif (“the prudent one”).

بِكِتَابه (١) الَّذِي عَارض بِهِ القُرْآن، وَعنونه بـ (الْفُصُول وَالغَايَات فِي محَاذَاة السُّوْر (٢) وَالآيَات) . وَقَالَ غَرسُ النِّعمَة مُحَمَّدُ بنُ هِلاَلٍ بن المُحَسَّن (٣) :لَهُ شِعْرٌ كَثِيْر، وَأَدب غزِيْر، وَيُرمَى بِالإِلْحَاد، وَأَشعَارُه دَالَّة عَلَى مَا يُزَنُّ (٤) بِهِ، وَلَمْ يَأْكُل لحماً وَلاَ بيضاً وَلاَ لَبَناً، بَلْ يَقتصر عَلَى النّبَات، وَيُحرِّمُ إِيلاَمَ الحيوَان، وَيُظهر الصَّوْم دَائِماً. قَالَ: وَنَحْنُ نَذكُر مِمَّا رُمِي بِهِ فَمِنْهُ (٥) : قِرَانُ المُشْتَرِي زُحَلاً يُرَجَّى ... لإِيقَاظِ النَّوَاظِرِ مِنْ كرَاهَا تَقضَّى النَّاسُ جِيلاً بَعْدَ جِيْلٍ ... وَخُلِّفتِ النُّجُوْمُ كَمَا ترَاهَا تَقدَّم صَاحِبُ التَّوْرَاةِ مُوْسَى ... وَأَوقَعَ بِالخَسَارِ مَنِ اقْترَاهَا فَقَالَ رِجَالُهُ (٦) :وَحْيٌّ أَتَاهُ ... وَقَالَ الآخرُوْنَ: بَلِ افْترَاهَا وَمَا حَجِّي (٧) إِلَى أَحْجَارِ بَيْتٍ ... كؤوسُ الخَمْرِ تُشْرَبُ فِي ذُرَاهَا إِذَا رَجَعَ الحَكِيمُ (٨) إِلَى حِجَاهُ ... تَهَاوَنَ بِالمذَاهبِ وَازْدَرَاهَا

(١) عند الباخرزي: لكتابه الذي زعموا أنه عارض به ... (٢) في إحدى نسخ " الدمية ": ومحاذاة السور، وفي غيرها: محاذاه للسور، وفي أخرى: في معارضة السور. وحول تسمية الكتاب بهذا الاسم والخلاف حوله انظر مقدمة الكتاب نفسه، حيث سماه المحقق: الفصول والغايات في تمجيد الله والمواعظ. طبعة دار الآفاق الجديدة. تحقيق محمود حسن زناتي. (٣) هو أبو الحسن محمد بن هلال بن المحسن بن إبراهيم الصابئ، الملقب بغرس النعمة المتوفى سنة (٤٨٠) هـ، ذيل على " تاريخ " والده الذي ذيله على " تاريخ " ثابت بن سنان، و" تاريخ " ثابت هو ذيل على " تاريخ " ابن جرير (٤) أي: يتهم. (٥) الابيات في " اللزوم " ٢ / ٦٢٢ - ٦٢٣ بتقديم وتأخير. (٦) في " اللزوم ": وقال. (٧) في " اللزوم ": وما سيري. (٨) في " اللزوم ": الحصيف.