Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (18/29)

He also said (1):
The turns of time have sundered the two companions;
so judge, my Lord, between it and me.
You forbade the deliberate killing of souls,
yet You Yourself dispatched two angels to seize them.
You have claimed they will return once more—
how little they needed either state.

And he said (2):
Intellects that written lines (3) make light of,
while a young man knows not for whom ruin is decreed.
The book of Muhammad, the book of Moses,
the Gospel of Jesus, son of Mary, and the Psalms.

Among his verses (4):
The ḥanīfite community and the Christians lost the way;
the Jews were bewildered, the Magians misled.
The people of the earth are two sorts:
a rational man with no religion,
and a devout man with no reason.

And among them (5):
You told us, “An Eternal Creator”—
you spoke the truth; thus (6) do we also say.
You maintained He exists outside all time
and place—then tell us:
This speech hides a secret meaning—
its sense is only that you lack minds.

(1) These verses are not found in either of the two standard anthologies of his poetry. (2) Al-Luzum, vol. 1, p. 443. (3) Al-Luzum reads: umur tustakhiffu biha hulum ("matters that sound minds treat as trivial"). (4) Al-Luzum, vol. 2, p. 301; there the second hemistich is given as: ithnan ahl al-ardh dhu aqlin bila / din, wa akhar din la aql lah (“The people of the earth are two: one has reason without faith, the other faith without reason”). (5) Al-Luzum, vol. 2, p. 270. (6) Al-Luzum has kada (“such”) in place of hakadha (“thus”).

وَلَهُ (١) : صَرْفُ الزَّمَانِ مُفَرِّقُ الإِلْفَيْنِ ... فَاحْكُم إِلهِي بَيْنَ ذَاكَ وَبَينِي أَنَهيْتَ عَنْ قَتْلِ النُّفُوْس تَعمُّداً ... وَبَعَثْتَ أَنْتَ لِقَبْضِهَا مَلَكَيْنِ وَزَعَمْتَ أَنَّ لَهَا مَعَاداً ثَانِياً ... مَا كَانَ أَغنَاهَا عَنِ الحَالَيْنِ وَلَهُ (٢) : عُقُوْلٌ تَسْتَخِفُّ بِهَا سُطور (٣) ... وَلاَ يَدْرِي الفَتَى لِمَنِ الثُّبورُ كِتَابُ مُحَمَّدٍ وَكِتَابُ مُوْسَى ... وَإِنجيلُ ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ وَالزَّبُورُ وَمِنْه (٤) : هَفَتِ الحنِيفَةُ وَالنَّصَارَى مَا اهتدَتْ ... وَيَهُوْدُ حَارتْ وَالمَجُوْسُ مُضَلَّلَهْ رَجُلاَنِ أَهْلُ الأَرْضِ هَذَا عَاقلٌ ... لاَ دينَ فِيْهِ وَدَيِّنٌ لاَ عَقْلَ لَهُ وَمِنْه (٥) : قُلْتُمْ لَنَا خَالِقٌ قَدِيْمُ ... صَدَقْتُمُ هَكَذَا (٦) نَقُوْلُ زَعَمْتُمُوْهُ بِلاَ زَمَانٍ ... وَلاَ مَكَانٍ أَلاَ فَقُوْلُوا هَذَا كَلاَمٌ لَهُ خَبِيءٌ ... مَعْنَاهُ لَيْسَتْ لَكُم عُقُوْلُ

(١) الابيات مما لم يرو في الديوانين. (٢) " اللزوم " ١ / ٤٤٣. (٣) في " اللزوم ": أمور تستخف بها حلوم. (٤) " اللزوم " ٢ / ٣٠١، وقد ورد البيت الثاني فيه هكذا: اثنان أهل الأرض ذو عقل بلا * دين، وآخر دين لا عقل له (٥) " اللزوم " ٢ / ٢٧٠. (٦) في " اللزوم ": كذا بدل هكذا.