Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (18/30)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

And among them (1):
Religion and unbelief, tidings that are proclaimed; a Furqan is set forth, a Torah, and a Gospel.
In every age there are falsehoods that people revere—has any generation ever been singled out for guidance?

I answered him:
Yes indeed: Abū al-Qāsim, the Guide, and his community. May Allah only increase your humiliation, O little Dujayjīl!

And among them (2)—may he be cursed:
Never suppose the words of the messengers to be true; they are but a forged lie they inscribed.
People once lived in untroubled ease; they brought the impossible and so befouled it.

And among them (3):
The reader of the Torah bears it only to earn advantages, not out of love for the recitations.
Were the women of Byzantium (4) ever made lawful as captives (5) for the Arabs except by the rulings of prophethoods?

Fāṭimah bint ʿAlī recited this to us from her own handwriting; Farqad al-Kinānī informed us— in the year 608 AH— that al-Silafī had recited it to us. I heard Abū Zakariyyāʾ al-Tabrīzī (6) say:
“When I read to Abū al-ʿAlāʾ of Maʿarrā his verse (7):”

(1) Luzum, vol. 2, p. 268; that edition reads: “and reports recount” instead of “are related.” (2) These verses do not appear in either of the two printed collections of the poet’s diwan. (3) Luzum, vol. 1, p. 228. (4) Luzum records the word “al-qawm” (the people) in place of “al-Rum” (the Byzantines). (5) Al-Qamus explains: “They beat people ʿan ʿarḍ—that is, they do not care whom they strike.” The manuscript, however, mistakenly gives gharad with a dotted ghayn. (6) The manuscript reads “Abu Bakr al-Hariri,” an error; the correct form is taken from the author’s notice on Abu al-Ala in his Tarikh al-Islam, printed in Taʿrif al-qudamaʾ bi-Abi al-Ala. (7) Luzum, vol. 1, p. 386.

وَمِنْه (١) : دينٌ وَكفرٌ وَأَنبَاءٌ تقَال وَفُر ... قَانٌ يُنَصُّ وَتَوْرَاةٌ وَإِنجيلُ فِي كُلِّ جيلٍ أَبَاطيلُ يُدَانُ بِهَا ... فَهَلْ تَفَرَّد يَوْماً بِالهُدَى جيلُ؟ فَأَجَبْتُه: نَعَمْ أَبُو القَاسِمِ الهَادِي وَأُمَّتُهُ ... فَزَادَكَ اللهُ ذُلاً يَا دُجَيْجِيلُ وَمِنْه (٢) - لُعِنَ -: فَلاَ تَحْسَبْ مَقَالَ الرُّسْلِ حَقّاً ... وَلَكِنْ قَوْلُ زُورٍ سَطَّرُوهُ وَكَانَ النَّاسُ فِي عَيْشٍ رَغِيدٍ ... فَجَاؤُوا بِالمُحال فَكَدَّرُوهُ وَمِنْه (٣) : وَإِنَّمَا حَمَّلَ التَّوْرَاةَ قَارِئَهَا ... كسبُ الفَوَائِدِ لاَ حُبُّ التِّلاَوَاتِ وَهل أُبِيحَتْ نِسَاءُ الرُّوْم (٤) عَنْ عُرُضٍ (٥) ... لِلعُرْبِ إِلاَّ بِأَحكَامِ النُّبُوَّاتِ أَنشدتنَا فَاطِمَةُ بِنْتُ عليّ كِتَابَةً، أَخْبَرَنَا فَرْقَدُ الكِنَانِيّ، سَنَةَ ثَمَانٍ وَسِتّ مائَة، أَنشدنَا السِّلَفِيّ، سَمِعْتُ أَبَا زَكَرِيَّا التبرِيزِي (٦) يَقُوْلُ: لَمَّا قَرَأْتُ عَلَى أَبِي العَلاَءِ بِالمَعَرَّة قَوْله (٧) :

(١) " اللزوم " ٢ / ٢٦٨، وفيه: وأنباء تقص، بدل " تقال ". (٢) الابيات مما لم يرو في الديوانين. (٣) " اللزوم " ١ / ٢٢٨. (٤) في " اللزوم ": " القوم " بدل " الروم ". (٥) في " القاموس ": ويضربون الناس عن عرض: لا يبالون من ضربوا. وفي الأصل: غرض بالغين المعجمة. (٦) في الأصل: أبا بكر الهريري وهو تحريف، والمثبت من ترجمة أبي العلاء في " تاريخ الإسلام " للمؤلف، المطبوعة في " تعريف القدماء بأبي العلاء ". (٧) " اللزوم " ١ / ٣٨٦.