Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (18/32)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

and that lying with our own daughters is lawful (1), permitted—
easy now, for this reproach (2) has gone on long enough.
They plunged ever deeper into error and would not repent (3);
yet, had they heard the clash of the sword, they would have repented.

He went on: Abū Tammām Ghālib ibn ʿĪsā in Mecca recited to us, and Abū al-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī recited, claiming the verses as his own (4):

From faith there reached me sixty proofs,
yet never did my hand grip the twin reins.
I possessed no house, not even a quarter of one,
and my heart felt no alarm on that account.
I remembered that I am doomed to die, son of one doomed to die;
so the earth and the two weighty races became trivial to me.

By this same chain al-Silafī said: “Among the evidences for the soundness of his creed is what I heard from the preacher Ḥāmid ibn Bakhtiyār—I heard Abū al-Mahdī (5) ibn ʿAbd al-Munʿim ibn Aḥmad al-Sarūjī—I heard my brother Abū al-Fatḥ the judge say:

‘I entered unexpectedly upon Abū al-ʿAlāʾ al-Tanūkhī in Maʿarra and heard him reciting (6):

How many a nubile maiden has been carried off (7),
while her aged mother lives on!
Her parents guard her in fear—
yet the grave is an impregnable fortress for her.
Death may miss its mark (8),
but everlasting life in this world is impossible.’

He then sighed several times and recited the Almighty’s words: “Indeed in that is a sign for whoever fears the punishment …”

(1) The base manuscript reads “kull,” while the present edition follows the wording found in Al-Luzum. (2) Al-Luzum has the reading: “batal.” (3) Al-Luzum reads: “They persisted in reproach and did not …”. (4) These verses are absent from both published diwans of his poetry. (5) In Taʿrif al-Qudamaʾ, p. 199, quoting Tarikh al-Islam, the name appears as “Aba al-Muhadhdhab.” (6) The following verses are taken from his poem in Mulqa al-Sabil. (7) Mulqa al-Sabil reads: “halakt,” whereas the editors of Taʿrif al-Qudamaʾ, p. 199, adopt the reading “budirat.” (8) In the biographical entry reproduced from Tarikh al-Islam in Taʿrif al-Qudamaʾ, p. 199, the verb is given as “tabtaʾ.”

وَوطءُ بنَاتِنَا حِلٌّ (١) مُبَاحٌ ... رُوَيْدَكُمُ فَقَدْ طَالَ (٢) العِتَابُ تَمَادَوا فِي الضَّلاَل فَلَمْ (٣) يَتوبُوا ... وَلَوْ سَمِعُوا صَليلَ السَّيْفِ تَابُوا قَالَ: وَأَنشدنَا أَبُو تَمَّام غَالِبُ بنُ عِيْسَى بِمَكَّةَ، أَنشدنَا أَبُو العَلاَءِ المَعَرِّيّ لِنَفْسِهِ (٤) : أَتَتْنِي مِنَ الإِيْمَان سِتُّوْنَ حِجَّةً ... وَمَا أَمْسَكَتْ كَفِّي بِثِنْيِ عِنَانِ وَلاَ كَانَ لِي دَارٌ وَلاَ رُبْعُ مَنْزِلٍ ... وَمَا مسَّنِي مِنْ ذَاكَ رَوْعُ جَنَانِ تَذكَّرتُ أَنِّي هَالكٌ وَابْنُ هَالِكٍ ... فَهَانَتْ عليَّ الأَرْضُ وَالثَّقَلاَنِ وَبِهِ: قَالَ السِّلَفِيّ: وَمِمَّا يَدُلُّ عَلَى صِحَّة عَقيدَتِهِ مَا سَمِعْتُ الخَطِيْب حَامِدَ بنَ بختيَار، سَمِعْتُ أَبَا المَهْدِيّ (٥) بنَ عبدِ الْمُنعم بن أَحْمَدَ السَّرُوجِي، سَمِعْتُ أَخِي أَبَا الفَتْح القَاضِي يَقُوْلُ: دَخَلتُ عَلَى أَبِي العَلاَءِ التنوخِي بِالمَعَرَّة بَغْتَةً، فَسمِعتُهُ يُنشدُ (٦) : كَمْ غُودِرَتْ (٧) غَادَةٌ كَعَابٌ ... وَعُمِّرت أُمُّهَا العَجُوْزُ أَحرَزَهَا الوَالِدَانِ خَوفاً ... وَالقَبْرُ حِرْزٌ لَهَا حَرِيزُ يَجوزُ أَنْ تُخْطِئ (٨) المنَايَا ... وَالخُلْدُ فِي الدَّهْرِ لاَ يَجُوْزُ ثُمَّ تَأَوَّهَ مَرَّات، وَتَلاَ قَوْله تَعَالَى: ﴿إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَةً لِمَنْ خَافَ عَذَابَ

(١) في الأصل: " كل " والمثبت من " اللزوم ". (٢) في " اللزوم ": بطل. (٣) في " اللزوم ": تمادوا في العتاب ولم ... (٤) الابيات مما لم يرو في الديوانين. (٥) في " تعريف القدماء " ١٩٩ نقلا عن نص " تاريخ الإسلام ": أبا المهذب. (٦) هذه الابيات من شعره في " ملقى السبيل ". (٧) في " ملقى السبيل ": هلكت، وقد أثبت محققو " تعريف القدماء " ١٩٩: بودرت. (٨) في ترجمته من " تاريخ الإسلام " المنشورة في " تعريف القدماء " ١٩٩: تبطئ.