Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (18/39)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

among the believers, and Allah knows best how his story came to an end.

Among his malicious utterances (1) are these verses:
Jesus came and the Law of Moses was set aside (2),
then Muhammad arrived with the five daily prayers.
They said, “There will be no prophet after this one,”
so the people went astray between tomorrow and yesterday (3).

However long you live in this world of yours (4),
it will never free you from moon or sun.
Whenever I speak impossibilities I raise my voice,
but when I state the truth (5) I keep my whisper long.

Among those who mourned him was his pupil Abū al-Hasan ʿAlī, who said (6):
If you never shed blood out of ascetic restraint,
today my eyelids have bled because of you.
You sent your remembrance (7) through the lands like musk,
so that any ear (8) that hears—or mouth that utters it—is perfumed.
I can almost see (9) the pilgrims: when by night they wish to recall you,
they would offer a ransom (10) on behalf of whoever is in consecration.

Among those who transmitted from him were Abū al-Qāsim ʿAlī ibn al-Muḥassin al-Tanūkhī—who died before him—and Ghālib ibn ʿĪsā al-Anṣārī.

His illness lasted three days, and he died in the opening days of Rabīʿ al-Awwal in 449 AH, having lived eighty-six years.

(1) Al-Luzum, vol. 2, pp. 55–56. (2) In Al-Luzum the hemistich reads: “daʿā Musa fa-zāla wa-qāma ʿIsa” (“Moses prayed; the affliction disappeared, and Jesus arose”). (3) Al-Luzum has: “wa-qīla yajīʾu dīn ghayru hādhā * wa-awdā al-nāsu bayna ghadin wa-amsi”; the base manuscript wrongly reads ghadā instead of ghadin. (4) Al-Luzum reads: “wa-mahma kāna fī dunyāka amrun” (“and whatever matter may arise in your world”). (5) Al-Luzum gives: “al-yaqīn” (certainty). (6) These verses are also preserved in Muʿjam al-Udabaʾ, 3/126–127, and Wafayāt al-Aʿyān, 1/115. (7) Muʿjam al-Udabaʾ reads: “dhikrā”. (8) Muʿjam Yāqūt records: “masāmiʿahā”. (9) Muʿjam al-Udabaʾ has: “watarā”. (10) Muʿjam Yāqūt gives: “awjaba”.

المُؤْمِنِيْنَ، وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا خُتِمَ لَهُ. وَمِنْ خَبِيْثِ قَوْله (١) : أَتَى عِيْسَى فَبَطَّلَ شَرْعَ مُوْسَى (٢) ... وَجَاءَ مُحَمَّدٌ بصَلاَةِ خَمْسٍ وَقَالُوا: لاَ نَبِيَّ بَعْدَ هَذَا ... فَضلَّ القَوْمُ بَيْنَ غَدٍ وَأَمْسِ (٣) وَمهمَا عِشْتَ مِنْ دُنْيَاك هذِي (٤) ... فَمَا تُخْلِيكَ مِنْ قَمَرٍ وَشَمْسِ إِذَا قُلْتُ المُحَالَ رَفَعتُ صَوْتِي ... وَإِنْ قُلْتُ الصَّحِيْحَ (٥) أَطَلْتُ هَمْسِي وَمِمَّنْ رثَاهُ تِلْمِيْذُه أَبُو الحَسَنِ عليّ، فَقَالَ (٦) : إِنْ كُنْتَ لَمْ تُرِقِ الدِّمَاءَ زَهَادَةً ... فَلَقَدْ أَرَقْتَ اليَوْمَ مِنْ جَفْنِي دمَا سَيَّرْتَ ذِكْرَكَ (٧) فِي البِلاَدِ كَأَنَّهُ ... مِسْكٌ فَسَامِعَةً (٨) يُضَمَّخُ أَوْ فَمَا وَأَرَى (٩) الحَجِيْجَ إِذَا أَرَادُوا لَيْلَةً ... ذِكرَاكَ أَخرجَ (١٠) فِديَةً مَنْ أَحرمَا وَومن رَوَى عَنْهُ: أَبُو القَاسِمِ عَلِيُّ بنُ المُحَسّن التَّنوخِي - وَمَاتَ قَبْلَهُ -، وَغَالِبُ بنُ عِيْسَى الأَنْصَارِيّ. وَكَانَتْ عِلَّتُهُ ثَلاَثَةَ أَيَّامٍ، وَمَاتَ فِي أَوَائِل شَهْر ربيع الأَوَّل مَنْ سَنَة تِسْعٍ وَأَرْبَعِيْنَ وَأَرْبَعِ مائَة، وَعَاشَ سِتّاً وَثَمَانِيْنَ سَنَةً.

(١) " اللزوم " ٢ / ٥٥ - ٥٦. (٢) في " اللزوم ": دعا موسى فزال وقام عيسى. (٣) في " اللزوم ": وقيل يجئ دين غير هذا * وأودى الناس بين غد وأمس وفي الأصل: غدا، وهو خطأ. (٤) في " اللزوم ": ومهما كان في دنياك أمر. (٥) في " اللزوم ": اليقين. (٦) الابيات في " معجم الأدباء " ٣ / ١٢٦ - ١٢٧، و" وفيات الأعيان " ١ / ١١٥. (٧) في " معجم الأدباء ": ذكرا. (٨) في " معجم ياقوت ": مسامعها. (٩) في " معجم الأدباء ": وترى. (١٠) في " معجم ياقوت ": أوجب.