Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (18/206)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Allah forbid that I should say anything other than what the revealed text has brought, its guidance perfectly clear.
How could this ever escape discerning minds, when it is as famous—and as certain—as the sun itself?
So I replied to him:
If only you would refrain from the general statement whose limitation we know with absolute, unquestioned certainty,
and show some pliancy—for how often have you grown rigid! (1)—then we would glimpse for you unmistakable vistas of clarity.

Ibn Ḥazm also said:
My sole desire (2) in this world is knowledge that I disseminate, spreading it among every nomad and city-dweller;
a summons to the Quran and the Sunnah whose mention some men have neglected in their gatherings. (3)
I station myself on the edges of the frontier as a combatant; whenever an alarm is sounded, I am the first to surge forth,
so that I may meet my destined death advancing, never retreating, with dark lances and keen, razor-edged blades,
fighting the unbelievers hand-to-hand in the heart of the fray—for the most honourable death a youth can taste is the slaying of an infidel.
So, my Lord, do not decree my end by any other means, (4) and do not make me a mere inhabitant of the graves.

Among his verses as well: (5)
Is the span of time anything but what we have known and experienced? Its calamities endure, while its pleasures vanish. (6)
If within it an hour of joy is ever granted, it passes like the blink of an eye and leaves sorrow in its place.

(1) The Academy edition reads “fa kuntum yabtasim”; its editor notes that the phrase is awkward. (2) In al-Jadhwa, p. 310, the word has been corrupted to “manabi”. (3) The two verses are also recorded in al-Jadhwa, p. 310; al-Sila, vol. 2, p. 417; and al-Baghiya, p. 417. (4) The Academy edition gives the verb taʿajjal (“to hasten”), but its editor considers the correct form to be tajʿal (“to make”), as here. (5) These lines are likewise found in Jadhwat al-Muqtabis, p. 309; Matmah al-Anfus, part 2, p. 356 (Mawrid journal edition); al-Dhakhira, 1/1, pp. 172-173; al-Sila, vol. 2, pp. 416-417; al-Baghiya, p. 416; and Muʿjam al-Udaba, vol. 12, pp. 244-245. (6) Al-Dhakhira reads “raʾayna” (“we saw”) in place of “ʿarafna” (“we knew”).

حَاشَ للهِ أَنْ أَقُوْلَ سِوَى مَا ... جَاءَ فِي النَّصِّ وَالهُدَى مُسْتَبِيْنَا كَيْفَ يَخفَى عَلَى البَصَائِرِ هَذَا ... وَهُوَ كَالشَّمْسِ شُهْرَةً وَيَقينَا فَقُلْتُ مُجيباً لَهُ: لَوْ سَلِمْتُم مِنَ العُمُومِ الَّذِي ... نَعْلَمُ قَطْعاً تخصِيْصَهُ وَيَقِيْنَا وَتَرَطَّبْتُمُ فَكَمْ قَدْ يَبِسْتُمْ (١) ... لَرَأَينَا لَكُم شُفُوَفاً مُبِيْنَا وَلابْنِ حَزْم: مُنَايَ (٢) مِنَ الدُّنْيَا علُوْمٌ أَبُثُّهَا ... وَأَنْشُرُهَا فِي كُلِّ بَادٍ وَحَاضِرِ دُعَاءٌ إِلَى القُرْآنِ وَالسُّنَنِ الَّتِي ... تَنَاسَى رِجَالٌ ذِكْرُهَا فِي المحَاضِرِ (٣) وَأَلزمُ أَطرَافَ الثُّغُوْرِ مُجَاهِداً ... إِذَا هَيْعَةٌ ثَارَتْ فَأَوَّلُ نَافِرِ لأَلْقَى حِمَامِي مُقْبِلاً غَيْرَ مُدْبِرٍ ... بِسُمْرِ العَوَالِي وَالرِّقَاقِ البَوَاتِرِ كِفَاحاً مَعَ الكُفَّارِ فِي حَوْمَةِ الوَغَى ... وَأَكْرَمُ مَوْتٍ لِلْفتى قَتْلُ كَافِرِ فَيَا رَبِّ لاَ تَجْعَلْ (٤) حِمَامِي بِغَيْرِهَا ... وَلاَ تَجْعَلَنِّي مِنْ قَطِيْنِ المَقَابِرِ وَمِنْ شِعْرِهِ (٥) : هَلِ الدَّهْرُ إِلاَّ مَا عَرَفْنَا (٦) وَأَدْرَكْنَا ... فَجَائِعُهُ تَبقَى وَلَذَّاتُهُ تَفْنَى إِذَا أَمْكَنَتْ فِيْهِ مَسَرَّةُ سَاعَةٍ ... تَوَلَّتْ كَمَرِّ الطَّرْفِ وَاسْتَخْلَفَتْ حُزْنَا

(١) طبعة المجمع: فكنتم يبتسم. وأشار المحقق إلى أنها غير مستقيمة. (٢) تحرفت في " الجذوة ": ٣١٠ إلى منابي. (٣) البيتان في " الجذوة ": ٣١٠، و" الصلة " ٢ / ٤١٧، و" البغية ": ٤١٧. (٤) طبعة المجمع: " تعجل " ورجح محققه أن تكون الصواب: " تجعل " كما هنا. (٥) والابيات في " جذوة المقتبس ": ٣٠٩، و" مطمح الانفس ": القسم الثاني / ٣٥٦ نشرة مجلة المورد و" الذخيرة ١ / ١ / ١٧٢ - ١٧٣، و" الصلة " ٢ / ٤١٦ - ٤١٧، و" البغية ": ٤١٦، و" معجم الأدباء " ١٢ / ٢٤٤ - ٢٤٥. (٦) في " الذخيرة ": " رأينا " بدل " عرفنا ".