Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (18/295)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

and he judged people with the balance of justice, (1) steering clear of passion and erasing every doubt and misgiving.

May dark, piled-up clouds, their constant showers streaming, (2) water your parched soil, O Abū Bakr.

You have secured triumph, divine acceptance, and forgiveness when Allah’s promise is fulfilled and draws near.

O Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī, blessed be your resting-place, while your detractor (3) returns home (4) laden with sin.

Al-Khaṭīb’s own verse is of high quality. Al-Mubārak ibn al-Ṭuyūrī transmitted from him—lines he composed for himself—(5)

All creation has vanished from my sight save for a moon; that moon alone suffices me from every creature.

His abode is my heart, which he has conquered; he has captured my very soul, and I have no patience to part from him. (6)

The sun is easier to reach than he, (7) and the utmost fortune mortals may have with him is but a glance.

I once wished to steal a kiss from him, (8) (9) and the mere fancy has left its trace upon his cheek.

How many a man of forbearance beheld him and thought him an angel, then turned the matter over (10) and realized he is human.

Ghayth ibn ʿAlī said: Al-Khaṭīb recited to us, of his own composition:

If you seek pure guidance for the affairs of your worldly life and your return

(1) Ibn ʿAsakir and Yaqut read: munzawiyan (withdrawn). (2) al-jawn is a contranym used for both “white” and “black”; here it means a black rain-cloud swollen with water. al-rukam is what is heaped up, one layer upon another; al-sahh denotes water pouring down forcefully; wakf is a single drop; and al-sarb is the running stream. (3) That is, “your hater,” as in the Qurʾanic verse: Indeed, your shaniʾaka is the one cut off (al-Kawthar 108:3). (4) muhtaqiban: carrying sins bundled on his back. (5) The verses are recorded in: Yaqut, Muʿjam al-Udaba, 4:37-38; al-Safadi, al-Wafi bi-l-Wafayat, 7:199; the first line also appears in Ibn Taghribirdi, al-Nujum al-Zahira, 5:88. (6) Muʿjam of Yaqut and al-Wafi read: wa ma li. (7) Muʿjam al-Udaba and al-Wafi read: fa-sh-shams (“but the sun”). (8) Muʿjam al-Udaba and al-Wafi read: aradtu (“I wanted”). (9) The manuscript reads mujalasa (“socializing”); the reading adopted here follows Muʿjam al-Udaba and al-Wafi. (10) Muʿjam al-Udaba and al-Wafi read: wa rajaʿa al-fikr (“and the mind returned”).

وَقَالَ فِي النَّاسِ بِالقِسْطَاسِ مُنْحَرِفاً (١) ... عَنِ الهَوَى وَأَزَالَ الشَّكَّ وَالرِّيَبا سَقَى ثَرَاكَ أَبَا بَكْرٍ عَلَى ظَمَأٍ ... جَوْنٌ ركَامٌ تَسُحُّ الوَاكَفَ السَّرِبا (٢) وَنِلْتَ فَوْزاً وَرِضْوَاناً وَمَغْفِرَةً ... إِذَا تَحَقَّقَ وَعدُ اللهِ وَاقْتَرَبا يَا أَحْمَدَ بنَ عَلِيٍّ طِبْتَ مُضْطَجَعاً ... وَبَاءَ شَانِيكَ (٣) بِالأَوْزَارِ مُحْتَقِبا (٤) وَللخطيب نَظْمٌ جَيِّد، فَرَوَى المُبَارَك بن الطُّيورِي عَنْهُ لِنَفْسِهِ (٥) : تَغَيَّبَ الخَلْقُ عَنْ عَيْنِي سِوَى قَمَرٍ ... حَسْبِي مِنَ الخَلْقِ ط?رّاً ذَلِكَ القَمَرُ مَحَلُّهُ فِي فُؤَادِي قَدْ تَمَلَّكَهُ ... وَحَازَ رُوحِي فَمَا لِي (٦) عَنْهُ مُصْطَبَرُ وَالشَّمْسُ (٧) أَقْرَبُ مِنْهُ فِي تَنَاوُلهَا ... وَغَايَةُ الحظِّ مِنْهُ لِلورَى نَظَرُ وَدِدتُ (٨) تَقبيلَه يَوْماً مُخَالسَةً (٩) ... فَصَارَ مِنْ خَاطرِي فِي خَدِّهِ أَثَرُ وَكَمْ حَلِيْمٍ رَآهُ ظَنَّهُ مَلَكاً ... وَرَدَّدَ (١٠) الفِكْرَ فِيْهِ أَنَّهُ بَشَرُ قَالَ غِيثُ بنُ عَلِيّ: أَنشدنَا الخَطِيْب لِنَفْسِهِ: إِنْ كُنْتَ تَبغِي الرَّشَادَ مَحْضاً ... لأَمْرِ دُنْيَاكَ وَالمَعَاد

(١) عند ابن عساكر وياقوت: منزويا. (٢) الجون: من أسماء الاضداد يطلق على الابيض والاسود، والمراد به هنا السحاب الأسود لامتلائه بالماء، والركام: المجتمع والمتراكم بعضه فوق بعض، والسح: سيلان الماء وانصبابه بشدة، ووكف: قطر، والسرب: السائل. (٣) أي مبغضك، قال تعالى: (إن شانئك هو الابتر) . (٤) محتقبا: أي حاملا للاوزار في حقيبة. (٥) الابيات في " معجم الأدباء " ٤ / ٣٧ - ٣٨، و" الوافي " ٧ / ١٩٩، والاول منها في " النجوم الزاهرة " ٥ / ٨٨. (٦) في " معجم " ياقوت، و" الوافي ": ومالي. (٧) في " معجم الأدباء " و" الوافي ": فالشمس. (٨) في " معجم الأدباء " و" الوافي ": أردت. (٩) في الأصل: مجالسة، والمثبت من " معجم الأدباء " و" الوافي ". (١٠) في معجم الأدباء و" الوافي ": وراجع الفكر.