Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (20/112)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

and ʿAbd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣadafī; Abū Khālid al-Muʿtaṣim (1); and Abū Bakr ibn al-Faṣīḥ.

He was especially attached to the company of Abū Bakr ʿAbd al-Bāqī ibn Muḥammad ibn Buryāla (2), Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā ibn al-Farrāʾ, and Abū ʿUmar Aḥmad ibn Marwān ibn al-Yumnālīsh the Ascetic.

So stated Ibn Masdī.

Ibn Bashkuwāl (3) added: He narrated from Abū Khālid Yazīd, the freedman of al-Muʿtaṣim; from Abū Bakr ʿUmar ibn Rizq; from ʿAbd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad al-Qarawī; and from Khalaf ibn Muḥammad ibn al-ʿArabī (4). He also heard from a number of our own teachers. He had a share in various branches of learning, showed great concern for the Qurʾānic readings, gathering their chains of transmission and tracing their routes and transmitters.

He requested an authorization from me for this very work of mine and copied it from me; I likewise sought authorization from him for what he possessed. We never met face to face, but corresponded several times.

He reached the pinnacle of virtue and devotion, wholly committed to acts of goodness. Worshipers and ascetics would seek him out, grow attached to him, and commend his companionship. Then someone informed against him to the ruler, who ordered that he be brought to his court in Marrakesh; he arrived there and passed away in that city.

I said in my History that Ibn al-ʿArīf was born in the year 458 AH, but this is not correct.

People had crowded around him, eager to hear his words and exhortations, so Ibn

(1) The author will later give his name, citing Ibn Bashkuwal, as Abu Khalid Yazid, the freedman (mawla) of al-Mu‘tasim. (2) The word is written with an initial ba bearing a damma, followed by ya, as in Tabsir al-Muntabih, 1 / 219. (3) Al-Sila, vol. 1, p. 81. (4) The particle “bin” is an addition taken from Al-Sila.

وَعَبْدَ القَادِرِ بنَ مُحَمَّدٍ الصَّدَفِيَّ، وَأَبَا خَالِدٍ المُعْتَصِمَ (١) ، وَأَبَا بَكْرٍ بنَ الفَصِيْحِ. واختصَّ بصُحبَة أَبِي بَكْرٍ عَبْدِ البَاقِي بنِ مُحَمَّدِ بنِ بُرْيَالَ (٢) ، وَمُحَمَّدِ بنِ يَحْيَى بنِ الفَرَّاءِ، وَبأَبِي عُمَرَ أَحْمَدَ بنِ مَرْوَانَ بنِ اليُمْنَالِشِ الزَّاهِدِ. قَالَهُ: ابْنُ مَسْدِي. وَقَالَ ابْنُ بَشْكُوَال (٣) : رَوَى عَنْ: أَبِي خَالِدٍ يَزِيْدَ مَوْلَى المُعْتَصِمِ، وَأَبِي بَكْرٍ عُمَرَ بنِ رِزْقٍ، وَعَبْدِ القَادِرِ بنِ مُحَمَّدٍ القَرَوِيِّ، وَخَلَفِ بنِ مُحَمَّدِ بنِ العَرَبِيِّ (٤) ، وَسَمِعَ مِنْ جَمَاعَةٍ مِنْ شُيُوْخنَا، وَكَانَتْ عِنْدَهُ مُشَاركَةٌ فِي أَشيَاءَ مِنَ العِلْمِ، وَعنَايَةٌ بِالقِرَاءاتِ وَجَمْعِ الرِّوَايَاتِ، وَاهتمَامٌ بِطُرُقِهَا وَحَمَلتِهَا، وَقَدِ اسْتَجَازَ مِنِّي تَأْلِيْفِي هَذَا، وَكتبَه عَنِّي، وَاسْتجزتُه أَنَا أَيْضاً فِيمَا عِنْدَهُ، وَلَمْ أَلقَه، وَكَاتَبنِي مَرَّاتٍ، وَكَانَ مُتنَاهياً فِي الفَضْلِ وَالدِّينِ، مُنْقَطِعاً إِلَى الخَيْرِ، وَكَانَ العُبَّادُ وَالزُّهَّادُ يَقصدُوْنَهُ، وَيَأْلفُوْنَهُ، وَيَحْمَدُوْنَ صُحْبتَه، وَسُعِي بِهِ إِلَى السُّلْطَانِ، فَأَمرَ بِإِشخَاصِه إِلَى حضَرتِه بِمَرَّاكُشَ، فَوصَلَهَا، وَتُوُفِّيَ بِهَا. قُلْتُ فِي (تَارِيْخِي) : إِنَّ مَوْلِدَ ابْن العَرِيْفِ فِي سَنَةِ ثَمَانٍ وَخَمْسِيْنَ وَأَرْبَعِ مائَةٍ، وَلاَ يَصِحُّ. وَكَانَ النَّاسُ قَدِ ازدحَمُوا عَلَيْهِ، يَسْمَعُوْنَ كَلاَمَه وَموَاعِظَه، فَخَافَ ابْنُ

(١) سيورد المؤلف اسمه نقلا عن ابن بشكوال: أبا خالد يزيد مولى المعتصم. (٢) بموحدة مضمومة وياء، كما في " تبصير المنتبه " ١ / ٢١٩. (٣) في " الصلة " ١ / ٨١. (٤) لفظ " بن " زيادة من " الصلة ".