Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (20/155)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Several informants related to me, through Abū al-Muẓaffar ibn al-Samʿānī, that Aḥmad ibn Maḥmūd—the qāḍī of Samarkand—recited to us, saying that my teacher Maḥmūd ibn ʿUmar had recited:

“Go, tell Saʿdā: for you we feel no yearning,
nor do wide, dark eyes(1) of grazing heifers heal our pain.

We have confined ourselves to those whose eyes are narrow;
Allah rewards the one who is content with what is scant.

Comely he is, yet every cold rebuff lies with him;
never in this world have I seen a purity without some dross.

Nor have I forgotten the day I flirted with him near a meadow,
beside a pool where the water was cascading down.

I said to him, ‘Bring me a rose,’ though what I truly sought
were the roses of his cheeks—and he never sensed it.

He answered, ‘Await but the blink of an eye and I shall bring it.’
I replied, ‘Far from it! I have no patience for waiting.’(2)

He said, ‘No rose is present save that upon the cheek.’
I told him, ‘I am satisfied with what is at hand.’(3)”

I remark: this is weak verse, lacking delicacy.

Ibn al-Najjār said: I read in Nīshāpūr before Zaynab daughter of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, transmitting from al-Zamakhsharī: Ibn al-Baṭra informed us … and he cited a hadith from (al-Maḥāmiliyyāt).

Al-Samʿānī said: He mastered the literary sciences, composed numerous works, and travelled through Iraq and Khurasan. Wherever he entered a town, the people gathered around him and studied under him. He was a prodigious scholar and genealogist. He resided in Mecca for a time until the winds of the desert left their mark on his speech. He died on the night of ʿArafah in 538 AH.

Ibn Khallikān(4) said: Among his writings are (al-Fāʾiq) on rare hadith terminology and (Rabīʿ …)

(1) tatubbina means “you try to win us over.” Wafayat al-aʿyan and al-ʿIqd ath-Thamin read tatlubina (“you demand”), an unreliable variant. (2) In Wafayat al-aʿyan and al-ʿIqd ath-Thamin the reading is ma li (“what have I”). (3) These lines are also cited in Wafayat al-aʿyan, vol. 5, p. 172, and in al-ʿIqd ath-Thamin, vol. 7, p. 147. (4) See further Wafayat al-aʿyan, vol. 5, pp. 168–169.

أَنْبَأَنِي عِدَّةٌ، عَنْ أَبِي المُظَفَّرِ بنِ السَّمْعَانِيِّ، أَنشدنَا أَحْمَدُ بنُ مَحْمُوْدٍ القَاضِي بِسَمَرْقَنْدَ، أَنشدنَا أُسْتَاذِي مَحْمُوْدُ بنُ عُمَرَ: أَلاَ قُلْ لِسُعْدَى: مَا لَنَا فِيكِ مِنْ وَطَرٍ ... وَمَا تَطَّبينَا (١) النُّجْلَ مِنْ أَعْيَنِ البَقَرْ فَإِنَّا اقتصرنَا بِالَّذِيْنَ تَضَايَقَتْ ... عيونُهُم وَاللهُ يَجزِي مَنِ اقتصرْ مليحٌ وَلَكِنْ عِنْدَهُ كُلُّ جَفوَةٍ ... وَلَمْ أَرَ فِي الدُّنْيَا صفَاءً بِلاَ كَدَرْ وَلَمْ أَنْسَ إِذْ غَازَلْتُهُ قُرْبَ رَوْضَةٍ ... إِلَى جَنْبِ حَوْضٍ فِيْهِ لِلمَاءِ مُنْحَدَرْ فَقُلْتُ لَهُ: جِئنِي بوَرْدٍ، وَإِنَّمَا ... أَردْتُ بِهِ وَردَ الخُدودِ وَمَا شَعَرْ فَقَالَ: انتظرنِي رَجْعَ طَرْفٍ أَجِئْ بِهِ ... فَقُلْتُ لَهُ: هَيْهَاتَ مَا فِيَّ (٢) مُنْتَظَرْ فَقَالَ: وَلاَ وَرْدٌ سِوَى الخَدِّ حَاضِرٌ ... فَقُلْتُ لَهُ: إِنِّيْ قَنِعْتُ بِمَا حَضَرْ (٣) قُلْتُ: هَذَا شعرٌ ركيكٌ لاَ رَقِيق. قَالَ ابْنُ النَّجَّارِ: قَرَأْتُ عَلَى زَيْنَبَ بِنْتِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بِنَيْسَابُوْرَ، عَنِ الزَّمَخْشَرِيِّ، أَخْبَرْنَا ابْنُ البَطِرَةِ ... ، فَذَكَرَ حَدِيْثاً مِنْ (المَحَامِلِيَّاتِ) . قَالَ السَّمْعَانِيُّ: بَرَعَ فِي الآدَابِ، وَصَنَّفَ التَّصَانِيْفَ، وَرَدَ العِرَاقَ وَخُرَاسَانَ، مَا دَخَلَ بَلَداً إِلاَّ وَاجتمعُوا عَلَيْهِ، وَتَلْمَذُوا لَهُ، وَكَانَ عَلاَّمَةً نَسَّابَةً، جَاور مُدَّةً حَتَّى هَبَّتْ عَلَى كَلاَمِهِ رِيَاحُ البَادِيَةِ، مَاتَ لَيْلَةَ عرفَةَ، سَنَةَ ثَمَانٍ وَثَلاَثِيْنَ وَخَمْسِ مائَةٍ. وَقَالَ ابْنُ خَلِّكَانَ (٤) : لَهُ (الفَائِقُ) فِي غَرِيْبِ الحَدِيْثِ، وَ (رَبِيْعُ

(١) تطبينا: تستميلنا، وفي " الوفيات " و" العقد الثمين ": تطلبين، وليس بشيء. (٢) في " الوفيات " و" العقد الثمين ": ما لي. (٣) الابيات في " وفيات الأعيان " ٥ / ١٧٢، و" العقد الثمين " ٧ / ١٤٧. (٤) في " وفيات الأعيان " ٥ / ١٦٨، ١٦٩.