Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (20/568)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

—and it might also be taken as preferring Abū Ṭāhir; Allah knows best.

It has reached us that, after Ibn ʿAsākir’s death, the ḥāfiẓ ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Maqdisī sent (1) someone to borrow for him a section of The History of Damascus. When he looked through it, he was stunned by the breadth of Ibn ʿAsākir’s memory, and it is said that he regretted having missed the chance to hear ḥadīth from him, for there had been a dispute between Ibn ʿAsākir and the scholars of Jerusalem—may Allah have mercy on everyone.

Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rawāḥa composed an elegy (2) for the ḥāfiẓ Ibn ʿAsākir:

He scaled the heights in quest of honour and virtue;
the one for whom travellers tightened their saddle-straps has gone.

Tell the roaming lightning that I have announced (3) his death
with the blaze of grief or with the tears of streaming clouds.

He was nothing less than an ocean that has now receded;
whoever seeks its shores finds only rivulets.

Grant that you have narrated his learning from its transmitters,
yet (4) the lofty isnāds of his companions are not within your reach.

With his passing you have missed the light of guidance,
and the majesty of piety (5) and the success of all endeavours that came through him.

(1) In Ibn Asakir, p. 40, the wording diverges up to the word “anfadha” (dispatched). (2) These verses belong to a long elegy for Ibn Asakir, quoted in the entry on al-Husayn b. Abd Allah b. Rawaha al-Ansari, Mu jam al-udaba, vol. 10, pp. 48-55. (3) Mu jam al-udaba reads: “faqoola … muina”. (4) Mu jam al-udaba reads: “fa-laysa”. (5) Mu jam al-udaba reads: “wa-nuru al-tuqa” (and the light of piety).

مُحْتَمَلاً أَيْضاً لِتفْضِيْلِ أَبِي طَاهِرٍ - فَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ -. وَبَلَغَنَا أَنَّ الحَافِظ عَبْد الغَنِيِّ المَقْدِسِيَّ بَعْد مَوْتِ ابْن عَسَاكِرَ نَفَّذ (١) مَنِ اسْتَعَار لَهُ شَيْئاً مِنْ (تَارِيْخِ دِمَشْقَ) ، فَلَمَّا طَالعه، انْبَهَرَ لِسعَة حِفْظ ابْن عَسَاكِرَ، وَيُقَالُ: نَدِمَ عَلَى تَفويت السَّمَاع مِنْهُ، فَقَدْ كَانَ بَيْنَ ابْن عَسَاكِرَ وَبَيْنَ المَقَادِسَةِ وَاقِعٌ - رَحِمَ اللهُ الجَمِيْع -. وَلأَبِي عَلِيٍّ الحُسَيْن بن عَبْدِ اللهِ بنِ رَوَاحَة يَرْثِي الحَافِظ ابْن عَسَاكِرَ (٢) : ذَرَا السَّعْيَ فِي نَيلِ العَلَى وَالفَضَائِل ... مَضَى مَنْ إِلَيْهِ كَانَ شدُّ الرَّوَاحِلِ وَقُولاَ لِسَارِي البَرْقِ: إِنِّيْ نَعَيتُه (٣) ... بِنَارِ أَسَىً أَوْ دَمْعِ سُحْبٍ هَوَاطلِ وَمَا كَانَ إِلاَّ البَحْرَ غَارَ وَمَنْ يُرِدْ ... سَوَاحِلَهُ لَمْ يَلْقَ غَيْرَ جَدَاوِلِ وَهَبْكُمْ رَوَيتُم عِلْمَه عَنْ رُوَاته ... وَلَيْسَ (٤) عَوَالِي صَحبِه بِنَوازِلِ فَقَدْ فَاتَكُم نورُ الهُدَى بِوَفَاتِهِ ... وَعزُّ التُّقَى (٥) مِنْهُ وَنُجْحُ الوَسَائِلِ

(١) غيرها في كتاب " ابن عساكر " ص ٤٠ إلى " أنفذ ". (٢) الابيات ضمن قصيدة طويلة في رثاء ابن عساكر في ترجمة الحسين بن عبد الله بن رواحة الأنصاري في " معجم الأدباء " ١٠ / ٤٨ - ٥٥. (٣) في " معجم الأدباء ": فقولا..معينة. (٤) في " معجم الأدباء ": فليس. (٥) في " معجم الأدباء ": ونور التقى.