Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (21/78)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad, son of Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā b. Ḥāzim b. ʿAlī b. Rifāʿa al-Rifāʿī, originally from the Maghrib and later known as al-Baṭāʾiḥī.

His father had come from the Maghrib and settled in the marshlands, in the village of Umm ʿUbayda. There he married the sister of Manṣūr the ascetic, and through her Allah granted him Shaykh Aḥmad and his brothers.

Abū al-Ḥasan was a Quran-reciter who used to lead Shaykh Manṣūr in prayer. He died while his son Aḥmad was still an infant, so the boy was raised by his maternal uncle. It is said that his birth took place at the very beginning of the year 500 AH.

It is related that he once made his disciples swear an oath that, should they notice any fault in him, they would draw his attention to it. Shaykh ʿUmar al-Fārūthī said, “My master, I know of a flaw in you.” (1)

“What is it?” he asked.

He replied, “My master, your flaw is that we are numbered among your companions.” The shaykh and the mendicants wept, whereupon ʿUmar added, “If the ship is sound, it will carry all who are aboard.”

It is said that a cat once fell asleep on Shaykh Aḥmad’s sleeve. When the call to prayer was given he cut the sleeve off rather than disturb the animal; after the prayer he sat down, sewed it back on, and remarked, “Nothing has changed.”

And it is also said that, while he was performing ablution, a mosquito landed on his hand, and he remained motionless until it flew away.

= A facsimile taken from the book Tiryak al-Muhibbin fi Sirat Sultan al-Arifin by Taqi al-Din Abu al-Faraj Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd al-Muhsin al-Wasiti. It is worth noting that al-Dhahabi devoted to him a substantial entry in Tarikh al-Islam, which he himself abridged from another biography. He writes: “Most of what is recorded here I took from Yaqub, from the book Manaqib Ibn al-Rifa‘i, compiled by Shaykh Muhyi al-Din Ahmad ibn Sulayman al-Hamami al-Husayni al-Rifa‘i, shaykh of the thriving riwaq at al-Hilaliyya outside Cairo. Shaykh Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Shaykh Abi Talib al-Ansari al-Rifa‘i al-Dimashqi—known in Cairo as Shaykh Hittin—heard it from him in the year 680, copied it by hand as a munaawala transmission, and it was authorised by al-Mawla Shams al-Din Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Jazari, who incorporated it into his chronicle in 705. Its opening words are: ‘He said …’ etc.” We add: Shams al-Din Ibn al-Jazari died in 739/1339, and his chronicle—entitled Hawadith al-Zaman wa Anba’uhu wa Wafayat al-Akabir wa al-A‘yan min Abna’ihi—is counted among the comprehensive universal histories. (1) The base manuscript reads “ayb,” which is a mistake.

أَحْمَدُ بنُ أَبِي الحَسَنِ عَلِيِّ بنِ أَحْمَدَ بنِ يَحْيَى بنِ حَازِمِ بنِ عَلِيِّ بنِ رِفَاعَةَ الرِّفَاعِيُّ، المَغْرِبِيُّ، ثُمَّ البَطَائِحِيُّ. قَدِمَ أَبُوْهُ مِنَ المَغْرِب، وَسكنَ البطَائِح بقَرْيَة أُمِّ عُبَيْدَةَ، وَتَزَوَّجَ بِأُخْت مَنْصُوْر الزَّاهِد، وَرُزِق مِنْهَا الشَّيْخ أَحْمَد وَإِخْوَته. وَكَانَ أَبُو الحَسَنِ مُقْرِئاً، يَؤُمّ بِالشَّيْخ مَنْصُوْر، فَتُوُفِّيَ وَابْنه أَحْمَد حَمْلٌ، فَربّاهُ خَاله، فَقِيْلَ: كَانَ مَوْلِدُهُ فِي أَوَّلِ سَنَة خَمْس مائَة. قِيْلَ: إِنَّهُ أَقسم عَلَى أَصْحابه إِنْ كَانَ فِيْهِ عيب يُنبِّهونه عَلَيْهِ فَقَالَ الشَّيْخُ عُمَر الفَارُوْثِيُّ: يَا سيّدِي! أَنَا أَعْلَم فِيك عَيباً (١) . قَالَ: مَا هُوَ؟ قَالَ: يَا سيّدِي! عَيْبك أَننَّا مِنْ أَصْحَابك. فَبَكَى الشَّيْخ وَالفُقَرَاءُ، وَقَالَ -أَيْ عُمَرُ-: إِنْ سَلِمَ الْمركب حَمَلَ مَنْ فِيْهِ. قِيْلَ: إِنَّ هرَّة نَامت عَلَى كُمِّ الشَّيْخ أَحْمَد، وَقَامَت الصَّلاَة، فَقص كُمَّه وَمَا أَزعجهَا، ثُمَّ قَعَدَ، فَوَصَلَهُ، وَقَالَ: مَا تَغَيَّر شَيْء. وَقِيْلَ: تَوضَّأَ، فَنَزَلت بعوضَة عَلَى يَده، فَوَقَفَ لَهَا حَتَّى طَارت.

= مصورة من كتاب (ترياق المحبين في سيرة سلطان العارفين) لتقي الدين أبي الفرج عبد الرحمن ابن عبد المحسن الواسطي. ومما تجدر الإشارة إليه أن الذهبي قد ترجم له في (تاريخ الإسلام) ترجمة حافلة اختصرها من كتاب آخر مؤلف في سيرته، قال: (نقلت اكثر ما ها هنا عن يعقوب من كتاب مناقب ابن الرفاعي ﵁ جمع الشيخ محيي الدين أحمد بن سليمان الهمامي الحسيني الرفاعي شيخ الرواق المعمور بالهلالية بظاهر القاهرة سمعه منه الشيخ ابو عبد الله محمد ابن أبي بكر ابن الشيخ أبي طالب الأنصاري الرفاعي الدمشقي، ويعرف بشيخ حطين بالقاهرة في سنة ثمانين وست مئة، وقد كتبه عنه مناولة، وأجازه المولى شمس الدين أبو عبد الله محمد بن إبراهيم الجزري، وأودعه تاريخه في سنة خمس وسبع مئة، فأوله قال..الخ) . قلنا: توفي الشمس ابن الجزري سنة ٧٣٩ وتاريخه من التواريخ المستوعبة وقد سماه: (حوادث الزمان وأنبائه ووفيات الأكابر والأعيان من أبنائه) . (١) في الأصل: (عيب) وهو خطأ.