Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (21/214)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

He kept the company of the righteous, praised the caliphs, and in the latter part of his life he became afflicted.(1)

Those who transmitted from him include: ʿUthmān ibn Muqbil, al-Bahāʾ ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, Ibn al-Dubaithī, Ibn Khalīl, and ʿAlī ibn Yūsuf al-Ḥammāmī. His father, moreover, owned the fortress of Najm.(2)

He is the one who said:(3)

What makes me weary of all mankind
is the scant fairness shown by those who keep one’s company.
Has any man of sound judgment(4) ever come to know the people
and still found he had a need of them?(5)
They count as “people” so long as you have not tried them;
when tried, they are but ravening wolves.(6)
If only you could remain unharmed when far away from them,(7)
so what of the danger when they draw near?(8)

He also said:(9)

I love ʿAlī, the Pure Lady [Fāṭimah], and her sons,
yet I do not deny the two Shaykhs their right of precedence.
I repudiate whoever harms ʿUthmān with slander,
just as I disown allegiance to Ibn Muljam.
The people of hadith delight me, for throughout the ages
truth marks their deeds and their speech.

He died in Rabīʿ al-Ākhir, 588 AH.

(1) The expression “ba-akhira” (“only later on”) is questionable. In the previous note we already stated that he went blind while still a youth. Yaqut, in Irshad al-arib, 7/208, writes: “Smallpox blinded him when he was a child.” Take this into account. (2) A well-known fortress overlooking the eastern bank of the Euphrates, close to Manbij. (3) See Ibn Rajab, Dhayl, 1/376. (4) Ibn Rajab’s text reads: nahba. (5) Ibn Rajab’s text reads: marghab. (6) Ibn Rajab’s text reads: al-dhubab. (7) Ibn Rajab’s text reads: ‘inda. (8) Ibn Rajab’s text reads: yaqrabu. (9) He recited these lines when asked about his legal school and creed. Ibn Rajab also transmits the three verses, but with some variations.

وَصَحِبَ الصَّالِحِيْنَ، وَمدح الخُلَفَاء، وَأَضَرَّ بِأَخَرَةٍ (١) . رَوَى عَنْهُ: عُثْمَان بن مُقْبلٍ، وَالبَهَاء عَبْد الرَّحْمَانِ، وَابْن الدُّبَيْثِيّ، وَابْن خَلِيْل، وَعَلِيّ بن يُوْسُفَ الحمامِيّ، وَكَانَتْ لأَبِيْهِ قَلْعَة نَجْمٍ (٢) . وَهُوَ القَائِلُ (٣) : يُزَهِّدُنِي فِي جَمِيْع الأَنَامِ ... قِلَّةُ إِنْصَافِ مَنْ يَصْحَبُ وَهَلْ عَرَفَ النَّاسُ ذُو نُهْيَةٍ (٤) ... فَأَمسَى لَهُ فِيهِم مَأْرَبُ (٥) هُمُ النَّاسُ مَا لَمْ يُجَرِّبْهُمُ ... وَطُلْسُ الذِّئَابِ (٦) إِذَا جُرِّبُوا وَلَيْتَكَ تَسْلَمُ حَال (٧) البِعَادِ ... مِنْهُم، فَكَيْفَ إِذَا قُرِّبُوا (٨) ؟ وَلَهُ (٩) : أُحِبُّ عَلِيّاً وَالبتُولَ وَوُلْدَهَا ... وَلاَ أَجحَدُ الشَّيْخَيْنِ حَقَّ التَّقَدُّمِ وَأَبرَأُ مِمَّنْ نَال عُثْمَانَ بِالأَذَى ... كَمَا أَتَبَرَّا مِنْ وَلاَء ابْنِ مُلجِمِ وَيُعْجِبُنِي أَهْلُ الحَدِيْثِ لصدقِهِم ... مدَى الدَّهْرِ فِي أَفعَالِهِم وَالتَّكَلُّمِ مَاتَ: فِي شَهْرِ رَبِيْعٍ الآخِرِ، سَنَةَ ثَمَانٍ وَثَمَانِيْنَ وَخَمْسِ مائَةٍ.

(١) قوله: (بأخرة) فيه نظر وقد ذكرنا في التعليق السابق أنه أصيب بالعمى وهو لما يزل يافعا، وقال ياقوت في (إرشاد الاريب) : (أضر بالجدري صغيرا) : ٧ / ٢٠٨ فتأمل ذلك! (٢) قلعة مشهورة تطل على شرقي الفرات بالقرب من منبج. (٣) انظر (ذيل) ابن رجب ١ / ٣٧٦. (٤) في (الذيل) لابن رجب: نهبة. (٥) في (الذيل) لابن رجب: مرغب. (٦) في (الذيل) لابن رجب: الذباب. (٧) في (الذيل) لابن رجب: عند. (٨) في (الذيل) لابن رجب: يقربوا. (٩) قال هذه الابيات حينما سئل عن مذهبه واعتقاده، وقد أورد ابن رجب الابيات الثلاثة وفيها اختلاف.