Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (21/337)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

al-Ṣabbāgh; as well as Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Arrajānī, the poet; and Abū Manṣūr ibn al-Jawāliqī, from whom he learned Arabic.

He was appointed supervisor of Wāsiṭ, then chief chamberlain, thereafter held the office of ustādh-dār, and was finally transferred to the Secret Chancery.

Among those who reported from him were Ibn al-Dubaythī, Ibn Khalīl, and others.

He was devout, upright, and of praiseworthy character. He is the author of the lines:

Do not by any means envy a vizier of the kings,
even though the times have raised him above his own ambition;
Know that for him there is a day when the
weighty earth will quake as it once quaked at his majesty (1);
Aaron—though he was Moses’ own full brother—
would never have had his beard seized were it not for the vizierate.

We were informed by Ibn al-Dubaythī that Abū Ṭālib ibn Zabādah recited to us, and the qāḍī al-Arrajānī himself recited to me these verses of his:

A maiden, her eyes wide with the daze of parting,
was startled when the camel-drivers returned with their mounts;
With one eye she answers my greeting,
while the other keeps watch on the eyes of the sentinels;
And when (2) my eye wept on the morning of their departure (3),
the sundering of companions having struck me with terror,
Reflections of my tears appeared upon her face;
they grew jealous, thinking she had wept because I was weeping.

Ibn Zabādah died on the seventeenth of Dhu al-Ḥijjah in the year 594 AH, at the age of seventy-two years and some months (4).

(1) Ibn Khallikan records the wording: lihaybatihi (“out of awe for him”). (2) Ibn Khallikan reads falamma (“when”); he cites the same variant from Ibn al-Dubaythi. He also quotes the preceding verse: raat hawlaha al-washina tafu faghayyadat * lahum damaha w-istaʿsamat bi-hayaʾ (“She saw the tale-bearers circling around her; she stifled her tears before them and sought refuge in modesty”). (3) Ibn Khallikan has widaʿahum (“their departure”). (4) Ibn al-Dubaythi, al-Mundhiri, and others state that he was born on 25 Safar 522 AH; Ibn Zabada himself gave this date when questioned by Ibn al-Dubaythi.

الصَّبَّاغِ، وَأَبِي بَكْرٍ أَحْمَدَ بنِ مُحَمَّدٍ الأَرَّجَانِيّ الشَّاعِر، وَأَبِي مَنْصُوْرٍ ابْنِ الجَوَالِيْقِيِّ، وَأَخَذَ عَنْهُ العَرَبِيَّة. وَلِي نَظَرَ وَاسِط، وَوَلِيَ حجَابَة الحجَاب، ثُمَّ الأسْتَاذدَارِيَة، ثُمَّ نُقل إِلَى كِتَابَةِ السّرِّ. رَوَى عَنْهُ: ابْنُ الدُّبَيْثِيّ، وَابْن خَلِيْل، وَغَيْرهُمَا. وَكَانَ دَيِّناً، صَيِّناً، حَمِيْد السّيرَة، وَهُوَ القَائِلُ: لاَ تغبِطَنَّ وَزِيْراً لِلمُلُوْكِ وَإِنْ ... أَنَالَهُ الدَّهْرُ مِنْهُم فَوْقَ هِمَّتِهِ وَاعلمْ بِأَنَّ لَهُ يَوْماً تَمورُ بِهِ الـ ... أَرْضُ الوقورُ كَمَا مَارت بهيبتِهِ (١) هَارُوْنُ وَهُوَ أَخُو مُوْسَى الشّقيقُ لَهُ ... لَوْلاَ الوزَارَةُ لَمْ يَأْخُذْ بِلحيتهِ أَنْبَؤُوْنَا عَنِ ابْن الدُّبَيْثِيّ، أَنْشَدَنَا أَبُو طَالِبٍ بنُ زَبَادَةَ، أَنْشَدَنِي القَاضِي الأَرَّجَانِيّ لِنَفْسِهِ: وَمَقْسُوْمَة العَيْنَيْنِ مِنْ دَهَشِ النَّوَى ... وَقَدْ رَاعهَا بِالعِيْسِ رَجَعَ حُدَاءِ تُجِيْبُ بِإِحْدَى مُقْلَتَيْهَا تَحِيَّتِي ... وَأُخْرَى تُرَاعِي أَعْيُنَ الرُّقَبَاءِ وَلَمَّا (٢) بَكَتْ عَيْنِي غَدَاةَ رَحِيْلِهِم (٣) ... وَقَدْ رَوَّعتْنِي فُرقَةُ القُرَنَاءِ بَدَتْ فِي مُحَيَّاهَا خيَالاَتُ أَدْمُعِي ... فَغَارُوا وَظنُّوا أَنْ بَكتْ لبُكَائِي تُوُفِّيَ ابْنُ زَبَادَةَ: فِي سَابِعَ عَشَرَ مِنْ ذِي الحِجَّةِ، سَنَةَ أَرْبَعٍ وَتِسْعِيْنَ وَخَمْسِ مائَةٍ، وَلَهُ اثْنَتَانِ وَسَبْعُوْنَ سَنَةً وَأَشْهُر (٤) .

(١) ابن خلكان: لهيبته. (٢) ابن خلكان: (فلما) وهو قد نقل عن ابن الدبيثي أيضا. وذكر قبل هذا البيت: رأت حولها الواشين طافوا فغيضت * لهم دمعها واستعصمت بحياء (٣) ابن خلكان: وداعهم. (٤) ذكر ابن الدبيثي والمنذري وغيرهما أنه ولد في الخامس والعشرين من صفر سنة ٥٢٢، هكذا أجاب ابن زبادة عندما سأله ابن الدبيثي.