Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (1/234)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

then, if he is struck down, Jaʿfar; and if he is struck down, Ibn Rawāḥah).

When Zayd and Jaʿfar had both been killed, Ibn Rawāḥah shrank from going forward and said:

I have sworn, O soul, you shall dismount—
Willingly, or you will be dragged to dismount;
How long you have lived in settled ease—
Why do I see you now despising Paradise? (1)

He fought on until he was killed.

Mudrik ibn ʿUmārah reported that Ibn Rawāḥah said:

“I passed by the Prophet’s Mosque and sat before him. He asked, ‘How do you compose poetry when you wish to recite it?’ I replied, ‘I reflect on what I want to say, and then I speak.’ He said, ‘Turn your verse against the polytheists.’ I had nothing prepared, but I recited:

So tell me—you sellers of cloaks—since when
Were you great lords, or did Muḍar ever bow to you?

Seeing that he disliked my having likened his people to cloak-sellers, I continued:

O gracious Hāshim, Allah has favored you
Above all humankind with a peerless grace.
I have discerned in you the good I recognize—
A discernment unlike the way they look at things.
And were you to seek some of them for help
In settling your affair, they would neither shelter nor aid you.
So may Allah make firm the good He has granted you,
With the firmness He gave Moses and a victory like the one they were given.

At that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ turned toward me beaming and said, ‘And may Allah make you steadfast as well.’ (2)

(1) The report appears in Ibn Hisham, vol. 2, p. 379; that edition records three verses with a variant wording. The same account is also found in al-Istiab, vol. 6, p. 174. (2) Transmitted by Ibn Saad, vol. 3, part 2, pp. 80-81, and by Ibn Hisham, vol. 2, p. 374, both of which cite three verses in a different order. See also Usd al-Ghaba, vol. 3, p. 235, and al-Isaba, vol. 6, pp. 79-80, where only one verse is given. Compare Tahdhib Ibn Asakir, vol. 7, p. 393.

فَإِنْ أُصِيْبَ فَجَعْفَرٌ، فَإِنْ أُصِيْبَ فَابْنُ رَوَاحَةَ) . فَلَمَّا قُتِلاَ، كَرِهَ ابْنُ رَوَاحَةَ الإِقْدَامَ، فَقَالَ: أَقْسَمْتُ يَا نَفْسُ لَتَنْزِلَنَّهْ ... طَائِعَةً أَوْ لاَ لَتُكْرَهِنَّهْ فَطَالَمَا قَدْ كُنْتِ مُطْمَئِنَّهْ ... مَا لِي أَرَاكِ تَكْرَهِيْنَ الجَنَّهْ (١) فَقَاتَلَ حَتَّى قُتِلَ. قَالَ مُدْرِكُ بنُ عُمَارَةَ: قَالَ ابْنُ رَوَاحَةَ: مَرَرْتُ بِمَسْجِدِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ فَجَلَسْتُ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ، فَقَالَ: (كَيْفَ تَقُوْلُ الشِّعْرَ إِذَا أَرَدْتَ أَنْ تَقُوْلَ؟) . قُلْتُ: أَنْظُرُ فِي ذَاكَ، ثُمَّ أَقُوْلُ. قَالَ: (فَعَلَيْكَ بِالمُشْرِكِيْنَ) . ولَمْ أَكُنْ هَيَّأْتُ شَيْئاً، ثُمَّ قُلْتُ: فَخَبِّرُوْنِي أَثْمَانَ العَبَاءِ مَتَى ... كُنْتُمْ بَطَارِقَ أَوْ دَانَتْ لَكُم مُضَرُ؟ فَرَأَيْتُهُ قَدْ كَرِهَ هَذَا أَنْ جَعَلْتُ قَوْمَهُ أَثْمَانَ العَبَاءِ، فَقُلْتُ: يَا هَاشِمَ الخَيْرِ، إِنَّ اللهَ فَضَّلَكُمْ ... عَلَى البَرِيِّةِ فَضْلاً مَا لَهُ غِيْرُ إِنِّي تَفَرَّسْتُ فِيْكَ الخَيْرَ أَعْرِفُهُ ... فِرَاسَةً خَالَفَتْهُم فِي الَّذِي نَظَرُوا وَلَوْ سَأَلْتَ إِنْ اسْتَنْصَرْتَ بَعْضَهُمُ ... فِي حِلِّ أَمْرِكَ مَا آوَوْا وَلاَ نَصَرُوا فَثَبَّتَ اللهُ مَا آتَاكَ مِنْ حَسَنٍ ... تَثْبِيْتَ مُوْسَى وَنَصْراً كَالَّذِي نُصِرُوا فَأَقْبَلَ ﷺ بِوَجْهِهِ مُسْتَبْشِراً، وَقَالَ: (وَإِيَّاكَ فَثَبَّتَ اللهُ) (٢) .

(١) الخبر عند ابن هشام ٢ / ٣٧٩، والابيات هناك ثلاثة، والنص مختلف. وكذلك في " الاستيعاب " ٦ / ١٧٤. (٢) أخرجه ابن سعد ٣ / ٢ / ٨٠ - ٨١، وابن هشام ٢ / ٣٧٤، والابيات هناك ثلاثة وبغير هذا الترتيب. وفي " أسد الغابة " ٣ / ٢٣٥ وفي " الإصابة " ٦ / ٧٩ - ٨٠ وفيها بيت واحد. وانظر " تهذيب ابن عساكر " ٧ / ٣٩٣.