Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (1/317)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

A valiant, ever-advancing champion, a Companion of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ whose courage became proverbial. He embraced Islam in 9 AH, then apostatized—wronging himself—and claimed prophethood in Najd. Several battles ensued between him and the Muslims, but he was routed and abandoned. He fled to the Jafnah branch of the Ghassanids in greater Syria, then came to his senses, returned to Islam, and his repentance was deemed sound after al-Ṣiddīq passed away; he even entered the state of consecration for the ḥajj.

When ʿUmar saw him he said, “O Ṭulayḥah, I cannot love you after your killing of ʿUkkāshah ibn Miḥṣan and Thābit ibn Aqram.”

Those two had been scouts for Khalid (1) on the day of Buzākhah, and Ṭulayḥah and his brother killed them. Later he fought at Qādisiyyah and Nahāwand.

ʿUmar wrote to Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ: “Consult Ṭulayḥah about military matters, but do not place him in command of anything.”

Muḥammad ibn Saʿd said: “Because of his bravery and strength, Ṭulayḥah was reckoned the equal of a thousand horsemen.”

I add: He distinguished himself at Nahāwand (2), then was martyred—may Allah have mercy on him and pardon him.

(1) The printed edition has dropped the phrase “li Khalid” and has mistakenly inserted “fi” in its place. (2) Nihawand – pronounced with the first n fath-a (some read it kasra), an open w, a silent n and an un-dotted d – is a large city three days’ journey south of Hamadhan. There the Persians concentrated their forces, said to have reached 150,000 men, under the command of al-Firuzan. When news reached the Muslims, Umar dispatched an army led by al-Numan b. Muqarrin; he fell as the first martyr, after which Hudhayfa b. al-Yaman took up the standard and the Muslims won a decisive victory. The battle occurred in 19 AH, though some date it to 21 AH. See al-Tabari, History, 4/114 ff.; Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, 3/5 ff. Qa‘qa‘ b. Amr al-Makhzumi commemorated the battle in verse: “May God strike down the one who brazenly reviles his clan, with a calamity that whitens the foremost ranks. So spare me your reproach—do not blame me— for I guard my household while the enemy schemes. We were the ones who reached Nihawand’s waters; we drove them back, and their great host stood stunned and mute.”

البَطَلُ الكَرَّارُ، صَاحِبُ رَسُوْلِ اللهِ ﷺ وَمَنْ يُضْرَبُ بِشَجَاعَتِهِ المَثَلُ. أَسْلَمَ سَنَةَ تِسْعٍ، ثُمَّ ارْتَدَّ، وَظَلَمَ نَفْسَهُ، وَتَنَبَّأَ بِنَجْدٍ، وَتَمَّتْ لَهُ حُرُوْبٌ مَعَ المُسْلِمِيْنَ، ثُمَّ انْهَزَمَ، وَخُذِلَ، وَلَحِقَ بِآلِ جَفْنَةَ الغَسَّانِيِّيْنَ بِالشَّامِ، ثُمَّ ارْعَوَى، وَأَسْلَمَ، وَحَسُنَ إِسْلاَمُهُ لَمَّا تُوُفِّيَ الصِّدِّيْقُ، وَأَحْرَمَ بِالحَجِّ. فَلَمَّا رَآهُ عُمَرُ، قَالَ: يَا طُلَيْحَةُ! لاَ أُحِبُّكَ بَعْد قَتْلِكَ عُكَّاشَةَ بنَ مِحْصَنٍ، وَثَابِتَ بنَ أَقْرَمَ. وَكَانَا طَلِيْعَةً لِخَالِدٍ (١) يَوْم بُزَاخَةَ، فَقَتَلَهُمَا طُلَيْحَةُ وَأَخُوْهُ، ثُمَّ شَهِدَ القَادِسِيَّةَ وَنَهَاوَنْدَ. وَكَتَبَ عُمَرُ إِلَى سَعْدِ بنِ أَبِي وَقَّاصٍ: أَنْ شَاوِرْ طُلَيْحَةَ فِي أَمْرِ الحَرْبِ، وَلاَ تُوَلِّهِ شَيْئاً. قَالَ مُحَمَّدُ بنُ سَعْدٍ: كَانَ طُلَيْحَةُ يُعَدُّ بِأَلْفِ فَارِسٍ لِشَجَاعَتِهِ وَشِدَّتِهِ. قُلْتُ: أَبْلَى يَوْمَ نَهَاوَنْدَ (٢) ، ثُمَّ اسْتُشْهِدَ ﵁ وَسَامَحَهُ -.

(١) سقطت لفظة " لخالد " من المطبوع ووضع مكانها " في ". (٢) نهاوند: بفتح النون الأولى، وتكسر، وفتح الواو، ونون ساكنة ودال مهملة: هي مدينة عظيمة في قبلة همذان بينهما ثلاثة أيام. جمع الفرس جموعهم فيها، وقيل: بلغت هذه الجموع مئة وخمسين ألفا، وقدم عليهم الفيروزان. وبلغ ذلك المسلمين فأنفذ عمر عليهم الجيوش وعليها النعمان بن مقرن، فواقعهم فكان أول قتيل، فأخذ حذيفة بن اليمان الراية، وتم الفتح والنصر للمسلمين. وكان ذلك سنة (١٩) للهجرة وقيل سنة (٢١) . وقد ذكر الطبري هذه المعركة في هذه السنة، انظر تاريخه ٤ / ١١٤ وما بعدها. وكذلك ذكرها ابن الأثير في كامله ٣ / ٥ وما بعدها. وفيها يقول القعقاع بن عمرو المخزومي: رمى الله من ذم العشيرة سادرا * بداهية تبيض منها المقادم فدع عنك لومي لا تلمني فإنني * أحوط حريمي، والعدو الموائم فنحن وردنا في نهاوند موردا * صدرنا به، والجمع حران واجم