Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (1/432)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

in that regard.

She went on: Nothing was more loathsome to ʿAbd Allah and ʿAmr than for the Negus to hear the refugees speak.

The courtiers around him said, “They have spoken the truth, O King; hand them over to the two men.”

The Negus became angry and said, “By Allah, never! I will not surrender them to the two, nor will I (1) betray a people who have sought my protection, settled in my land, and chosen me above all others until I summon them and question them.”

He then sent for the Companions of the Messenger of Allah and invited them. When his messenger reached them they gathered together, and some said to the others, “What will you say to the king when you go before him?” They replied, “By Allah, we shall say only what we know, and what our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, has commanded us—whatever may come of it.”

When they presented themselves before the Negus—he had already called his bishops, who had spread their scriptures around him—he asked them, “What is this religion for whose sake you have left your people, yet have not embraced my religion nor that of any other nation?”

She said: The one who spoke to him was Jaʿfar ibn Abi Talib, who said:

“O King! We were a people immersed in ignorance: we worshipped idols, ate carrion, committed indecencies, severed kinship bonds, mistreated neighbours, and the strong among us oppressed the weak. We remained like that (2) until Allah sent us a Messenger from among ourselves—whose lineage, truthfulness, trustworthiness, and chastity we knew well. He called us to Allah so that we might affirm His oneness and worship Him alone, and renounce all that we and our fathers had worshipped besides Him of stones and idols. He commanded us to speak the truth, fulfil trusts, maintain family ties, show good neighbourliness, and refrain from the forbidden and from shedding blood. He forbade us from immorality, false speech, consuming the property of orphans, and slandering chaste women. He instructed us to worship Allah without associating anything with Him, and he enjoined on us prayer, almsgiving, and fasting.”

She said: Thus he enumerated for him the principles of Islam.

“We believed him, had faith in him, and followed him. Then our people rose up against us, tortured us (3), and tried to turn us away from our religion so that we might return to idol-worship and once more deem lawful what we had previously…”

(1) “wa-la ukadu”: the hamza takes a damma, making the verb passive—i.e. “no one can plot against me.” Lisan al-Arab notes that when someone is forced to do what he dislikes, Arabs say: “No, by God, neither kaydan nor hamman,” meaning: “I will neither be plotted against nor distressed.” (2) The printed edition misreads the verb as “faʿashna” (“so we lived”). (3) The printed edition omits the word “faʿadhabuna” (“so they tortured us”).

عَلَيْهِم فِيْهِ. قَالَتْ: وَلَمْ يَكُنْ شَيْءٌ أَبْغَضَ إِلَى عَبْدِ اللهِ وَعَمْرٍو مِنْ أَنْ يَسْمَعَ النَّجَاشِيُّ كَلاَمَهُم. فَقَالَتْ بَطَارِقَتُهُ حَوْلَهُ: صَدَقُوا أَيُّهَا المَلِكُ، فَأَسْلِمْهُمْ إِلَيْهِمَا. فَغَضِبَ النَّجَاشِيُّ، ثُمَّ قَالَ: لاَ هَا اللهِ، إِذاً لاَ أُسْلِمُهُمْ إِلَيْهِمَا، وَلاَ أُكَادُ (١) قَوْماً جَاوَرُوْنِي، وَنَزَلُوا بِلاَدِي، وَاخْتَارُوْنِي عَلَى مَنْ سِوَايَ حَتَّى أَدْعُوَهُم، فَأَسْأَلَهُم. ثُمَّ أَرْسَلَ إِلَى أَصْحَابِ رَسُوْلِ اللهِ، فَدَعَاهُمْ، فَلَمَّا جَاءهُمْ رَسُوْلُهُ اجْتَمَعُوا، ثُمَّ قَالَ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ: مَا تَقُوْلُوْنَ لِلرَّجُلِ إِذَا جِئْتُمُوْهُ؟ قَالُوا: نَقُوْلُ -وَاللهِ- مَا عَلِمْنَا، وَمَا أَمَرَنَا بِهِ نَبِيُّنَا ﷺ كَائِناً فِي ذَلِكَ مَا كَانَ. فَلَمَّا جَاؤُوْهُ وَقَدْ دَعَا النَّجَاشِيُّ أَسَاقِفَتَهُ، فَنَشَرُوا مَصَاحِفَهُمْ حَوْلَهُ، سَأَلَهُمْ فَقَالَ: مَا هَذَا الدِّيْنُ الَّذِي فَارَقْتُمْ فِيْهِ قَوْمَكُم، وَلَمْ تَدْخُلُوا فِي دِيْنِي، وَلاَ فِي دِيْنِ أَحَدٍ مِنْ هَذِهِ الأُمَمِ؟ قَالَتْ: وَكَانَ الَّذِي يُكَلِّمُهُ جَعْفَرُ بنُ أَبِي طَالِبٍ، فَقَالَ لَهُ: أَيُّهَا المَلِكُ! إِنَّا كُنَّا قَوْماً أَهْلَ جَاهِلِيَّةٍ، نَعْبُدُ الأَصْنَامَ، وَنَأْكُلُ المَيْتَةَ، وَنَأْتِي الفَوَاحِشَ، وَنَقْطَعُ الأَرْحَامَ، وَنُسِيْءُ الجِوَارَ، وَيَأْكُلُ القَوِيُّ مِنَّا الضَّعِيْفَ، فَكُنَّا (٢) عَلَى ذَلِكَ حَتَّى بَعَثَ اللهُ إِلَيْنَا رَسُوْلاً مِنَّا، نَعْرِفُ نَسَبَهُ وَصِدْقَهُ وَأَمَانَتَهُ وَعَفَافَهُ، فَدَعَانَا إِلَى اللهِ لِنُوَحِّدَهُ وَنَعْبُدَهُ، وَنَخْلَعَ مَا كُنَّا نَعْبُدُ وَآبَاؤُنَا مِنْ دُوْنِهِ مِنَ الحِجَارَةِ وَالأَوْثَانِ، وَأَمَرَنَا بِصِدْقِ الحَدِيْثِ، وَأَدَاءِ الأَمَانَةِ، وَصِلَةِ الرَّحِمِ، وَحُسْنِ الجِوَارِ، وَالكَفِّ عَنِ المَحَارِمِ وَالدِّمَاءِ، وَنَهَانَا عَنِ الفَوَاحِشِ، وَقَوْلِ الزُّوْرِ، وَأَكْلِ مَالِ اليَتِيْمِ، وَقَذْفِ المُحْصَنَةِ، وَأَمَرَنَا أَنْ نَعْبُدَ اللهَ لاَ نُشْرِكُ بِهِ شَيْئاً، وَأَمَرَنَا بِالصَّلاَةِ، وَالزَّكَاةِ، وَالصِّيَامِ. قَالَتْ: فَعَدَّدَ لَهُ أُمُوْرَ الإِسْلاَمِ. فَصَدَّقْنَاهُ، وَآمَنَّا بِهِ، وَاتَّبَعْنَاهُ، فَعَدَا عَلَيْنَا قَوْمُنَا، فَعَذَّبُوْنَا (٣) ، وَفَتَنُوْنَا عَنْ دِيْنِنَا لِيَرُدُّوْنَا إِلَى عِبَادَةِ الأَوْثَانِ، وَأَنْ نَسْتَحِلَّ مَا كُنَّا

(١) ولا أكاد: بضم الهمزة، فعل مبني للمجهول: أي: ولا يكيدني أحد قال في اللسان: يقولون - إذا حمل أحدهم على ما يكره -: لا والله لا كيدا ولا هما: يريد: لا أكاد ولا أهم. (٢) تحرفت في المطبوع إلى " فعشنا ". (٣) سقطت من المطبوع لفظة " فعذبونا ".