Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (1/434)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

but he replied, “Even if you snort—by Allah!—go, for you are sûyum in my land,”(1) that is, safe and secure. “Whoever reviles you shall pay a fine; whoever reviles you shall pay a fine again. I would not wish to possess even Dabra of gold—Dabra in their tongue means a mountain—if it meant that I had harmed a single one of you. Return to them their two gifts. By Allah, when Allah restored my kingdom to me He took no bribe from me; shall I now take a bribe concerning it? The people did not compel me in this affair, so why should I follow them in it?”

The two envoys withdrew, disgraced, with everything they had brought returned to them, while we stayed with him in the best of abodes and with the best of neighbors.

By Allah, while we were in that state, a man arose to contest his rule. By Allah, we never knew a war harder than the one we then fought, fearing that the challenger might triumph over the Negus and that someone ignorant of the favor the Negus showed us would come to power.

The Negus set out, and the breadth of the Nile lay between the two forces. The Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Who will go forth, attend the clash of the two sides, and bring us news?”

Al-Zubayr said, “I will.” He was the youngest of the group, so they inflated a waterskin for him, put it on his chest, and he swam upon it until he reached the place of the encounter and was present there.

We prayed to Allah that the Negus would prevail over his enemy and be firmly established in his land, and the affairs of Abyssinia were secured for him. We remained with him in the best dwelling until we came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while he was still in Mecca.(4)

Sulaymân, the son of Shurahbîl’s daughter, narrated from ʿAbd al-Rahmân ibn Bashîr and ʿAbd al-Malik ibn

(1) Ibn al-Athir points out that the word is pronounced with a short vowel and designates a mountain. In another version the wording is: “I would not wish to possess a dabr of gold,” and dabr in their dialect means “mountain.” That is how he explains it. In the first instance the term appears with the definite article, in the second it is indefinite. (2) Thus reads the base manuscript. In the author’s copy of al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah (folio 48) and in the Musnad the wording is: “a sorrow the like of which we had never experienced.” The author will allude to this variant later. The word ḥarb here means anger, contention or dispute. (3) The phrase “istawsqa lahu amru al-Habasha” means that the people of Abyssinia rallied to his obedience, so that authority there became firmly established in his hands. The printed edition mistakenly reads “istawthaq.” (4) The isnad is strong. The report is recorded by Ahmad (1/201; 5/290) and by Ibn Hisham (1/334–338); al-Haythami cites it in Majmaʿ al-zawaʾid (6/24–27) and notes that Ahmad’s transmitters are those of the Sahih. Ibn Ishaq explicitly states that he heard it directly, and Ibn Kathir reproduces it at greater length in al-Bidayah (3/72–75).

فَقَالَ: وَإِنْ نَخَرْتُمْ وَاللهِ، اذْهَبُوا فَأَنْتُم سُيُوْمٌ بِأَرْضِي - وَالسُّيُوْمُ: الآمِنُوْنَ - مَنْ سَبَّكُمْ غُرِّمَ، ثُمَّ مَنْ سَبَّكُمْ غُرِّمَ، مَا أُحِبُّ أَنَّ لِي دَبْرَى (١) ذَهَباً، وَأَنِّي آذَيْتُ رَجُلاً مِنْكُم - وَالدَّبْرُ بِلِسَانِهِم: الجَبَلُ - رُدُّوا عَلَيْهِمَا هَدَايَاهُمَا، فَوَاللهِ مَا أَخَذَ اللهُ مِنِّي الرِّشْوَةَ حِيْنَ رَدَّ عَلَيَّ مُلْكِي، فَآخُذَ الرِّشْوَةَ فِيْهِ، وَمَا أَطَاعَ النَّاسُ فِيَّ، فَأُطِيْعَهُم فِيْهِ. فَخَرَجَا مَقْبُوْحَيْنِ، مَرْدُوْداً عَلَيْهِمَا مَا جَاءا بِهِ، وَأَقَمْنَا عِنْدَهُ بِخَيْرِ دَارٍ مَعَ خَيْرِ جَارٍ. فَوَاللهِ إِنَّا عَلَى ذَلِكَ، إِذْ نَزَلَ بِهِ -يَعْنِي: مَنْ يُنَازِعُهُ فِي مُلْكِهِ- فَوَاللهِ مَا عَلِمْنَا حَرْباً قَطُّ كَانَ أَشَدَّ مِنْ حَرْبٍ حَرِبْنَاهُ (٢) ، تَخُوُّفاً أَنْ يَظْهَرَ ذَلِكَ عَلَى النَّجَاشِيِّ، فَيَأْتِي رَجُلٌ لاَ يَعْرِفُ مِنْ حَقِّنَا مَا كَانَ النَّجَاشِيُّ يَعْرِفُ مِنْهُ. وَسَارَ النَّجَاشِيُّ، وَبَيْنَهُمَا عَرْضُ النِّيْلِ. فَقَالَ أَصْحَابُ رَسُوْلِ اللهِ ﷺ: مَنْ رَجُلٌ يَخْرُجُ حَتَّى يَحْضُرَ وَقْعَةَ القَوْمِ، ثُمَّ يَأْتِيْنَا بِالخَبَرِ؟ فَقَالَ الزُّبَيْرُ: أَنَا. وَكَانَ مِنْ أَحْدَثِ القَوْمِ سِنّاً، فَنَفَخُوا لَهُ قِرْبَةً، فَجَعَلَهَا فِي صَدْرِهِ، ثُمَّ سَبَحَ عَلَيْهَا حَتَّى خَرَجَ إِلَى مَكَانِ المُلْتَقَى، وَحَضَرَ. فَدَعَوْنَا اللهَ لِلنَّجَاشِيِّ بِالظُّهُوْرِ عَلَى عَدُوِّهِ، وَالتَّمْكِيْنِ لَهُ فِي بِلاَدِهِ، وَاسْتَوْسَقَ (٣) لَهُ أَمْرُ الحَبَشَةِ، فَكُنَّا عِنْدَهُ فِي خَيْرِ مَنْزِلٍ حَتَّى قَدِمْنَا عَلَى رَسُوْلِ اللهِ ﷺ وَهُوَ بِمَكَّةَ (٤) . سُلَيْمَانُ ابنُ بِنْتِ شُرَحْبِيْلَ: عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بنِ بَشِيْرٍ، وَعَبْدِ المَلِكِ بنِ

(١) قال ابن الأثير: هو بالقصر، اسم جبل. وفي رواية: ما أحب أن يكون لي دبرا من ذهب والدبر في لسانهم: الجبل. هكذا فسر. وهو في الأولى معرفة، وفي الثانية نكرة. (٢) كذا الأصل. وفي " السيرة النبوية "، بخط المؤلف - ورقة ٤٨ - و" المسند " " حزنا قط كان أشد من حزن حزناه ". وسيشير إليها المصنف فيما بعد. والحرب: الغضب، والنزاع، والخصومة. (٣) استوسق له أمر الحبشة: أي اجتمعوا على طاعته، فاستقر له الملك فيهم. تحرفت في المطبوع إلى " استوثق ". (٤) إسناده قوي، وأخرجه أحمد ١ / ٢٠١ و٥ / ٢٩٠، وابن هشام ١ / ٣٣٤ - ٣٣٨، وذكره الهيثمي في " المجمع " ٦ / ٢٤ - ٢٧ وقال: رواه أحمد ورجاله رجال الصحيح. وابن إسحاق صرح بالسماع، وذكره الحافظ ابن كثير في " البداية " ٣ / ٧٢ - ٧٥ بأطول مما هنا.