Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (2/154)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

with him. So he cast lots among us during one of the campaigns he undertook, and my lot was drawn; therefore I went out with him after the verse of the veil had been revealed, and I was carried in a hawdaj (1) and set down in it.

We journeyed on, and when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had completed that expedition and begun the return, drawing close to Medina, he announced the departure one night. I rose at that time (2), walked on until I had passed beyond the army, and when I had answered the call of nature and returned to my mount, I discovered that a necklace of mine made of onyx beads from Dhufar (3) had broken. I searched for it, and the search detained me.

Meanwhile, the men who used to ready my riding-litter (4) came, lifted my howdah, secured it upon my camel, and set off, thinking I was inside it. In those days women were light, flesh had not yet made them heavy (5); they ate no more than a few mouthfuls (6) of food, so the men were not surprised at the lightness of the litter when they hoisted it. I was then a young girl of tender age. They prodded the camel forward and moved on, and I did not find my necklace until after the army had marched away.

I came to their camp but found neither caller nor respondent, so I headed (7) for the spot where I had been staying, thinking they would miss me and return for me.

While I was sitting there, drowsiness overcame me and I fell asleep. Safwan ibn al-Muʿattal al-Sulami—later adh-Dhakwani—had been travelling behind the army; he journeyed through the night and reached my encampment at dawn. He saw the silhouette of a sleeping person, came up to me, and recognized me when—

(1) In Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, and the Musnad the word appears as “hudji” (my howdah). (2) In Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, and the Musnad the reading is “when they gave the signal to depart.” (3) Al-jazʿ: a type of Yemeni bead; Dhufar is a village in Yemen. (4) This is the version transmitted by Muʿammar. Al-Nawawi reports that most manuscripts of Sahih Muslim read yarhaluna li (“they saddle up for me”) and judges it superior, whereas others prefer the reading with bāʾ, yarhaluna bi (“they saddle me up”), because the intended meaning is that she was placed while still inside the howdah, comparing the howdah to the saddle set on the camel. (5) The clause “light, their bodies not burdened by flesh” is absent from the Damascus print. (6) Al-ʿallaqa (with damma on the ʿayn) denotes any small amount of food sufficient to keep one alive. (7) Amamtu means “I headed toward”; the Damascus print mistakenly gives it as fa-aqamtu (“so I stayed”).

مَعَهُ، فَأَقْرَعَ بَيْنَنَا فِي غَزْوَةٍ غَزَاهَا، فَخَرَجَ سَهْمِي، فَخَرَجْتُ مَعَهُ بَعْدَ مَا نَزَلَ الحِجَابُ، وَأَنَا أُحْمَلُ فِي هَوْدَجٍ (١) وَأُنْزَلُ فِيْهِ. فَسِرْنَا، حَتَّى إِذَا فَرغَ رَسُوْلُ اللهِ ﷺ مِنْ غَزْوَتِهِ تِلْكَ، وَقَفَلَ، وَدَنَوْنَا مِنَ المَدِيْنَةِ، آذَنَ لَيْلَةً بِالرَّحِيْلِ، فَقُمْتُ حِيْنَئِذٍ (٢) ، فَمَشَيْتُ حَتَّى جَاوَزْتُ الجَيْشَ، فَلَمَّا قَضَيْتُ حَاجَتِي، أَقْبَلْتُ إِلَى رَحْلِي، فَإِذَا عِقْدٌ لِي مِنْ جَزْعِ ظَفَارٍ (٣) قَدِ انْقَطَعَ، فَالْتَمَسْتُهُ، وَحَبَسَنِي الْتِمَاسُهُ. وَأَقْبَلَ الرَّهْطُ الَّذِيْنَ كَانُوا يَرْحَلُوْنَ بِي (٤) ، فَاحْتَمَلُوا هَوْدَجِي، فَرَحَلُوْهُ عَلَى بَعِيْرِي، وَهُمْ يَحْسَبُوْنَ أَنِّي فِيْهِ، وَكَانَ النِّسَاءُ إِذْ ذَاكَ خِفَافاً لَمْ يُثْقِلْهُنَّ اللَّحْمُ (٥) ، إِنَّمَا يَأْكُلْنَ العُلْقَةَ (٦) مِنَ الطَّعَامِ، فَلَمْ يَسْتَنْكِرُوا خِفَّةَ المَحْمِلِ حِيْنَ رَفَعُوْهُ، وَكُنْتُ جَارِيَةً حَدِيْثَةَ السِّنِّ، فَبَعَثُوا الجَمَلَ، وَسَارُوا، فَوَجَدْتُ عِقْدِي بَعْدَ مَا اسْتَمَرَّ الجَيْشُ. فَجِئْتُ مَنَازِلَهُمْ وَلَيْسَ بِهَا دَاعٍ وَلاَ مُجِيْبٌ، فَأَمَّمْتُ (٧) مَنْزِلِي الَّذِي كُنْتُ فِيْهِ، وَظَنَنْتُ أَنَّهُمْ سَيَفْقِدُوْنِي، فَيَرْجِعُوْنَ إِلَيَّ. فَبَيْنَمَا أَنَا جَالِسَةٌ غَلَبَتْنِي عَيْنِي، فَنِمْتُ، وَكَانَ صَفْوَانُ بنُ المُعَطَّلِ السُّلَمِيُّ، ثُمَّ الذَّكْوَانِيُّ مِنْ وَرَاءِ الجَيْشِ، فَأَدْلَجَ، فَأَصْبَحَ عِنْدَ مَنْزِلِي، فَرَأَى سَوَادَ إِنْسَانٍ نَائِمٍ، فَأَتَانِي، فَعَرَفَنِي حِيْنَ

(١) في البخاري ومسلم والمسند " هودجي ". (٢) في البخاري ومسلم والمسند " حين أذنوا بالرحيل ". (٣) الجزع: خرز يماني، وظفار: قرية باليمن. (٤) هي رواية معمر، وحكى النووي عن أكثر نسخ صحيح مسلم: يرحلون لي، قال: وهو أجود، وقال غيره: بالباء أجود، لان المراد: وضعها وهي في الهودج، فشبهت الهودج الذي فيه بالرحل الذي يوضع على البعير. (٥) جملة " خفافا لم يثقلهن اللحم " سقطت من مطبوعة دمشق. (٦) العلقة بضم العين: كل ما يتبلغ به من العيش، وهي من الطعام اليسير منه. (٧) أممت: قصدت، وقد تحرفت في مطبوعة دمشق إلى " فأقمت ".