Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (2/162)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Ibn Isḥāq said: Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm al-Taymī related to me:

Safwān b. al-Muʿaṭṭal had long been provoked by Ḥassān in connection with the affair of ʿĀʾishah. Alluding to him, Ḥassān composed these lines:

The cloak-wearers have grown in strength and number,
and Ibn al-Furayʿah has become the pride of the town.(1)

One night Safwān lay in wait for him as he was returning from the house of his maternal uncles, the Banū Sāʿidah. He struck him on the head with his sword. They then sought the aid(2) of Thābit b. Qays, who bound Safwān’s hands to his neck with a rope and led him to the quarter of Banū Ḥārithah.

Ibn Rawāḥah met them and asked, “What is this?”

He replied, “Why are you surprised? He attacked Ḥassān with a sword, and by Allah, I think he has killed him.”

Ibn Rawāḥah asked, “Does the Messenger of Allah ﷺ know what you have done to him?”

He answered, “No.”

Ibn Rawāḥah said, “By Allah, you have been rash. Release him, and tomorrow morning we shall go to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and inform him of the matter.”

So he let him go. When morning came, they went to the Prophet ﷺ and told him what had happened.

He said, “Where is Ibn al-Muʿaṭṭal?”

Safwān stood up and said, “Here I am, Messenger of Allah.”

He asked, “What moved you to do what you did?”

Safwān replied, “Messenger of Allah, he kept hurting me and went to excess; he would not stop until he lampooned me in verse. Anger overcame me. Here I am—whatever right is due from me, take it.”

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Call Ḥassān b. Thābit for me.”

He was brought, and the Prophet said, “O—

Note : The original manuscript misquotes the Qur’anic verse, writing aliman (“painful”) instead of aziman (“great”). Shaykh al-Abyari kept the wording as he found it, even though he documented the citation. (1) Here, jalabib means “the lower strata of society.” “Ibn al-Fari‘ah” is the kunya of the poet Hassan, al-Fari‘ah being his mother. The saying baydat al-balad (“the town’s egg”) is a proverbial image that can denote either honour or humiliation; the latter is meant here. Al-Azhari explains in Tahdhib, 2/85, that Hassan’s words imply: the rabble became powerful after their abasement and numerous after their fewness. Ibn al-Fari‘ah, although wealthy, was pushed aside and stripped of his inherited nobility and leadership; others took charge in his stead. He is likened to an ostrich egg laid in the wilderness and then abandoned, left forsaken in the open desert. (2) In other words, they appealed to him for help and support. The verb comes from ‘adwa, which signifies aid and victory. The manuscript, however, mistakenly reads fa-ta‘addaw.

ابْنُ إِسْحَاقَ: حَدَّثَنِي مُحَمَّدُ بنُ إِبْرَاهِيْمَ التَّيْمِيُّ، قَالَ: كَانَ صَفْوَانُ بنُ المُعَطَّلِ قَدْ كَثَّرَ عَلَيْهِ حَسَّانٌ فِي شَأْنِ عَائِشَةَ، وَقَالَ يُعَرِّضُ بِهِ: أَمْسَى الجَلاَبِيْبُ قَدْ عَزُّوا وَقَدْ كَثُرُوا ... وَابْنُ الفُرَيْعَةِ أَمْسَى بَيْضَةَ البَلَدِ (١) فَاعْتَرَضَهُ صَفْوَانُ لَيْلَةً وَهُوَ آتٍ مِنْ عِنْدِ أَخْوَالِهِ بَنِي سَاعِدَةَ، فَضَرَبَهُ بِالسَّيْفِ عَلَى رَأْسِهِ، فَاسْتَعْدَوْا (٢) عَلَيْهِ ثَابِتَ بنَ قَيْسٍ، فَجَمَعَ يَدَيْهِ إِلَى عُنُقِهِ بِحَبْلٍ، وَقَادَهُ إِلَى دَارِ بَنِي حَارِثَةَ. فَلَقِيَهُ ابْنُ رَوَاحَةَ، فَقَالَ: مَا هَذَا؟ فَقَالَ: مَا أَعْجَبَكَ، إِنَّهُ عَدَا عَلَى حَسَّانٍ بِالسَّيْفِ، فَوَاللهِ مَا أُرَاهُ إِلاَّ قَدْ قَتَلَهُ. فَقَالَ: هَلْ عَلِمَ رَسُوْلُ اللهِ ﷺ بِمَا صَنَعْتَ بِهِ؟ فَقَالَ: لاَ. فَقَالَ: وَاللهِ لَقَدِ اجْتَرَأْتَ، خَلِّ سَبِيْلَهُ، فَسَنَغْدُو عَلَى رَسُوْلِ اللهِ ﷺ فَنُعْلِمَهُ أَمْرَهُ. فَخَلَّى سَبِيْلَهُ، فَلَمَّا أَصْبَحُوا غَدَوْا عَلَى النَّبِيِّ ﷺ فَذَكَرُوا لَهُ ذَلِكَ. فَقَالَ: (أَينَ ابْنُ المُعَطَّلِ؟) . فَقَامَ إِلَيْهِ، فَقَالَ: هَا أَنَا ذَا يَا رَسُوْلَ اللهِ. فَقَالَ: (مَا دَعَاكَ إِلَى مَا صَنَعْتَ؟) . قَالَ: آذَانِي يَا رَسُوْلَ اللهِ، وَكَثَّرَ عَلَيَّ، وَلَمْ يَرْضَ حَتَّى عَرَّضَ بِي فِي الهِجَاءِ، فَاحْتَمَلَنِي الغَضَبُ، وَهَا أَنَا ذَا، فَمَا كَانَ عَلَيَّ مِنْ حَقٍّ، فَخُذْنِي بِهِ. فَقَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللهِ ﷺ: (ادْعُوا لِي حَسَّانَ بنَ ثَابِتٍ) . فَأُتِيَ بِهِ، فَقَالَ: (يَا

= تنبيه: وقع في الأصل خطأ في الآية، فقد جاء فيه " أليم " بدل " عظيم " وأبقاه الأستاذ الابياري كما هو ولم يصلحه مع أنه خرج الآية. (١) أراد بالجلابيب: سفل الناس، وابن الفريعة: كنية حسان، والفريعة أمه، وبيضة البلد: يضرب مثلا في العزة أو الذلة، والثاني هو المراد هنا. قال الازهري في التهذيب ٢ / ٨٥: ومعنى قول حسان: إن سفلة الناس عزوا بعد ذلتهم، وكثروا بعد قلتهم. وابن الفريعة الذي كان ذا ثروة وثراء، فقد أخر عن كريم شرفه وسؤدده، واستبد بالامر دونه، فهو بمنزلة بيضة البلد التي تبيضها النعامة، ثم تتركها بالفلاة فلا تحضنها، فتبقى تريكة بالفلاة. (٢) أي: استنصروه واستعانوا به، من العدوى: وهي النصرة والمعونة وفي الأصل: فتعدوا.