Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (2/524)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

It is also said that, in the pre-Islamic period, his teknonym was Abū Bashīr.

Ibn Abī Ḥātim records that Kaʿb was one of the People of the Bench and that he lost his eyesight during the caliphate of Muʿāwiyah.⦗1⦘

ʿUrwah lists him among the seventy who attended the pact of al-ʿAqabah.

Ṣadaqah ibn Sābiq, transmitting from Ibn Isḥāq, relates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ established a bond of brotherhood between Ṭalḥah ibn ʿUbayd Allah and Kaʿb ibn Mālik. Others say that he rather paired Kaʿb with al-Zubayr.

Hammād ibn Salamah reports—through Hishām ibn ʿUrwah, from his father—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did in fact make al-Zubayr and Kaʿb ibn Mālik brothers. Kaʿb was carried off wounded on the Day of Uḥud, and al-Zubayr came leading him. Had Kaʿb died that day, al-Zubayr would have inherited from him; whereupon Allah revealed: “But those bound by blood are nearer to one another in the Book of Allah” (Qurʾān 8:75).⦗2⦘⦗3⦘

Kaʿb himself relates: “When we broke ranks on the Day of Uḥud, I was the first to recognize the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and to proclaim to the believers that he was alive and unharmed, while I was in the mountain pass. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then called for Kaʿb’s suit of armor, which was yellow. Kaʿb put it on and fought with great valor that day until he sustained seventeen wounds.”⦗4⦘

(1) Ibn Abi Hatim, al-Jarh wa al-Taʿdil, vol. 7, pp. 160–161. (2) al-irtithath: carrying a wounded combatant out of the battlefield when he is weak and badly injured. (3) All the transmitters in its chain are reliable; Ibn Kathir recorded a similar wording (3:468) through Ibn Abi Hatim, from his father, from Ahmad b. Abi Bakr al-Musʿabi, from ʿAbd al-Rahman b. Abi al-Zinad, from Hisham b. ʿUrwah, from his father, from al-Zubayr b. al-ʿAwwam. Al-Suyuti cited it in al-Durr al-Manthur (3:207) and further attributed it to Ibn Saʿd, al-Hakim, and Ibn Mardawayh. (4) Ibn Hisham, al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah, vol. 2, p. 43; al-Hakim al-Naysaburi, al-Mustadrak, 3:441.

وَقِيْلَ: كَانَتْ كُنْيَتُهُ فِي الجَاهِلِيَّةِ أَبَا بَشِيْرٍ. وَقَالَ ابْنُ أَبِي حَاتَمٍ: كَانَ كَعْبٌ مِنْ أَهْلِ الصُّفَّةِ، وَذَهَبَ بَصَرُهُ فِي خِلاَفَةِ مُعَاوِيَةَ (١) . وَقَدْ ذَكَرَهُ عُرْوَةُ فِي السَّبْعِيْنَ الَّذِيْنَ شَهِدُوا العَقَبَةَ. وَرَوَى: صَدَقَةُ بنُ سَابِقٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ إِسْحَاقَ، قَالَ: آخَى رَسُوْلُ اللهِ ﷺ بَيْنَ طَلْحَةَ بنِ عُبَيْدِ اللهِ، وَكَعْبِ بنِ مَالِكٍ. وَقِيْلَ: بَلْ آخَى بَيْنَ كَعْبٍ وَالزُّبَيْرِ. حَمَّادُ بنُ سَلَمَةَ: عَنْ هِشَامِ بنِ عُرْوَةَ، عَنْ أَبِيْهِ: أَنَّ رَسُوْلَ اللهِ ﷺ آخَى بَيْنَ الزُّبَيْرِ وَكَعْبِ بنِ مَالِكٍ، فَارْتُثَّ (٢) كَعْبٌ يَوْمَ أُحُدٍ، فَجَاءَ بِهِ الزُّبَيْرُ يَقُوْدُهُ، وَلَو مَاتَ يَوْمَئِذٍ لَوَرِثَهُ الزُّبَيْرُ، فَأَنْزَلَ اللهُ: ﴿وَأُولُو الأَرْحَامِ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلَى بِبَعْضٍ فِي كِتَابِ اللهِ﴾ [الأَنْفَالُ (٣) : ٧٥] . وَعَنْ كَعْبٍ: لَمَّا انْكَشَفْنَا يَوْمَ أُحُدٍ، كُنْتُ أَوَّلَ مَنْ عَرَفَ رَسُوْلُ اللهِ ﷺ وَبَشَّرْتُ بِهِ المُؤْمِنِيْنَ حَيّاً سَوِيّاً، وَأَنَا فِي الشِّعْبِ، فَدَعَا رَسُوْلُ اللهِ ﷺ كَعْباً بِلأْمَتِهِ، وَكَانَتْ صَفْرَاءَ، فَلَبِسَهَا كَعْبٌ، وَقَاتَلَ يَوْمَئِذٍ قِتَالاً شَدِيْداً حَتَّى جُرِحَ سَبْعَةَ عَشَرَ جُرْحاً (٤) .

(١) " الجرح والتعديل " ٧ / ١٦٠، ١٦١. (٢) الارتثاث: أن يحمل الجريح من المعركة وهو ضعيف، قد أثخنته الجراح. (٣) رجاله ثقات، وأورده ابن كثير بنحوه ٣ / ٤٦٨ من طريق ابن أبي حاتم عن أبيه، عن أحمد بن أبي بكر المصعبي، عن عبد الرحمن بن أبي الزناد عن هشام بن عروة، عن أبيه، عن الزبير بن العوام ... وذكره السيوطي في " الدر المنثور " ٣ / ٢٠٧ وزاد نسبته إلى ابن سعد والحاكم وابن مردويه. (٤) " سيرة ابن هشام " ٢ / ٤٣، والمستدرك ٣ / ٤٤١.