Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (2/529)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

until he went on to say: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade the people to speak to us—those three of us—(1). So I would go out to the marketplace, yet no one would address me. People became so estranged from us that they were no longer the folk we had known; even the very walls and the ground themselves felt unfamiliar. I would wander about and then enter the mosque, greet the Prophet ﷺ, and ask myself, “Did his lips move in reply to my salām?”

My two companions (2) were broken-hearted; they wept night and day, never lifting their heads.

One day, while I was walking through the market, a Christian arrived carrying food and calling, “Who will direct me to Kaʿb?” When they pointed me out, he handed me a letter from the king of Ghassān. It read:

“To proceed: It has reached me that your companion has shunned and banished you. You are not in a land of neglect or humiliation. Come to us and we shall honour you.”

I stoked up the oven and burned the letter.

He continued: Then I heard a herald’s voice from the heights of Salʿ (3) crying, “Rejoice, Kaʿb ibn Mālik!” I fell down in prostration. A man on horseback soon arrived with the same glad tidings, but the sound of the herald had outstripped the horse. I rewarded him for his news with my two garments and put on others in their place.

Our repentance was revealed to the Prophet ﷺ in the last third of the night. Umm Salamah said, “Prophet of Allah, shall we not announce the news to Kaʿb?” He replied, “If you do, people will crush around you and keep you from sleep.”

Kaʿb said: So I went to the Prophet ﷺ and found him sitting in the mosque, surrounded by the Muslims, his face radiant like the full moon. He said, “Rejoice, Kaʿb, in the finest day that has ever come to you…"

(1) The formula ayyuhal-thalatha (O you three) carries a nominative ending yet functions as an accusative of specification (ikhtisas); in other words, it singles them out from everyone else. (2) They are Murara ibn al-Rabi al-Umari and Hilal ibn Umayya al-Waqifi. (3) Salaʿ is a mountain in Medina.

إِلَى أَنْ قَالَ: وَنَهَى رَسُوْلُ اللهِ ﷺ النَّاسَ عَنْ كَلاَمِنَا أَيُّهَا الثَّلاَثَةُ (١) ، فَجَعَلْتُ أَخْرُجُ إِلَى السُّوْقِ، فَلاَ يُكَلِّمُنِي أَحَدٌ، وَتَنَكَّرَ لَنَا النَّاسُ حَتَّى مَا هُمْ بِالَّذِيْنَ نَعْرِفُ، وَتَنَكَّرَتْ لَنَا الحِيْطَانُ وَالأَرْضُ، وَكُنْتُ أَطُوْفُ وَآتِي المَسْجِدَ، فَأَدْخُلُ وَآتِي النَّبِيَّ ﷺ فَأُسَلِّمُ عَلَيْهِ، فَأَقُوْلُ: هَلْ حَرَّكَ شَفَتَيْهِ بِالسَّلاَمِ. وَاسْتَكَانَ صَاحِبَايَ (٢) ، فَجَعَلا يَبْكِيَانِ اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ، لاَ يُطْلِعَانِ رُؤُوْسَهُمَا. فَبَيْنَا أَنَا أَطُوْفُ فِي السُّوْقِ، إِذَا بِنَصْرَانِيٍّ جَاءَ بِطَعَامٍ يَقُوْلُ: مَنْ يَدُلُّ عَلَى كَعْبٍ؟ فَدَلُّوهُ عَلَيَّ، فَأَتَانِي بِصَحِيْفَةٍ مِنْ مَلِكِ غَسَّانَ، فَإِذَا فِيْهَا: أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَإِنَّهُ بَلَغَنِي أَنَّ صَاحِبَكَ قَدْ جَفَاكَ، وَأَقْصَاكَ، وَلَسْتَ بِدَارٍ مَضْيَعَةٍ، وَلاَ هَوَانٍ، فَالْحَقْ بِنَا نُوَاسِكَ. فَسَجَرْتُ لَهَا التَّنُّورَ، وَأَحْرَقْتُهَا. إِلَى أَنْ قَالَ: إِذْ سَمِعْتُ نِدَاءً مِنْ ذُرْوَةِ سَلْعٍ (٣) : أَبْشِرْ يَا كَعْبَ بنَ مَالِكٍ، فَخَرَرْتُ سَاجِداً، ثُمَّ جَاءَ رَجُلٌ عَلَى فَرَسٍ يُبَشِّرُنِي، فَكَانَ الصَّوْتُ أَسْرَعُ مِنْ فَرَسِهِ، فَأَعْطَيْتُهُ ثَوْبَيَّ بِشَارَةً، وَلَبِسْتُ غَيْرَهُمَا. وَنَزَلَتْ تَوْبَتُنَا عَلَى النَّبِيِّ ﷺ ثُلُثَ اللَّيْلِ، فَقَالَتْ أُمُّ سَلَمَةَ: يَا نَبِيَّ اللهِ أَلاَ نُبَشِّرُ كَعْباً، قَالَ: (إِذاً يَحْطُمُكُمُ النَّاسُ وَيَمْنَعُوْنَكُمُ النَّوْمَ) . قَالَ: فَانْطَلَقْتُ إِلَى النَّبِيِّ ﷺ فَإِذَا هُوَ جَالِسٌ فِي المَسْجِدِ، وَحَوْلَهُ المُسْلِمُوْنَ، وَهُوَ يَسْتَنِيْرُ كَاسْتِنَارَةِ القَمَرِ، فَقَالَ: أَبْشِرْ يَا كَعْبُ بِخَيْرِ يَوْمٍ أَتَى

(١) أيها الثلاثة: مبني على الضم في محل نصب على الاختصاص، أي، متخصصين بذلك دون بقية الناس. (٢) وهما مرارة بن الربيع العمري، وهلال بن أمية الواقفي. (٣) سلع: جبل بالمدينة.