Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (سيرة 1/132)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Abu Yaksum was the king who led the People of the Elephant.

Ibn Ishaq said: Yahya ibn ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr told me, on the authority of his father, from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr, who said:

I asked him, “What is the gravest thing you ever saw Quraysh do to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in the open hostility they showed him?” He replied:

I was present one day when their nobles had gathered in the Hijr, and they began to speak of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. They said, “We have never endured from anyone what we have endured from this man. He has mocked our understanding, reviled our gods, and done this and that.”

While they were saying this, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ appeared, touched the Corner of the Kaʿbah, and started to circle the House. Each time he passed by them they hurled some taunt at him, and I could see it in his face. The first time he bore it; the second time they repeated it; the third time likewise. Then he stopped and said, “Listen, people of Quraysh! By Him in whose hand is my soul, I have come to you with slaughter.”

His words so overawed them that not a man among them moved, as though a bird were perched on each of their heads. Even the one who had been harshest toward him now soothed him with the kindest words he could find, saying, “Go on your way, Abu al-Qasim; by Allah, you have never been a foolish man.” The Prophet ﷺ then departed.

The next morning they again assembled in the Hijr, and I was with them. One of them said to the rest, “You recall what you have suffered and what you have heard from him, yet when he confronted you with what you detest you let him be.” As they were talking, the Prophet ﷺ appeared. They sprang at him in a single rush, surrounded him, and said, “Are you the one who says such-and-such?” He answered, “Yes.”

I saw one of them seize the collar of his cloak. Abu Bakr stepped between them, weeping and saying, “Will you kill a man because he says, ‘My Lord is Allah’?” [Ghafir 40:28]. They then left the Prophet and went away.

Some members of Abu Bakr’s household later told me that Umm Kulthum bint Abi Bakr said, “That day Abu Bakr came home with a split wound on his scalp, for they had yanked him by his beard—and he had thick hair.”

أبو يكسوم: ملك أصحاب الفيل. وقال ابن إسحاق: فحدثني يحيى بن عروة بن الزبير، عن أبيه، عن عبد الله بن عمرو، قال: قلت له: ما أكثر ما رأيت أصابت قريش من رسول الله ﷺ فيما كانوا يظهرون من عداوته؟ قال: حضرتهم وقد اجتمع أشرافهم يوما في الحجر, فذكروا رسول الله ﷺ فقالوا: ما رأينا مثل ما صبرنا عليه من أمر هذا الرجل قط، قد سفه أحلامنا، وسب آلهتنا, وفعل وفعل. فطلع عليهم رسول الله ﷺ، فاستلم الركن وطاف بالبيت، فلما مر غمزوه ببعض القول، فعرفت ذلك في وجهه، فلما مر الثانية غمزوه، فلما مر الثالثة غمزوه، فوقف, فقال: "أتسمعون يا معشر قريش، أما والذي نفسي بيده لقد جئتكم بالذبح". قال: فأخذت القوم كلمته حتى ما فيهم رجل إلا كأن على رأسه طائرا واقع، حتى إن أشدهم فيه وطأة ليرفؤه بأحسن ما يجد من القول، حتى إنه ليقول: انصرف يا أبا القاسم، فوالله ما كنت جهولا. فانصرف ﷺ حتى إذا كان من الغد اجتمعوا في الحجر، وأنا معهم، فقال بعضهم لبعض: ذكرتم ما بلغ منكم وما بلغكم عنه، حتى إذا بادأكم بما تكرهون تركتموه. فبينا هم في ذلك، إذ طلع النبي ﷺ فوثبوا إليه وثبة رجل واحد، فأحاطوا به يقولون: أنت الذي تقول كذا وكذا؟ فيقول: "نعم". فلقد رأيت رجلا منهم أخذ بمجمع ردائه، فقام أبو بكر دونهم يبكي ويقول: ﴿أَتَقْتُلُونَ رَجُلًا أَنْ يَقُولَ رَبِّيَ اللَّهُ﴾ [غافر: ٢٨] ، ثم انصرفوا عنه، فحدثني بعض آل أبي بكر، أن أم كلثوم بنت أبي بكر قالت: لقد رجع أبو بكر يومئذ وقد صدعوا فرق رأسه مما جذبوه بلحيته، وكان كثير الشعر.