Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (3/105)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Al-Waqidi said: Dawud ibn Qays, Malik, and a number of others narrated to us:

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent Abu ʿUbaydah at the head of an expedition in which there were both Emigrants and Helpers, three hundred men in all, to the sea-coast, against a clan of Juhaynah. They were overtaken by severe hunger, so Abu ʿUbaydah ordered the provisions to be pooled; they were collected until the men were dividing a single date among themselves.

Qays ibn Saʿd said, “Who will buy dates from me for slaughter-camels? Give me the camels here and I shall settle the dates with him in Medina.” ʿUmar kept saying, “How astonishing is this youth! He is taking on debt (1) with someone else’s wealth.”

Qays then met a man from Juhaynah and bargained with him. The man said, “I do not recognise you.” He replied, “I am Qays ibn Saʿd ibn ʿUbādah ibn Dulaym.” The man said, “Indeed, I know your lineage well! There is a bond between me and Saʿd, the chief of the people of Yathrib.” He accordingly bought from him five she-camels, each camel for one wasq (2) of dates, and had several men witness the agreement.

ʿUmar said, “I will not testify; this man is contracting a debt yet owns no property— the wealth belongs to his father.” The Juhayni answered, “By Allah, Saʿd would never leave his son in want over a load of dates, and I see a goodly face before me.” He then slaughtered the camels for them at three separate halts.

When the fourth day arrived, their commander forbade him, saying, “Do you want to destroy your credit when you have no wealth? (3)”

He said (4): Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Sahl told me, from his father, from Rafiʿ ibn Khadij, who said: News reached Saʿd of the famine that had struck the company, so he said, “If Qays is as

(1) Al-Maghazi and Ibn ʿAsakir read the verb as adan; like dan and istadan, it means “to incur a debt, to borrow.” (2) Ibn ʿAsakir’s version has bi-wasqayn (“two wasqs,” i.e., two standard loads of grain). (3) The account is found at greater length in al-Waqidi’s Maghazi, 2/774–775; the passages placed in square brackets are taken from there. Ibn ʿAsakir also transmits it (14/228). The expression liyukhni means “to grant him protection and safeguard his covenant,” from the idiom akhna ʿalayhi al-dahr (“time destroyed him”); the printed edition mistakenly reads liyajni with a jīm. The phrase fi shaqatin min tamr denotes “a strip cut from a mass of dates.” Al-Maghazi, however, records suqah with a sīn, a dialectal form of wasq (a standard load), parallel to ʿiddah (from waʿd), zinah (from wazn), and riqqah (from waraq); here the final h replaces the original w. (4) That is, al-Waqidi; see his Maghazi, 2/775–776. Ibn ʿAsakir likewise cites it (14/228 b).

وَقَالَ الوَاقِدِيُّ: حَدَّثَنَا دَاوُدُ بنُ قَيْسٍ، وَمَالِكٌ، وَطَائِفَةٌ، قَالُوا: بَعَثَ رَسُوْلُ اللهِ ﷺ أَبَا عُبَيْدَةَ فِي سَرِيَّةٍ فِيْهَا المُهَاجِرُوْنَ وَالأَنْصَارُ، وَهُم ثَلاَثُ مائَةٍ، إِلَى سَاحِلِ البَحْرِ، إِلَى حَيٍّ مِنْ جُهَيْنَةَ، فَأَصَابَهُم جُوْعٌ شَدِيْدٌ. فَأَمَرَ أَبُو عُبَيْدَةَ بِالزَّادِ، فَجُمِعَ؛ حَتَّى كَانُوا يَقْتَسِمُوْنَ التَّمْرَةَ. فَقَالَ قَيْسُ بنُ سَعْدٍ: مَنْ يَشْتَرِي مِنِّي تَمْراً بِجُزُرٍ، يُوَفِّيْنِي الجُزُرَ هَا هُنَا، وَأُوَفِّيْهِ التَّمْرَ بِالمَدِيْنَةِ. فَجَعَلَ عُمَرُ يَقُوْلُ: يَا عَجَباً لِهَذَا الغُلاَمِ، يَدِيْنُ (١) فِي مَالِ غَيْرِهِ. فَوَجَدَ رَجُلاً مِنْ جُهَيْنَةَ، فَسَاوَمَهُ، فَقَالَ: مَا أَعْرِفُكَ! قَالَ: أَنَا قَيْسُ بنُ سَعْدِ بنِ عُبَادَةَ بنِ دُلَيْمٍ. فَقَالَ: مَا أَعْرَفَنِي بِنَسَبِكَ، أَمَا إِنَّ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ سَعْدٍ خُلَّةً، سَيِّدُ أَهْلِ يَثْرِبَ. فَابْتَاعَ مِنْهُ خَمْسَ جَزَائِرَ، كُلُّ جَزُوْرٍ بِوَسْقٍ (٢) مِنْ تَمْرٍ، وَأَشْهَدَ لَهُ نَفَراً. فَقَالَ عُمَرُ: لاَ أَشْهَدُ، هَذَا يَدِيْنُ وَلاَ مَالَ لَهُ، إِنَّمَا المَالُ لأَبِيْهِ. فَقَالَ الجُهَنِيُّ: وَاللهِ مَا كَانَ سَعْدٌ لِيُخْنِيَ بِابْنِهِ فِي شِقَّةٍ مِنْ تَمْرٍ، وَأَرَى وَجْهاً حَسَناً، فَنَحَرَهَا لَهُم فِي ثَلاَثَةِ مَوَاطِنَ. فَلَمَّا كَانَ فِي اليَوْمِ الرَّابِعِ، نَهَاهُ أَمِيْرُهُ، وَقَالَ: تُرِيْدُ أَنْ تُخْرِبَ ذِمَّتَكَ وَلاَ مَالَ لَكَ (٣) ! قَالَ (٤) : فَحَدَّثَنِي مُحَمَّدُ بنُ يَحْيَى بنِ سَهْلٍ، عَنْ أَبِيْهِ، عَنْ رَافِعِ بنِ خَدِيْجٍ، قَالَ: بَلَغَ سَعْداً مَا أَصَابَ القَوْمَ مِنَ المَجَاعَةِ، فَقَالَ: إِنْ يَكُ قَيْسٌ كَمَا

(١) وفي " المغازي " وابن عساكر: " ادان " وهما بمعنى، يقال: دان واستدان وادان: إذا أخد الدين واقترض. (٢) في ابن عساكر: " بوسقين ". (٣) هو في " مغازي الواقدي " ٢ / ٧٧٤، ٧٧٥ بأطول مما هنا، وما بين حاصرتين منه، وأخرجه ابن عساكر ١٤ / ٢٢٨، وقوله: " ليخني " أي: يسلمه ويخفر ذمته، من أخنى عليه الدهر، وقد تصحف في المطبوع إلى " ليجني " بالجيم. وقوله: " في شقة من تمر " أي: قطعة تشق منه، وفي " المغازي " " سقة " بالسين: أي: الوسق مثل العدة في الوعد، والزنة في الوزن، والرقة في الورق، والهاء فيه عوض من الواو. (٤) أي: الواقدي، وهو في " مغازيه " ٢ / ٧٧٥، ٧٧٦، وأخرجه ابن عساكر ١٤ / ٢٢٨ / ب.