Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (3/135)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

and of Chosroes—yet you take Muʿāwiyah to task?

ʿAmr b. Yaḥyā b. Saʿīd al-Umawī relates, through his grandfather: Muʿāwiyah once came in to ʿUmar wearing a green robe, and the Companions could not help but gaze at it. ʿUmar leapt toward him with his whip, while Muʿāwiyah kept pleading, “For Allah’s sake, Commander of the Believers! Why, why?” ʿUmar did not answer him until he had withdrawn. The Companions then asked, “Why did you strike him, when no one among your people is his equal?” He replied, “I have never seen or heard anything about him except good, but I saw him”—and here he gestured with his hand—“and I wanted to bring him down a peg (1).”

Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal said: Caesarea was conquered in the year 19 AH, and its commander was Muʿāwiyah (2).

Yazīd b. ʿUbaydah said: Muʿāwiyah raided Cyprus in the year 25 AH (3).

Al-Zuhrī said: ʿUthmān removed ʿUmayr b. Saʿd and consolidated all of Syria under Muʿāwiyah. He also said: Muʿāwiyah did not become the sole governor of Syria until ʿUthmān assumed the caliphate.

Saʿīd b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz—on the authority of Ismāʿīl b. ʿUbayd Allāh, from Qays b. al-Ḥārith, from al-Ṣunābiḥī, from Abū al-Dardāʾ—said: “I have never seen anyone whose prayer resembled the prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ more than this governor of yours,” meaning Muʿāwiyah (4).

Wakīʿ reports—from al-Aʿmash, from Abū Ṣāliḥ—that the camel-driver would chant before ʿUthmān:

(1) Quoted by Ibn Kathir, 8/125, who adds at the end: "ma shamakha" (he did not act arrogantly). (2) Abu Zurʿa, Tarikh Dimashq, 1/179. (3) Reported by Abu Zurʿa, Tarikh Dimashq, 1/184, through the chain: al-Walid ibn ʿUtba → al-Walid ibn Muslim → ʿUthman ibn Hisn ibn ʿAlaq → Yazid ibn ʿUbayda. (4) All the transmitters are reliable. In the printed edition, the name ʿUbayda was misprinted as ʿAbd, and “al-Sanabihi” appears erroneously as “al-Danabihi”. Al-Sanabihi is ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn ʿUsayla al-Muradi, Abu ʿAbd Allah, a trustworthy senior member of the tabiʿin; he reached Madinah five days after the Prophet’s death and died during the caliphate of ʿAbd al-Malik.

وَكِسْرَى، وَتَدَعُوْنَ مُعَاوِيَةَ؟ عَمْرُو بنُ يَحْيَى بنِ سَعِيْدٍ الأُمَوِيُّ: عَنْ جَدِّهِ، قَالَ: دَخَلَ مُعَاوِيَةُ عَلَى عُمَرَ وَعَلَيْهِ حُلَّةٌ خَضْرَاءُ، فَنَظَرَ إِلَيْهَا الصَّحَابَةُ. قَالَ: فَوَثَبَ إِلَيْهِ عُمَرُ بِالدِّرَّةِ، وَجَعَلَ يَقُوْلُ: اللهَ اللهَ يَا أَمِيْرَ المُؤْمِنِيْنَ! فِيْمَ فِيْمَ؟ فَلَمْ يُكَلِّمْهُ حَتَّى رَجَعَ. فَقَالُوا: لِمَ ضَرَبْتُهُ، وَمَا فِي قَوْمِكَ مِثْلُهُ؟ قَالَ: مَا رَأَيْتُ وَمَا بَلَغَنِي إِلاَّ خَيْراً، وَلَكِنَّهُ رَأَيْتُهُ - وَأَشَارَ بِيَدِهِ - فَأَحْبَبْتُ أَنْ أَضَعَ مِنْهُ (١) . قَالَ أَحْمَدُ بنُ حَنْبَلٍ: فُتِحَتْ قَيْسَارِيَّةُ سَنَةَ تِسْعَ عَشْرَةَ، وَأَمِيْرُهَا مُعَاوِيَةُ (٢) . قَالَ يَزِيْدُ بنُ عَبِيْدَةَ: غَزَا مُعَاوِيَةُ قُبْرُصَ سَنَةَ خَمْسٍ وَعِشْرِيْنَ (٣) . وَقَالَ الزُّهْرِيُّ: نَزَعَ عُثْمَانُ عُمَيْرَ بنَ سَعْدٍ، وَجَمَعَ الشَّامَ لِمُعَاوِيَةَ. وَعَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، قَالَ: لَمْ يَنْفَرِدْ مُعَاوِيَةُ بِالشَّامِ حَتَّى اسْتُخْلِفَ عُثْمَانُ. سَعِيْدُ بنُ عَبْدِ العَزِيْزِ: عَنْ إِسْمَاعِيْلَ بنِ عُبَيْدِ اللهِ، عَنْ قَيْسِ بنِ الحَارِثِ، عَنِ الصُّنَابِحِيِّ، عَنْ أَبِي الدَّرْدَاءِ، قَالَ: مَا رَأَيْتُ أَشْبَهَ صَلاَةً بِرَسُوْلِ اللهِ ﷺ مِنْ أَمِيْرِكُم هَذَا -يَعْنِي: مُعَاوِيَةَ (٤) -. وَكِيْعٌ: عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ أَبِي صَالِحٍ، قَالَ: كَانَ الحَادِي يَحْدُو بِعُثْمَانَ:

(١) ذكره ابن كثير ٨ / ١٢٥، وزاد في آخره: ما شمخ. (٢) " تاريخ دمشق " لأبي زرعة ١ / ١٧٩. (٣) أخرجه أبو زرعة ١ / ١٨٤ في " تاريخ دمشق " من طريق الوليد بن عتبة، عن الوليد بن مسلم، عن عثمان بن حصن بن علاق، عن يزيد بن عبيدة.. (٤) رجاله ثقات. وقد تحرف في المطبوع " عبيد ". إلى " عبد "، والصنابحي - وقد تصحف في المطبوع إلى " الضنابحي " -: هو عبد الرحمن بن عسيلة المرادي أبو عبد الله ثقة من كبار التابعين، قدم المدينة بعد موت النبي ﷺ بخمسة أيام، مات في خلافة عبد الملك.