Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (3/475)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

101 – Abū ʿAsīb*
A freedman of the Prophet ﷺ who later settled in Basra and lived to a great age.
Imām Aḥmad included his narrations in the Musnad.¹
It is said that his personal name was Aḥmar.
He was known for righteousness and devoted worship.

Those who reported from him include Khāzim ibn al-Qāsim, Abū Nuṣayra Muslim ibn ʿUbayd, and his daughter Maymūna bint Abī ʿAsīb, who said:
“He would fast three days continuously, perform the mid-morning prayer (ḍuḥā) standing; when weakness overtook him he prayed it sitting; and he observed the fast of the three ‘white days.’”

She added, “He kept a small bell on his bed; when his voice failed him he would shake it to summon me, and as soon as he moved it I would come.”

Al-Tabūdhakī transmitted this from Maslama bint Zabbān, who said: “I heard Maymūna relate that.”²

Khāzim ibn al-Qāsim—according to what al-Tabūdhakī heard from him—said: “I saw Abū ʿAsīb dye his hair and beard yellow.”

Yazīd reported: “Abū Nuṣayra told us, ‘I heard Abū ʿAsīb say:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Gabriel came to me with fever and plague; I kept the fever in Medina and sent the plague to Syria.”’”³

(*) Ibn Saad, al-Tabaqat al-kubra, vol. 7, p. 61; Khalifa, al-Tabaqat, no. 28; al-Bukhari, al-Tarikh al-kabir, vol. 9, p. 61; Muslim, al-Kuna wa-l-asma, vol. 1, p. 44; Ibn Abi Hatim, al-Jarh wa-l-ta‘dil, vol. 9, p. 418; Abu Nuʿaym, Hilyat al-awliya, vol. 2, p. 27; Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, al-Istiʿab, p. 71; Ibn al-Athir, Usd al-ghabah, vol. 1, p. 67 and vol. 6, p. 214; al-Sakhawi, al-ʿIqd al-thamin, vol. 8, p. 72; Ibn Hajar, al-Isabah, vol. 4, p. 133. (1) Musnad Ahmad, vol. 5, p. 81. (2) Reported by Ibn Saad, al-Tabaqat, vol. 7, p. 61. Her words “he used to fast the bid” denote the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth of each lunar month, whose nights are called al-ayyam al-bid (white nights) because the moon is fully visible from dusk until dawn. (3) Reported by Ahmad, Musnad, vol. 5, p. 81, and by Ibn Saad, al-Tabaqat, vol. 7, p. 61. The continuation reads: “Plague is a martyrdom for my community and a mercy to them, but a punishment for the unbelievers.” The chain of transmission is sound.

١٠١ - أَبُو عَسِيْبٍ * مَوْلَى النَّبِيِّ ﷺ مِمَّنْ نَزَلَ البَصْرَةَ، وَطَالَ عُمُرُهُ. خَرَّجَ لَهُ الإِمَامُ أَحْمَدُ فِي (مُسْنَدِهِ (١)) . يُقَالُ: اسْمُهُ أَحْمَرُ. وَكَانَ مِنَ الصُّلَحَاءِ العُبَّادِ. حَدَّثَ عَنْهُ: خَازِمُ بنُ القَاسِمِ، وَأَبُو نُصَيْرَةَ مُسْلِمُ بنُ عُبَيْدٍ، وَمَيْمُوْنَةُ بِنْتُ أَبِي عَسِيْبٍ، وَقَالَتْ: يُوَاصِلُ بَيْنَ ثَلاَثٍ فِي الصِّيَامِ، وَيُصَلِّي الضُّحَى قَائِماً، فَعَجِزَ، فَكَانَ يُصَلِّي قَاعِداً، وَيَصُوْمُ البِيْضَ. قَالَتْ: وَكَانَ فِي سَرِيْرِهِ جُلْجُلٌ، فَيَعْجِزُ صَوْتُهُ، حَتَّى يُنَادِيَهَا بِهِ، فَإِذَا حَرَّكَهُ، جَاءتْ. رَوَى ذَلِكَ: التَّبُوْذَكِيُّ، عَنْ مَسْلَمَةَ بِنْتِ زَبَّانَ، سَمِعْتُ مَيْمُوْنَةَ بِذَلِكَ (٢) . وَقَالَ خَازِمُ بنُ القَاسِمِ - فِيمَا سَمِعَهُ مِنْهُ التَّبُوْذَكِيُّ -: رَأَيْتُ أَبَا عَسِيْبٍ يُصَفِّرُ رَأْسَهُ وَلِحْيَتَهُ. وَقَالَ يَزِيْدُ: أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو نُصَيْرَةَ: سَمِعْتُ أَبَا عَسِيْبٍ يَقُوْلُ: قَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللهِ ﷺ: (أَتَانِي جِبْرِيْلُ بِالحُمَّى وَالطَّاعُوْنِ، فَأَمْسَكْتُ الحُمَّى بِالمَدِيْنَةِ، وَأَرْسَلْتُ الطَّاعُوْنَ إِلَى الشَّامِ) (٣) .

(*) طبقات ابن سعد ٧ / ٦١، طبقات خليفة: ت ٢٨، التاريخ الكبير ٩ / ٦١، الكنى ١ / ٤٤، الجرح والتعديل ٩ / ٤١٨، الحلية ٢ / ٢٧، الاستيعاب: ٧١، أسد الغابة ١ / ٦٧ و٦ / ٢١٤، العقد الثمين ٨ / ٧٢، الإصابة ٤ / ١٣٣. (١) ٥ / ٨١. (٢) أخرجه ابن سعد ٧ / ٦١. وقولها: " ويصوم البيض " هي الثالث عشر، والرابع عشر، والخامس عشر، سميت لياليها بيضا، لان القمر يطلع فيها من أولها إلى آخرها. (٣) أخرجه أحمد ٥ / ٨١، وابن سعد ٧ / ٦١ وتمامه " فالطاعون شهادة لامتي ورحمة لهم، ورجس على الكفار " وإسناده صحيح.