Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (4/143)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

of the Arab frontier clans. He was offered safe-conduct, yet he declined it and advanced, sword in hand, until he was slain.

ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr said: “In the palace of Kūfa I saw the severed head of the martyr Ḥusayn, then the head of Ibn Ziyād, then the head of al-Mukhtār, and finally the head of Musʿab set before ʿAbd al-Malik.”

Musʿab was killed on the fifteenth of Jumādā al-Ūlā in the year 72 AH, at the age of forty.

Musʿab had marched out intending to seize Syria.

ʿAbd al-Malik moved against him, and a great battle took place between them at Dayr al-Jāthaliq, near ʿAwāna. (1) ʿAbd al-Malik had already written to a number of leading men, enticing them with promises and offering them the governorship of Iraq and of the Persian lands; they accepted, all save Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ashṭar. Ibrāhīm brought Musʿab the letter in which it was written: “If you pledge allegiance to me, I shall appoint you over Iraq.”

He said, “He has written to your own followers; heed my advice and strike off their heads.”

Musʿab replied, “Then their clans will be enraged.”

He said, “Then imprison them.”

Musʿab answered, “I am too preoccupied for that. May Allah have mercy on al-Aḥnaf, for he never ceased warning of the treachery of the Iraqis.”

It is also reported that Qays ibn al-Haytham said to them, “Woe to you! Do not admit the Syrians into your homes.”

Ibn al-Ashṭar advised putting Ziyād ibn ʿAmr and Mālik ibn Mismāʿ to death.

But when the two forces met, those men defected to ʿAbd al-Malik; ʿAttāb ibn Waraqāʾ fled, and they abandoned Musʿab. (2)

Ibn Qays al-Ruqayyāt then recited: (3)

= Tarikh Baghdad, 13/106; the words placed in brackets are taken from that source for the sake of clarification. The same report appears in al-Aghani, Dar edition, 19/131, where the name is given as ‘Asim instead of ‘Amir; the correct narrator is Abd Allah ibn Amir ibn Kurayz. (1) Dayr al-Jathaliq: an old, spacious monastery situated in the Maskan area near Baghdad on the western bank of the Tigris; it marks the frontier between the Sawad and the land of Tikrit. Awana: a small town with many orchards and trees, a popular picnic spot in the Dujayl district, ten farsakhs from Baghdad toward Tikrit; libertine poets often celebrate it in their verses (Mu‘jam al-Buldan). (2) For further details see al-Muwafaqiyyat, p. 557 ff., and al-Aghani, Dar edition, 19/123 ff. (3) The verses are cited in al-Muwafaqiyyat, p. 533; al-Kamil, 1/271-72 (reading: “bi-l-Taff yawma al-Taff shi‘a”); al-Aghani, Dar edition, 9/128 (readings: “tallahi law kanat la-hu” and “lawajadtumuhu hina yudlij”); and Mu‘jam al-Buldan, s.v. “Maskan” (reading: “hina ya‘du la yu‘arrisu bi-l-madyi‘a”).

ضَاحِيَةِ العَرَبِ، وَأُعْطِيَ الأَمَانَ، فَأَبَى، وَمَشَى بِسَيْفِهِ حَتَّى قُتِلَ. قَالَ عَبْدُ المَلِكِ بنُ عُمَيْرٍ: رَأَيْتُ بِقَصْرِ الكُوْفَةِ رَأْسَ الحُسَيْنِ الشَّهِيْدِ، ثُمَّ رَأْسَ ابْنِ زِيَادٍ، ثُمَّ رَأْسَ المُخْتَارِ، ثُمَّ رَأْسَ مُصْعَبٍ بَيْنَ يَدَي عَبْدِ المَلِكِ. قُتِلَ مُصْعَبٌ يَوْمَ نِصْفِ جُمَادَى الأُوْلَى، سَنَةَ اثْنَتَيْنِ وَسَبْعِيْنَ، وَلَهُ أَرْبَعُوْنَ سَنَةً. وَكَانَ مُصْعَبٌ قَدْ سَارَ لِيَأْخُذَ الشَّامَ. فَقَصَدَهُ عَبْدُ المَلِكِ، فَوَقَعَ بَيْنَهُمَا مَلْحَمَةٌ كُبْرَى بِدَيْرِ الجَاثَلِيْقِ، بِقُرْبِ أَوَانَا (١) ، وَكَانَ قَدْ كَاتَبَ عَبْدُ المَلِكِ جَمَاعَةً مِنَ الوُجُوْهِ، يُمَنِّيْهِمْ وَيَعِدُهُمْ إِمْرَةَ العِرَاقِ، وَإِمْرَةَ العَجَمِ، فَأَجَابُوْهُ، إِلاَّ إِبْرَاهِيْمَ بنَ الأَشْتَرِ، فَأَتَى مُصْعَباً بِكِتَابِهِ، وَفِيْهِ: إِنْ بَايَعْتَنِي، وَلَّيْتُكَ العِرَاقَ. وَقَالَ: قَدْ كَتَبَ إِلَى أَصْحَابِكَ، فَأَطِعْنِي، وَاضْرِبْ أَعْنَاقَهُمْ. قَالَ: إِذاً تَغْضَبُ عَشَائِرُهُمْ. قَالَ: فَاسْجُنْهُم. قَالَ: فَإِنِّي لَفِي شُغُلٍ عَنْ ذَلِكَ، يَرْحَمُ اللهُ الأَحْنَفَ، إِنْ كَانَ لَيُحَذِّرُ غَدْرَ العِرَاقِيِّيْنَ. وَقِيْلَ: قَالَ لَهُم قَيْسُ بنُ الهَيْثَمِ: وَيْحَكُمْ! لاَ تُدْخِلُوا أَهْلَ الشَّامِ عَلَيْكُم مَنَازِلَكُم. وَأَشَارَ ابْنُ الأَشْتَرِ بِقَتْلِ زِيَادِ بنِ عَمْرٍو، وَمَالكِ بنِ مِسْمَعٍ. فَلَمَّا الْتَقَى الجَمْعَانِ، لَحِقُوا بِعَبْدِ المَلِكِ، وَهَرَبَ عَتَّابُ بنُ وَرْقَاءَ، وَخَذَلُوا مُصْعَباً (٢) . فَقَالَ ابْنُ قَيْسِ الرُّقَيَّاتِ (٣) :

= " تاريخ بغداد " ١٣ / ١٠٦ وما بين حاصرتين منه، للايضاح. والخبر في " الاغاني " ط الدار ١٩ / ١٣١ وفيه (عاصم) بدل (عامر) والصحيح هو عبد الله بن عامر بن كريز. (١) دير الجاثليق: دير قديم رحب الفناء من ناحية مسكن قرب بغداد في غربي دجلة، وهو رأس الحد بين السواد وأرض تكريت. وأوانا: بليدة كثيرة البساتين والشجر، نزهة من نواحي دجيل، بينها وبين بغداد عشرة فراسخ من جهة تكريت، وكثيرا ما يذكرها الخلعاء في أشعارهم. اه. معجم البلدان. (٢) انظر التفاصيل في " الموفقيات " ص ٥٥٧ وما بعدها، و" الاغاني " ط الدار ١٩ / ١٢٣ وما بعدها. (٣) الأبيات في " الموفقيات " ص ٥٣٣ و" الكامل " ١ / ٢٧١ و٢٧٢ وروايته: " بالطف يوم الطف شيعة " و" الاغاني " ط الدار ٩ / ١٢٨ وروايته: " تالله لو كانت له " و" لوجد تموه حين يدلج " و" معجم البلدان " مادة (مسكن) وروايته: " حين يعدو لا يعرس بالمضيعة " =