Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (4/148)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

When he drowned, word reached his mother, and she said: “When I gave birth to him, it was as though a tongue of fire shot out of me, so I knew that only water could extinguish it.” (1)

About the same time Ṣāliḥ ibn Musarraḥ, the devout Tamīmī, rose in revolt at Dārā (2). He had followers to whom he taught law, narrated stories, and—in true Khārijite fashion—reviled ʿUthmān and ʿAlī. He used to say:
“Ready yourselves to fight the tyrants! Do not shrink from being killed for Allah’s sake, for being killed is easier than dying, and death is unavoidable.”

A letter then came to him from Shabīb, stating: “You are the shaykh of the Muslims, and we will set no one above you. I have answered your summons. Lifespans ebb and flow morning and evening, and I cannot be sure that death will not snatch me away before I have fought the wrong-doers. What a loss that would be—what merit left unclaimed! May Allah make us of those who seek Him through their deeds.”

Thereupon he, his brother Muṣād (3), al-Muḥallil ibn Wāʾil (3), Ibrāhīm ibn Ḥajar, and al-Faḍl ibn ʿĀmir al-Dhuhlī set out for Ṣāliḥ. Their number became one hundred and ten men. They swooped down on a cavalry detachment belonging to Muḥammad ibn Marwān, seized the horses, and their strength increased.

ʿAdī ibn ʿAdī ibn ʿUmayrah al-Kindī marched out against them. The forces met, ʿAdī was routed, and after a time Ṣāliḥ died of his wounds in the year 96 AH.

Command passed to Shabīb. He routed the armies, the peril grew, he burst into Kūfa, and killed a group of its notable men.

Al-Ḥajjāj assigned Zāʾida ibn Qudāmah al-Thaqafī to fight him. They met; Zāʾida was killed. Ghazāla entered the Great Mosque of Kūfa, performed the devotional prayers she had vowed, ascended the pulpit, and fulfilled her pledge.

Shabīb defeated al-Ḥajjāj’s troops repeatedly, killed a number of leading men, and even ʿAbd

(1) al-Tabari, Tarikh, vol. 6, p. 282. (2) Dara: a town lying on a mountain slope between Nisibin and Mardin in the Jazira region, famous for its orchards and flowing water. It was the camp of Dara b. Dara, son of the Sasanian king Qubadh; when he confronted Alexander the Macedonian, Alexander killed him, married his daughter, and on the site of the camp founded this city, giving it his name (Muʿjam al-Buldan). (3) The manuscript spells the word with the dotted consonant, but we follow the reading found in al-Tabari and Ibn al-Athir.

وَلَمَّا غَرِقَ، قِيْلَ لأُمِّهِ، فَقَالَتْ: لَمَّا وَلَدْتُهُ، رَأَيْتُ كَأَنَّهُ خَرَجَ مِنِّي شِهَابُ نَارٍ، فَعَلِمْتُ أَنَّهُ لاَ يُطْفِئُهُ إِلاَ المَاءُ (١) . وَكَانَ قَدْ خَرَجَ صَالِحُ بنُ مُسَرِّحٌ العَابِدُ التَّمِيْمِيُّ بِدَارَا (٢) ، وَلَهُ أَصْحَابٌ يُفَقِّهُهُم، وَيَقُصُّ عَلَيْهِم، وَيَذُمُّ عُثْمَانَ وَعَلِيّاً، كَدَأْبِ الخَوَارِجِ، وَيَقُوْلُ: تَأَهَّبُوا لِجِهَادِ الظَّلَمَةِ، وَلاَ تَجْزَعُوا مِنَ القَتْلِ فِي اللهِ، فَالقَتْلُ أَسَهْلُ مِنَ المَوْتِ، وَالمَوْتُ لاَ بُدَّ مِنْهُ. فَأَتَاهُ كِتَابُ شَبِيْبٍ يَقُوْلُ: إِنَّكَ شَيْخُ المُسْلِمِيْنَ، وَلَنْ نَعْدِلَ بِكَ أَحَداً، وَقَدِ اسْتَجَبْتُ لَكَ، وَالآجَالُ غَادِيَةٌ وَرَائِحَةٌ، وَلاَ آمَنُ أَنْ تَخْتَرِمَنِي المَنِيَّةُ، وَلَمْ أُجَاهِدِ الظَّالِمِيْنَ، فَيَا لَهُ غَبْناً، وَيَا لَهُ فَضْلاً مَتْرُوْكاً، جَعَلَنَا اللهُ مِمَّنْ يُرِيْدُ اللهَ بِعَمَلِهِ. ثُمَّ أَقْبَلَ هُوَ وَأَخُوْهُ مُصَادٌ (٣) ، وَالمُحَلِّلُ (٣) بنُ وَائِلٍ، وَإِبْرَاهِيْمُ بنُ حَجَرٍ، وَالفَضْلُ بنُ عَامِرٍ الذُّهْلِيُّ، إِلَى صَالِحٍ، فَصَارُوْا مائَةً وَعَشْرَةَ أَنْفُسٍ، ثُمَّ شَدُّوا عَلَى خَيْلٍ لِمُحَمَّدِ بنِ مَرْوَانَ، فَأَخَذُوْهَا، وَقَوِيَتْ شَوْكَتُهُم. فَسَارَ لِحَرْبِهِمْ عَدِيُّ بنُ عَدِيِّ بنِ عُمَيْرَةَ الكِنْدِيُّ، فَالْتَقَوْا، فَانْهَزَمَ عَدِيٌّ، وَبَعْدَ مُدِيْدَةٍ تُوُفِّيَ صَالِحٌ مِنْ جِرَاحَاتٍ، سَنَةَ سِتٍّ وَتِسْعِيْنَ. وَعُهِدَ إِلَى شَبِيْبٍ، فَهَزَمَ العَسَاكِرَ، وَعَظُمَ الخَطْبُ، وَهَجَمَ عَلَى الكُوْفَةِ، وَقَتَلَ جَمَاعَةَ أَعْيَانٍ. فَنَدَبَ الحَجَّاجُ لِحَرْبِهِ زَائِدَةَ بنَ قُدَامَةَ الثَّقَفِيَّ، فَالْتَقَوْا، فَقُتِلَ زَائِدَةُ، وَدَخَلَتْ غَزَالَةُ جَامِعَ الكُوْفَةِ، وَصَلَّتْ وِرْدَهَا، وَصَعِدَتِ المِنْبَرَ، وَوَفَتْ نَذْرَهَا. وَهَزَمَ شَبِيْبٌ جُيُوْشَ الحَجَّاجِ مَرَّاتٍ، وَقَتَلَ عِدَّةً مِنَ الأَشْرَافِ، وَتَزَلْزَلَ لَهُ عَبْدُ

(١) تاريخ الطبري ٦ / ٢٨٢. (٢) دارا: بلدة في لحف جبل بين نصيبين وماردين، وهي من بلاد الجزيرة، ذات بساتين ومياه جارية، وعندها كان معسكردارا بن دارا الملك ابن قباذ الملك لما لقي الاسكندر المقدوني فقتله الاسكندر وتزوج ابنته وبنى في موضع معسكره هذه المدينة وسماها باسمه. اه. معجم البلدان. (٣) في الأصل بالمعجمة، وما أثبتناه من الطبري وابن الأثير.