Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (4/209)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Khalid Abu al-Muhajir transmitted from Abu al-ʿAliyah: “I was in Syria together with Abu Dharr.”

Abu Khaldah—Khalid ibn Dinar—said, “I heard Abu al-ʿAliyah say:
‘We were owned slaves: some of us paid levies, and some of us served our masters’ households. We used to complete a full recitation of the Qur’an every night, but it became too burdensome. We began to complain among ourselves, whereupon we met the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and they taught us to finish the Qur’an once every Friday. After that we could both pray and sleep, and it no longer weighed upon us.’ ⦗1⦘

Abu Khaldah also said: When al-Hasan al-Basri was mentioned to Abu al-ʿAliyah, he replied, “A Muslim man who commands what is right and forbids what is wrong. We had already encountered goodness and acquired knowledge before he was even born.”

He added, “I used to visit Ibn ʿAbbas while he was governor of Basra; he would seat me on the couch while the Quraysh sat below.”

Jarir related from Mughirah: “Of all the people of Basra, the one whose knowledge most closely resembled that of Ibrahim al-Nakhaʿi was Abu al-ʿAliyah.”

Abu Jaʿfar al-Razi reported from al-Rabiʿ ibn Anas, from Abu al-ʿAliyah, who said: “I would travel for several days to reach a man so that I could hear from him. I would first observe his prayer: if I found him performing it well, I stayed with him; but if I found him neglecting it, I departed without hearing from him, saying, ‘If he is careless about the prayer, he will be even more careless about everything else.’” ⦗2⦘

Shuʿayb ibn al-Habhab said: “I tried to show Abu al-ʿAliyah favour in the sale of a garment, but he refused to buy it from me.”

Abu Khaldah further related that Abu al-ʿAliyah said:
“During the days of ʿAli and Muʿawiyah—when I was still a young man—fighting was dearer to me than the finest food. I equipped myself well and went out to them. I saw two ranks stretching as far as the eye could see: whenever this side raised the Takbir, that side answered with the Takbir, and whenever this side proclaimed the Tahlil….”

(1) Ibn Saʿd, al-Tabaqat, vol. 7, p. 113. (2) Abu Nuʿaym, Hilyat al-Awliya, vol. 2, p. 220.

قَالَ خَالِدٌ أَبُو المُهَاجِرِ: عَنْ أَبِي العَالِيَةِ: كُنْتُ بِالشَّامِ مَعَ أَبِي ذَرٍّ. وَقَالَ أَبُو خَلْدَةَ خَالِدُ بنُ دِيْنَارٍ: سَمِعْتُ أَبَا العَالِيَةِ يَقُوْلُ: كُنَّا عَبِيْداً مَمْلُوْكِيْنَ، مِنَّا مَنْ يُؤَدِّي الضَّرَائِبَ، وَمِنَّا مَنْ يَخْدُمُ أَهْلَهُ، فَكُنَّا نَخْتِمُ كُلَّ لَيْلَةٍ، فَشَقَّ عَلَيْنَا، حَتَّى شَكَا بَعْضُنَا إِلَى بَعْضٍ، فَلَقِيْنَا أَصْحَابَ رَسُوْلِ اللهِ ﷺ فَعَلَّمُوْنَا أَنْ نَخْتِمَ كُلَّ جُمُعَةٍ، فَصَلَّيْنَا، وَنِمْنَا، وَلَمْ يَشُقَّ عَلَيْنَا (١) . قَالَ أَبُو خَلْدَةَ: ذُكِرَ الحَسَنُ البَصْرِيُّ لأَبِي العَالِيَةِ، فَقَالَ: رَجُلٌ مُسْلِمٌ، يَأْمُرُ بِالمَعْرُوْفِ، وَيَنْهَى عَنِ المُنْكَرِ، وَأَدْرَكْنَا الخَيْرَ، وَتَعَلَّمْنَا قَبْلَ أَنْ يُوْلَدَ. وَكُنْتُ آتِي ابْنَ عَبَّاسٍ، وَهُوَ أَمِيْرُ البَصْرَةِ، فَيُجْلِسُنِي عَلَى السَّرِيْرِ، وَقُرَيْشٌ أَسْفَلُ. وَرَوَى: جَرِيْرٌ، عَنْ مُغِيْرَةَ، قَالَ: كَانَ أَشْبَهُ أَهْلِ البَصْرَةِ عِلْماً بِإِبْرَاهِيْمَ النَّخَعِيِّ أَبُو العَالِيَةِ. وَقَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ الرَّازِيُّ: عَنِ الرَّبِيْعِ بنِ أَنَسٍ، عَنْ أَبِي العَالِيَةِ، قَالَ: كُنْتُ أَرْحَلُ إِلَى الرَّجُلِ مَسِيْرَةَ أَيَّامٍ لأَسْمَعَ مِنْهُ، فَأَتَفَقَّدُ صَلاَتَهُ، فَإِنْ وَجَدْتُهُ يُحْسِنُهَا، أَقَمْتُ عَلَيْهِ، وَإِنْ أَجِدْهُ يُضِيِّعُهَا، رَحَلْتُ وَلَمْ أَسْمَعْ مِنْهُ، وَقُلْتُ: هُوَ لِمَا سِوَاهَا أَضْيَعُ (٢) . قَالَ شُعَيْبُ بنُ الحَبْحَابِ: حَابَيْتُ أَبَا العَالِيَةِ فِي ثَوْبٍ، فَأَبَى أَنْ يَشْتَرِيَ مِنِّي الثَّوْبَ. قَالَ أَبُو خَلْدَةَ: قَالَ أَبُو العَالِيَةِ: لَمَّا كَانَ زَمَانُ عَلِيٍّ وَمُعَاوِيَةَ، وَإِنِّي لَشَابٌّ، القِتَالُ أَحَبُّ إِلَيَّ مِنَ الطَّعَامِ الطَّيِّبِ، فَتَجَهَّزْتُ بِجَهَازٍ حَسَنٍ حَتَّى أَتَيْتُهُم، فَإِذَا صَفَّانِ مَا يُرَى طَرَفَاهُمَا، إِذَا كَبَّرَ هَؤُلاَءِ، كَبَّرَ هَؤُلاَءِ، وَإِذَا هَلَّلَ

(١) ابن سعد ٧ / ١١٣. (٢) الحلية ٢ / ٢٢٠.