Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (4/558)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Ibn Saʿd (1) said, “He was reliable, learned, virtuous, and possessed abundant knowledge.”

Al-Nasāʾī and others likewise stated, “Reliable.”

Makḥūl said, “I kept the upper hand over those who opposed me (2) until Rajāʾ ibn Ḥaywah lent them his support against me; that was because, in their own eyes, he was the leading notable of the people of Syria (3).”

I say: Relations between the two were strained, and peers have always been prone to disparage one another. Both Makḥūl and Rajāʾ are imams, so no attention should be paid to what either of them says about the other.

Yaʿqūb al-Fasawī (4) said, “Rajāʾ came to Kufa with Bishr ibn Marwān, and there Abū Isḥāq and Qatādah heard from him.”

Ibn Shawdhub reported from Maṭar al-Warrāq: “I have never seen a Syrian superior to Rajāʾ ibn Ḥaywah.” (5)

Ḍamrah related from Rajāʾ ibn Abī Salamah: “Among the people of Syria there is no one I would more gladly take as an example than Rajāʾ ibn Ḥaywah.” (6)

It is also transmitted from Rajāʾ ibn Ḥaywah that he said:

“Whoever refuses to befriend anyone except one who is faultless will have few friends; whoever is not content with his friend unless the latter is wholly sincere to him will remain perpetually displeased; and whoever reproaches his brothers for every lapse will end up with many enemies.” (7)

(1) Ibn Saʿd, al-Tabaqat, vol. 7, p. 454. (2) The base manuscript reads nadani ("he called me"), but we have followed Ibn ʿAsakir’s version. (3) Ibn ʿAsakir, 6/118a; see also al-Maʿrifa wa-l-Tarikh, 2/368. The report also appears in the entry on Makhul al-Basri, vol. 5 of the original work, fol. 48a. (4) Al-Maʿrifa wa-l-Tarikh, 2/368–369. (5) Abu Nuʿaym, al-Hilya, 5/170; Ibn ʿAsakir, 6/118a. See also al-Maʿrifa wa-l-Tarikh, 2/371, where the wording is afqah ("more learned in fiqh") instead of afdal ("superior"), and the report continues. The same form occurs in al-Shirazi’s Tabaqat al-Fuqahaʾ, p. 75. (6) Ibn ʿAsakir, 6/118a; and al-Maʿrifa wa-l-Tarikh, 2/371–372, through the chain of Damrah, from Rajaʾ, from Nuʿaym b. Salamah, who said: … (7) Ibn ʿAsakir, 6/118b.

قَالَ ابْنُ سَعْدٍ (١) : كَانَ ثِقَةً، عَالِماً، فَاضِلاً، كَثِيْرَ العِلْمِ. وَقَالَ النَّسَائِيُّ، وَغَيْرُهُ: ثِقَةٌ. قَالَ مَكْحُوْلٌ: مَا زِلْتُ مُضْطَلِعاً عَلَى مَنْ نَاوَأَنِي (٢) حَتَّى عَاوَنَهُم عَلَيَّ رَجَاءُ بنُ حَيْوَةَ، وَذَلِكَ أَنَّهُ كَانَ سَيِّدَ أَهْلِ الشَّامِ فِي أَنْفُسِهِم (٣) . قُلْتُ: كَانَ مَا بَيْنَهُمَا فَاسِداً، وَمَا زَالَ الأَقْرَانُ يَنَالُ بَعْضُهُم مِنْ بَعْضٍ، وَمَكْحُوْلٌ وَرَجَاءٌ إِمَامَانِ، فَلاَ يُلْتَفَتُ إِلَى قَوْلِ أَحَدٍ مِنْهُمَا فِي الآخَرِ. قَالَ يَعْقُوْبُ الفَسَوِيُّ (٤) : كَانَ رَجَاءٌ قَدِمَ الكُوْفَةَ مَعَ بِشْرِ بنِ مَرْوَانَ، فَسَمِعَ مِنْهُ: أَبُو إِسْحَاقَ، وَقَتَادَةُ. ابْنُ شَوْذَبٍ: عَنْ مَطَرٍ الوَرَّاقِ، قَالَ: مَا رَأَيْتُ شَامِيّاً أَفَضْلَ مِنْ رَجَاءِ بنِ حَيْوَةَ (٥) . وَقَالَ ضَمْرَةُ: عَنْ رَجَاءِ بنِ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ: مَا مِنْ رَجُلٍ مِنْ أَهْلِ الشَّامِ أَحَبُّ إِلَيَّ أَنْ أَقْتَدِيَ بِهِ مِنْ رَجَاءِ بنِ حَيْوَةَ (٦) . وَيُرْوَى عَنْ: رَجَاءِ بنِ حَيْوَةَ، قَالَ: مَنْ لَمْ يُؤَاخِ إِلاَّ مَنْ لاَ عَيْبَ فِيْهِ، قَلَّ صَدِيْقُهُ، وَمَنْ لَمْ يَرْضَ مِنْ صَدِيْقِهِ إِلاَّ بِالإِخْلاَصِ لَهُ، دَامَ سَخَطُهُ، وَمَنْ عَاتَبَ إِخْوَانَهُ عَلَى كُلِّ ذَنْبٍ، كَثُرَ عَدُوُّهُ (٧) .

(١) في الطبقات ٧ / ٤٥٤. (٢) في الأصل: " ناداني " وما أثبتناه من ابن عساكر. (٣) ابن عساكر ٦ / ١١٨ آ، وانظر المعرفة والتاريخ ٢ / ٣٦٨ وقد ورد الخبر في ترجمة مكحول البصري في المجلد الخامس من الأصل ٤٨ آ. (٤) في المعرفة والتاريخ ٢ / ٣٦٨، ٣٦٩. (٥) الحلية ٥ / ١٧٠ وابن عساكر ٦ / ١١٨ آ، وانظر المعرفة والتاريخ ٢ / ٣٧١ ففيه بلفظ " أفقه " بدل " أفضل " وله تتمة. وكذا في طبقات الفقهاء للشيرازي ٧٥. (٦) ابن عساكر ٦ / ١١٨ آ، وفي المعرفة والتاريخ ٢ / ٣٧١، ٣٧٢ من طريق ضمرة عن رجاء عن نعيم بن سلامة قال:. (٧) ابن عساكر ٦ / ١١٨ ب.