Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (4/614)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Sulaymān ibn Ḥarb narrated: ʿUmārah ibn Mihrān said, “We were attending the funeral of Ḥafṣah bint Sirīn. After the bier had been set down, Muḥammad ibn Sirīn went into a cistern to perform ablution. Al-Ḥasan asked, ‘Where is he?’ They replied, ‘He is making ablution—pouring water again and again, rubbing again and again; a torment to himself and to his household.’ (1)

Ḥammād reported from Ibn ʿAwn that he heard Ibn Sirīn forbid debating, unless one hoped that by speaking to the other person he might retract.

Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr said: I heard Muḥammad ibn Sirīn say, “Anas ibn Mālik drew up a mukātaba (contract of manumission) with my father Abū ʿAmrah for forty thousand dirhams, and Muḥammad ibn Sirīn paid the sum.”

ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Abī Bakr ibn Anas said: “We still possess Sirīn’s contract of manumission; he had been a smith. (2)

Ibn Shubrumah said: I visited Muḥammad ibn Sirīn in Wāsiṭ, and I have never seen anyone more hesitant to issue a legal opinion, nor anyone bolder in interpreting dreams. (3)

Yūnus ibn ʿUbayd said: No two options ever presented themselves to Muḥammad concerning his conscience (4) without his choosing the one that offered the greater certainty. (5)

Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Muzanī said: Whoever wishes to see the most scrupulous person we have met should look at Muḥammad ibn Sirīn. (6)

(1) See Al-Maʿrifa wa-l-Tarikh, vol. 2, p. 58. (2) Al-Maʿrifa wa-l-Tarikh, vol. 2, p. 57; Tarikh al-Khatib, vol. 5, p. 332; Ibn ʿAsakir, vol. 15, p. 212 b. All three sources reproduce the manumission contract, which reads: "Hatha ma kataba ʿalayhi Anas ibn Malik fatahu Sirin ʿala kada wa kada alfan wa ʿala ghulamayni yaʿmalani ʿamalahu" (This is what Anas ibn Malik stipulated for his servant Sirin: for such-and-such thousand coins, and for two youths who would do his work). (3) Ibn ʿAsakir, vol. 15, p. 218 a. (4) The wording found in the author’s Tarikh, in Abu Nuʿaym’s Hilya, and in Ibn ʿAsakir is “dinahu” (his religion). (5) Ibn ʿAsakir, vol. 15, p. 219 a; see also Hilya, vol. 2, p. 268. (6) See Al-Zuhd of Ahmad, p. 308, and Hilya, vol. 2, p. 266.

سُلَيْمَانُ بنُ حَرْبٍ: حَدَّثَنَا عُمَارَةُ بنُ مِهْرَانَ، قَالَ: كُنَّا فِي جِنَازَة حَفْصَةَ بِنْتِ سِيْرِيْنَ، فَوُضِعَتِ الجَنَازَةُ، وَدَخَلَ مُحَمَّدُ بنُ سِيْرِيْنَ صِهْرِيْجاً يَتَوَضَّأُ. فَقَالَ الحَسَنُ: أَيْنَ هُوَ؟ قَالُوا: يَتَوَضَّأُ صَبّاً صَبّاً، دَلْكاً دَلْكاً، عَذَابٌ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ وَعَلَى أَهْلِهِ (١) . حَمَّادٌ: عَنِ ابْنِ عَوْنٍ: سَمِعَ ابْنَ سِيْرِيْنَ يَنْهَى عَنِ الجِدَالِ، إِلاَّ رَجَاءَ إِنْ كَلَّمْتَهُ أَنْ يَرْجِعَ. قَالَ مُحَمَّدُ بنُ عَمْرِو: سَمِعْتُ مُحَمَّدَ بنَ سِيْرِيْنَ يَقُوْلُ: كَاتَبَ أَنَسُ بنُ مَالِكٍ أَبِي أَبَا عَمْرَةَ عَلَى أَرْبَعِيْنَ أَلْفَ دِرْهَمٍ، فَأَدَّاهَا مُحَمَّدُ بنُ سِيْرِيْنَ. قَالَ عُبَيْدُ اللهِ بنُ أَبِي بَكْرٍ بنِ أَنَسٍ: هَذِهِ مُكَاتَبَةُ سِيْرِيْنَ عِنْدَنَا، وَكَانَ قَيْناً (٢) . قَالَ ابْنُ شُبْرُمَةَ: دَخَلْتُ عَلَى مُحَمَّدِ بنِ سِيْرِيْنَ بِوَاسِطَ، فَلَمْ أَرَ أَجْبَنَ مِنْ فَتْوَىً مِنْهُ، وَلاَ أَجْرَأَ عَلَى رُؤْيَا مِنْهُ (٣) . قَالَ يُوْنُسُ بنُ عُبَيْدٍ: لَمْ يَكُنْ يَعْرِضُ لِمُحَمَّدٍ أَمْرَانِ فِي ذِمَّتِهِ (٤) ، إِلاَّ أَخَذَ بِأَوْثَقِهِمَا (٥) . قَالَ بَكْرُ بنُ عَبْدِ اللهِ المُزَنِيُّ: مَنْ أَرَادَ أَنْ يَنْظُرَ إِلَى أَوْرَعِ مَنْ أَدْرَكْنَا، فَلْيَنْظُرْ إِلَى مُحَمَّدِ بنِ سِيْرِيْنَ (٦) .

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