Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (6/70)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

“…She has set down her staff and her resolve has come to rest, just as the traveller cools his eyes with the joy of homecoming.” (1)

I have read in one account that al-Mansur never ceased deceiving Abu Muslim and contriving against him until, by means of solemn covenants and oaths, he had him fast in his grip.

Abu Muslim, for his part, used to consult the apocalyptic chronicles (al-malāḥim); there he found that he would extinguish one dynasty, revive another, and would then be killed in the land of Byzantium.

At that time al-Mansur was staying in Rūmiyyat al-Madāʾin, one of the ancient cities of Chosroes, seven parasangs from Baghdad.

It is said that Alexander the Great built it when he camped at al-Madāʾin. Nothing suggested to Abu Muslim that this would be the scene of his death; his mind was fixed on Byzantine territory instead.

Another report states that al-Mansur kept repeating, “You did this, and you did that.”

Abu Muslim replied, “No one should speak to me in this fashion after the pledge I have given and the toil I have endured.”

Al-Mansur retorted, “Son of a vile woman! All you achieved was only by virtue of our prestige and good fortune. Had a black slave-girl stood in your place, she would have done the same. And yet you dare to do such things, to seek my aunt’s hand, and to claim you are an ʿAbbasid—you have climbed a perilous height!”

Abu Muslim thereupon began rubbing his hands, kissing them, and lowering himself, while Abū Jaʿfar grew ever more fierce.

Masrur the chamberlain relates: When Abu Muslim returned, Abū Jaʿfar ordered him to ride out with his select retainers. He therefore set off with 4,000 clean-shaven youths, mounted on sleek horses, clad in brocade cloaks, their swords hanging from belts of gold.

Al-Mansur then instructed his kinsmen to go out and receive him, and there were—

(1) The verse is cited in al-Muʾtalif wa-l-Mukhtalif, p. 128, where it is attributed to Maʿqir b. Ḥammār al-Bāriqī; the preceding line runs: tuhayyibuka l-asfāru min khashyati r-radā * wa kam qad raʾaynā man radā lā yusāfir (“Travelling alarms you for fear of death, yet how many have we seen who perished without ever setting out”). Lisān al-ʿArab, quoting Ibn Barrī, assigns the poem to ʿAbd Rabbih al-Sulamī, while others give it to Sulaym b. Thamāma al-Ḥanafī; this poet is said to have sent his wife from al-Yamāma to Kūfa. The opening couplet reads: tadhakkartu min Umm al-Ḥuwairith baʿda mā * maḍat ḥijajun ʿashr, wa dhū sh-shawqi dhākir (“I remembered Umm al-Ḥuwairith after ten full years had passed, and the longing heart is ever mindful”). The phrase fa-alqata ʿaṣāhā wa-staqarra bihā n-nawā (“she laid down her staff and her journey came to rest”) became proverbial for anyone who finds a place that suits him and decides to settle there.

فَأَلْقَتْ عَصَاهَا وَاسْتَقَرَّتْ بِهَا النَّوَى ... كَمَا قَرَّ عَيْناً بِالإِيَابِ المُسَافِرُ (١) وَقَرَأْتُ فِي كِتَابٍ: أَنَّ المَنْصُوْرَ لَمْ يَزلْ يَخْدَعُ أَبَا مُسْلِمٍ، وَيَتَحَيَّلُ عَلَيْهِ، حَتَّى وَقَعَ فِي بَرَاثنِهِ بِعُهودٍ وَأَيْمَانٍ. وَكَانَ أَبُو مُسْلِمٍ يَنْظُرُ فِي المَلاَحِمِ، وَيَجدُ أَنَّهُ مُمِيْتُ دَوْلَةٍ، وَمُحْيِي دَوْلَةٍ، ثُمَّ يُقتَلُ بِبَلَدِ الرُّوْمِ. وَكَانَ المَنْصُوْرُ يَوْمَئِذٍ بِرُوْمِيَّةِ المَدَائِنِ، وَهِيَ مَعْدُوْدَةٌ مِنْ مَدَائِنِ كِسْرَى، بَيْنَهَا وَبَيْنَ بَغْدَادَ سَبْعَةُ فَرَاسِخَ. قِيْلَ: بَنَاهَا الإِسْكَنْدَرُ لَمَّا قَامَ بِالمَدَائِنِ، فَلَمْ يَخطُرْ بِبَالِ أَبِي مُسْلِمٍ أَنَّ بِهَا مَصْرَعَهُ، وَذَهَبَ وَهْمُهُ إِلَى الرُّوْمِ. وَقِيْلَ: إِنَّ المَنْصُوْرَ كَانَ يَقُوْلُ: فَعَلتَ وَفَعَلتَ. فَقَالَ أَبُو مُسْلِمٍ: مَا يُقَالُ لِي هَذَا بَعْدَ بَيْعتِي وَاجْتِهَادِي. قَالَ: يَا ابْنَ الخَبِيْثَةِ! إِنَّمَا فَعَلتَ ذَلِكَ بِجِدِّنَا وَحَظِّنَا، وَلَوْ كَانَ مَكَانَكَ أَمَةٌ سَوْدَاءُ، لَعمِلَتْ عَمَلَكَ، وَتَفْعَلُ كَذَا، وَتَخطِبُ عَمَّتِي، وَتَدَّعِي أَنَّكَ عَبَّاسِيٌّ، لَقَدِ ارْتَقَيْتَ مُرْتَقَى صَعباً. فَأَخَذَ يُفرِّكُ يَدَهُ، وَيُقَبِّلُهَا، وَيَخضعُ، وَأَبُو جَعْفَرٍ يَتنمَّرُ. وَعَنْ مَسْرُوْرٍ الخَادِمِ، قَالَ: لَمَّا ردَّ أَبُو مُسْلِمٍ، أَمرَهُ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ أَنْ يَرْكَبَ فِي خَوَاصِّ أَصْحَابِه، فَرَكِبَ فِي أَرْبَعَةِ آلاَفِ غُلاَمٍ، جُرْدٍ مُرْدٍ، عَلَيْهِم أَقْبِيَةُ الدِّيْبَاجِ وَالسُّيُوْفِ بِمَنَاطِقِ الذَّهَبِ. فَأَمَرَ المَنْصُوْرُ عُمُوْمَتَهُ أَنْ يَسْتَقْبِلُوْهُ، وَكَانَ

(١) البيت في " المؤتلف والمختلف " ص ١٢٨ لمعقر بن حمار البارقي وقبله: تهيبك الاسفار من خشية الردى * وكم قد رأينا من رد لا يسافر " ونقل في اللسان، عن ابن بري أنه لعبد ربه السلمي ويقال: لسليم بن ثمامة الحنفي، وكان هذا الشاعر سير امرأته من اليمامة إلى الكوفة. وأول الشعر: تذكرت من أم الحويرث بعد ما * مضت حجج عشر، وذو الشوق ذاكر وقوله: فألقت عصاها واستقر بها النوى. يضرب هذا مثلا لكل من وافقه، شيء فأقام عليه. "