Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (6/78)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Al-Haytham ibn ʿAdī and Ibn al-Kalbī maintain that he lived thirty-three years, and that after his death the caliphate passed to his brother al-Manṣūr. Another report says that he was born in 105 AH.

It is also related that the family of al-ʿAbbās fled to Kūfa and stayed with Abū Salama al-Khallāl, who concealed them in an underground cellar (1) of his house.

By that time Abū Muslim had already taken control of Khurasan and fixed a day for them to make their appearance. They emerged with a great host of cavalry, donkey-riders, and infantry. Al-Khallāl went down to the cellar and cried out, “ʿAbd Allāh, stretch forth your hand!”

The two brothers hastened toward him, and he asked, “Which of you carries the sign?” Al-Manṣūr said, “I realized that I was being set aside because no sign was with me.” My brother then recited the sign, namely: “And We intended to show favor to those who were oppressed in the land and to make them leaders …” (Quran 28:5).

Abū Salama thereupon pledged allegiance to him, and they all went to Kūfa’s congregational mosque, where the oath was publicly sworn. He addressed the people, declaring, “Allah granted the sons of Umayyah a respite for a while; but when they provoked His anger, He took vengeance on them through our hands and restored our right to us. I am al-Saffāḥ, the unrestrained shedder (of blood), the avenger who lays waste.”

He was feverish and remained seated on the pulpit. His uncle Dāwūd then rose before him and said:

“By Allah, we did not rise up to dig a canal, nor to build a palace, nor to amass wealth. We rose only out of indignation at their usurpation of our right. Your affairs are now linked to us; you have the covenant of Allah, the covenant of His Messenger, and the covenant of al-ʿAbbās that we shall judge you by what Allah has revealed and conduct your affairs according to the sunnah of Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him. Know that this authority will remain with us and will not leave our hands until we hand it over to Jesus son of Mary (2).”

Al-Sayyid al-Ḥimyārī thereupon rose and recited a poem.

Al-Saffāḥ then stepped down, entered the palace, and seated his brother to take the general pledge of allegiance.

Among his sayings were: “Whoever is harsh repels, and whoever is gentle wins hearts.”

Two lines of verse are also attributed to him:

(1) al-sarb: an underground pit or tunnel with no outlet. (2) The author has abridged the sermons of al-Saffah and his uncle; their full text can be found in al-Tabari, vol. 7, pp. 421, 428, and Ibn al-Athir, vol. 5, pp. 411, 415.

وَقَالَ الهَيْثَمُ بنُ عَدِيٍّ، وَابْنُ الكَلْبِيِّ: عَاشَ ثَلاَثاً وَثَلاَثِيْنَ سَنَةً، وَقَامَ بَعْدَهُ المَنْصُوْرُ أَخُوْهُ. وَقِيْلَ: بَلْ مَوْلِدُه سَنَةَ خَمْسٍ وَمائَةٍ. وَقِيْلَ: خَرَجَ آلُ العَبَّاسِ هَارِبِيْنَ إِلَى الكُوْفَةِ، فَنَزَلُوا عَلَى أَبِي سَلَمَةَ الخَلاَّلِ، فَآوَاهُم فِي سربٍ (١) فِي دَارِهِ. وَكَانَ أَبُو مُسْلِمٍ قَدِ اسْتَولَى عَلَى خُرَاسَانَ، وَعَيَّنَ لَهُم يَوْماً يَخْرُجُوْنَ فِيْهِ، فَخَرَجُوا فِي جَمْعٍ كَثِيفٍ مِنَ الخَيَّالَةِ، وَالحَمَّارَةِ، وَالرَّجَّالَةِ، فَنَزَلَ الخَلاَّلُ إِلَى السِّردَابِ، وَصَاحَ: يَا عَبْدَ اللهِ، مُدَّ يَدَكَ. فَتَبَارَى إِلَيْهِ الأَخوَانِ، فَقَالَ: أَيُّكمَا الَّذِي مَعَهُ العَلاَمَةُ؟ قَالَ المَنْصُوْرُ: فَعَلِمتُ أَنِّي أُخِّرتُ لأَنِّي لَمْ يَكُنْ مَعِي عَلاَمَةٌ. فَتَلاَ أَخِي العَلاَمَةَ، وَهِيَ: ﴿وَنُرِيْدُ أَنْ نَمُنَّ عَلَى الَّذِيْنَ اسْتُضْعِفُوا فِي الأَرْضِ وَنَجْعَلَهُم أَئِمَّةً ... ﴾ الآيَة، [القَصَصُ: ٥] . فَبَايَعَه أَبُو سَلَمَةَ، وَخَرَجُوا جَمِيْعاً إِلَى جَامِعِ الكُوْفَةِ، فَبُوْيِعَ، وَخَطَبَ فِي النَّاسِ، وَهُوَ يَقُوْلُ: فَأَمْلَى اللهُ لِبَنِي أُمَيَّةَ حِيْناً، فَلَمَّا آسَفُوْهُ، انْتقمَ مِنْهُم بِأَيْدِيْنَا، وَرَدَّ عَلَيْنَا حقَّنَا، فَأَنَا السَّفَّاحُ المُبِيْحُ، وَالثَّائِرُ المُبِيْرُ. وَكَانَ مَوْعُوْكاً، فَجَلَسَ عَلَى المِنْبَرِ، فَنهضَ عَمُّه دَاوُدُ مِنْ بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ، فَقَالَ: إِنَّا -وَاللهِ- مَا خَرَجْنَا لِنحفِرَ نَهْراً، وَلاَ لِنَبنِيَ قَصراً، وَلاَ لِنكثِرَ مَالاً، وَإِنَّمَا خَرَجْنَا أَنفَةً مِنِ ابْتزَازِهم حقَّنَا، وَلَقَدْ كَانَتْ أُمُوْرُكُم تَتَّصلُ بِنَا، لَكُم ذِمَّةُ اللهِ، وَذِمَّةُ رَسُوْلِه، وَذِمَّةُ العَبَّاسِ، أَنْ نَحكُمَ فِيْكُم بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللهُ، وَنَسِيْرَ فِيْكُم بِسُنَّةِ رَسُوْلِ اللهِ ﷺ فَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ هَذَا الأَمْرَ فِيْنَا لَيْسَ بِخَارِجٍ عَنَّا، حَتَّى نُسلِمَهُ إِلَى عِيْسَى بنِ مَرْيَمَ (٢) . فَقَامَ السَّيِّدُ الحِمْيَرِيُّ، وَقَالَ قَصِيدَةً. ثُمَّ نَزَلَ السَّفَّاحُ، وَدَخَلَ القَصرَ، وَأَجلسَ أَخَاهُ يَأْخُذُ بَيْعَةَ العَامَّةِ. وَمِنْ كَلاَمِهِ: مَنْ شَدَّدَ نَفَّرَ، وَمَنْ لاَنَ تَألَّفَ. وَيُقَالُ: لَهُ هَذَانِ البَيْتَانِ:

(١) السرب: حفير تحت الأرض لا منفذ له. (٢) اختصر المؤلف خطبة السفاح وعمه. انظرهما بتمامهما في الطبري ٧ / ٤٢١، ٤٢٨، ابن الأثير ٥ / ٤١١، ٤١٥.