Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (7/85)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

you have reminded us of something weighty and frightened us with something tremendous. I seek refuge in Allah lest I be among those who, when told, “Fear Allah,” are carried off by pride into sin. The admonition has issued from us and proceeded at our behest; and as for you, O speaker of it, I swear by Allah—you did not aim at Allah. What you wanted was that people should say, “He stood up, spoke out, was punished, yet bore it with patience.” So lighten the matter for its speaker, and seek your recompense from Allah. Woe to you! I have forgiven it. (1)

He then resumed his sermon as though reading from a written text.

Mubārak al-Ṭabarī said: Abū ʿUbayd Allah the Vizier narrated to us that he heard al-Manṣūr say:

“The caliph is set right by nothing but piety; authority is set right by nothing but obedience; the populace is set right by nothing but justice. The people most entitled to pardon are those most able to punish, and the least intelligent of people is the one who wrongs someone beneath him.”

It is said that ʿAmr ibn ʿUbayd once admonished al-Manṣūr, bringing him to tears; the caliph both feared and honored him. He had ordered money for ʿAmr, but ʿAmr declined it.

It is also said that his uncle ʿAbd al-Ṣamad remarked, “Commander of the Faithful, you have plunged into punishment as though you had never heard of clemency.” He replied, “The bones of the Umayyads have not yet decayed, and the swords of the House of ʿAlī have not yet been sheathed. We stand among people who only yesterday considered us commoners, and our awe will not take firm root in their hearts except by our forgetting clemency.”

It is further related that Hishām ibn ʿUrwah came to him and said, “Settle my debt.”

He asked, “How much is it?”

“One hundred thousand,” he replied.

Al-Manṣūr said, “With all your learning and virtue you take a hundred thousand and have nothing with which to repay it?!”

Hishām answered, “Some of my sons have reached manhood, and I wished to establish them. I feared their affairs would escape my control, so I acquired houses for them and held a banquet for them, trusting in Allah and in the Commander of the Faithful.” (2)

(1) The report is found in Tarikh al-Khulafa, p. 264; the additional wording comes from that source. Al-Tabari’s version (vol. 8, p. 90) reads: “Waylaka law hamamta, fa-ihtabilha idh ghufirat” (“Woe to you! Had you resolved to do so, seize the opportunity now that it has been pardoned”). The verb ihtabilha means “take advantage of it” or “seize it.” (2) I doubt that this statement is reliably ascribed to Hisham b. Urwa, for he would have known that such a phrasing is impermissible. The correct form should be: “trust in Allah, then in the Commander of the Faithful,” since it is authentically reported from the Prophet ﷺ that…

ذَكَرتَ جَلِيْلاً، وَخَوَّفْتَ عَظِيْماً، وَأَعُوذُ بِاللهِ أَنْ أَكُوْنَ مِمَّنْ إِذَا قِيْلَ لَهُ: اتَّقِ اللهَ، أَخَذَتْهُ العِزَّةُ بِالإِثْمِ، وَالمَوْعِظَةُ مِنَّا بَدَتْ، وَمِنْ عِندِنَا خَرَجَتْ، وَأَنْتَ يَا قَائِلَهَا، فَأَحْلِفُ بِاللهِ: مَا اللهَ أَرَدْتَ، إِنَّمَا أَرَدْتَ أَنْ يُقَالَ: قَامَ، فَقَالَ، فَعُوقِبَ، فَصَبَرَ، فَأَهْوِنْ بِهَا مِنْ قَائِلِهَا، وَاهْتَبِلْهَا مِنَ اللهِ، وَيْلَكَ! إِنِّيْ قَدْ غَفَرتُهَا (١) . وَعَادَ إِلَى خُطبتِهِ كَأَنَّمَا يَقْرَأُ مِنْ كِتَابٍ. قَالَ مُبَارَكٌ الطَّبَرِيُّ: حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو عُبَيْدِ اللهِ الوَزِيْرُ، سَمِعَ المَنْصُوْرَ يَقُوْلُ: الخَلِيْفَةُ لاَ يُصْلِحُهُ إِلاَّ التَّقْوَى، وَالسُّلْطَانُ لاَ يُصْلِحُه إِلاَّ الطَّاعَةُ، وَالرَّعِيَّةُ لاَ يُصلِحُهَا إِلاَّ العَدْلُ، وَأَولَى النَّاسِ بِالعَفْوِ أَقْدَرُهُم عَلَى العُقُوْبَةِ، وَأَنْقَصُ النَّاسِ عَقلاً مَنْ ظَلَمَ مَنْ هُوَ دُوْنَهُ. وَقِيْلَ: إِنَّ عَمْرَو بنَ عُبَيْدٍ وَعَظَ المَنْصُوْرَ، فَأَبكَاهُ، وَكَانَ يَهَابُ عَمْراً، وَيُكرِمُهُ، وَكَانَ أَمَرَ لَهُ بِمَالٍ، فَرَدَّهُ. وَقِيْلَ: إِنَّ عَبْدَ الصَّمَدِ عَمَّهُ قَالَ: يَا أَمِيْرَ المُؤْمِنِيْنَ! لقَدْ هَجَمْتَ بِالعُقُوْبَةِ، حَتَّى كَأَنَّكَ لَمْ تَسْمَعْ بِالعَفْوِ. قَالَ: لأَنَّ بَنِي أُمَيَّةَ لَمْ تَبْلَ رِمَمُهُم، وَآلَ عَلِيٍّ لَمْ تُغْمَدْ سُيُوْفُهُم، وَنَحْنُ بَيْنَ قَوْمٍ قَدْ رَأَوْنَا أَمْسِ سُوْقَةً، وَلاَ تَتَمهَّدُ هَيْبَتُنَا فِي صُدُورِهِم إِلاَّ بِنِسْيَانِ العَفْوِ. وَقِيْلَ: دَخَلَ عَلَيْهِ هِشَامُ بنُ عُرْوَةَ، فَقَالَ: اقْضِ دَيْنِي. قَالَ: وَكَم هُوَ؟ قَالَ: مائَةُ أَلْفٍ. قَالَ: وَأَنْتَ فِي فِقْهِكَ وَفَضْلِكَ تَأخُذُ مائَةَ أَلْفٍ، لَيْسَ عِنْدَكَ قَضَاؤُهَا؟! قَالَ: شَبَّ فِتْيَانٌ لِي، فَأَحْبَبْتُ أَنْ أُبَوِّئَهُم، وَخَشِيْتُ أَنْ يَنتَشِرَ عَلَيَّ أَمرُهُم، وَاتَّخذتُ لَهُم مَنَازِلَ، وَأَوْلَمْتُ عَلَيْهِم ثِقَةً بِاللهِ وَبِأَمِيْرِ المُؤْمِنِيْنَ (٢) .

(١) الخبر في " تاريخ الخلفاء ": ٢٦٤، والزيادة منه، ورواية الطبري: ٨ / ٩٠: " ويلك لو هممت، فاهتبلها إذ غفرت ". و: اهتبلها، أي: اغتنمها. (٢) ما إخال هذا يصح عن هشام بن عروه، فإنه لا يخفى عليه عدم جواز مثل هذا التركيب، وأن الوجه فيه أن يقول: ثقة بالله، ثم بأمير المؤمنين، فإنه قد صح عنه ﷺ أن =