Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (8/159)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Bakr ibn Muḍar said: A letter from Marwān ibn Muḥammad reached Hawthara (1), the governor of Egypt:

“I have dispatched to you a desert Bedouin, eloquent by nature though unschooled in conduct. Assemble for him a man who will steer him in judgment and set his speech aright.”

The people were unanimous in selecting al-Layth ibn Saʿd, and present among them were his two teachers, Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb and ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥārith.

Aḥmad ibn Ṣāliḥ said: A legal problem baffled al-Rashīd, so he gathered the jurists of the realm and even summoned al-Layth, and al-Layth resolved it for him.

Saʿīd ibn Abī Maryam related: Al-Layth narrated to us, saying,

“I arrived in Mecca and went to Abū al-Zubayr. He handed me two notebooks, and I left with them. Then I thought to myself, ‘What if I were to go back and ask him, “Did you hear all of this from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allah?”’

He replied, ‘Some of it I heard directly from him, and some of it was conveyed to me.’

I said, ‘Mark for me what you actually heard.’ So he marked for me what I had with me (2).”

I say: In his day al-Layth possessed elevated chains of transmission. He narrated from ʿAṭāʾ on the authority of ʿĀʾishah; from Ibn Abī Mulaykah on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās; from Nāfiʿ on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar; and from al-Maqburī on the authority of Abū Hurayrah—this level was the highest available in his time.

Yet you will also find him transmitting through lower isnāds, undeterred by the breadth of his learning, for he even narrated ḥadith from al-Hikl ibn Ziyād—

(1) Hauthara ibn Suhayl, the brother of Ajlan ibn Suhayl al-Bahili, was a thoroughgoing Bedouin, eloquent, intelligent, renowned for strategic insight, physical strength, and battlefield experience. He governed Egypt in 128 AH on behalf of Marwan ibn Muhammad and remained in office until 131 AH. Marwan then dismissed him and dispatched him to Iraq to fight the Khurasaniyya, the pro-‘Abbasid insurgents; Hauthara was killed there in 132 AH. See: al-Nujum al-Zahira, vol. 1, p. 305. (2) I add: For this reason the scholars say that any report Abu l-Zubayr transmits with the wording “ʿan” (on the authority of) or “qāla” (he said), and similar expressions—whether the report is found in the Sahih collections or elsewhere—is not accepted, because he is known for tadlis (concealing the intermediary). His narrations are admissible when he explicitly says “samiʿtu” (I heard) or “akhbaranā” (he informed us), and they are also accepted when he uses “ʿan” in reports conveyed from him specifically by Layth ibn Saʿd.

قَالَ بَكْر بنُ مُضَرَ: قَدِمَ عَلَيْنَا كِتَابُ مَرْوَانَ بنِ مُحَمَّدٍ إِلَى حَوْثَرَةَ (١) وَالِي مِصْرَ: إِنِّيْ قَدْ بَعثْتُ إِلَيْكُم أَعْرَابِيّاً بَدَوِيّاً فَصِيْحاً مِنْ حَالِهِ، وَمِن حَالِه، فَاجْمَعُوا لَهُ رَجُلاً يُسدِّدُه فِي القَضَاءِ، وَيُصَوِّبُهُ فِي المَنْطِقِ. فَأَجْمَعَ رَأْيُ النَّاسِ عَلَى اللَّيْثِ بنِ سَعْدٍ، وَفِي النَّاسِ مُعَلِّمَاهُ: يَزِيْدُ بنُ أَبِي حَبِيْبٍ، وَعَمْرُو بنُ الحَارِثِ. قَالَ أَحْمَدُ بنُ صَالِحٍ: أَعضَلَتِ الرَّشِيْدَ مَسْأَلَةٌ، فَجَمَعَ لَهَا فُقَهَاءَ الأَرْضِ، حَتَّى أَشْخَصَ اللَّيْثَ، فَأَخْرَجَهُ مِنْهَا. قَالَ سَعِيْدُ بنُ أَبِي مَرْيَمَ: حَدَّثَنَا اللَّيْثُ، قَالَ: قَدِمْتُ مَكَّةَ، فَجِئْتُ أَبَا الزُّبَيْرِ، فَدَفَعَ إِلَيَّ كِتَابَيْنِ، فَانْقَلْبتُ بِهِمَا، ثُمَّ قُلْتُ: لَوْ عَاوَدْتُهُ، فَسَأَلتُهُ: أَسَمِعْتَ هَذَا كُلَّهُ مِنْ جَابِرِ بنِ عَبْدِ اللهِ؟ فَقَالَ: مِنْهُ مَا سَمِعْتُهُ، وَمِنْهُ مَا حُدِّثْتُ بِهِ. فَقُلْتُ لَهُ: عَلِّمْ لِي عَلَى مَا سَمِعْتَ. فَعَلَّمَ لِي عَلَى هَذَا الَّذِي عِنْدِي (٢) . قُلْتُ: قَدْ رَوَى اللَّيْثُ إِسْنَاداً عَالِياً فِي زَمَانِهِ، فَعِنْدَهُ عَنْ عَطَاءٍ عَنْ عَائِشَةَ، وَعَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي مُلَيْكَةَ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ، وَعَنْ نَافِعٍ عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ، وَعَنِ المَقْبُرِيِّ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، وَهَذَا النَّمَط أَعْلَى مَا يُوجَدُ فِي زَمَانِهِ. ثُمَّ تَرَاهُ يَنزِلُ فِي أَحَادِيْثَ، وَلاَ يُبَالِي لِسَعَةِ عِلْمِهِ، فَقَدْ رَوَى أَحَادِيْثَ عَنِ الهِقْلِ بنِ زِيَادٍ -

(١) هو حوثرة بن سهيل أخو عجلان بن سهيل الباهلي، كان بدويا قحا، فصيح اللسان، صاحب رأي وتدبير وقوة وخبرة بالحروب، ولي مصر سنة ١٢٨ لمروان بن محمد واستمر إلى سنة إحدى وثلاثين ومئة، ثم عزله مروان، وبعثه إلى العراق لقتال الخراسانية دعاة بني العباس، فقتل هناك سنة ١٣٢ هـ. " النجوم الزاهرة " ١ / ٣٠٥. (٢) قلت: ولذا قال العلماء: يرد من حديث أبي الزبير ما يقول فيه " عن " أو " قال " ونحو ذلك سواء أكان حديثه في الصحيح أو غيره، لأنه موصوف بالتدليس، فإذا قال: " سمعت " و" أخبرنا " احتج به، ويحتج به إذا قال " عن " فيما رواه عنه الليث بن سعد خاصة.