Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (8/246)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

the commanders of the Arabs and the elders of the Berbers.

When the situation had become secure, they made his allegiance public eight months later, in the month of Rabiʿ al-Akhir, 138 AH. He then headed for Cordoba, whose governor at the time was Yusuf al-Fihri. Yusuf mustered all his strength; they met in battle, and Yusuf was routed. ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Muʿawiyah, al-Dakhil, entered the palace of Cordoba on Friday, the Day of Sacrifice of that very year.

Yusuf fought him a second time, entered Cordoba, and seized it, but ʿAbd al-Rahman counter-attacked. Yusuf fled, taking refuge in Granada and fortifying himself in Elvira.

ʿAbd al-Rahman pursued and besieged him, tightening the grip around him. When Yusuf saw that power had firmly gathered around al-Dakhil, he surrendered under a guarantee of safety in the presence of the qadi of al-Andalus, Yahya ibn Yazid al-Tujibi—a righteous man whom ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz had appointed to the judiciary. Al-Dakhil increased him in honour and esteem, and he remained in office until his death in 142 AH, after which al-Dakhil appointed Muʿawiyah ibn Salih as qadi.

When this Muʿawiyah resolved to perform the Hajj, al-Dakhil dispatched him to his two sisters in Syria and to his aunt Ramla bint Hisham, instructing him to devise a means of bringing them to him. On that occasion he recited:

O caravan bound for my homeland,
Convey from one part of me greetings to the other!
My body—as you know—lies in one land,
While my heart, and he who holds it, dwell in another.
Fate decreed a gulf between us and we were parted,
So distance has folded sleep from my eyes.
Allah has ordained our separation;
Perhaps He will soon decree our reunion. (1)

When Muʿawiyah reached them, they said, “Travel holds dangers we cannot be sure of even over short distances; how, then, when seas and deserts stand between us? We are honour-bound women, and these people have granted us safety despite knowing exactly who we are…"

(1) The verses are found in Nafh al-tib, 3/38 and 54; Jadhwat al-muqtabis, p. 9; and al-Hulla al-sira, 1/36. According to al-Mughrib, 1/103, they were recited by the judge Muawiya ibn Salih. The poem is also attributed to Abd al-Rahman al-Marwani al-Dakhil, and the wording differs slightly from one source to another.

أُمَرَاءِ العَرَبِ، وَشُيُوْخِ البَرْبَرِ. فَلَمَّا اسْتَحكَمَ الأَمْرُ، أَظْهَرُوا بَيْعَتَه بَعْدَ ثَمَانِيَةِ أَشْهُرٍ، وَذَلِكَ فِي رَبِيْعٍ الآخِرِ، سَنَةَ ثَمَانٍ وَثَلاَثِيْنَ وَمائَةٍ، فَقَصَدَ قُرْطُبَةَ، وَمُتَوَلِّي الأَنْدَلُسِ يَوْمَئِذٍ: يُوْسُفُ الفِهْرِيُّ، فَاسْتَعَدَّ جَهدَهُ، فَالْتَقَوْا، فَانْهَزَمَ يُوْسُفُ، وَدَخَلَ عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بنُ مُعَاوِيَةَ الدَّاخِلُ قَصْرَ قُرْطُبَةَ يَوْمَ الجُمُعَةِ، يَوْمَ الأَضْحَى مِنَ العَامِ. ثُمَّ حَارَبَه يُوْسُفُ ثَانِياً، وَدَخَلَ قُرْطُبَةَ، وَاسْتَوْلَى عَلَيْهَا، وَكَرَّ عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ عَلَيْهِ، فَهَرَبَ يُوْسُفُ، وَالْتَجَأَ إِلَى غَرْنَاطَةَ، فَامْتَنَعَ بِإِلْبِيْرَةَ. فَنَازَلَهُ عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ، وَضَيَّقَ عَلَيْهِ، وَرَأَى يُوْسُفُ اجْتِمَاعَ الأَمْرِ لِلدَّاخِلِ، فَنَزَلَ بِالأَمَانِ بِمَحْضَرٍ مِنْ قَاضِي الأَنْدَلُسِ يَحْيَى بنِ يَزِيْدَ التُّجِيْبِيِّ، وَكَانَ رَجُلاً صَالِحاً، اسْتَعْمَلَهُ عَلَى القَضَاءِ عُمَرُ بنُ عَبْدِ العَزِيْزِ، فَزَادَهُ الدَّاخِلُ إِجْلاَلاً وَإِكْرَاماً، فَبَقِيَ عَلَى قَضَائِهِ إِلَى أَنْ مَاتَ سَنَةَ اثْنَتَيْنِ وَأَرْبَعِيْنَ وَمائَةٍ، فَاسْتَعْمَلَ عَلَى القَضَاءِ مُعَاوِيَةَ بنَ صَالِحٍ. فَلَمَّا أَرَادَ مُعَاوِيَةُ هَذَا، الحَجَّ، وَجَّهَهُ الدَّاخِلُ إِلَى أُخْتَيْهِ بِالشَّامِ، وَعَمَّتِهِ رَمْلَةَ بِنْتِ هِشَامٍ، لِيَعمَلَ الحِيْلَةَ فِي إِدْخَالِهِنَّ إِلَى عِنْدِهِ، وَأَنْشَدَ عِنْدَ ذَلِكَ: أَيُّهَا الرَّكْبُ المُيَمِّمُ أَرْضِي ... أَقْرِ مِنْ بَعْضِي السَّلاَمَ لِبَعْضِي إِنَّ جِسْمِي - كَمَا عَلِمْتَ - بِأَرْضٍ ... وَفُؤَادِي وَمَالِكِيْهِ بِأَرْضِ قُدِّرَ البَيْنُ بَيْنَنَا فَافْتَرَقْنَا ... فَطَوَى البَيْنُ عَنْ جُفُوْنِي غَمْضِي وَقَضَى اللهُ بِالفِرَاقِ عَلَيْنَا ... فَعَسَى بِاجْتِمَاعِنَا سَوْفَ يَقْضِي (١) فَلَمَّا وَصلَ إِلَيْهنَّ، قُلْنَ: السَّفَرُ، لاَ نَأْمَنُ غوَائِلَهُ عَلَى القُربِ، فَكَيْفَ وَقَدْ حَالَتْ بَيْننَا بِحَارٌ وَمَفَاوِزُ، وَنَحْنُ حُرَمٌ، وَقَدْ آمَنَنَا هَؤُلاَءِ القَوْمُ عَلَى مَعْرِفَتِهِم

(١) الأبيات في " نفح الطيب " ٣ / ٣٨، ٥٤، و" جذوة المقتبس " ٩، و" الحلة السيراء " ١ / ٣٦، وذكر صاحب المغرب ١ / ١٠٣ أن معاوية بن صالح القاضي أنشدها، وقد نسبت لعبد الرحمن المرواني الداخل، وفي ألفاظها بعض اختلاف.