Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (8/259)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

He was therefore brought in. Al-Ḥakam said, “Talūt, answer me: if your father or your son had ruled these realms, would you have enjoyed in his court the honor and kindness I have shown you? Did I not do such-and-such for you? Did I not attend your wife’s funeral and accompany you back to your house? Was it not enough for you unless you shed my blood?”

The jurist said to himself, “Nothing will serve me better than telling the truth,” and then declared aloud, “I hated you for Allah’s sake, and none of the favors you did for me—for motives other than Allah—deterred me. I openly admit this, may Allah set you aright.”

Al-Ḥakam fell silent for a moment and then said, “Know that the One for whose sake you hated me has now turned me away from you. Go, then, under Allah’s protection; I shall not withhold my benevolence from you. Would that none of this had ever happened. But tell me—where did Abū al-Bassām—may he never have existed—lay hands on you?”

Talūt replied, “I delivered myself to him of my own accord; I went straight to him.”

Al-Ḥakam asked, “Where did you spend that year?”

He answered, “In the house of a Jew who sheltered me for Allah’s sake.”

The ruler lowered his head for a while, then looked up at Abū al-Bassām and said, “A Jew protected him and concealed him out of regard for his learning and piety, yet you betrayed him when he came to you and violated his pledge of safety. May Allah not show us your face on the Day of Resurrection if ever we see it again.”

He expelled Abū al-Bassām and wrote a decree for the Jew exempting him from the jizya on all that he possessed, increasing his favors to him besides. When the Jew witnessed this, he embraced Islam on the spot (1).

Ibn Muzayyin said: The people of Toledo were high-spirited and could not endure the tyranny of the Umayyads, for many of their governors were oppressive and overreached their bounds. They would therefore rise against a governor and drive him out. Al-Ḥakam appointed over them ʿAmrūs (2), a man from among their own number. ʿAmrūs was a shrewd operator: he ingratiated himself with al-Ḥakam and worked on the leading men of Toledo until he killed a group of them.

(1) See al-Maghrib, 1:43, and Nafh al-Tib, 2:639. (2) Amrus ibn Yusuf was al-Hakam’s governor on the frontier; he was one of the ruler’s most zealous loyalists, despite a brief moment of insubordination. He is best known for slaughtering the rebel leaders in the courtyard of his palace, as the author mentions elsewhere. See Ibn Khaldun, 4:126.

فَأُحضِرَ، فَقَالَ: يَا طَالُوْتُ! أَخْبِرْنِي لَوْ أَنَّ أَبَاكَ أَوِ ابْنَكَ مَلَكَ هَذِهِ الدَّارَ، أَكُنْتَ فِيْهَا فِي الإِكرَامِ وَالبِرِّ عَلَى مَا كُنْتُ أَفْعَلُ مَعَكَ؟ أَلَمْ أَفْعَلْ كَذَا؟ أَلَمْ أَمْشِ فِي جَنَازَةِ امْرَأَتِكَ، وَرَجَعتُ مَعَكَ إِلَى دَارِكَ؟ أَفَمَا رَضِيْتَ إِلاَّ بِسَفكِ دمِي؟ فَقَالَ الفَقِيْهُ فِي نَفْسِهِ: لاَ أَجِدُ أَنْفعَ مِنَ الصِّدْقِ، فَقَالَ: إِنِّيْ كُنْتُ أُبغِضُكَ للهِ، فَلَمْ يَمْنَعْكَ مَا صَنَعْتَ مَعِيَ لِغَيْرِ اللهِ، وَإِنِّيْ لَمُعْتَرِفٌ بِذَلِكَ - أَصْلَحَكَ اللهُ -. فَوَجَمَ الخَلِيْفَةُ، وَقَالَ: اعْلَمْ أَنَّ الَّذِي أَبْغَضْتَنِي لَهُ قَدْ صَرَفَنِي عَنْكَ، فَانْصَرِفْ فِي حِفْظِ اللهِ، وَلَسْتُ بِتَارِكٍ بِرَّكَ، وَلَيْتَ الَّذِي كَانَ لَمْ يَكُنْ، وَلَكِنْ أَيْنَ ظَفِرَ بِكَ أَبُو البَسَّامِ - لاَ كَانَ -؟ فَقَالَ: أَنَا أَظْفَرْتُهُ بِنَفْسِي، وَقَصَدْتُهُ. قَالَ: فَأَيْنَ كُنْتَ فِي عَامِكَ؟ قَالَ: فِي دَارِ يَهُوْدِيٍّ، حَفِظَنِي للهِ. فَأَطْرَقَ الخَلِيْفَةُ مَلِيّاً، وَرَفَعَ رَأْسَهُ إِلَى أَبِي البَسَّامِ، وَقَالَ: حَفِظَه يَهُوْدِيٌّ، وَسَتَرَ عَلَيْهِ لِمَكَانِه مِنَ العِلْمِ وَالدِّيْنِ، وَغَدَرْتَ بِهِ إِذْ قَصَدَكَ، وَخَفَرْتَ ذِمَّتهُ، لاَ أَرَانَا اللهُ فِي القِيَامَةِ وَجْهَهُ إِنْ رَأَيْنَا لَكَ وَجْهاً. وَطَرَدَهُ، وَكَتَبَ لِلْيَهُودِيِّ كِتَاباً بِالجِزْيَةِ فِيْمَا مَلَكَ، وَزَادَ فِي إِحْسَانِهِ، فَلَمَّا رَأَى اليَهُوْدِيُّ ذَلِكَ، أَسْلَمَ مَكَانَهُ (١) . قَالَ ابْنُ مُزْيَنٍ: وَكَانَ أَهْلُ طُلَيْطِلَةَ لَهُم نُفُوْسٌ أَبِيَّةٌ، وَكَانُوا لاَ يَصْبِرُوْنَ عَلَى ظُلْمِ بَنِي أُمَيَّةَ، فَإِنَّ وُلاَتَهُم كَانَ فِيْهِم ظُلْمٌ وَتَعَدٍّ، فَكَانُوا يَثِبُوْنَ عَلَى الوَالِي وَيُخْرِجُونَه، فَوَلَّى عَلَيْهِمُ الحَكَمُ عَمْرُوْساً (٢) ؛ رَجُلاً مِنْهُم. وَكَانَ عَمْرُوْسُ دَاهِيَةً، فَدَاخَلَ الحَكَمَ، وَعَمِلَ عَلَى رُؤُوْسِ أَهْلِ طُلَيْطِلَةَ حَتَّى قَتَلَ جَمَاعَةً مِنْهُم.

(١) انظر " المغرب " ١ / ٤٣، و" نفح الطيب " ٢ / ٦٣٩. (٢) هو عمروس بن يوسف والي الحكم على الثغر، وأحد المتفانين في الاخلاص له، وإن كانت بدرت منه بادرة عصيان، ويشتهر بذبحه للزعماء المنشقين في فناء قصره كما ذكر المؤلف فيما بدع. انظر ابن خلدون ٤ / ١٢٦.