Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (8/376)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Muḥammad ibn Ḥarb al-Makkī said: “When al-ʿUmari arrived, we gathered around him. As soon as his eyes fell upon the palaces crowding about the Kaʿbah he cried, ‘O residents of these lofty palaces, remember the darkness of the desolate graves! O people of luxury and delight, remember the worms, the pus, and the decay that overtakes bodies in the earth!’ Tears then overcame him, and he rose and left.

I was informed by al-Kāghadī—al-Ḥaddād related to us; Abū Nuʿaym related to us; Sulaymān al-Ṭabarānī related to us; Isḥāq al-Khuzāʿī related to us; al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār related to us; Sulaymān ibn Muḥammad said: I heard ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz say: ‘Mūsā ibn ʿĪsā said to me, “News has reached the Commander of the Faithful that you revile him and pray against him. How have you deemed that permissible?”’

I replied, ‘As for reviling him—by Allah, he is dearer to me than my own self because of his kinship to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. As for praying against him—by Allah, I have never said, “O Allah, he has become a heavy burden upon our shoulders that our bodies cannot bear, a mote in our eyes that keeps our lids from closing, and a splinter in our throats that we cannot swallow. Relieve us of his burden and separate us from him.” Rather I said, “O Allah, if he has taken the title al-Rashīd so that he might be rightly guided, then guide him; and if it is for any other reason, then bring him back to the right path. O Allah, through al-ʿAbbās he possesses, within Islam, a rightful claim over every believer (1), and he enjoys a bond of kinship and mercy with Your Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Draw him near to every good, keep him far from every evil, gladden us through him, and set him aright for his own sake and for ours.”’

Mūsā responded, ‘May Allah have mercy on you, Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān; by my life, that is exactly what we thought of you.’

Al-Musayyab ibn Wāḍiḥ said: ‘I heard the ascetic al-ʿUmari in the mosque of Minā recite:

How splendid—these “men of intellect,”
so keen in the quest for idle gain!
They strip the cloaks from widows,
from orphans, and from the aged.’ (2)

(1) In Hilyat al-Awliya, vol. 8, p. 286, the wording is “haqqan” (indeed). (2) In Hilyat al-Awliya, vol. 8, p. 284, it reads: “bi-thalath aksabuhu al-aramil” (“with three I provide for the widows”), which is a corruption of the text.

قَالَ مُحَمَّدُ بنُ حَرْبٍ المَكِّيُّ: قَدِمَ العُمَرِيُّ، فَاجْتَمَعنَا إِلَيْهِ، فَلَمَّا نَظَرَ إِلَى القُصُوْرِ المُحْدِقَةِ بِالكَعْبَةِ، صَاحَ: يَا أَصْحَابَ القُصُوْرِ المُشَيَّدَةِ، اذكرُوا ظُلْمَةَ القُبُوْرِ المُوْحِشَةِ، يَا أَهْلَ التَّنَعُّمِ وَالتَّلذُّذِ، اذكرُوا الدُّودَ وَالصَّدِيْدَ، وَبلاَءَ الأَجسَامِ فِي التُّرَابِ، ثُمَّ غَلَبَتْهُ عَيْنُهُ، فَقَامَ. أُنْبِئتُ عَنِ الكَاغَدِيِّ، أَخْبَرَنَا الحَدَّادُ، أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو نُعَيْمٍ، حَدَّثَنَا سُلَيْمَانُ الطَّبَرَانِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا إِسْحَاقُ الخُزَاعِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا الزُّبَيْرُ بنُ بَكَّارٍ، حَدَّثَنَا سُلَيْمَانُ بنُ مُحَمَّدٍ، سَمِعْتُ عَبْدَ اللهِ بنَ عَبْدِ العَزِيْزِ يَقُوْلُ: قَالَ لِي مُوْسَى بنُ عِيْسَى: يُنهَى إِلَى أَمِيْرِ المُؤْمِنِيْنَ أَنَّكَ تَشْتِمُهُ، وَتَدعُو عَلَيْهِ، فَبِمَ اسْتجزْتَ هَذَا؟ قُلْتُ: أمَّا شَتْمُهُ، فَوَاللهِ هُوَ أَكرمُ عَلَيَّ مِنْ نَفْسِي لقَرَابَتِهِ مِنْ رَسُوْلِ اللهِ ﷺ وَأَمَّا الدُّعَاءُ عَلَيْهِ، فَوَاللهِ مَا قُلْتُ: اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّهُ قَدْ أَصْبَحَ عِبْئاً ثقِيْلاً عَلَى أَكتَافِنَا، فَلاَ تُطِيْقُهُ أَبَدَاننَا، وَقَذَىً فِي جُفُوْنِنَا، لاَ تَطْرَفُ عَلَيْهِ جُفُوْننَا، وَشجَى فِي أَفْوَاهِنَا، لاَ تُسِيغُهُ حلوقُنَا، فَاكفِنَا مُؤنتَهُ، وَفرِّقْ بَيْننَا وَبَيْنَهُ، وَلَكِن قُلْتُ: اللَّهُمَّ إِنْ كَانَ تَسَمَّى بِالرَّشِيْدِ لِيَرشُدَ، فَأَرْشِدْهُ، أَوْ لِغَيْرِ ذَلِكَ، فَرَاجِعْ بِهِ، اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّ لَهُ فِي الإِسْلاَمِ بِالعَبَّاسِ عَلَى كُلِّ مُؤْمِنٍ كفّاً (١) ، وَلَهُ بنَبِيِّكَ ﷺ قَرَابَةٌ وَرحمٌ، فَقرِّبْهُ مِنْ كُلِّ خَيْرٍ، وَبَاعِدْهُ مِنْ كُلِّ سوءٍ، وَأَسعِدْنَا بِهِ، وَأَصلِحْهُ لِنَفْسِهِ وَلَنَا. فَقَالَ مُوْسَى: رَحِمَكَ اللهُ أَبَا عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، كَذَاكَ لَعَمْرِي الظَّنُّ بِكَ. قَالَ المُسَيَّبُ بنُ وَاضِحٍ: سَمِعْتُ الزَّاهِدَ العُمَرِيَّ بِمَسْجِدِ مِنَى يَقُوْلُ: للهِ دَرُّ ذَوِي العُقُوْلِ ... وَالحِرْصِ فِي طَلَبِ الفُضُولِ سُلاَّبُ أَكْسِيَةِ الأَرَاملِ ... وَالِيتَامَى وَالكُهُولِ (٢)

(١) في " الحلية " ٨ / ٢٨٦: " حقا ". (٢) في " الحلية " ٨ / ٢٨٤: " بثلاث أكسبه الارامل " وهو تحريف.