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and concerning him Sahl ibn Abi Ghalib al-Khazraji (1) said:
“Muʿādh ibn Muslim is a man
for whom no appointed span can set an end.
The very head of Time has turned grey, the ages have grown hoary,
yet the garments of his life are still brand-new.
Say to Muʿādh, when you pass by him:
‘Even Eternity itself has cried out at the length of your days!’
O first-born of Eve, how long will you live?
How long, O Lubad (2), will you trail the hem of existence?
Adam’s abode has already fallen into ruin,
yet you stand within it like the peg that holds it firm.
When its crows caw you ask them:
‘What is it like to suffer headache or ophthalmia?’
Straight-backed and vigorous like a male ostrich, you stride along
in your two mantles, blazing like a living fire.
You kept company with Noah, and—though already an old man with grandchildren—you even broke in the mule of the Two-Horned One (3).”
(1) Ibn Khallikan states in Wafayat, 5/221, that he grew up in Sijistan, claimed to have been suckled by the jinn, and alleged that he had joined their company. He composed a book in which he detailed the jinn, their wisdom, genealogies, and poetry, and he maintained that he pledged allegiance on their behalf to al-Amin, son of Harun al-Rashid and heir apparent. Harun al-Rashid, his son al-Amin, and Zubayda, al-Amin’s mother, therefore drew him close, showered him with favors, and benefited from his lore. He produced fine verses that he ascribed to the jinn, the shayatin, and the sa‘ali. Harun al-Rashid remarked to him: “If you have truly seen what you describe, you have witnessed a marvel; if not, you have fashioned a work of literature.” All his reports are extraordinary and wondrous. Ibn Maktum, however, holds that the verses were not said about this Mu‘adh b. Muslim, but about another person of the same name, a companion of Mu‘adh b. ‘Abd Allah al-Asadi. The poet is Muhammad b. Manadhir, who composed them concerning Mu‘adh the chamberlain (al-hajib). Ibn Maktum demonstrates this correctly in his large work al-Jam‘ al-mutanahi fi akhbar al-lughawiyyin wa-n-nuhat. The verses appear in al-Hayawan, 3/423, 6/327, and 7/51, attributed there to Muhammad b. Manadhir, and without attribution in ‘Uyun al-Akhbar, 4/59–60.
(2) Libd, pronounced like Zufr, was the last of Luqman’s vultures. Report-writers claim that Luqman enjoyed an extraordinary lifespan: he was granted the lives of seven vultures. Each time he would take a male vulture’s chick, place it on the mountain where he dwelt, and live as long as it lived; when it died, he reared another chick, until the last of them was Libd, the longest-lived of all. Hence the proverb, “Time has grown endless for Libd.” The Arabs cite Libd frequently in their poetry, e.g. al-Nabigha’s line: “The place is desolate and its people have departed— / The very fate that befell Libd has now befallen my sister.”
(3) The manuscript reads: “and I was satisfied with his learning,” but Ibn Khallikan (5/218) provides the correct wording.
وَفِيْهِ يَقُوْلُ سَهْلُ بنُ أَبِي غَالِبٍ الخَزْرَجِيُّ (١) :
إِنَّ مُعَاذَ بنَ مُسْلِمٍ رَجُلٌ ... لَيْسَ لِمِيْقَاتِ عُمْرِهِ أَمَدُ
قَدْ شَابَ رَأْسُ الزَّمَانِ وَاكْتَهَلَ الدْ ... دَهْرُ وَأَثْوَابُ عُمْرِهِ جُدُدُ
قُلْ لِمُعَاذٍ إِذَا مَرَرْتَ بِهِ: ... قَدْ ضَجَّ مِنْ طُوْلِ عُمْرِكَ الأَبَدُ
يَا بِكْرَ حَوَّاءَ كَمْ تَعِيْشُ؟! وَكمْ ... تَسْحَبُ ذَيْلَ البَقَاءِ يَا لُبَدُ (٢) ؟!
قَدْ أَصْبَحَتْ دَارُ آدَمٍ خَرِبَتْ ... وَأَنْتَ فِيْهَا كَأَنَّكَ الوَتِدُ
تَسْأَلُ غِرْبَانُهَا إِذَا نَعَبَتْ: ... كَيْفَ يَكُوْنُ الصُّدَاعُ وَالرَّمَدُ؟
مُصَححاً كَالظَّلِيمِ، تَرْفُلُ فِي ... بُرْدَيْكَ مِثْلَ السَّعِيْرِ تَتَّقِدُ
صَاحَبْتَ نُوحاً، وَرُضْتَ بَغْلَةَ (٣) ذِي الـ ... ـقَرْنَيْنِ شَيْخاً لِولدكَ الوَلَدُ
(١) قال ابن خلكان في " الوفيات " ٥ / ٢٢١: إنه نشأ بسجستان، وادعى رضاع الجن، وأنه صار إليهم، ووضع كتابا ذكر فيه أمر الجن وحكمتهم وأنسابهم وأشعارهم، وزعم أنه بايعهم للامين بن هارون الرشيد ولي العهد، فقربه الرشيد وابنه الامين، وزبيدة ام الامين، وبلغ معهم، وأفاد منهم، وله أشعار حسان وضعها على الجن والشياطين والسعالي، وقال له الرشيد:
إن كنت رأيت ما ذكرت لقد رأيت عجبا، وإن كنت ما رأيته لقد وضعت أدبا.
وأخباره كلها غريبة عجيبة.
ويرى ابن مكتوم أن هذه الابيات لم تقل في معاذ بن مسلم هذا، فإنها مقولة في غيره وهو معاذ بن مسلم، صاحب معاذ بن عبد الله الأسدي، وهي لمحمد بن مناذر، قالها في معاذ الحاجب، وقد ذكر ذلك وأوضحه على الصواب في كتابه الكبير المسمى: " بالجمع المتناه في أخبار اللغويين والنحاة "، والابيات في " الحيوان " ٣ / ٤٢٣ و٦ / ٣٢٧ و٧ / ٥١ منسوبة إلى محمد ابن مناذر، وبغير نسبة في " عيون الاخبار " ٤ / ٥٩، ٦٠.
(٢) لبد: كزفر: آخر نسور لقمان يزعم الاخباريون أن لقمان كان أطول الناس عمرا وأنه أعطي عمر سبعة أنسر، فجعل يأخذ فرخ النسر الذكر، فيجعله في الجبل الذي هو في أصله، فيعيش منه ما عاش، فإذا مات أخذ آخر، فرباه حتى كان آخرها ليدا، وكان أطوالها عمرا، فقيل: " طال الابد على لبد " وقد ذكرت العرب لبدا في أشعارها كثيرا.
فمن ذلك قول النابعة: أضحت خلاء وأضحى أهلها احتملوا * أختى عليها الذي أخنى على لبد
(٣) في الأصل: ورضيت بعلمه، والتصويب من ابن خلكان: ٥ / ٢١٨.