Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (9/391)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

—and he died suddenly at the end of Ṣafar. He was buried beside al-Rashīd, and al-Maʾmūn was deeply grieved by his death (1).

It is also said that Dibl al-Khuzāʿī recited a panegyric for ʿAlī ibn Mūsā (2). The Imām rewarded him with six hundred dinars and a jubba of khazz (fine brocade). The people of Qum had offered him one thousand dinars for that cloak, but he refused and set out on a journey. They therefore arranged for highwaymen to ambush him; the cloak was taken, so he returned and spoke to them.

They said to him, “There is no way for it to be returned.”

Instead, they gave him the one thousand dinars together with a scrap of the cloak for blessing.

Al-Mubarrad relates—from Abū ʿUthmān al-Māzinī—that ʿAlī ibn Mūsā al-Riḍā was asked, “Does Allah burden His servants with what they cannot bear?” He answered, “He is far more just than that.”

It was then asked, “So are they able to do whatever they wish?” He replied, “They are far too powerless for that” (3).

It is further reported that al-Maʾmūn asked al-Riḍā, “What do your kinsmen say about our grandfather al-ʿAbbās?” He answered, “What can they say about a man for whom Allah made obedience to His Prophet obligatory upon all creation, and made obedience to Him obligatory upon His Prophet.”

At first glance, this might suggest that the pronoun in “obedience to Him” refers to al-ʿAbbās, whereas it in fact refers to Allah; nonetheless, al-Maʾmūn ordered that one million dirhams be given to him (4).

ʿAlī had several half-brothers born to concubines: Ibrāhīm, ʿAbbās, Qāsim,

(1) al-Tabari, History (Tarikh al-Tabari), vol. 8, p. 568. (2) This is the famous *taaʾiyyah* poem that opens: “Madarisu ayatin khalat min tilawatin / wa-manzilu wahyin muqfiru l-ʿirasi” (“Ruined are the places where verses were once recited, and desolate the courtyard where Revelation descended”). It is considered one of the finest pieces of poetry and the loftiest of panegyrics. Yaqut reproduces the authenticated lines in Muʿjam al-udabaʾ, 11:103, 110, and al-Mizzi relates the report in the biography of ʿAli al-Rida (no. 1995), where he cites eight verses. (3) Tahdhib al-kamal, p. 995. (4) Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-aʿyan, vol. 3, p. 271.

مِنْهُ، فَمَاتَ فَجْأَةً، فِي آخِرِ صَفَرٍ، فَدُفِنَ عِنْدَ الرَّشِيْدِ، وَاغْتَمَّ المَأْمُوْنُ لِمَوْتِهِ (١) . وَقِيْلَ: إِنَّ دِعْبِلاً الخُزَاعِيَّ أَنْشَدَ عَلِيَّ بنَ مُوْسَى مِدْحَةً (٢) ، فَوَصَلَهُ بِسِتِّ مائَةِ دِيْنَارٍ، وَجُبَّةِ خَزٍّ، بَذَلَ لَهُ فِيْهَا أَهْلُ قُمٍّ أَلْفَ دِيْنَارٍ، فَامْتَنَعَ، وَسَافَرَ، فَجَهَّزُوا عَلَيْهِ مَنْ قَطَعَ عَلَيْهِ الطَّرِيْقَ، وَأُخِذَتِ الجُبَّةُ، فَرَجَعَ، وَكَلَّمَهُم. فَقَالُوا: لَيْسَ إِلَى رَدِّهَا سَبِيْلٌ. وَأَعْطَوْهُ الأَلْفَ دِيْنَارٍ وَخِرْقَةً مِنَ الجُبَّةِ لِلْبَرَكَةِ. قَالَ المُبَرِّدُ: عَنْ أَبِي عُثْمَانَ المَازِنِيِّ، قَالَ: سُئِلَ عَلِيُّ بنُ مُوْسَى الرِّضَى: أَيُكَلِّفُ اللهُ العِبَادَ مَا لاَ يُطِيْقُوْنَ؟ قَالَ: هُوَ أَعْدَلُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ. قِيْلَ: فَيَسْتَطِيْعُوْنَ أَنْ يَفْعُلُوا مَا يُرِيْدُوْنَ؟ قَالَ: هُم أَعجَزُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ (٣) . قِيْلَ: قَالَ المَأْمُوْنُ لِلرَّضَى: مَا يَقُوْلُ بَنُو أَبِيْكَ فِي جَدِّنَا العَبَّاسِ؟ قَالَ: مَا يَقُوْلُوْنَ فِي رَجُلٍ فَرَضَ اللهُ طَاعَةَ نَبِيِّهِ عَلَى خَلْقِهِ، وَفَرَضَ طَاعَتَهُ عَلَى نَبِيِّهِ. وَهَذَا يُوهِمُ فِي البَدِيْهَةِ أَنَّ الضَّمِيْرَ فِي طَاعَتِهِ لِلْعَبَّاسِ، وَإِنَّمَا هُوَ للهِ، فَأَمَرَ لَهُ المَأْمُوْنُ بِأَلْفِ أَلْفِ دِرْهَمٍ (٤) . وَكَانَ لِعَلِيٍّ إِخْوَةٌ مِنَ السَّرَارِي، وَهُم: إِبْرَاهِيْمُ، وَعَبَّاسٌ، وَقَاسِمٌ،

(١) " تاريخ الطبري " ٨ / ٥٦٨. (٢) هي التائية المشهورة ومطلعها: مدارس آيات خلت من تلاوة * ومنزل وحي مقفر العرصات وهي من أحسن الشعر، وأسنى المدائح، أورد ما صح منها ياقوت في " معجم الأدباء " ١١ / ١٠٣، ١١٠، وأورد المزي الخبر في ترجمة علي الرضى (١٩٩٥) وأنشد منها ثمانية أبيات. (٣) " تهذيب الكمال ": ٩٩٥. (٤) " وفيات الأعيان ": ٣ / ٢٧١.