Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (10/71)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Muhammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Būshanjī said: Ishāq remarked, “I asked al-Shāfiʿī, ‘What is your assessment of Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad (1)?’ He replied, ‘Reliable. We have recorded from Ibrāhīm ibn Abī Yaḥyā on his authority four hundred hadiths (2).’

Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā said: I heard al-Shāfiʿī declare, ‘I have never seen anyone more knowledgeable in jurisprudence than Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah, nor anyone more reticent in issuing legal opinions than he (3).’

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Shaykh and others, through several lines of transmission, relate that when al-Shāfiʿī arrived in Egypt, the leading disciples of Mālik came to meet him and showed him great regard. But when they noticed that he disagreed with Mālik and refuted some of his positions, they shunned him and turned away. At that, he composed:

“Shall I scatter pearls before roaming camels,
Or string rare jewels for the shepherd of sheep?
By my life, though I be squandered in the vilest land,
I will not waste among them the radiant gems of wisdom.
Yet if Allah, the Most Subtle, by His subtle grace brings ease,
And I encounter a people worthy of knowledge and sagacity,
I shall impart what benefits and win their affection;
Otherwise, it remains stored with me, hidden and sealed.
Whoever bestows knowledge upon the ignorant only squanders it,
And whoever withholds it from the deserving has committed wrong.
He who conceals the knowledge of religion from those who seek it
Bears an increasing sin and is himself blameworthy for withholding it.” (4)

(1) Jaʿfar ibn Muhammad ibn ʿAli ibn al-Husayn ibn ʿAli ibn Abi Talib, known as al-Sadiq; his biography has already been given in volume 6, no. 117. (2) Al-Bayhaqi, Manaqib, 1:523; Adab al-Shafiʿi, p. 177; Ibn Abi Hatim, al-Jarh wa-l-Taʿdil, 2:487; Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, 2:103. (3) Adab al-Shafiʿi, p. 206; al-Nawawi, Tahdhib al-Asmaʾ wa-l-Lughat, 1:224; see also Razi, Manaqib, p. 17; Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, 4:120; Ibn al-Imad, Shadharat al-Dhahab, 1:355; Ibn Abi Hatim, al-Jarh wa-l-Taʿdil, 1:32–33. (4) All the verses—except the final one—are cited in Manaqib al-Shafiʿi, 2:72; Yaqut, Muʿjam al-Udabaʾ, 17:307; Razi, Manaqib, p. 111; Abu Nuʿaym, Hilyat al-Awliyaʾ, 9:153; and al-Subki, Tabaqat al-Shafiʿiyyah, 1:294.

قَالَ مُحَمَّدُ بنُ إِبْرَاهِيْمَ البُوْشَنْجِيُّ: قَالَ إِسْحَاقُ: قُلْتُ لِلشَّافِعِيِّ: مَا حَالُ جَعْفَرِ بنِ مُحَمَّدٍ (١) عِنْدَكُمْ؟ فَقَالَ: ثِقَةٌ، كَتَبْنَا عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيْمَ بنِ أَبِي يَحْيَى عَنْهُ أَرْبَعَ مائَةِ حَدِيْثٍ (٢) . قَالَ يُوْنُسُ بنُ عَبْدِ الأَعْلَى: سَمِعْتُ الشَّافِعِيَّ يَقُوْلُ: مَا رَأَيْتُ أَفْقَهَ مِنْ سُفْيَانَ بنِ عُيَيْنَةَ، وَلاَ أَسْكَتَ عَنِ الفُتْيَا مِنْهُ (٣) . رَوَى أَبُو الشَّيْخِ الحَافِظُ، وَغَيْرُهُ مِنْ غَيْرِ وَجْهٍ: أَنَّ الشَّافِعِيَّ لَمَّا دَخَلَ مِصْرَ أتَاهُ جِلَّةُ أَصْحَابِ مَالِكٍ، وَأقبلُوا عَلَيْهِ، فَلَمَّا أَنْ رَأَوهُ يُخَالِفُ مَالِكاً، وَيَنْقُضُ عَلَيْهِ، جَفَوهُ، وَتَنَكَّرُوا لَهُ، فَأَنْشَأَ يَقُوْلُ: أَأَنْثُرُ دُرّاً بَيْنَ سَارِحَةِ النَّعَمْ ... وَأَنْظِمُ مَنْثُوراً لِرَاعِيَةِ الغَنَمْ لَعَمْرِي لَئِنْ ضُيِّعْتُ فِي شَرِّ بَلْدَةٍ ... فلَسْتُ مُضِيعاً بَينَهُمْ غُرَرَ الحِكَمْ فَإِنْ فَرَّجَ اللهُ اللَّطِيْفُ بِلُطْفِهِ ... وَصَادَفْتُ أَهْلاً لِلْعُلُومِ وَلِلحِكَمْ بَثَثْتُ مُفِيداً وَاسْتفَدْتُ وِدَادَهُم ... وَإِلاَّ فَمَخْزُونٌ لَدَيَّ وَمُكْتَتَمْ وَمَنْ مَنَحَ الجُهَّالَ عِلْماً أَضَاعَهُ ... وَمَنْ مَنَعَ المُسْتَوْجِبِينَ فَقَدْ ظَلَمْ وَكَاتِمُ عِلْمِ الدِّيْنِ عَمَّنْ يُرِيْدُهُ ... يَبُوءُ بِإِثْمٍ زَادَ وَآثِمٍ إِذَا كَتَمْ (٤)

(١) هو جعفر بن محمد بن علي بن الحسين بن علي بن أبي طالب الملقب بالصادق، تقدمت ترجمة في الجزء السادس رقم (١١٧) . (٢) " مناقب " البيهقي ١ / ٥٢٣، و" آداب الشافعي ": ١٧٧، و" الجرح والتعديل " ٢ / ٤٨٧، و" تهذيب التهذيب " ٢ / ١٠٣. (٣) " آداب الشافعي ": ٢٠٦، و" تهذيب الأسماء واللغات " ١ / ٢٢٤، وانظر " مناقب " الرازي: ١٧، و" تهذيب التهذيب " ٤ / ١٢٠، و" شذرات الذهب " ١ / ٣٥٥، و" الجرح والتعديل " ١ / ٣٢، ٣٣. (٤) الابيات - عدا هذا الأخير في " مناقب الشافعي " ٢ / ٧٢، و" معجم الأدباء " ١٧ / ٣٠٧، و" مناقب " الرازي: ١١١، و" حلية الأولياء " ٩ / ١٥٣، و" طبقات الشافعية " للسبكي ١ / ٢٩٤.