Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (10/227)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

It was said that Asad’s funds ran out while he was staying with Muhammad, so Muhammad appealed to the authorities on his behalf and they sent him ten thousand dirhams. (1)

Asad was meticulous and exacting in the revision of his books. Once the library of a jurist was put up for sale and the auctioneer announced, “These volumes have been compared with the books of the scholar from Ifriqiya.” As a result they fetched the price of two folios for a single dirham.

Ibn al-Qasim related that he said to Asad, “I recite the Quran twice every day and night; for your sake I shall forgo one complete recitation”—meaning he would devote that time to him. (2)

Dawud ibn Ahmad said: “I saw Asad teaching tafsir. He recited, ‘Indeed, I—yes, I—am Allah; there is no deity but Me, so worship Me,’ then exclaimed, ‘Woe to the innovators’ mothers! They claim that Allah created speech that says: I.’ (3)

“I declare my faith in the One who says, ‘Indeed, I am Allah,’ and that Moses, His confidant, heard this from Him; yet I do not know how Allah spoke.”

Asad set out as commander of the raiding force under the appointment of Ziyadat Allah al-Aghlabi, the governor of the Maghrib. He captured a town on the island of Sicily, (4) and there death overtook him in Rabiʿ al-Akhir of the year 213 AH.

Together with his vast learning he was an accomplished horseman—valiant, courageous and ever foremost in battle. The ruler of Sicily marched against him with one hundred and fifty thousand troops.

A man said: “I saw Asad…"

(1) See Maalim al-Iman, vol. 2, pp. 9–11. (2) Tarteeb al-Madarik, vol. 2, p. 469. (3) Tarteeb al-Madarik, vol. 2, p. 474. (4) The manuscript records the name in this form; Yaqut, in his geographical dictionary, notes that Saqliyya is pronounced with three kasras and a doubled l and ya, while most Sicilians give the sad and the l a fatha. The island is one of those in the Mediterranean opposite Ifriqiya (North Africa).

وَقِيْلَ: نَفِدَتْ نَفَقَةُ أَسَدٍ وَهُوَ عِنْدَ مُحَمَّدٍ، فَكَلَّمَ فِيْهِ الدَّوْلَةَ، فَنَفَّذُوا إِلَيْهِ عَشْرَةَ آلاَفِ دِرْهَمٍ (١) . وَقَدْ كَانَ أَسَدٌ ذَا إِتْقَانٍ، وَتَحْرِيْرٍ لِكُتُبِهِ، لَقَدْ بِيْعَتْ كُتُبُ فَقِيْهٍ، فَنُوْدِيَ عَلَيْهَا: هَذِهِ قُوْبِلَتْ عَلَى كُتُبِ الإِفْرِيْقِيِّ، فَاشْتَرَوْهَا وَرَقَتَيْنِ بِدِرْهَمٍ. وَعَنِ ابْنِ القَاسِمِ، أَنَّهُ قَالَ لأَسَدٍ: أَنَا أَقْرَأُ فِي اليَوْمِ وَاللَّيْلَةِ خَتْمَتَيْنِ، فَأَنْزِلُ لَكَ عَنْ خَتْمَةٍ -يَعْنِي: لاشْتِغَالِهِ بِهِ- (٢) . قَالَ دَاوُدُ بنُ أَحْمَدَ: رَأَيْتُ أَسَداً يَعْرِضُ التَّفْسِيْرَ، فَقَرَأَ: ﴿إِنَّنِي أَنَا اللهُ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ أَنَا فَاعْبُدْنِي﴾ ، فَقَالَ: وَيلُ أُمِّ أَهْلِ البِدَعِ، يَزْعُمُوْنَ أَنَّ اللهَ خَلَقَ كَلاَماً، يَقُوْلُ: أَنَا (٣) . قُلْتُ: آمَنْتُ بِالَّذِي يَقُوْلُ: ﴿إِنِّيْ أَنَا اللهُ﴾ ، وَبأَنَّ مُوْسَى كَلِيْمُهُ سَمِعَ هَذَا مِنْهُ، وَلَكِنِّي لاَ أَدْرِي كَيْفَ تَكَلَّمَ اللهُ؟ مَضَى أَسَدٌ أَمِيْراً عَلَى الغُزَاةِ مِنْ قِبَلِ زَيَادَةِ اللهِ الأَغْلَبِيِّ مُتَوَلِّي المَغْرِبِ، فَافْتَتَحَ بَلَداً مِنْ جَزِيْرَةِ صَقِلِّيَّةَ (٤) ، وَأَدْرَكَهُ أَجَلُهُ هُنَاكَ فِي رَبِيْعٍ الآخِرِ، سَنَةَ ثَلاَثَ عَشْرَةَ وَمائَتَيْنِ. وَكَانَ مَعَ تَوَسُّعِهِ فِي العِلْمِ فَارِساً، بَطَلاً، شُجَاعاً، مِقْدَاماً، زَحَفَ إِلَيْهِ صَاحِبُ صَقِلِّيَّةَ فِي مائَةِ أَلْفٍ وَخَمْسِيْنَ أَلْفاً. قَالَ رَجُلٌ: فَلَقَدْ رَأَيْتُ أَسَداً

(١) انظر " معالم الايمان " ٢ / ٩ - ١١. (٢) " ترتيب المدارك " ٢ / ٤٦٩. (٣) " ترتيب المدارك " ٢ / ٤٧٤. (٤) كذا ضبطت في الأصل، وقال ياقوت في " معجمه ": صقلية بثلاث كسرات وتشديد اللام والياء، وأكثر أهل صقلية يفتحون الصاد واللام، وهي من جزائر بحر المغرب مقابلة إفريقية.