Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (10/289)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

after him. Some said that this took place without al-Maʾmun’s authorization, while others maintained that it was carried out by his own command (1).

On his deathbed he dictated the following testimony for himself: “ʿAbd Allah son of Hārūn bears witness that Allah alone has no partner; that He is the Creator and everything apart from Him is created; that the Qur’an, being a thing, cannot be exempt from having a likeness, whereas Allah has no likeness; that the resurrection is true; and that I am a sinner who both hopes and fears.

Let the one of you who is closest to me lead the funeral prayer for me and pronounce five takbīrs. May Allah show mercy to the servant who takes admonition and reflects on the annihilation Allah has decreed for all His creatures. Praise belongs to Allah alone, the One who alone endures.

Then let anyone look at the glory of the caliphate in which I lived: did it benefit me in the least when Allah’s decree descended upon me? By Allah, it did not; rather, it has only made my reckoning heavier. Would that I had never existed.

My brother, come near and take heed of what you see. Hold fast to your brother’s position concerning the Qur’an, and, now that Allah has placed the caliphate upon your neck, conduct yourself like one who seeks Allah’s pleasure and fears His punishment. Do not be deceived, for it is as though death has already come upon you.

Do not neglect the affairs of your subjects—your subjects, your subjects! For sovereignty rests on them. Fear Allah with regard to them and to everyone else.

O Abū Isḥāq, you are bound by Allah’s covenant: you must uphold His right among His servants and give preference to obeying Him over disobeying Him.” He replied, “O Allah, I will.”

“These,” he continued, “are your cousins from the line of ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him); treat them well and overlook the faults of those who err among them” (2).

He died in Rajab, on the twelfth day of the year 218 AH, at the age of forty-eight.

His death occurred at al-Badhanūn (3); his son al-ʿAbbās conveyed his body to Tarsus and buried him there, in the house of Khāqān, his father’s retainer (4).

(1) Al-Suyuti, Tarikh al-Khulafaʾ (History of the Caliphs), pp. 310-313. (2) Al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Tabari, vol. 8, pp. 647-650; Ibn Miskawayh, ʿUyun al-Tawarikh, vol. 8, fols. 26-27; Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, vol. 6, pp. 429-431. (3) A frontier village situated about one day’s march from Tarsus. (4) See al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Tabari, vol. 8, p. 650; Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, vol. 6, pp. 431-432.

مِنْ بَعْدِهِ. فَقِيْلَ: وَقَعَ ذَلِكَ بِغَيْرِ أَمْرِ المَأْمُوْنِ. وَقِيْلَ: بَلْ بِأَمرِهِ (١) . وَأَشهَدَ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ عِنْدَ المَوْتِ أَنَّ عَبْدَ اللهِ بنَ هَارُوْنَ أَشهَدَ عَلَيْهِ أَنَّ اللهَ وَحدَهُ لاَ شَرِيْكَ لَهُ، وَأَنَّهُ خَالِقٌ، وَمَا سِوَاهُ مَخْلُوْقٌ، وَلاَ يَخلُو القُرْآنُ مِنْ أَنْ يَكُوْنَ شَيْئاً لَهُ مِثْلٌ، وَاللهُ لاَ مِثْلَ لَهُ، وَالبَعْثُ حَقٌّ، وَإِنِّيْ مُذْنِبٌ، أَرْجُو وَأَخَافُ. وَلْيُصَلِّ عَلَيَّ أَقرَبُكُم، وَلْيُكَبِّرْ خَمْساً، فَرَحِمَ اللهُ عَبداً اتَّعَظَ وَفَكَّرَ فِيْمَا حَتَمَ اللهُ علَى جَمِيْعِ خَلْقِهِ مِنَ الفَنَاءِ، فَالحَمْدُ للهِ الَّذِي تَوَحَّدَ بِالبَقَاءِ. ثُمَّ لْيَنْظُرِ امْرُؤٌ مَا كُنْتُ فِيْهِ مِنْ عِزِّ الخِلاَفَةِ، هَلْ أَغْنَى عَنِّي شَيْئاً إِذْ نَزَلَ أَمْرُ اللهُِ بِي؟ لاَ وَاللهِ، لَكِنْ أُضْعِفَ بِهِ عَلَيَّ الحِسَابُ، فَيَا لَيْتَنِي لَمْ أَكُ شَيْئاً. يَا أَخِي! ادْنُ مِنِّي، وَاتَّعِظْ بِمَا تَرَى، وَخُذْ بِسِيْرَةِ أَخِيْكَ فِي القُرْآنِ، وَاعْمَلْ فِي الخِلاَفَةِ إِذْ طَوَّقَكَهَا اللهُ عَمَلَ المُرِيْدِ للهِ، الخَائِفِ مِنْ عِقَابِهِ، وَلاَ تَغْتَرَّ، فَكَأَنْ قَدْ نَزَلَ بِكَ المَوْتُ. وَلاَ تُغْفِلْ أَمرَ الرَّعِيَّةِ، الرَّعِيَّةَ الرَّعِيَّةَ، فَإِنَّ المُلْكَ بِهِم، اللهَ اللهَ فِيْهِم وَفِي غَيْرِهِم. يَا أَبَا إِسْحَاقَ، عَلَيْكَ عَهْدُ اللهِ، لَتَقُومَنَّ بِحَقِّهِ فِي عِبَادِهِ، وَلَتُؤْثِرَنَّ طَاعَتَهُ علَى مَعْصِيَتِهِ. فَقَالَ: اللَّهُمَّ نَعَمْ. هَؤُلاَءِ بَنُو عَمِّكَ مِنْ ذُرِّيَّةِ عَلِيٍّ ﵁ أَحْسِنْ صُحْبَتَهُم، وَتَجَاوَزْ عَنْ مُسِيْئِهِم (٢) . ثُمَّ مَاتَ فِي رَجَبٍ، فِي ثَانِي عَشَرِهِ، سَنَةَ ثَمَانِ عَشْرَةَ وَمائَتَيْنِ، وَلَهُ ثَمَانٌ وَأَرْبَعُوْنَ سَنَةً. تُوُفِّيَ: بِالبَذَنْدُوْنَ (٣) ، فَنَقَلَهُ ابْنُه العَبَّاسُ، وَدَفَنَهُ بِطَرَسُوْسَ، فِي دَارِ خَاقَانَ خَادِمِ أَبِيْهِ (٤) .

(١) " تاريخ الخلفاء " ٣١٠ - ٣١٣. (٢) " تاريخ الطبري " ٨ / ٦٤٧ - ٦٥٠، و" عيون التواريخ " ٨ / لوحة ٢٦، ٢٧، و" الكامل " لابن الأثير ٦ / ٤٢٩ - ٤٣١. (٣) قرية من قرى الثغر بينها وبين طرسوس مسيرة يوم. (٤) انظر " تاريخ الطبري " ٨ / ٦٥٠، و" الكامل " لابن الأثير ٦ / ٤٣١، ٤٣٢.