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A witty but irreverent man—given to revelry, wine, libertinism, and idleness—he nonetheless composed moving elegies for al-Ḥusayn.
Abū Nuwās once passed through Homs and was entertained by him. The great poet said, “You have captivated people with your lines (1):
A rose-red cup, from the hand of a gazelle-like youth—
as though he had lifted it from his cheek and set it circling (2).”
He owned a handsome slave boy and a concubine; finding them wrapped together beneath one coverlet, he killed them both, then repented, mourned them, and versified their elegy (3). He used to dye his beard with verdigris (4).
He died in 235 or 236 AH.
= A locality belonging to the district of Hama; the distance between the two towns is about a two-day march. In Syria people know it only as Salamiyya, pronounced with a short “i” after the m and with a doubled, open y.
(1) Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-Aʿyan, reads: “he stirred up the people of Iraq.”
(2) The verse and the accompanying report are recorded in Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-Aʿyan, 3:185.
(3) Diq al-Jinn became attached to a Christian concubine from Hims, fell passionately in love with her, and she came to dominate his life. When the affair became public, he invited her to embrace Islam so that he could marry her; she consented, aware of his desire for her, and converted at his hands, after which he married her. Her name was Ward. When poverty overtook him he travelled to Salamiyya to seek help from Ahmad b. ʿAli al-Hashimi and stayed with him for a long time. Because Diq al-Jinn had satirized him, a cousin of Ahmad spread the rumour among their family, neighbours and friends that Ward was infatuated with Ahmad’s page. The story eventually reached ʿAbd al-Salam, who asked permission to return to Hims. The cousin calculated the time of his arrival and stationed men to notify him as soon as he reached the gate of Hims. Once informed, he drew his sword and struck Ward until she died. When the truth of the matter became clear to him he was seized by intense remorse; for a month he wept incessantly and took only the bare minimum of food. In his lament he composed the following lines:
“O dawning radiance upon which death descended,
The fruit of doom was gathered for her by my own hands.
The earth drank her blood, though often love had moistened my lips from hers.
My sword lay all night beside the clasp of her belt while my tears flowed upon her cheeks.
By her sandals—nothing that ever trod upon stones is dearer to me than those sandals!
I did not kill her because I would not weep if a fly alighted on her,
But because I begrudged other eyes the sight of her beauty
And could not bear that the envious should gaze upon her.”
For the complete account see al-Aghani, 14:55, 58.
(4) Zanjār (verdigris) is the copper-oxide deposit found in copper mines; the term is a Persian loanword (zankār). See al-Muʿtamid fi al-Adwiyah al-Mufradah, pp. 208–209.
طَرِيْفٌ، مَاجِنٌ، خِمِّيرٌ، خَلِيعٌ، بَطَّالٌ، وَلَهُ مَرَاثٍ فِي الحُسَيْنِ.
مَرَّ بِهِ أَبُو نُوَاسٍ بِحِمْصَ، فَأَضَافَهُ، وَقَالَ: فَتَنْتَ النَّاسَ (١) بِقَولِكَ:
مُوَرَّدَةٌ مِنْ كَفِّ ظَبْيٍ كَأَنَّمَا ... تَنَاوَلَهَا مِنْ خَدِّهِ فَأَدَارَهَا (٢)
وَكَانَ لَهُ مَمْلُوْكٌ مَلِيْحٌ، وَسُرِّيَّةٌ، فَوَجَدَهَمَا فِي لِحَافٍ، فَقَتَلَهُمَا، ثُمَّ تَأَسَّفَ عَلَيْهِمَا، وَرَثَاهُمَا (٣) ، وَكَانَ يَصْبِغُ لِحْيَتَهُ بِزِنْجَارٍ (٤) .
مَاتَ: سنَةَ خَمْسٍ، أَوْ سِتٍّ وَثَلاَثِيْنَ وَمائَتَيْنِ.
= من أعمال حماة، بينهما مسيرة يومين.
ولا يعرفها أهل الشام إلا بسلمية، بكسر الميم وفتح الياء المثناة من تحت المشددة.
(١) في " وفيات الأعيان ": " فتنت أهل العراق ".
(٢) البيت مع الخبر في " وفيات الأعيان " ٣ / ١٨٥.
(٣) اشتهر ديك الجن بجارية نصرانية من أهل حمص، أحبها وتمادى به الامر حتى غلبت عليه، وذهبت به.
فلما اشتهر بها، دعاها إلى الإسلام ليتزوجها، فأجابته لعلمها برغبته فيها، وأسلمت على يده فتزوجها، وكان اسمها ورد.
وقد أعسر واختلت حاله، فرحل إلى سلمية قاصدا أحمد بن علي الهاشمي، وأقام عنده مدة طويلة، فأذاع ابن عمه، بسب هجائه له، أنها تهوى غلاما له، وقرر ذلك عند جماعة من أهل بيته وجيرانه وإخوانه.
وشاع ذلك الخبر حتى أتى عبد السلام، فاستأذن أحمد بن علي في الرجوع إلى حمص.
وقدر ابن عمه وقت قدومه، فأرصد له قوما يعلمونه بموافاته باب حمص، وكان ذلك، فاخترط سيفه حين وصوله، فضربها به حتى قتلها.
وحينما بلغه الخبر على حقيقته وصحته، ندم ندما شديدا، ومكث شهرا لا يرقأ له دمع ولا يطعم من الطعام إلا ما يقيم رمقه.
وقال في ندمه على قتلها:
يا طلعة طلع الحمام عليها * وجنى لها ثمر الردى بيديها
رويت من دمها الثرى ولطالما * روى الهوى شفتي من شفتيها
قد بات سيفي في مجال وشاحها * ومدامعي تجري على خديها
فوحق نعليها وما وطئ الحصى * شيء أعز علي من نعليها
ما كان قتليها لاني لم أكن * أبكي إذا سقط الذباب عليها
لكن ضننت على العيون بحسنها * وأنفت من نظر الحسود إليها
انظر الخبر مفصلا في " الاغاني " ١٤ / ٥٥، ٥٨.
(٤) الزنجار: المتولد في معادن النحاس معرب زنكار، وانظر " المعتمد " في الادوية
المفردة " ص ٢٠٨، ٢٠٩.