Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (13/134)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

The army’s pages deserted and joined him. When the people of Basra mustered against him in Dhu al-Qaʿdah of that same year, the two sides met; he routed them, slaughtered many of them, and a terror of him settled in every heart. The caliph then sent out a force against him, but it accomplished nothing.

In 256 AH he fell upon the inhabitants of al-Ubulla (1), burned the town, and so the people of ʿAbadan (2) laid down their arms and made peace with him; he took their slaves and their weapons. He next seized al-Ahwaz. Fear gripped the people of Basra and they scattered, so he captured the city by the sword in Shawwal of 257 AH, during the Friday prayer. Its garrison fled, and he burned the congregational mosque with all who were inside it. The war between him and al-Muwaffaq remained a seesaw affair (3).

He sacked Wasit in 264 AH, and the wretch secured for himself jewels and riches which he kept exclusively. The ascetics among his own followers reproached him and reminded him of the conduct of Abu Bakr and ʿUmar, but he replied, “Neither of them is an exemplar.”

He claimed that he was the ‘servant of Allah’ mentioned in the verse, “Say: It has been revealed…” (al-Jinn 72:1), asserting that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—excelled him only by virtue of prophethood. He further alleged that he had spoken from the cradle: when someone cried out to him, “O ʿAli!” he answered, “At your service.”

He used to assemble Jews and Christians, asking them about any mention of him in the Torah and the Gospel. They would mock him and read out passages, whereupon he would insist that they referred to him, and he further

(1) Al-Ubulla: an ancient town on the Tigris shore, at the innermost point of the Gulf that reaches Basra; it predates Basra itself (see Yaqut). (2) Abadan (initial ‘ayn open, with a doubled open ‘ba’): a locality south of Basra, close to the salt sea (see Yaqut). (3) The manuscript reads “sijal.”

فَرَّ إِلَيْهِ غِلمَانُ العَسْكَرِ. فَحَشَدَ لَهُ أَهْلُ البَصْرَةِ فِي ذِي القَعْدَةِ مِنَ العَامِ، وَالْتَقَوا، فَهَزَمَهُم، وَقَتَلَ مِنْهُم مَقْتَلَةً، وَوَقَعَ رُعْبُهُ فِي النُّفُوْسِ، فَوَجَّهَ الخَلِيْفَةُ جَيْشاً، فَمَا نَفَعُوا. ثمَّ أَوْقَعَ بِأَهْلِ الأُبُلَّةِ (١) فِي سَنَةِ سِتٍّ، وَأَحْرَقَهَا، فَسَلَّمَ أَهْلُ عَبَّادَانِ (٢) بِأَيدِيهِم، وَسَالَمُوهُ، فَأَخَذَ عَبِيْدَهُم وَسِلاَحَهُم. ثمَّ أَخَذَ الأَهْوَازَ، فَخَافَهُ أَهْلُ البَصْرَةِ، وَانْجَفَلُوا، فَأَخَذَهَا بِالسَّيْفِ فِي شَوَّالٍ، سَنَةَ سَبْعٍ وَخَمْسِيْنَ، وَقتَ صَلاَةِ الجُمُعَةِ، وَهَرَبَ جُنْدُهَا، فَأَحْرَقَ الجَامعَ بِمَنْ حَوَى، وَلَمْ تَزَلِ الحَرْبُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ المُوَفَّقِ سِجَالاً (٣) . وَاسْتَبَاحَ وَاسِطَ فِي سَنَةِ أَرْبَعٍ وَسِتِّيْنَ، وَحَصَلَ لِلْخَبِيْثِ جَوَاهِرُ وَأَمْوَالٌ، فَاسْتَأْثَرَ بِهَا، فَأَنْكَرَ عَلَيْهِ المُتَقَشِّفُوْنَ مِنْ أَصْحَابِهِ، وَذَكَرُوا لَهُ سِيْرَةَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرَ، فَقَالَ: لَيْسَ فِيْهِمَا قُدْوَةٌ. وَادَّعَى أَنَّهُ هُوَ عَبْدُ اللهِ المَذْكُوْرِ فِي: ﴿قُلْ أُوْحِيَ﴾ [الجِنُّ: ١] وَزَعَم أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ مَا يَمْتَازُ عَلَيْهِ إِلاَّ بِالنُّبُوَّةِ. وَزَعَمَ أَنَّهُ تَكَلَّمَ فِي المَهْدِ، صِيْحَ بِهِ: يَا عَلِيُّ! فَقَالَ: يَا لَبَّيْكَ. وَكَانَ يَجْمَعُ اليَهُوْدَ وَالنَّصَارَى، يَسْأَلُهُم عَمَّا فِي التَّوْرَاةِ وَالإِنْجِيْلِ مِنْ ذِكْرِهِ، وَهُم يَسْخَرُوْنَ مِنْهُ، وَيَقْرَؤُونَ لَهُ فُصُولاً، فَيَدَّعِي أَنَّهَا فِيْهِ. وَزَادَ مِنَ

(١) الابلة: بلدة على شاطئ دجلة البصرة العظمى في زاوية الخليج الذي يدخل إلى مدينة البصرة. وهي أقدم من البصرة (انظر ياقوت) . (٢) عبادان، بفتح العين، وتشديد الباء المفتوحة: موضع تحت البصرة، قرب البحر الملح. (انظر ياقوت) . (٣) في الأصل: " سجال ".