Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (13/201)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

some distance, then returned, asked leave to speak, and recited:

Not in every reign and season
are the occasions for beneficence prepared;
so if ever a day in your life allows it,
hasten to seize it before time turns away.

He then said to me, “Abu al-‘Abbas, write for him this very moment a decree remitting the rent on his village,” and he ordered the ṣayrafī to give the man five hundred dinars.

It is also related that his page once handed him an inkwell and pen; a drop of ink splashed onto an expensive tunic, and the page was alarmed. He told him, “Do not fret,” and declaimed:

If musk perfumes the company,
the fragrance of ink is perfume enough for me.
Nothing is finer than garments
whose borders are dotted with jet-black specks.

I said, “He speaks the truth; on a vizier’s clothing such specks are like beauty marks.”

Jahzah (1) said: I composed:

Through Abu al-Saqr upon us
the mighty favors of Allah appear;
A king for whom this whole world
is but a trifle to grant the hopeful.

He ordered that I be given two hundred dinars.

Al-Ṣūlī said: Ibn Bulbul was born in 230 AH. I saw him many times; he was of surpassing beauty, flawless stature, and perfect build. He was arrested in Ṣafar 278 AH, shackled, dressed in a cloak that had been soaked in molasses and the broth of trotters, and was made to sit in

(1) Ahmad ibn Jaʿfar ibn Musa, Abu al-Hasan, was a court companion, man of letters, and singer from the last generation of the Barmakids. Because of a swelling in his eyes, Ibn al-Muʿtazz nicknamed him “Jahza.” He died in 324 AH/935–36 CE. The author will provide his full biography; the two verses are cited in Jahzat al-Barmaki al-Adib al-Shaʿir, pp. 28, 214 (ed. Mazhar al-Sudani, Najaf al-Ashraf, 1977), where their chain of transmission is also given.

بَعِيْدٍ، ثُمَّ رَجَعَ وَاسْتَأْذَن، ثُمَّ قَالَ: لَيْسَ فِي كُلِّ دَوْلَةٍ وَأَوَانِ ... تَتَهَيَّا صَنَائِعُ الإِحْسَانِ فَإِذَا أَمْكَنَتْكَ يَوْماً مِنَ الدَّهْرِ ... فَبَادِرْ بِهَا صُرُوْفَ الزَّمَانِ فَقَالَ لِي: يَا أَبَا العَبَّاسِ: اكْتُبْ لَهُ بتَسْيِيبِ إِجَارَةِ ضَيْعَتِهِ السَّاعَةَ. وَأَمَرَ الصَّيْرَفِيَّ أَنْ يَدْفَعَ إِلَيْهِ خَمْسَ مائَةَ دِيْنَارٍ. وَيُقَالُ: إِنَّ فَتَاهُ نَاوَلَهُ مُدَّةً بِالقَلَمِ، فَنَقَطَتْ عَلَى دُرَّاعَةٍ مُثَمّنَةٍ، فَجَزِعَ، فَقَالَ: لاَ تَجْزَعْ، ثُمَّ أَنْشَدَ: إِذَا مَا المِسْكُ طَيَّبَ رِيْحَ قَوْمٍ ... كَفَانِي ذَاكَ رَائِحَةُ المِدَادِ فَمَا شَيْءٌ بِأَحْسَنَ مِنْ ثِيَابٍ ... عَلَى حَافَاتِهَا حُمَمُ السَّوَادِ قُلْتُ: صَدَقَ، وَهِيَ خَالٌ فِي مَلْبُوْسِ الوُزَرَاءِ. قَالَ جَحْظَةُ (١) : قُلْتُ: بِأَبِي الصَّقْرِ عَلَيْنَا ... نِعَمُ اللهِ جَلِيْلَه مَلِكٌ فِي عَيْنَيْهِ الدُّنْيَـ ... ـا لِرَاجِيْهِ قَلِيْلَه فَأَمَرَ لِي بِمائتَيْ دِيْنَارٍ. قَالَ الصُّوْلِيُّ: وُلِدَ ابْنُ بُلبُلٍ سَنَةَ ثَلاَثِيْنَ وَمائَتَيْنِ، وَرَأَيْتُهُ مَرَّاتٍ، فَكَانَ فِي نِهَايَةِ الجَمَالِ، وَتَمَامِ القَدِّ وَالجِسْمِ، فَقُبِضَ عَلَيْهِ فِي صَفَرٍ، سَنَةَ ثَمَانٍ وَسَبْعِيْنَ، وَقُيِّدَ، وَأُلْبِسَ عَبَاءةً غُمِسَتْ فِي دِبْسٍ وَمَرَقَةِ كَوَارِعٍ، وَأُجْلِسَ فِي

(١) هو: أحمد بن جعفر بن موسى، أبو الحسن، نديم أديب مغن، من بقايا البرامكة. كان في عينيه نتوء، فلقبه ابن المعتز بجحظة. توفي سنة: (٣٢٤ هـ) . سيترجمه المؤلف، والبيتان في " جحظة البرمكي الأديب الشاعر ": ٢٨، ٢١٤، (د. مزهر السوداني: ط. النجف الأشرف ١٩٧٧) وتخريجهما فيه.