Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (13/332)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

and submission, in accordance with the Prophet’s saying—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—“Indeed, He is upon His Throne.” (1)

He also said, “A zindiq (heretic) is so called because he weighs the subtleties of speech on the defective scale of his own intellect and the yard-stick of his soul’s whim; he abandons the transmitted reports and adherence to the Sunnah, and he interprets the Quran according to desire. Transcendent is the One whom imaginations cannot delimit.” He spoke further to this effect.

Abu Nuʿaym states in al-Ḥilyah: My father narrated to us; Abu Bakr al-Jawrabi narrated to us; I heard Sahl ibn ʿAbd Allah say:

“Our foundations are six: holding fast to the Quran, emulating the Sunnah, eating what is lawful, refraining from harming others, avoiding sins, repenting, and giving people their due rights.” (2)

It is reported from Sahl that he said, “Whoever speaks about what does not concern him is deprived of truthfulness; whoever busies himself with superfluities is deprived of scrupulousness; whoever harbors evil suspicion is deprived of certainty; and whoever is deprived of these three is ruined.” (3)

He also said, “Among the traits of the siddeeqin is that they never swear by Allah, they do not backbite, no one is backbitten in their presence, they do not eat to satiety, when they give a promise they do not break it, and they never joke at all.” (4)

Ibn Salim the ascetic, the shaykh of Basra, related: ʿAbd al-Rahman said to Sahl ibn ʿAbd Allah, “When I perform ablution, the water that runs off my hand turns into rods of gold.” Sahl replied:

(1) Abu Dawud records it (no. 4776) in the Book of the Sunna, chapter “Concerning the Jahmiyya,” through the chain of transmission Jubayr b. Muhammad b. Jubayr b. Mutim, from his father, from his grandfather … with the wording: “Allah is above His Throne, and His Throne is above His heavens.” No one other than Ibn Hibban declared Jubayr b. Muhammad reliable. Abu Dawud also reports it (no. 4732) from al-Abbas b. Abd al-Muttalib with the phrase: “Then Allah—exalted—is above that.” In this chain appears Abd Allah b. Umayra, who is an unknown narrator. (2) Hilyat al-Awliya, 10/190; the supplementary words are taken from this source. (3) Ibid., 10/196, with the addition: “and it is recorded in the register of enemies.” (4) How so, when the very first of the siddiqin and the best of all creation without exception—peace and blessings be upon him—used to joke, as several hadiths attest; yet even in jest he spoke only the truth.

وَالتَّسْلِيْم، لِقَوْلِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ: (إِنَّهُ عَلَى عَرْشِهِ (١)) . وَقَالَ: إِنَّمَا سُمِّيَ الزِّنْدِيْقُ زِنْدِيْقاً، لأَنَّهُ وَزَنَ دِقَّ الكَلاَمِ بِمَخْبُوِلِ عَقْلِهِ وَقِيَاسِ هَوَى طَبْعِهِ، وَتَرَكَ الأَثَرَ، وَالاَقْتِدَاءَ بِالسُّنَّةِ، وَتَأَوَّلَ القُرْآنَ بِالهَوَى، فَسُبْحَانَ مَنْ لاَ تُكَيِّفُهُ الأَوهَامُ. فِي كَلاَمٍ نَحْوِ هَذَا. قَالَ أَبُو نُعَيْمٍ فِي (الحِلْيَةِ) : حَدَّثَنَا أَبِي، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرٍ الجَوْرَبِي، سَمِعْتُ سَهْلَ بن عَبْدِ اللهِ يَقُوْلُ: أُصُوْلُنَا سِتَّةٌ: التَّمَسُّكُ بِالقُرْآنِ، وَالاقتِدَاءُ بِالسُّنَّةِ، وَأَكلُ الحَلاَلِ، وَكَفُّ الأَذَى، وَاجتِنَابُ الآثَامِ، وَالتَّوبَةُ، وَأَدَاءُ الحُقُوْقِ (٢) . عَنْ سَهْلٍ: مَنْ تَكَلَّمَ فِيمَا لاَ يَعْنِيْهِ حُرِمَ الصِّدْقَ، وَمَنْ اشتَغَلَ بِالفُضُوْلِ حُرِمَ الوَرَعَ، وَمَنْ ظَنَّ ظَنَّ السَّوْءِ حُرِمَ اليَقِيْنَ، وَمَنْ حُرِمَ هَذِهِ الثَّلاَثَة هَلَكَ (٣) . وَعَنْهُ قَالَ: مِن أَخلاَقِ الصِّدِّيْقِينَ أَنْ لاَ يَحْلِفُوا بِاللهِ، وَأَنَّ لاَ يَغْتَابُوا، وَلاَ يُغْتَابَ عِنْدَهُم، وَأَنَّ لاَ يَشْبَعُوا، وَإِذَا وَعَدُوا لَمْ يُخْلِفُوا، وَلاَ يَمْزَحُوْنَ أَصلاً (٤) . قَالَ ابْنُ سَالِمٍ الزَّاهِدُ، شَيْخُ البَصْرَةِ: قَالَ عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ لِسَهْلِ بنِ عَبْدِ اللهِ: إِنِّيْ أَتَوَضَأُ فَيَسِيْلُ المَاءَ مَنْ يَدِي، فَيَصِيْرُ قُضْبَانَ ذَهَبٍ. فَقَالَ:

(١) أخرجه أبو داود (٤٧٧٦) في السنة: باب في الجهمية من طريق جبير بن محمد بن جبير بن مطعم، عن أبيه، عن جده ... وفيه " إن الله فوق عرشه وعرشه فوق سماواته " وجبير ابن محمد لم يوثقه غير ابن حبان، وأخرجه أبو داود (٤٧٣٢) من حديث العباس بن عبد المطلب وفيه: " ثم الله ﵎ فوق ذلك ". وفي سنده عبد الله بن عميرة وهو مجهول. (٢) حلية الأولياء: ١٠ / ١٩٠، والزيادة منه. (٣) المصدر السابق: ١٠ / ١٩٦، وزاد: " وهو مثبت في ديوان الاعداء ". (٤) كيف؟ وأول الصديقين، وأفضل الخلق على الاطلاق ﷺ كان يمزح، كما جاء في غير ما حديث عنه، لكنه كان يمزح ولا يقول إلا حقا.