Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (13/465)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Abū al-ʿAbbās ibn Surayj relates from Ismāʿīl the Chief Judge:

“I once entered upon al-Muʿtaḍid while an array of handsome, fair-skinned Byzantine youths stood about his head. I looked at them, and al-Muʿtaḍid noticed me contemplating them. When I was about to leave, he signalled to me and said, ‘O judge! By Allah, never have I unfastened my trousers for anything unlawful (1).’

“On another occasion I visited him and he handed me a book. When I examined it, I found that it gathered together every legal concession drawn from the slips of the scholars. I said, ‘The person who compiled this is a heretic.’

“He replied, ‘Are not these ḥadiths authentic?’

“I said, ‘Indeed they are, but the one who deemed intoxicants permissible did not deem temporary marriage permissible, and the one who deemed temporary marriage permissible did not permit singing. No scholar is free of error, and whoever collects every error of the scholars will lose his religion.’ So he ordered the book to be burned (2).

Abū ʿAlī al-Muḥsin al-Tanūkhī said:

“It reached me that al-Muʿtaḍid was once seated in a house that was being built for him when he noticed among the workers a black man, ill-favoured of form, climbing the stairs two at a time and carrying twice what anyone else could carry. He found this suspicious, summoned the man, and asked him the reason for it. The fellow stammered. Ibn Ḥamdūn spoke up on his behalf, saying, ‘Who is this man that you should trouble your mind about him?’

“Al-Muʿtaḍid replied, ‘Something has crossed my mind, and I do not think it is groundless.’ He then ordered that the man be given one hundred lashes, threatened him with death, and called for the execution mat (3) and the sword. The man cried out, ‘Safety! I work at the brick-kiln. Some months ago a man came in wearing a money-pouch (4). He took out dinars. I pounced on him, covered his mouth, bound him, and hurled him into the kiln—while I kept the gold to strengthen my heart. Summon it!’ When they brought the pouch, the owner’s name was written on it, so a proclamation was made in

(1) Al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya, vol. 11, p. 87. (2) See the previous source; also Tarikh al-Khulafa, p. 589. (3) Al-nata: a leather mat on which those sentenced to death were often executed. (4) Al-himyan: a waist-fastened purse for carrying money.

رَوَى أَبُو العَبَّاسِ بن سُرَيْج، عَنْ إِسْمَاعِيْلَ القَاضِي، قَالَ: دَخَلْتُ عَلَى المُعْتَضِد، وَعَلَى رأْسِه أَحْدَاثٌ رُوْمٌ مِلاَحٌ، فنظرتُ إِلَيْهِم، فرآنِي المُعْتَضِد أَتَأَمَّلُهُم، فَلَمَّا أَردتُ الاَنصرَافَ، أَشَارَ إِليَّ، ثُمَّ قَالَ: أَيُّهَا القَاضِي! وَاللهِ مَا حَلَلْتُ سَرَاويلِي عَلَى حَرَامٍ قَطُّ (١) . وَدَخَلْتُ مرَّةً، فَدَفَعَ إِليَّ كِتَاباً، فنظرتُ فِيْهِ، فَإِذَا قَدْ جَمَعَ لَهُ فِيْهِ الرُّخَص مِنْ زلل العُلَمَاء، فَقُلْتُ: مُصَنِّفُ هَذَا زِنْدِيْقٌ. فَقَالَ: أَلم تَصِحَّ هَذِهِ الأَحَادِيْث؟ قُلْتُ: بَلَى، وَلَكِنْ مَنْ أَبَاحَ المُسْكر لَمْ يُبح المُتْعَة، وَمَنْ أَبَاحَ المُتْعَة لَمْ يُبِحِ الغِنَاء، وَمَا مِنْ عَالِمٍ إِلاَّ وَلَهُ زَلَّة، وَمن أَخَذَ بِكُلِّ زَلَل العُلَمَاء ذهبَ دِينُه. فَأَمَرَ بِالكِتَابِ فَأُحْرِق (٢) . قَالَ أَبُو عَلِيٍّ المُحسن التَّنُّوخِي: بَلَغَنِي عَنِ المُعْتَضِد أَنَّهُ كَانَ جَالِساً فِي بَيْتٍ يُبنَى لَهُ، فَرَأَى فِيهِم أَسْوَدَ مُنْكَر الخِلْقَة يَصعَد السَّلاَلِم دَرَجَتَيْن دَرَجَتَيْن، وَيحمِلُ ضِعْفَ مَا يحملُه غَيْرُه، فَأَنْكَرَ ذَلِكَ، وَطَلَبَه، وَسَأَلَهُ عَنْ سَبب ذَلِكَ، فَتَلَجْلَجَ، فَكلَّمه ابْن حَمْدُوْنَ فِيْهِ، وَقَالَ: منْ هَذَا حَتَّى صرفْتَ فِكْرَك إِلَيْهِ؟ قَالَ: قَدْ وَقَعَ فِي خَلَدِي أَمرٌ مَا أَحْسِبُه باطلاً، ثُمَّ أَمرَ بِهِ، فَضُرِبَ مائَة، وَتهدَّدَه بِالقتل، وَدَعَا بِالنَطْع (٣) وَالسَّيْف، فَقَالَ: الأَمَانَ، أَنَا أَعمل فِي أَتُوْنَ الآجُرِّ، فَدَخَلَ مِنْ شُهور رَجُل فِي وَسَطه هِمْيَان (٤) ، فَأَخْرَجَ دَنَانِيْر، فَوثبْتُ عَلَيْهِ، وَسدَدْتُ فَاهُ، وَكتَّفْتُه، وَأَلقيتُه فِي الأَتُوْنَ، وَالذَّهَب مَعِي يقوَى بِهِ قلبِي، فَاسْتحضرهَا، فَإِذَا عَلَى الهِمِيَان اسْم صَاحبه، فَنُوْدِيَ فِي

(١) البداية والنهاية: ١١ / ٨٧. (٢) انظر المصدر السابق. وتاريخ الخلفاء: ٥٨٩. (٣) النطع، بفتح النون وكسرها، وفتح الطاء وكسرها وسكونها: بساط من الجلد، كثيرا ما كان يقتل فوقه المحكوم عليه بالقتل. (٤) الهميان: كيس للنفقة يشد في الوسط.