Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (14/19)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Al-Nawfali said, “I used to loathe him for his unbelief and for the wrong he did me.”(1)

Ibn al-Najjar relates: “He secured the oath of allegiance for al-Muktafi, who was then in al-Raqqah, and he took charge of the treasuries on his behalf. In return, the caliph bestowed on him the honorific title Wali al-Dawla, and he married his son to al-Qasim’s daughter for a dowry of one hundred thousand dinars.

“Ibn al-Najjar also said: ‘He was generous and widely praised, yet he was an outright heretic. His tutor had been Abu Ishaq al-Zajjaj, and during his term of office he amassed a vast fortune from bribes, totaling forty thousand dinars.

“Al-Qasim died at the age of thirty-three—may God withhold His mercy from him.’”

Al-Suli recounts: “Shadi the singer told us, ‘I was with al-Qasim while he was drinking. Ibn Firas recited to him from the Book of Ardashir,(2) which pleased him greatly. Ibn Firas then said—by Allah, pointing toward me—‘This is better than these people’s Surah al-Baqarah and their Al ʿImran!’ The two of them burst out laughing.

“Al-Suli further reports: ‘Ibn ʿAbdun told us that the vizier ʿAbbas ibn al-Hasan said, “I was with al-Qasim ibn ʿUbayd Allah when a reciter read the verse, ‘You are the best community ever brought forth…’ (Al ʿImran 110). Ibn Firas commented, ‘It lacks a ya.’ I sprang up in alarm, but al-Qasim pulled me back and signalled to him, so he fell silent.”’”

(1) See Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-A‘yan, vol. 3, p. 362. (2) Al-Darqutni vocalizes the name in this way, as cited by Ibn Khallikan in Wafayat al-A‘yan, vol. 4, p. 360. The person meant is Ardashir ibn Babak ibn Sasan, the forefather of the line of Persian kings whose last ruler was Yazdagird. For his biography, see al-Akhbar al-Tiwal, pp. 42–45; al-Tabari, Tarikh, vol. 2, pp. 37–43; and al-Mas‘udi, Muruj al-Dhahab, vol. 1, p. 245 ff. Ardashir’s Testament (Ahd Ardashir), edited by Dr. Ihsan Abbas and published by Dar Sader, gathers the counsels he left to those who would succeed him on the Persian throne; distilling his experience in governance, it served as a constitutional guide for the kings who followed him.

وَقَالَ النَّوْفَلِيُّ: كُنْتُ أَبْغُضُهُ لكُفْرِهِ، وَلِمَكْرُوهٍ نَالَنِي مِنْهُ (١) . قَالَ ابْنُ النَّجَّارِ: أَخَذَ البَيْعَةَ للمُكْتَفِي، وَكَانَ غَائِباً بِالرَّقَّةِ، وَضَبَطَ لَهُ الخزَائِنَ، فَلَقَّبَهُ وَلِيَّ الدَّوْلَةِ، وَزَوَّجَ وَلَدَهُ بَابْنَةِ القَاسِمِ عَلَى مائَةِ أَلْفِ دِيْنَارٍ. ثُمَّ قَالَ ابْنُ النَّجَّارِ: كَانَ جَوَاداً مُمَدَّحاً، إِلاَّ أَنَّهُ كَانَ زِنْدِيقاً، وَكَانَ مُؤَدِّبهُ أَبُو إِسْحَاقَ الزَّجَّاجِ، فَنَالَ فِي دَولَتِهِ مَالاً جَزِيْلاً مِنَ الرّشْوَةِ، فَحَصَّلَ أَرْبَعِيْنَ أَلفِ دِيْنَارٍ. هَلَكَ القَاسِمُ عَنْ ثَلاَثٍ وَثَلاَثِيْنَ سَنَةٍ، - لاَ ﵀. قَالَ الصُّوْلِيُّ: حَدَّثَنَا شَادِي المُغَنِّيّ، قَالَ: كُنْتُ عِنْدَ القَاسِمِ وَهُوَ يَشْرَبُ، فَقَرَأَ عَلَيْهِ ابْن فِرَاس مِنْ عَهْدِ أَرْدَشِيرٍ (٢) ، فَأَعْجَبَهُ، فَقَالَ لَهُ ابْنُ فِرَاسٍ: هَذَا وَاللهِ - وَأَومأَ إِليَّ - أَحْسَنُ مِنْ بَقَرَةِ هَؤُلاَءِ وَآل عِمْرَانهِمِ. وَجعلاَ يَتَضَاحَكَانِ. قَالَ الصُّوْلِيُّ: وَأَخْبَرَنَا ابْنُ عبدُوْنَ: حَدَّثَنِي الوَزِيْرُ عَبَّاسُ بنُ الحَسَنِ، قَالَ: كُنْتُ عِنْدَ القَاسِمِ بنِ عُبَيْدِ اللهِ، فَقَرَأَ قَارِئ: ﴿كُنْتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ﴾ [آل عِمْرَان:١١٠] فَقَالَ ابْنُ فرَاسٍ: بِنُقْصَانِ يَاءْ، فَوَثَبْتُ فَزِعاً، فَرَدَّنِي القَاسِمُ وَغَمَزَهُ، فَسَكَتَ.

(١) انظر " وفيات الأعيان " ٣ / ٣٦٢. (٢) كذا ضبطه الحافظ الدارقطني فيما نقله عنه ابن خلكان في " الوفيات " ٤ / ٣٦٠، وهو أردشير بن بابك بن ساسان: جد ملوك الفرس الذين آخرهم يزدجرد. انظر ترجمته في " الاخبار الطوال " ص ٤٥ ٤٢، و" تاريخ الطبري " ٢ / ٤٣ ٣٧، و" مروج الذهب " ١ / ٢٤٥ وما بعدها. و" عهد أردشير " طبع بتحقيق الدكتور إحسان عباس، وقد قام بنشره دار صادر وهو مجموعة وصايا خلفها أردشير لمن يليه في حكم فارس من الملوك، لتكون لهم عونا في إدارة شؤون ممالكهم، جمع فيها تجاربه في الحكم والادارة، وقد أصبح هذا العهد دستورا لمن جاء بعده من الملوك.