Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (15/92)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

and were taken to Basra. Thereafter Allah chastised the vizier Ibn Muqla (1), and Allah restored al-Barbahari to his former honour—indeed, it only grew—and his followers increased.

We have been informed that while he was passing through the western side of Baghdad he sneezed, and his companions responded to his sneeze (2); their clamour rose so high that Caliph al-Radi heard it. When the matter was explained to him he found it disturbing. The innovators kept filling al-Radi’s heart with misgivings until a proclamation was issued in Baghdad: “No two of al-Barbahari’s adherents are to gather together.” Al-Barbahari therefore went into hiding and died, still in concealment, in Rajab of the year 328 AH (3). He was buried in the house of Tuzun’s sister (4), and it was said: when he had been shrouded and only the servant was with him, the servant performed the funeral prayer alone. She looked down from the rowshan (projecting window) (5) and saw the house filled with men in white garments praying over him. Terrified, she called for the servant, but he swore that the door had never been opened (6).

It was also said that he renounced the inheritance of his father out of scrupulousness; it amounted to seventy thousand (7).

Ibn al-Najjar (8) said: Among those who narrated from him was Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Uthman,

(1) His biography will appear later in this volume under entry no. 86. (2) To “shammata” a sneezer—also pronounced “sammata” with an initial s—is to pray that he never find himself in a condition over which others would gloat. The form with s is simply a dialectal variant. See: Lisan al-Arab, root sh-m-t. (3) Tabaqat al-Hanabila, 2/44, dates the event to the year twenty-nine. (4) Tuzun, a Turkish commander, received an honorary robe from the caliph al-Muttaqi, who appointed him amir al-umara (commander of commanders). He retained this position until his death in 334 AH. Tuzun later blinded and deposed al-Muttaqi and gave the oath of allegiance to al-Mustakfi. His career is recorded in al-Kamil, 8/339 ff.; additional excerpts will be cited in the biography of al-Muttaqi billah, p. 104 of the present volume. (5) al-kuwwa: a small window or wall-opening. (6) Tabaqat al-Hanabila, 2/44–45. (7) Tabaqat al-Hanabila, 2/43. (8) Muhammad b. Mahmud b. al-Hasan, Abu Abd Allah Ibn al-Najjar, was a Baghdadi historian and hadith scholar. Among his works is Dhayl Tarikh Baghdad. He died in 643 AH; see his biography in Tabaqat al-Shafi iyya, 5/41 (1st ed.).

وَحُمِلُوا إِلَى البَصْرَةِ. فَعَاقب الله الوَزِيْر ابْنَ مُقْلَة (١) ، وَأَعَاد الله البَرْبَهَارِيَّ إِلَى حشمته، وَزَادت، وَكَثُرَ أَصْحَابُه. فَبَلغنَا أَنَّهُ اجتَازَ بِالجَانب الغربِي، فعَطَس فَشَمَّتَه (٢) أَصْحَابُه، فَارْتَفَعَتْ ضجَّتُهم، حَتَّى سَمِعَهَا الخَلِيْفَةُ، فَأُخبر بِالحَال، فَاسْتهولهَا، ثُمَّ لَمْ تزلِ المُبتدعَةُ تُوحِش قلبَ الرَّاضِي، حَتَّى نُوديَ فِي بَغْدَاد: لاَ يَجْتَمِع اثْنَانِ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ البَرْبَهَارِيّ، فَاخْتَفَى، وَتُوُفِّيَ مستتراً فِي رَجَبٍ سَنَةَ ثَمَانٍ وَعِشْرِيْنَ وَثَلاَثِ مائَةٍ (٣) ، فَدُفِنَ بِدَار أُخْت توزون (٤) فَقِيْلَ: إِنَّهُ لمَّا كُفَّن، وَعِنْدَهُ، الخَادِم، صَلَّى عَلَيْهِ وَحدَهُ، فَنَظَرتْ هِيَ مِنَ الرَّوْشَن (٥) ، فرأَت البَيْت ملآنَ رجَالاً فِي ثِيَاب بيض، يُصلُّوْنَ عَلَيْهِ، فَخَافتْ وَطلبت الخَادِم، فحلَفَ أَنَّ البَابَ لَمْ يُفتحْ (٦) . وَقِيْلَ: إِنَّهُ ترَكَ مِيرَاثَ أَبِيْهِ توَرُّعاً، وَكَانَ سَبْعِيْنَ أَلْفاً (٧) . قَالَ ابْنُ النَّجَّار (٨) :رَوَى عَنْهُ: أَبُو بَكْرٍ مُحَمَّدُ بنُ مُحَمَّدِ بنِ عُثْمَانَ،

(١) ستأتي ترجمته رقم / ٨٦ / من هذا الجزء. (٢) شمت العاطس، وسمت عليه: دعا له أن لا يكون في حال يشمت به فيها. والسين لغة. " لسان العرب " (شمت) . (٣) في " طبقات الحنابلة ": ٢ / ٤٤ " سنة تسع وعشرين ". (٤) توزون، أحد القواد الاتراك، خلع عليه المتقي وجعله أمير الامراء، ودامت إماراته حتى وفاته سنة / ٣٣٤ / هـ وهو الذي سمل المتقي بالله وخلعه، وبايع المستكفي. أخباره في " الكامل ": ٨ / ٣٣٩ وما بعدها..وسيأتي نتف منها في ترجمة المتقي بالله ص / ١٠٤ / من هذا الجزء. (٥) الكوة. (٦) " طبقات الحنابلة ": ٢ / ٤٤ - ٤٥. (٧) " طبقات الحنابلة ": ٢ / ٤٣. (٨) هو محمد بن محمود بن الحسن، أبو عبد الله، ابن النجار، مؤرخ، حافظ للحديث من أهل بغداد، من كتبه " ذيل تاريخ بغداد " توفي سنة / ٦٤٣ / هـ له ترجمة في " طبقات الشافعية ": ٥ / ٤١ (ط ١)