Qāʿidah fī al-Inghimās fī al-ʿAdū - Ibn Taimiya - (76)

Then someone came to the king and said, “Do you see what you were so afraid of? By Allah, the very thing you dreaded1 has happened—the people have believed.”

Digging the trench to burn the believers
He therefore ordered that trenches2 be dug at the mouths of the streets3. They were excavated and fires were kindled in them. He proclaimed, “Whoever does not renounce his religion, throw him into it4,” or, “Let him throw himself in.”

A child speaks from the cradle to strengthen his mother upon the truth
They proceeded until a woman arrived carrying her infant, and she faltered5. The child said to her, “Mother, be patient, for you are upon the truth.”

139- From this hadith we learn that the king’s court companion and the monk were killed with saws, and they did not turn back from faith.

(1) “Nazala bika ḥadhruk” means: what you used to fear and dread has actually happened to you. (2) “Al-ukhdūd” is a large fissure or trench in the ground; its plural is akhādīd. (3) “Al-sikak” are the thoroughfares, and “afwāhuhā” are their entrances or gates. (4) Shaykh al-Islam here cites the wording “fa-aqḥimūhu” (with qāf), and al-Nawawī notes: “In some manuscripts found in our lands it reads fa-aqḥimūhu, meaning: throw him into it by force.” The more common narration, however, is “fa-aḥmūhu.” Al-Nawawī explains: “It begins with a hamzah followed by a silent ḥāʾ; its sense is: hurl him into it, from their expression ḥamaytu al-ḥadīd (‘I placed the iron in the fire to make it hot’).” (5) “Fataqāʿasat” means she hesitated, stayed where she was, and was unwilling to enter the fire.

فأتى الملك فقيل له: أرأيت ما كنت تحذر، قد والله نزل بك حذرك١. قد آمن الناس. حفر الأخدود لتحريق المؤمنين فأمر بالأخدود٢ بأفواه السكك٣ فخدت. وأضرم فيها النيران. وقال: من لم يرجع عن دينه فأقحموه فيها٤. أو قيل له: اقتحم. غلام يتكلم في المهد ليثبت أمه على الحق ففعلوا حتى جاءت امرأة ومعها صبي لها فتقاعست٥. فقال لها الغلام: يا أمه اصبري فإنك على الحق" ١٣٩- ففي هذا الحديث: أنه قتل جليس الملك والراهب بالمناشير، ولم يرجعا عن الإيمان.

١ "نزل بك حذرك" أي ما كنت تحذر وتخاف. ٢ "الأخدود": هو الشق العظيم في الأرض وجمعه أخاديد. ٣ "السكك " الطرق وأفواهها: أبوابها. ٤ هذا اللفظ الذي ذكره هنا شيخ الإسلام، قال عنه النووي ﵀: "ووقع في بعض النسخ في بلادنا "فأقحموه" بالقاف ومعناه: اطرحوه فيها كرها" اهـ. وأما الرواية المشهورة فهي "فأحموه" قال النووي ﵀: "بهمزة قطع بعدها حاء ساكنة؛ ومعناها: ارموه فيها، من قولهم: حميت الحديد وغيرها إذا أدخلتها النار لتحمى". ٥ "فتقاعست": أي توقفت ولزمت موضعها، وكرهت الدخول في النار.