Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (3/118)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

When I heard him say that, a shudder (1) seized me so violently that I thought I would fall onto my master. I climbed down from the palm-tree and kept asking his cousin, “What did you say? What did you say?” My master became angry and struck me a severe blow, then said, “What concern is this of yours? Get back to your work!” I replied, “Nothing; I only wanted to make sure (2) of what he said.”

I had some provisions I had stored away, and when evening came I took them and went to the Messenger of God ﷺ, who was then in Qubāʾ. I entered and said, “News has reached me that you are a righteous man, and you have companions who are strangers and in need. This is something I had set aside as charity, and I thought you were more entitled to it than others.” I placed it before him, whereupon the Messenger of God ﷺ said to his companions, “Eat,” but he held back his own hand and did not eat. I said to myself, “That is one [sign].”

I then left him, gathered something else, and when the Messenger of God ﷺ had moved on to Madinah I brought it to him (3) and said, “I noticed that you do not eat from charity; this is a gift with which I honor you.” The Messenger of God ﷺ ate from it and told his companions to eat with him. I said to myself, “That makes two.”

Later I came to the Messenger of God ﷺ at Baqīʿ al-Gharqad. He had followed the funeral of one of his companions (4), and I was wearing two woolen cloaks. He was sitting among his companions, and I greeted him. Then I moved behind him, looking at his back to see whether I could find the seal my companion had described. When the Messenger of God ﷺ noticed me circling behind him, he realized I was trying to verify something that had been described to me. He cast his cloak off his back, and I saw the seal and recognized it; I fell upon him, kissing it and weeping.

The Messenger of God ﷺ said to me, “Turn around.” I turned and sat before him, and I related my story to him just as I have told it to you, Ibn ʿAbbās. The Messenger of God ﷺ was pleased for his companions to hear it.

Slavery, however, kept Salmān so occupied that he missed both Badr and Uḥud with the Messenger of God ﷺ.

Salmān said: Then the Messenger of God ﷺ said to me, “Enter into a manumission contract, O Salmān.” So I agreed with my master for three hundred palm-trees that I would plant for him until they bore fruit, and forty ounces of gold (5). The Messenger of God ﷺ then said to his companions, “Help your brother.” They helped me with the palms: one man brought thirty saplings (6), another twenty, another fifteen, and another ten (7)—each man helping according to what he had—until I had collected three hundred saplings. Then the Messenger of God ﷺ said to me, “Go, Salmān, and dig the holes

(1) In the margin of manuscript H it reads “ar-rida” with an alif. In Ibn Hisham’s Sīrah he explains that al-‘urwa’ denotes ar-rida, the shudder caused by cold or trembling; if it is accompanied by ‘araq (sweat), it is called ar-ruhada. Both terms are written with a long vowel. (2) So reads H, T, Ibn Hisham’s Sīrah, and al-Rawd: “astathbatahu.” (3) The portion enclosed in quotation marks is taken from Ibn Hisham’s Sīrah. (4) He is Kulthum ibn al-Hadam, as noted in al-Rawd, vol. 1, p. 252. (5) “al-faqir”: hufayr, a trench dug around a young date-palm when its shoot (lisan) is planted (faqr). The ḥadīth relates that he told Salmān, “Go and faqqir the seedling,” i.e. dig a hole for its planting. (6) “al-wadiyyah”: singular al-wadiyy; a young palm (fasīlah) or its small offshoot, called wadi. (7) Likewise in H, T, Ibn Hisham’s Sīrah, and al-Rawd: bi‘ashr (with ten). Note that using the feminine form of the numeral is permissible when the counted entity is understood (see al-Khudrī, vol. 2, p. 162; al-Nahw al-Wāfī, vol. 4, p. 545).

سمعتُها أخذتْني العُرَواءُ (١) حتى ظننتُ أني ساقط على سَيِّدي، فنزلتُ عن النخلة، فجعلتُ أقول لابن عمه: ماذا تقول؟ ماذا تقول؟ قال: فغضب سيِّدي فلكمني لكمةً شديدةً، ثم قال: مالك ولهذا؟! أقبلْ على عملك. قال: فقلت: لا شيء، إنما أردتُ أن أستبينَهُ (٢) عمَّا قال. قال: وقد كان عندي شيءٌ قد جمعتُه، فلما أمسيتُ أخذتُه، ثم ذهبتُ به إلى رسولِ الله ﷺ وهو بقُبَاء، فدخلت عليه فقلت له: إنه قد بلغني أنك رجلٌ صالح، ومعك أصحابٌ لك غرباء ذوو حاجة، وهذا شيءٌ كان عندي للصدَقة، فرأيتكم أحقَّ به من غيركم. قال: فقرَّبتُه إليه فقال رسول الله ﷺ لأصحابه: "كُلوا" وأمسكَ يدَهُ فلم يأكل. قال: فقلت في نفسي: هذه واحدة؛ ثم انصرفتُ عنه فجمعتُ شيئًا، وتحوَّل رسولُ الله ﷺ إلى المدينة؛ ثم جئته [به] (٣) فقلت له: إني قد رأيتك لا تأكل الصدقة وهذه هديَّة أكرمتُكَ بها. قال: فأكل رسولُ الله ﷺ منها، وأمر أصحابه فأكلوا معه. قال: فقلتُ في نفسي: هاتان ثنتان. قال: ثم جئتُ رسولَ الله ﷺ وهو ببقيع الغَرْقد، قد تبع جنازةَ رجلٍ من أصحابه (٤) وعليَّ شملتان لي، وهو جالس في أصحابه، فسلمتُ عليه. ثم استدبرتُه أنظر إلى ظهره، هل أرى الخاتم الذي وصف لي صاحبي؟ فلما رآني رسولُ الله ﷺ استدبرته عَرَف أني أستثبت في شيءٍ وُصف لي، فألقى رداءه عن ظهره، فنظرتُ إلى الخاتم فعرفتُه، فأكْبَبْتُ عليه أقبِّلُه وأبكي، فقال لي رسول الله ﷺ : "تحوَّل" فتحولتُ بين يديه، فقصصت عليه حديثي كما حدَّثتك يا ابن عباس. فأُعجب رسولُ الله ﷺ أن يسمع ذاك أصحابه. ثم شَغَلَ سلمانَ الرِّقُّ حتى فاته مع رسولِ الله ﷺ بَدْرٌ وأُحُد. قال سلمان: ثم قال لي رسولُ الله ﷺ : "كاتِبْ يا سلمان" فكاتبتُ صاحبي على ثلاثمائة نخلة أُحْيِيها له بالفَقِير (٥) ، وأربعين أوقية. فقال رسول الله ﷺ لأصحابه: "أعينوا أخاكم" . فأعانوني بالنخل، الرجل بثلاثين وَدِيَّة (٦) ، والرجل بعشرين ودِيَّة، والرجل بخمس عشرة ودِيَّة، والرجل بعشرة (٧) . يُعين الرجلُ بقدر ما عنده، حتى اجتمعت لي ثلاثمائة وَدِيَّة؛ فقال لي رسول الله ﷺ : "اذهبْ يا سلمانُ ففقِّرْ

(١) في هامش ح: هي الرِّعْدة بنافض، وقال ابن هشام في السيرة: والعرواء: الرِّعْدة من البرد والانتفاض، فإن مع ذلك عَرَق فهي الرُّحَضاء، وكلاهما ممدود. (٢) كذا في ح، وفي ط وسيرة ابن هشام والروض: أستثبته. (٣) ما بين معقوفين من سيرة ابن هشام. (٤) هو كلثوم بن الهدم كما في الروض (١/ ٢٥٢). (٥) "الفقير": حُفير يحفر حول الفسيلة إذا غُرست اللسان (فقر): وفيه: وفي الحديث: قال لسلمان: اذهب ففقِّر الفسيل، أي احفر لها موضعًا تُغرس فيه. (٦) "الوَدِيَّة": واحدة الوَدِيّ: وهو فسيل النخل وصغاره. اللسان (ودي). (٧) كذا في ح، ط وفي سيرة ابن هشام والروض: بعشر. قلت: تأنيث العدد جائز إذا كان المعدود ملحوظًا، حاشية الخضري (٢/ ١٦٢) والنحو الوافي (٤/ ٥٤٥).