Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (1/21)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

Allah, exalted is He, says:
“Those who bear the Throne and those around it extol their Lord with praise, believe in Him, and seek forgiveness for the believers, saying, ‘Our Lord, You have encompassed all things in mercy and knowledge.’” (Ghafir 40:7).

It has already been mentioned in the ḥadīth of the mountain goats (1) that they are eight and that the Throne rests upon their backs.

Allah the Exalted also says:
“And on that Day eight will carry the Throne of your Lord above them.” (Al-Ḥāqqah 69:17).

Shahr ibn Ḥawshab said: “The bearers of the Throne are eight. Four of them say: ‘Glorified are You, O Allah, and praise is Yours; to You belongs praise for Your forbearance after Your knowledge,’(2) and four say: ‘Glorified are You, O Allah, and praise is Yours; to You belongs praise for Your pardon after Your power.’

“As for the ḥadīth related by Imām (3) Aḥmad,(4) he said: ‘ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad—meaning Abū Bakr [ibn Abī Shaybah](5)—narrated to us; ʿAbdah ibn Sulaymān narrated to us, from Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, from Yaʿqūb ibn ʿUtbah, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbās, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ affirmed some of the poetry of Umayyah ibn Abī al-Ṣalt,(6) who said:

[in the kāmil metre]
“A man and a bull are beneath His right foot,
A vulture beneath the other, and a watchful lion.”(7)

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “He has spoken the truth.”

Umayyah then said:

[in the kāmil metre]
“The sun rises at the close of every night,
Crimson, its color growing ever more rosy;
It refuses to set out on its appointed course for us
Unless it is driven on and scourged.”(8)

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ again said, “He has spoken the truth.”

This ḥadīth possesses a sound chain of transmission; its narrators are trustworthy.(9) It implies that

(1) The hadith appeared above on p. 15; its isnād (chain of transmission) is weak. (2) In manuscript B: “lak al-ḥamdu ‘alā ‘ilmika, wa arba‘ah” ("All praise is due to You for Your knowledge, and four"). This is a slip by the redactor. (3) The term “al-imām” was omitted in manuscript B. (4) Musnad Ahmad (1:256); also in al-Darimi’s Sunan (2:296) under the chapter “Permission” (al-istidhān), in the section on poetry. It includes the an‘anah transmission of Ibn Ishaq, who is a mudallis (a transmitter guilty of concealment). (5) An addition found in manuscript B; it also appears in his Musannaf (8:505). (6) A well-known pre-Islamic (jāhilī) poet who lived into Islam without converting. He anticipated prophethood for himself, having learned of it from Christian monks and Jewish rabbis. See the detailed study in his Diwan edited by Prof. Abdul Hafiz al-Sutli. (7) This verse, with the following two, appears in his Diwan (p. 365). It belongs to a long poem beginning “I know that God is not like His creation…a creation, and nothing escapes His notice, not even an atheist.” It is among his disputed (muttaham) verses, as noted by Dr. al-Sutli; the next two lines are on p. 54. (8) I have retained the reading of manuscript B, which agrees with the source used by the author—Musnad Ahmad. (9) I note, however, that it includes Muhammad b. Ishaq, who is a mudallis, and that he transmitted it by an‘anah.

قال اللَّه تعالى: ﴿الَّذِينَ يَحْمِلُونَ الْعَرْشَ وَمَنْ حَوْلَهُ يُسَبِّحُونَ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّهِمْ وَيُؤْمِنُونَ بِهِ وَيَسْتَغْفِرُونَ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا رَبَّنَا وَسِعْتَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ رَحْمَةً وَعِلْمًا﴾ [غافر: ٧] . وقد تقدَّم في حديث الأوعال (١) أنَّهم ثمانية، وفوق ظهورهنَّ العَرشُ، وقال تعالى: ﴿وَيَحْمِلُ عَرْشَ رَبِّكَ فَوْقَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ ثَمَانِيَةٌ﴾ [الحاقة: ١٧] . وقال شهْرُ بْن حوْشب: حملةُ العرْش ثمانيةٌ؛ أربعةٌ منهم يقولون: سُبْحانك اللَّهُمَّ وبحَمْدكَ، لَكَ الحمْدُ على حلْمكَ بَعْدَ عِلْمِكَ (٢) ، وأربعة يقولون: سُبْحانكَ اللَّهُمَّ وبِحَمْدكَ لَكَ الحَمْدُ عَلَى عَفْوكَ بَعْدَ قُدْرَتكَ. فأما الحديثُ الذي رواه الإمام (٣) أحمد (٤) : حدَّثنا عبد اللَّه بن محمد هو أبو بكر [بن أبي شَيْبة] (٥) ، حدَّثنا عبدة بن سليمان، عن محمد بن إسحاق، عن يعقوب بن عتبة، عن عكرمة، عن ابن عباس؛ أنَّ رسول اللَّه ﷺ صدَّق أمية بن أبي الصَّلْت (٦) في شيء من شعره فقال: [من الكامل] رجُلٌ وثَوْرٌ تحْتَ رِجْلِ يَمينهِ … والنَّسْرُ للأُخْرَى وَلَيْثٌ مُرْصدٌ (٧) فقال رسول اللَّه ﷺ : "صدق" . فقال: [من الكامل] والشَّمْسُ تَطْلع كُلَّ آخِرِ لَيْلَةٍ … حَمْراءَ يُصْبحُ لَوْنُها يَتَورَّدُ تَأْبَى فما تَطلع لَنا في رِسْلِها … إلا مُعَذَّبَةً وإلا تُجْلَدٌ (٨) فقال رسول اللَّه ﷺ : "صَدَقَ" . فإنَّهُ حديثٌ صحيحُ الإسناد، رجالُه ثقات (٩) . وهو يقتضي أنَّ

(١) تقدم الحديث ص ١٥ وإسناده ضعيف. (٢) في ب: لك الحمد على علمك، وأربعة. . وهو سهو من الناسخ. (٣) لفظة: الإمام؛ سقطت من ب. (٤) مسند أحمد (١/ ٢٥٦) وهو عند الدارمي في سنه (٢/ ٢٩٦) في الاستئذان، باب في الشعر وفيه عنعنة ابن إسحاق، وهو مدلس. (٥) زيادة من ب، وهو في مصنفه (٨/ ٥٠٥). (٦) شاعر جاهلي معروف، أدرك الإسلام ولم يسلم، وكان ينتظر أن تكون النبوّة له لما علم عن خبرها من رهبان النصارى وأحبار اليهود. انظر دراسة مفصلة عنه في ديوانه، صنعة الأستاذ الدكتور عبد الحفيظ السطلي. (٧) البيت مع البيتين القادمين، في ديوانه (ص ٣٦٥) وهو من قصيدة طويلة مطلعها: اعلم بأنَّ اللَّه ليس كصُنْعِهِ … صنْعٌ، ولا يخفى عليه مُلْحد وهي من شعره المتهم، كما أشار الدكتور السطلي وسيأتي البيتان أيضًا ص (٥٤). (٨) أثبتُّ رواية ب، وهي الموافقة للمصدر الذي ينقل منه المصنف وهو مسند أحمد. (٩) أقول: لكن فيه محمد بن إسحاق مدلس، وقد رواه بالعنعنة.