Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (3/293)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

‘Amr ibn al-ʿĀṣ said, “By God, tomorrow I shall go to him with something that will wipe them out root and branch. I will tell him that they claim his god—Jesus son of Mary, whom he worships—is but a servant.”

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Rabīʿah replied, “Do not do that! Even though they have opposed us, they are our kinsfolk and have a claim upon us.”

But ‘Amr insisted, “By God, I will indeed do it.”

The next morning he entered the Negus’s presence and said, “Your Majesty, they utter a grave word about Jesus. Summon them and ask them what they say of him.” So he sent for us—by God, never had we faced a trial like that.

We said to one another, “If he asks you about Jesus, what will you say?”

They answered, “By God, we shall say only what God has said about him and what our Prophet has commanded us to say.”

They entered while the bishops sat around the Negus, and he asked, “What do you say concerning Jesus son of Mary?”

Jaʿfar replied, “We say he is the servant of God and His messenger, His spirit and His word which He cast into Mary, the chaste virgin.”

The Negus bent down, picked up a twig between two fingers, and said, “Jesus son of Mary does not exceed what you have said by so much as this twig.” His bishops sniffed in disapproval.

He said, “Even if you sniff! By God, go—for you are siyūm in the land, that is, safe and secure. Whoever insults you will pay a penalty, whoever insults you will pay a penalty, whoever insults you will pay a penalty—three times. I would not wish to possess a dabr if it meant harming a single one of you.” (Dabr, in their language, means gold.)

Ziyād, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, reports him as saying, “I would not wish to have a dabr of gold,” and Ibn Hishām adds: It is also said dabr, meaning “mountain” in their tongue.

The Negus then declared, “By God, when God restored my kingdom to me, He did not take a bribe from me, nor did people obey me contrary to His will. Shall I now obey people against His will? Return their gifts to them—I have no need of them—and the two of you leave my land.” So they went out disgraced, and everything they had brought was sent back with them.

[Umm Salama] said: We remained with the best neighbour in the best land. Not long after, however, a man from Abyssinia rose against the Negus to contest his rule. By God, never had we felt sorrow like the sorrow we then felt, fearing that the challenger might prevail and that a king would come who did not recognise our rights as he did. We therefore supplicated God and sought His help for the Negus.

He marched out to confront his rival, and the Companions of the Messenger of God—peace and blessings be upon him—said to one another, “Who will go and attend the battle so he can see to whom victory goes?” Al-Zubayr—he was the youngest among us—said, “I will.” They inflated a waterskin for him, tied it to his chest, and he swam across the Nile on it until he emerged on the opposite bank where the armies met. He witnessed the engagement: God routed that king and killed him, and the Negus prevailed. Al-Zubayr returned to us, waving his cloak and calling, “Rejoice, for God has granted victory to the Negus!” She said, “By God, never did we know such joy…"

(1) In manuscripts H and T it reads yasʾalkum (“he asks you”), whereas the reading confirmed by the primary hadith sources differs. (2) In Ibn al-Aṭṭīr’s al-Nihāya under the entry sīm it is recorded as umkuthū fa-antum sayūm, i.e. “Remain, for you are safe.” This is how the hadith is interpreted; sayūm is a Habshi (Abyssinian) word also narrated with a fatḥa on the sīn (sīm). Others explain that sayūm is the plural of sā’im (“one who grazes”), meaning “you shall graze in my land like free-roaming sheep that no one will molest.” In manuscript H as well as in al-Sīra and al-Maghāzī it appears as shayyūm, with an emphatic shīn. (3) In T it appears as zibran, and in H as zīran; both are scribal corruptions. The correct term, dubr, is confirmed in Ibn Hishām’s Sīra (vol. 1, p. 338) and in Ibn al-Aṭṭīr’s al-Nihāya under the entry dubr. (4) The material enclosed in parentheses does not occur in H and is taken from al-Bayhaqī’s Dalā’il.

العاص: والله لآتينَّه غدًا بما أستأصل به خضراءهم، ولأخبرنَّه أنهم يزعمون أنَّ إلهه الذي يعبد عيسى ابن مريم عبد. فقال له عبد الله بن أبي ربيعة: لا تفعل فإنَّهم وإن كانوا خالفونا فإنَّ لهم رحمًا ولهم حقًا. فقال: والله لأفعلن!. فلما كان الغد دخل عليه فقال: أيها الملك، إنهم يقولون في عيسى قولًا عظيمًا. فأرسلْ إليهم فسلْهم عنه. فبعث والله إليهم ولم ينزل بنا مثلُها، فقال بعضُنا لبعض: ماذا تقولون له في عيسى إن هو سألكم (١) عنه؟ فقالوا: نقول والله الذي قاله الله فيه، والذي أمرَنا نبيُّنا أن نقوله فيه، فدخلوا عليه وعنده بطارقته فقال: ما تقولونَ في عيسى ابن مريم؟ فقال له جعفر: نقولُ هو عبد الله ورسوله وروحُه وكلمته ألقاها إلى مريم العذراء البَتُول. فدلَّى النجاشيُّ يده إلى الأرض، فأخذ عودًا بين أصبعيه فقال: ما عدا عيسى ابن مريم مما قلت هذا العُوَيد. فتناخرتْ بطارقته. فقال: وإن تناخرتُم والله! اذهبوا فأنتم سُيُومٌ في الأرض - السُّيُوم: الآمنون في الأرض (٢) - مَنْ سبَّكم غَرِم، من سبَّكم غرِم، من سبَّكم غرِم -ثلاثًا- ما أُحِبُّ أنَّ لي دَبْرًا وأني آذَيْتُ رجلًا منكم- والدَّبْرُ بلسانهم الذهب. وقال زياد عن ابن إسحاق: ما أُحِبُّ أنَّ لي دَبْرًا من ذهب؛ قال ابن هشام: ويقال: دَبْرًا (٣) ، وهو الجبل بلغتهم - ثم قال النجاشي: فوالله ما أخذ اللهُ مني الرِّشْوَة حين ردَّ عليَّ مُلْكي، ولا أطاعَ الناسَ فيّ فأطيع الناس فيه. رُدُّوا عليهما هداياهم فلا حاجة لي بها، واخْرُجا من بلادي: فخرجا مقبوحَيْن مردودًا عليهما ما جاءا به. قالت: فأقمنا مع خير جارٍ في خير دار، فلم ينشَبْ أنْ خرجَ عليه رجلٌ من الحبشة ينازعُه في مُلْكه، فوالله ما علمنا حُزْنًا حزِنَّا قطُّ هو أشدَّ منه، فرَقًا من أن يظهر ذلك الملكُ عليه، فيأتي ملكٌ لا يعرفُ من حقِّنا ما كان يعرفه، فجعلْنا ندعو الله ونستنصرُه للنجاشي فخرج إليه سائرًا، فقال أصحابُ رسولِ الله ﷺ [بعضهم لبعض] (٤) : مَنْ رجلٌ يخرجُ فيحضر الوقعة حتى ينظرَ على مَنْ تكون؟ وقال الزُّبير -وكان من أحدثهم سِنًّا-: أنا. فنفَخُوا له قِرْبَةً فجعلها في صدره، فجعل يسبحُ عليها في النِّيل حتى خرج من شِقِّه الآخر إلى حيث التقى الناس، فحضر الوقعة، فهزم الله ذلك الملك وقتله، وظهر النجاشيُّ عليه. فجاءنا الزُّبير، فجعل يُليحُ لنا بردائه ويقول: ألا فأبشروا، فقد أظهر الله النجاشيّ. قلت: فوالله ما علمنا فرِحْنا

(١) في ح، ط: يسألكم، والمثبت من مصادر الخبر. (٢) في النهاية لابن الأثير (سيم): امكثوا فأنتم سيوم. أي آمنون: كذا جاء تفسيره في الحديث، وهي كلمة حبشية، وتروى بفتح السين. وقيل: سيوم جمع سائم، أي تسومون في بلدي كالغنم السائمة لا يعارضكم أحد. اهـ. وفي ح والسير والمغازي: شيوم. بالشين المعجمة. (٣) في ط: زبرًا، وفي ح: زيرًا، وكلاهما تصحيف، والمثبت من سيرة ابن هشام (١/ ٣٣٨) والنهاية لابن الأثير (دبر). (٤) ما بين المعقوفين ليس في ح وهو من دلائل البيهقي.