Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (5/10)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

ʿUtārid ibn Ḥājib stood up and said:

“Praise be to Allah, to whom belong the favor and the bounty that rest upon us—and He alone is worthy of them. He made us kings, granted us vast wealth with which we perform good works, and rendered us the most honored, the most numerous, and the best equipped people of the East. Who is like us among mankind? Are we not the leaders of the people and the possessors of their merit? So let anyone who would vie with us in boasting recount the like of what we have just recounted. Had we wished, we could have spoken at far greater length, but we deem it beneath us to go on endlessly about what we have been given; yet we are well known for all of that. I say this so that you may present words like ours and deeds better than ours.” He then sat down.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to Thābit ibn Qays ibn Shamās, the brother of the Banū al-Ḥārith ibn al-Khazraj,

“Stand and answer the man’s address.”

Thābit rose and said:

“Praise belongs to Allah; the heavens and the earth are His creation. He has decreed His command within them, His knowledge encompasses the Footstool, and nothing has ever existed except by His grace. By His power He made us kings, and from among His chosen He selected a Messenger—one of the noblest lineage, the truest speech, the finest pedigree. He sent down to him a Book and entrusted him with His creation, making him the elect of Allah among all beings. He then called people to believe in him, and the Emigrants from among his own people and kin believed in the Messenger of Allah—those of the most illustrious ancestry, the fairest faces, and the best deeds. They were the first of all creation to respond. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ called us, we answered; we are the Helpers of Allah and the ministers of His Messenger. We fight people until they believe; whoever believes in Allah and His Messenger is safe in his property and blood, but whoever disbelieves we will strive against him for Allah’s sake forever, and his killing is an easy matter for us. I say what I have said; I seek Allah’s forgiveness for myself, for you, and for all believing men and believing women. Peace be upon you.”

Then al-Zibrqān ibn Badr rose and recited—verses in the al-basīṭ metre:

We are the noble ones; no tribe can equal us—
From among us come the kings, and in our midst the shrines are raised.

How many peoples have we compelled, every one of them,
Whenever booty was taken and the privilege of might pursued.

And we are those who feed in times of drought,
Serving roasted meat when not a shred of cloud is seen.

(1) The word al-mann is absent from manuscript A; the emendation appears in manuscript T and in Ibn Hisham’s Sīra. (2) In manuscript T it reads “nakhshā” (“we fear”), which is incorrect. The reading here follows Ibn Hisham’s Sīra, al-Bayhaqi’s Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwa (vol. 5, p. 313), and al-Dhahabi’s Tārīkh al-Islām (vol. 1, p. 452), where it appears as “nastaḥī,” meaning “to bring glad tidings.” (3) This phrasing does not occur in manuscript A. (4) In Ibn Hisham’s Sīra it reads “hasaban.” (5) The verses are found in Hassan’s Diwan (p. 245), in Ibn Hisham’s Sīra (vol. 2, p. 563), and in the Diwan of al-Zabargan ibn Badr (Muʾassasat al-Risala, pp. 46–48). (6) In the Diwan the line reads “wa fīnā yaqsimu al-rubʿ,” while in al-Zabargan’s Diwan it appears as “wa faḍlu al-ʿizz yatbaʿ.” (7) In manuscripts A and T it reads “al-fazaʿ,” but here we adopt the readings found in the Sīra and the Diwan. The term al-qazaʿ denotes the fragmentation of a single cloud into pieces (al-Qāmūs: qazaʿ).

فقام عُطارِد بن حاجب فقال: الحمدُ لله الذي له علينا الفَضْلُ والمَنُّ (١) وهو أهله الذي جعلنا ملوكًا، ووهب لنا أموالًا عِظامًا نفعل فيها المعروف، وجعلنا أَعَزَّ أهلِ المَشْرِق وأكثره عددًا وأيسره عدَّة. فمَنْ مِثْلُنا في الناس؟ ألسنا برؤوس النّاس وأُولي فضلهم؟ فمن فاخرنا فليُعَدِّدْ مثلَ ما عَدَّدْنا. وإنا لو نشاء لأكثرنا الكلام، ولكن نحيى (٢) من الإكثار فيما أعطانا. وإنا نعرفُ بذلك (٣) ، أقول هذا لأن تأتوا بمثل قولنا، وأمرٍ أفضل من أمرنا. ثم جلس. فقال رسول الله ﷺ لثابت بن قيس بن شماس، أخي بني الحارث بن الخزرج: "قم فأجب الرجل في خطبته" . فقام ثابت فقال: "الحمدُ للهِ الذي السماواتُ والأرض خَلْقُهُ، قضى فيهن أمرَهُ، ووسِعَ كُرْسيَّه علمُهُ، ولم يكُ شيءٌ قَطُّ إلا من فَضْلِه، ثم كانَ من قُدْرَتِهِ أن جعلنا ملوكًا، واصطفى من خيرته رسولًا، أكرمَه نسبًا، وأصدقَه حديثًا، وأفضلَه حسبًا، فأنزل عليه كتابًا، وائتمنه على خلقِه، فكان خِيرةَ الله من العالمين، ثم دعا الناسَ إلى الإيمان به، فآمن برسول الله المهاجرون من قومه وذوي رحمه، أكرمُ الناس أحسابًا (٤) ، وأحسن الناس وجوهًا، وخير الناس فَعَالًا، ثم كان أوّل الخلق إجابة، واستجابَ للهِ حينَ دعاهُ رسولُ الله ﷺ نحن، فنحنُ أنصارُ الله ووزراء رسوله، نقاتلُ الناس حتى يؤمنوا، فمَنْ آمَنَ بالله ورسوله مَنَع مالَه ودمَه. ومن كَفَر جاهَدْناه في الله أبدًا، وكان قتلُه علينا يسيرًا. أقولُ قولي هذا وأستغفر الله لي ولكم وللمؤمنين والمؤمنات، والسلامُ عليكم. فقام الزبرقان بن بدر فقال (٥) [من البسيط] نَحْنُ الكرامُ فلا حَيٌّ يُعادِلُنا … مِنَّا المُلُوكُ وَفينا تُنْصَبُ البِيَعُ (٦) وكَمْ قَسَرْنا منَ الأحياءَ كُلِّهمِ … عِنْدَ النِّهَابِ وفَضْلُ العِزِّ يُتَّبعُ ونَحْنُ يُطْعمُ عِنْدِ القَحْطِ مطْعِمُنَا … منَ الشِّواءِ إذا لم يُؤنَس القَزَعُ (٧)

(١) لفظة "المنّ" ساقطة من أ والاستدراك من ط، وسيرة ابن هشام. (٢) في ط: "نخشى" ولا تصح، وما هنا من سيرة ابن هشام، ودلائل النبوة للبيهقي (٥/ ٣١٣) وتاريخ الإسلام للذهبي (١/ ٤٥٢) وفيه: نستحيي، وهي بمعنى (بشار). (٣) ليس اللفظ في أ. (٤) في سيرة ابن هشام "حَسَبًا". (٥) الأبيات في ديوان حسان (٢٤٥) وسيرة ابن هشام (٢/ ٥٦٣) وديوان الزبرقان بن بدر -مؤسسة الرسالة - (٤٦ - ٤٨). (٦) في الديوان "وفينا يقسم الربع" وفي ديوان الزبرقان (وفضل العز يتبع). (٧) في أ وط "الفزع" وأثبتنا ما في السيرة والديوان. و"القزع": قطع السحاب الواحدة قزعه (القاموس: قزع).