Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (10/301)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

Ibn Jarīr (1) relates that, at that moment, al-Manṣūr recited:

You claimed that debts are never reclaimed—
so take back in full measure, Abū Mujrim!
You have been given to drink the very cup you once dispensed—
more bitter in the throat than colocynth.

After the slaying of Abū Muslim, al-Manṣūr addressed the people, saying:

“O people, do not scare away the birds of blessing by neglecting gratitude, lest the scourges descend upon you. Do not conceal treachery toward the imams, for nothing any one of you hides fails to show itself in a slip of his tongue, the cast of his features, and the first glint of his eye. As long as you acknowledge our right, we shall not disregard yours; and so long as you remember our favor, we shall not forget to treat you well.

Whoever wrestles with us for this ‘shirt’—the office of rule—we shall tread upon the crown of his head until your men stand straight and your officials take heed.

This raw youth, Abū Muslim, pledged that whoever broke our allegiance or displayed deceit toward us had made his blood lawful to us. He himself broke that pledge, betrayed, transgressed, and was ungrateful; so we passed on him the very judgment he had declared against others on our behalf. Abū Muslim began well but ended badly. On our account he took from the people for his own sake more than he ever gave us. He preferred the ugliness of his inner self to the beauty of his outward show. We learned of the vileness of his secret and the corruption of his intent—matters which, had the critic known them, he would not have blamed us; indeed, had he seen what we saw, he would have excused us for killing him and reproached us only for the delay.

He persisted in undoing his pledge and violating his covenant until he made his punishment lawful for us and forfeited his blood. We therefore applied to him the ruling he himself had applied to others who split the community’s unity, and his supposed right did not prevent us from carrying out the true right against him.

How excellent are the words of al-Nābighah al-Dhubyānī to al-Nuʿmān ibn al-Mundhir:

Reward the one who obeys you for that obedience—
as he obeyed you, guide him to what is right;
But should he disobey, then punish him with a chastisement
that deters the oppressor—do not sit idle nursing wounds. (2)

Al-Bayhaqī transmits from al-Ḥākim, through his chain, that ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak was asked about Abū Muslim: was he better, or was al-Ḥajjāj? He replied: “I would not say Abū Muslim was better than anyone, but al-Ḥajjāj was more evil than he. Some people even accused Abū Muslim of having no real faith, charging him with heresy. Yet in what they narrate about him I find nothing to prove that; rather, it suggests he was a man who feared Allah for his sins. He claimed to have repented of the bloodshed committed while establishing the ʿAbbāsid state, and Allah knows best his affair.”

Al-Khaṭīb (3) also relates from him that he said: “I have donned the mantle of patience, chosen mere sufficiency (4), made a pact with sorrows and griefs, and lifted my head above the decrees of fate and judgment (5) until I reached the summit of my ambition and attained the limit of my desire.” He then began to recite:

(1) In al-Ṭabarī’s History (Tarīkh), vol. 4, p. 386. (2) The two verses are found in the Dīwān of al-Nābigha al-Dhubyānī, in a qaṣīda praising the aforementioned al-Nuʿmān (p. 30). (3) In Tarīkh Baghdad, vol. 10, p. 208. (4) In al-Khaṭīb’s History (Tarīkh) under the heading “al-Kitmān,” which is the preferable reading. (5) In al-Khaṭīb’s History and in Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ, vol. 6, p. 53: the reading “wasamaḥtu.”

قال ابنُ جرير (١) : وقال المنصورُ عند ذلك: زعمتَ أنَّ الدَّيْن لا يُقتضَى .... فاستوفِ بالكَيْلِ أبا مُجْرِمِ سُقيتَ كأسًا كنتَ تَسْقِي بها .... أمَرَّ في الحَلْق من العَلْقم ثم إنَّ المنصورَ خطَبَ في الناسِ بعدَ قتلِ أبي مسلم فقال: أيها الناس، لا تُنَفِّروا أطيارَ النِّعَم بتَرْكِ الشُّكْر، فتَحِلَّ بكُمُ النِّقَم، ولا تُسِرُّوا غِشَّ الأئمَّة، فإنَّ أحدًا لا يُسِرُّ منكمْ شيئًا إِلَّا ظَهَرَ في فَلَتاتِ لسانِه، وصَفَحاتِ وَجْهِه، وطوالِعِ نَظَرِه، وإنَّا لنْ نجهَلَ حقوقَكُمْ ما عرَفْتُمْ حَقَّنا، ولا نَنْسى الإحسانَ إليكم ما ذكرتُمْ فضلَنا، ومنْ نازَعَنا هذا القَميص أوطأَنا أمَّ رأسِهِ حتَّى يستقيمَ رجالُكم، وترتَدِعَ عُمَّالُكم، وإنَّ هذا الغَمْرَ أبا مسلم، بايَعَ على أنَّهُ منْ نَكَثَ بيعتَنا، وأظهرَ غِشَّنا، فقد أباحَنا دَمَه، فنكَثَ وغدَرَ وفجَرَ وكفَر، فحكَمْنا عليه لأنفسنا حُكْمَهُ على غيرِه لنا؛ وإنَّ أبا مسلمٍ أحسَنَ مُبتديًا وأساءَ منتهيًا، وأخذَ من الناسِ بنا لنفسِهِ أكثرَ ممَّا أعطانا، ورَجَّحَ قبيحَ باطِنِه على حُسْنِ ظاهِرِه، وعَلِمْنا من خُبْثِ سريرَتِه وفسادِ نِيَّتِهِ ما لو علم اللائمُ لنا فيه لما لام، ولو اطَّلع على ما اطَّلَعْنا عليه منه لعَذَرَنا في قَتْلِه، وعَنَّفَنا في إمْهالِه، وما زال يَنْقُضُ بيعتَه، ويَخْفِرُ ذمَّتَه حتَّى أحلَّ لنا عقوبتَه، وأباحَنا دَمَه، فحكمنا فيه حُكْمهُ في غيرِهِ مِمَّنْ شقَّ العَصَا، ولم يمنَعْنا الحقُ له من إمضاءِ الحقِّ فيه، وما أحسن ما قالَ النابغةُ الذبياني للنعمان - يعني ابنَ المنذر: فمنْ أطَاعكَ فانفَعْهُ بطاعتِهِ .... كما أطاعَكَ وادْلُلْهُ على الرَّشَدِ ومنْ عصاكَ فعاقِبْهُ مُعاقبةً ..... تَنْهى الظلومَ ولا تَقْعُدْ على ضَمَدِ (٢) وقد روى البيهقيُّ عن الحاكمِ بسندِه، أنَّ عبدَ اللَّه بنَ المبارك سُئل عن أبي مسلم، أهو خيرٌ أمِ الحجَّاح؟ فقال: لا أقولُ أنَّ أبا مسلمٍ كان خيرًا من أحد، ولكنْ كان الحجَّاج شرًّا منه، قد اتهمَهُ بعضُهم على الإسلام، ورَمَوْهُ بالزَّنْدقة؛ ولم أرَ فيما ذكروهُ عن أبي مسلم ما يدلُّ على ذلك، بل على أنه كان ممَّنْ يخافُ الله من ذنوبهِ، وقد ادَّعَى التَّوْبة فيما كان منه من سَفْكِ الدماء في إقامةِ الدولة العباسية، والله أعلمُ بأمرِه. وقد روى الخطيب (٣) عنه أنه قال: ارتديتُ الصَّبْر، وآثرتُ الكفاف (٤) ، وحالفْتُ الأحزانَ والأشجان، وشامَخْتُ (٥) المقاديرَ والأحكام، حتَّى بلغتُ غايةَ همَّتي، وأدركتُ نهايةَ بُغْيتي ثم أنشأ يقول:

(١) هو الطبري في تاريخه (٤/ ٣٨٦). (٢) البيتان في ديوان النابغة الذبياني من قصيدة يمدح فيها النعمان المذكور ص (٣٠). (٣) في تاريخ بغداد (١٠/ ٢٠٨). (٤) في تاريخ الخطيب: "الكتمان"، وهو الأوفق. (٥) في تاريخ الخطيب وسير أعلام النبلاء ٦/ ٥٣: "وسامحت".