Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (10/319)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive to spread corruption on earth…,” continuing to: “…then know that Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful” (al-Māʾidah 5:33-34).

He added:

“You have Allah’s covenant and His solemn pledge, and the guarantee of His Messenger. If you return to obedience, I shall grant safety to you and to all who follow you, give you one million dirhams, allow you to live in whichever land you love most, and fulfil all your needs…”—and he went on at length.

Muhammad sent back the following reply:

“From ʿAbd Allah al-Mahdī, Muhammad ibn Ḥasan.

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Ṭā Sīn Mīm (1)
These are the verses of the Clear Book (2)
We recite to you, in truth, some of the story of Moses and Pharaoh for a people who believe (3)
Indeed Pharaoh exalted himself in the land and divided its people into factions, oppressing one group of them, slaughtering their sons and sparing their women—surely he was of the corrupters (4)
But We wished to favour those who were oppressed in the land, to make them leaders and to make them the inheritors. (al-Qaṣaṣ 28:1-5)

“I extend to you the same safety you offered me. I am more entitled to this authority than you, for it was only through us that you attained it. ʿAlī was the appointed legatee and the imam—so how did you inherit his authority while his sons are alive? We are the noblest people on earth by lineage. The Messenger of Allah is the best of humankind and he is our grandfather; our grandmother is Khadījah, the most excellent of his wives; Fāṭimah, his daughter, is our mother, the most honoured of his daughters. Hāshim fathered ʿAlī twice over, and Ḥasan fathered ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib twice over; he and his brother are the lords of the youths of Paradise. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is my ancestor twice [through Ḥasan and Ḥusayn]. I stand at the very centre of Banū Hāshim in lineage, [of the purest parentage—no foreign blood runs in me and none of the mothers of the slave-born dispute my descent] (1).

“I am the son of the man of highest rank in Paradise and of lightest punishment in the Fire. I am therefore worthier of this matter than you, worthier of the covenant and truer to it, for you make pledges only to break them, as you did with Ibn Hubayrah—you pledged him your word and then betrayed him. No punishment is harsher than that of a treacherous ruler. You behaved the same way toward your uncle ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAlī and toward Abū Muslim al-Khurasānī. Had I known you were truthful, I would have accepted what you invited me to, but fidelity to a covenant from the likes of you to the likes of me is far-fetched. Peace.”

Abū Jaʿfar replied with a lengthy letter, the substance of which was:

“To proceed: I have read your letter and see that most of your boasting and self-importance is based on kinship through women, by which you seek to mislead the rough and the rabble. Yet Allah has not placed women on the same footing as uncles and fathers, nor as agnatic kinsmen (2) and patrons. Allah has revealed: ‘And warn your nearest kinsfolk’ (al-Shuʿarāʾ 26:214); and at that time he had…"

(1) Brackets from al-Ṭabarī’s History (vol. 4, p. 431). (2) In manuscript B: “ka-l-ʿaṣabiyya”; in al-Ṭabarī’s History: “ka-l-ʿaṣaba”; both readings are supported by MSS B and H. Al-ʿaṣaba denotes a man’s relation to his paternal lineage—etymologically resembling the plural of ʿaṣib, though that plural is not otherwise attested—and derives from the verb ʿaṣabū bihi (“they surrounded him”). The term is used in singular and plural, masculine and feminine, to signify dominance. Its verbal noun is al-ʿuṣūba. Moreover, the masculine form may ʿaṣṣiba the feminine (i.e., confer upon her the status of al-ʿaṣaba). See al-Maghrib, entry ʿaṣab (vol. 2, p. 64).

يُحَارِبُونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَيَسْعَوْنَ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَسَادًا﴾، الآية إلى قوله: ﴿فَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ﴾ [المائدة: ٣٣ - ٣٤] . ثم قال: فلَكَ عَهْدُ اللّهِ وميثاقُه، وذِمَّتُهُ وذِمَّةُ رسوله، إنْ أنتَ رجعتَ إلى الطاعة لأؤمِّنكَ ومَنِ اتَّبَعَك، ولأعطينَّكَ ألفَ ألفِ دِرْهم، ولأدَعنَّكَ في أحبِّ البلادِ إليك، ولأقضيَنَّ لك جميعَ حوائجكَ … في كلامٍ طويل. فكتب إليه محمدٌ جوابَ كتابِه: من عبدِ اللّه المهدي محمد بن حسن، بسم اللّه الرحمن الرحيم ﴿طسم (١) تِلْكَ آيَاتُ الْكِتَابِ الْمُبِينِ (٢) نَتْلُو عَلَيْكَ مِنْ نَبَإِ مُوسَى وَفِرْعَوْنَ بِالْحَقِّ لِقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ (٣) إِنَّ فِرْعَوْنَ عَلَا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَجَعَلَ أَهْلَهَا شِيَعًا يَسْتَضْعِفُ طَائِفَةً مِنْهُمْ يُذَبِّحُ أَبْنَاءَهُمْ وَيَسْتَحْيِي نِسَاءَهُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ مِنَ الْمُفْسِدِينَ (٤) وَنُرِيدُ أَنْ نَمُنَّ عَلَى الَّذِينَ اسْتُضْعِفُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَنَجْعَلَهُمْ أَئِمَّةً وَنَجْعَلَهُمُ الْوَارِثِينَ﴾ [القصص: ١ - ٥] . ثم قال: وإني أعرضُ عليكَ من الأمانِ ما عرضتَ عليّ، فأنا أحقُّ بهذا الأمرِ منكم، وأنتم إنما وصلتُمْ إليه بِنَا، فإنَّ عليًّا كان الوَصِيَّ وكان الإمام، فكيف وَرِثْتُمْ ولايَتَهُ وولَدُهُ أحياء، ونحن أشرَفُ أهلِ الأرض نسَبًا، فرسولُ اللّه خيرُ الناس، وهو جدُّنا، وجدَّتُنا خديجةُ، وهي أفضلُ زوجاتِه، وفاطمةُ ابنتُهُ أُمُّنا، وهي أكرمُ بناتِه، وإنَّ هاشمًا وَلَدَ عليّا مرَّتَيْن، وإنَّ حَسَنًا ولَدَهُ عبدُ المطلب مرَّتَيْنِ، وهو وأَخوه سيِّدا شبابِ أهلِ الجنة، وإنَّ رسولَ اللّه ﷺ وَلَدني مرَّتَيْن، [منْ قِبَلِ حسن وحسين] وإني أوسطُ بني هاشم نسبًا، [وأصرَحُهم أبًا، لم تُعرقْ فيَّ العَجَم، ولم تنازعْ فيَّ أمهاتُ الأولاد] (١) . فأنا ابنُ أرفعِ الناس درجةً في الجنة، وأخفِّهم عذابًا في النار، فأنا أولى بالأمر منك، وأولى بالعهد، وأوفى به منك، فإنك تُعطِي العَهْدَ ثم تَنْكُثُ ولا تَفِي، كما فعلتَ بابنِ هُبيرة، فإنَّك أعطَيْتَهُ العهدَ ثم غدَرْتَ به؛ ولا أشدُّ عذابًا من إمامٍ غادِر، وكذلك فعلتَ بعمِّك عبدِ اللّه بن علي، وأبي مسلم الخراساني؛ ولو أعلم أنك تصدُق لأجبتُكَ لمَا دعوتَني إليه، ولكنَّ الوفاءَ بالعهدِ من مثلِكَ لِمِثلي بعيد. والسلام. فكتب إليه أبو جعفر جوابَ ذلك في كتابٍ طويل، حاصلُه: أمَّا بعد، فقد قرأتُ كتابَك، فإذا جُلُّ فَخْرِكَ وإدْلالِكَ قرابةُ النساء، لِتُضلَّ به الجُفَاةَ والغَوْغاء، ولم يجعلِ اللّه النساءَ كالعمومةِ والآباء، لا كالعُصوبةِ (٢) والأولياء، وقد أنزل اللّه: ﴿وَأَنْذِرْ عَشِيرَتَكَ الْأَقْرَبِينَ﴾ [الشعراء: ٢١٤] ؛ وكان حينئذٍ لَهُ

(١) ما بين معقوفين من تاريخ الطبري (٤/ ٤٣١). (٢) في (ب): "كالعصبية" وفي تاريخ الطبري: "كالعَصَبَة" والمثبت من (ب، ح)، والعَصَبةُ: قرابةُ الرجل لأبيه وكأنَّه جمِعُ عاصب، وإن لم نسمع به، من عَصَبُوا به: إذا أحاطوا حوله، ثم سُمِّي به الواحدُ والجمعُ والمذكَّر والمؤنَّث للغَلبة وقالوا في مصدرها: العُصُوبة. والذكر يُعَصِّبُ الأنثى، أيْ يجعلها عَصَبة. المغرب (عصب) (٢/ ٦٤).