In that same year the following passed away:
Ibrāhīm ibn Ṣāliḥ (1) ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās. He had once been governor of Egypt and died in the month of Shaʿbān. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Wahb transmitted reports from him.
Ibrāhīm ibn Harmah (2). He was a poet—namely, Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAlī ibn Salamah ibn ʿĀmir ibn Harmah, Abū Isḥāq al-Fihrī al-Madanī—an adroit and consummate versifier. He travelled to al-Manṣūr with a delegation from Medina when the Caliph summoned its notables. They were seated behind a curtain; al-Manṣūr could see those before him, while they could not see him. Standing beside the Caliph, the chamberlain Abū al-Khaṣīb announced, “O Commander of the Faithful, this is So-and-so the preacher,” whereupon the Caliph bade him preach, and, “This is So-and-so the poet,” and the Caliph ordered him to recite—until, near the end, the turn came to Ibn Harmah.
I heard al-Manṣūr say to him, “No welcome, no greeting, and may Allah never gladden your eye!” I thought, “I am undone.” He then asked me to recite, so I delivered my ode that opens:
The teasing east-wind has lifted your mantle away,
and the departing companions have brought separation near. (3)
When I reached the lines:
The one whose safety you guaranteed is secure from death,
but the one you sought to smite with grief is himself bereaved,
he ordered the curtain raised, and lo—his face was like a fragment of the moon. He asked me to finish the poem, commanded that I be drawn close and seated beside him, and then said:
“Woe to you, Ibrāhīm! Were it not for sins that have reached me concerning you, I would have preferred you over all your companions.”
I replied, “O Commander of the Faithful, for every sin that has reached you about me and that you have not pardoned, I freely confess.” Thereupon he picked up the ceremonial staff, struck me with it twice, ordered ten thousand (dirhams) and a robe of honour for me, pardoned me, and restored me to the rank of my peers.
Among the matters that had angered al-Manṣūr against him were these verses of his:
No matter the blame I earn for loving them—
I love the sons of Fāṭimah;
The sons of the daughter of him who brought the conclusive verses,
the religion, and the abiding sunnah;
I care not, for my love of them,
for anyone else among the grazing herds. (4)