Ithbāt Ṣifat al-ʿUlū - Ibn Qudama - (190)

Ithbāt Ṣifat al-ʿUlūIbn Qudama

and they refuse to take any of those attributes at face value, claiming that whoever affirms them is an anthropomorphist. In turn, those who do affirm them regard such people as deniers of the One worthy of worship. The truth, rather, is with those whose words accord with what Allah’s Book and the sunnah of His Messenger declare; they are the Imams of the mainstream community, and all praise is due to Allah. (1)

99- In the final folio of a fascicle that contained the hadith of Jaʿfar ibn Muhammad ibn Nusayr al-Khuldī (2) I found the following report in the scribe’s own handwriting. He wrote: “I saw it at the end of the fascicle, and I also saw, in the handwriting of Abū Bakr ibn Shadhān, the note: ‘My son al-Hasan heard this account.’ A reliable person told me: ‘We were washing a deceased man as he lay on his bier. When we uncovered the cloth, we heard him saying, “He is upon His Throne alone, He is upon His Throne alone.”’ He added: (so we scattered) (3) in awe of what we heard; then we returned and completed washing him. (4)

(1) See Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr’s article in al-Tamhīd, vol. 7, p. 145. (2) In the three other manuscripts the name appears as “al-Jildi” with a jīm, which is incorrect. The correct reading is al-Khaldī (with ḫāʾ and sukun on the lām), referring to the Sufi shaykh Abu Muḥammad Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn Nāṣir ibn Qāsim al-Baghdādī, named after al-Khalad, a district of Baghdad where he resided. See Siyar Aʿlam al-Nubalāʾ, vol. 15, p. 558; Tārīkh Baghdad, vol. 7, p. 226; Al-Lubāb, vol. 1, p. 456. (3) In manuscripts other than the original the reading is “fanfarna.” (4) Perhaps this tale belongs to the narratives of al-Khaldī that historians count among the marvels of Baghdad. As al-Khaṭīb states in his Tārīkh: “The people of Baghdad used to say that there were three wonders of the city: the portents of al-Shiblī, the anecdotes of al-Murtaʿish, and the tales of Jaʿfar.” See Tārīkh Baghdad, vol. 7, p. 228; Siyar Aʿlam al-Nubalāʾ, vol. 15, p. 599.

وَلَا يَحْمِلُ مِنْهَا شَيْئًا عَلَى الْحَقِيقَةِ، وَيَزْعُمُونَ أَنَّ مَنْ أَقَرَّ بِهَا مُشَبِّهٌ، وَهُمْ عِنْدَ مَنْ أَقَرَّ بِهَا نَافُونَ لِلْمَعْبُودِ، وَالْحَقُّ فِيمَا قَالَهُ الْقَائِلُونَ بِمَا يَنْطِقُ بِهِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ، وَسُنَّةُ رَسُولِهِ، وَهُمْ أَئِمَّةُ الْجَمَاعَةِ، وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ (١) . ٩٩- وَوَجَدْتُ فِي آخِرِ جُزْءٍ فِيهِ حَدِيثَ جَعْفَرِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ نُصَيْرٍ الْخُلْدِيِّ (٢) هَذِهِ الْحِكَايَةُ بِخَطِّ كَاتِبِ الْجُزْءِ، قال: رَأَيْتُهَا فِي آخِرِ الْجُزْءِ، وَرَأَيْتُ بِخَطِّ أَبِي بَكْرِ بْنِ شَاذَانَ، سَمِعَ ابْنِي الحَسَنُ هَذِهِ الْحِكَايَةَ: حَدَّثَنِي مَنْ أَثِقُ بِهِ قَالَ: كُنَّا نُغَسِّلُ مَيِّتًا وَهُوَ عَلَى سَرِيرِهِ، فَكَشَفْنَا عَنْهُ الثَّوْبَ فَسَمِعْنَاهُ يَقُولُ: هو على عرشه وحده، هو على عرشه وحده. قَالَ: (فَتَفَرَّقْنَا) (٣) مِنْ عِظَمِ مَا سَمِعْنَا، ثُمَّ رجعنا فغسلناه (٤) .

(١) انظر مقالة ابن عبد البر في التمهيد ٧/١٤٥. (٢) في النسخ الثلاث الأخرى: "الجلدي" بالجيم. وهو خطأ. والخلدي هذا هو شيخ الصوفية، أبو محمد جعفر بن محمد بن نصير بن قاسم البغدادي، والخلدي: بضم الخاء، وسكون اللام، نسبة إلى الخلد، وهي محلة ببغداد كان يسكن بها. انظر: سير أعلام النبلاء ١٥/٥٥٨، وتاريخ بغداد ٧/٢٢٦، واللباب ١/٤٥٦. (٣) في غير الأصل: "فنفرنا". (٤) ولعل هذه الحكاية من حكايات الخلدي، التي يعدها المؤرخون إحدى عجائب بغداد، كما قال الخطيب في تاريخه: كان أهل بغداد يقولون: عجائب بغداد ثلاثة: إشارات الشبلي، ونكت المرتعش، وحكايات جعفر. انظر: تاريخ بغداد ٧/٢٢٨، وسير أعلام النبلاء ١٥/٥٥٩.