21. The account of Aʿshā Banī Qays b. Thaʿlaba
Sirat Ibn Hisham 445No grade recorded
أَمْرُ أَعْشَى بَنِي قَيْسِ بْنِ ثَعْلَبَةَ [ شِعْرُهُ فِي مَدْحِ الرَّسُولِ عِنْدَ مَقْدَمِهِ عَلَيْهِ ] قَالَ ابْنُ هِشَامٍ: حَدَّثَنِي خَلَّادُ بْنُ قُرَّةَ بْنِ خَالِدِ السَّدُوسِيُّ وَغَيْرُهُ مِنْ مَشَايِخِ بَكْرِ بْنِ وَائِلٍ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْعِلْمِ: أَنَّ أَعْشَى بَنِي قَيْسِ بْنِ ثَعْلَبَةَ بْنِ عُكَابَةَ بْنِ صَعْبِ بْنِ عَلِيِّ بْنِ بَكْرِ بْنِ وَائِلٍ، خَرَجَ إلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ يُرِيدُ الْإِسْلَامَ، فَقَالَ يَمْدَحُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ:: أَلَمْ تَغْتَمِضْ عَيْنَاكَ لَيْلَةَ أَرْمَدَا وَبِتَّ كَمَا بَاتَ السَّلِيمُ مُسَهَّدَا وَمَا ذَاكَ مِنْ عِشْقِ النِّسَاءِ وَإِنَّمَا تَنَاسَيْتَ قَبْلَ الْيَوْمِ صُحْبَةَ مَهْدَدَا وَلَكِنْ أَرَى الدَّهْرَ الَّذِي هُوَ خَائِنٌ إذَا أَصْلَحَتْ كَفَّايَ عَادَ فَأَفْسَدَا كُهُولًا وَشُبَّانًا فَقَدْتُ وَثَرْوَةً فَلِلَّهِ هَذَا الدَّهْرُ كَيْفَ تَرَدَّدَا وَمَا زِلْتُ أَبْغِي الْمَالَ مُذْ أَنَا يَافِعٌ وَلِيدًا وَكَهْلًا حِينَ شِبْتُ وَأَمْرَدَا وَأَبْتَذِلُ الْعِيسَ الْمَرَاقِيلَ تَغْتَلِي مَسَافَةَ مَا بَيْنَ النُّجَيْرِ فَصَرْخَدَا أَلَا أَيُّهَذَا السَّائِلِي أَيْنَ يَمَّمَتْ فَإِنَّ لَهَا فِي أَهْلِ يَثْرِبَ مَوْعِدَا فَإِنْ تَسْأَلِي عَنِّي فَيَا رُبَّ سَائِلٍ حَفِيٍّ عَنْ الْأَعْشَى بِهِ حَيْثُ أَصْعَدَا أَجَدَّتْ بِرِجْلَيْهَا النَّجَاءَ وَرَاجَعَتْ يَدَاهَا خِنَافًا لَيِّنًا غَيْرَ أَحْرَدَا وَفِيهَا إذَا مَا هَجَّرَتْ عَجْرَفِيَّةٌ إذَا خِلْتُ حِرْبَاءَ الظَّهِيرَةِ أَصْيَدَا وَآلَيْتُ لَا آوِي لَهَا مِنْ كَلَالَةٍ وَلَا مِنْ حَفًى حَتَّى تُلَاقِي مُحَمَّدَا مَتَى مَا تُنَاخِي عِنْدَ بَابِ ابْنِ هَاشِمٍ تُرَاحِي وَتَلْقَيْ مِنْ فَوَاضِلِهِ نَدَى نَبِيًّا يَرَى مَا لَا تَرَوْنَ وَذِكْرُهُ أَغَارَ لَعَمْرِي فِي الْبِلَادِ وَأَنْجَدَا لَهُ صَدَقَاتٌ مَا تُغِبُّ وَنَائِلٌ وَلَيْسَ عَطَاءُ الْيَوْمِ مَانِعَهُ غَدَا أَجِدَّكَ لَمْ تَسْمَعْ وَصَاةَ مُحَمَّدٍ نَبِيِّ الْإِلَهِ حَيْثُ أَوْصَى وَأَشْهَدَا إذَا أَنْتَ لَمْ تَرْحَلْ بِزَادِ مَنْ الْتَقَى وَلَاقَيْتَ بَعْدَ الْمَوْتِ مَنْ قَدْ تَزَوَّدَا نَدِمْتَ عَلَى أَنْ لَا تَكُونَ كَمِثْلِهِ فَتُرْصِدَ لِلْأَمْرِ الَّذِي كَانَ أَرْصَدَا فَإِيَّاكَ وَالْمَيْتَاتِ لَا تَقْرَبَنَّهَا وَلَا تَأْخُذَنْ سَهْمًا حَدِيدًا لِتُفْصِدَا وَذَا النُّصَبَ الْمَنْصُوبَ لَا تَنْسُكَنَّهُ وَلَا تَعْبُدْ الْأَوْثَانَ وَاَللَّهَ فَاعْبُدَا وَلَا تَقْرَبَنَّ حُرَّةً كَانَ سِرُّهَا عَلَيْكَ حَرَامًا فَانْكِحَنْ أَوْ تَأَبَّدَا وَذَا الرَّحِمِ الْقُرْبَى فَلَا تَقْطَعَنَّهُ لِعَاقِبَةِ وَلَا الْأَسِيرَ الْمُقَيَّدَا وَسَبِّحْ عَلَى حِينِ الْعَشِيَّاتِ وَالضُّحَى وَلَا تَحْمَدْ الشَّيْطَانَ وَاَللَّهَ فَاحْمَدَا وَلَا تَسْخَرًا مِنْ بَائِسٍ ذِي ضَرَارَةٍ وَلَا تَحْسَبَنَّ الْمَالَ لِلْمَرْءِ مُخْلِدَا
✧ The affair of Aʿshā of the Banū Qays b. Thaʿlabah [his poetry in praise of the Messenger upon his coming to him]. Ibn Hishām said: Khallād b. Qurrah b. Khālid al-Sadūsī and others among the learned elders of Bakr b. Wāʾil related to me that Aʿshā of the Banū Qays b. Thaʿlabah b. ʿUkābah b. Ṣaʿb b. ʿAlī b. Bakr b. Wāʾil set out to the Messenger of God ﷺ seeking Islam, and he said in praise of the Messenger of God ﷺ: Did not your eyes close on the night of Armadā, and you stayed awake like one stung, sleepless? That is not from love of women; rather, you have forgotten before today the company of Mahdadā. But I see time, the treacherous one— whenever my hands set things right, it returns and corrupts them. Men of middle age and youths I have lost, and wealth; so to God belongs this time, how it turns back and forth! I have not ceased seeking wealth since I was a youth, a child, then a middle-aged man when I grew old and beardless, and I make use of the swift, long-striding camels that gallop the distance between al-Nujayr and Ṣarkhadā. O you who ask me where she has headed, she has an appointed time among the people of Yathrib. If you ask about me—how many an inquiring asker is solicitous about al-Aʿshā wherever he goes up! She hastened with her legs and her hands returned to a soft, compliant gait, not one-sided, and in her, when she travels at midday, is a proudness— when I imagined the chameleon of the noon heat, upright. I swore an oath: I will not give her rest from weariness nor from sore-footedness until she meets Muḥammad. Whenever you make her kneel at the door of Ibn Hāshim, she finds ease and receives from his overflowing gifts moisture— a prophet who sees what you do not see, and his mention has raided, by my life, in the lands and gone to Najd. He has acts of charity that do not cease and gifts; and today's giving is not withheld tomorrow. By your father, have you not heard the counsel of Muḥammad, the prophet of God, when he enjoined and called to witness? If you do not depart with the provision of one who meets God, and you meet after death those who have taken provision, you will regret not being like him, so that you prepare for the affair he prepared for. Beware of dead animals—do not go near them— and do not take an iron arrowhead to bleed; and that erected idol—do not sacrifice to it, and do not worship the idols; worship God. Do not go near a free woman whose secret is forbidden to you; marry or remain celibate. And the near kin—do not sever it for a consequence, nor the fettered captive. Glorify at the times of the evenings and the forenoon, and do not praise Satan; praise God. Do not mock a wretched man of affliction, and do not reckon wealth to make a man immortal.
Sirat Ibn Hisham 446No grade recorded
[ رُجُوعُهُ لَمَّا عَلِمَ بِتَحْرِيمِ الرَّسُولِ لِلْخَمْرِ وَمَوْتُهُ ] فَلَمَّا كَانَ بِمَكَّةَ أَوْ قَرِيبًا مِنْهَا، اعْتَرَضَهُ بَعْضُ الْمُشْرِكِينَ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ، فَسَأَلَهُ عَنْ أَمْرِهِ، فَأَخْبَرَهُ أَنَّهُ جَاءَ يُرِيدُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ لِيُسْلِمَ، فَقَالَ لَهُ: يَا أَبَا بَصِيرٍ، إنَّهُ يُحَرِّمُ الزِّنَا، فَقَالَ الْأَعْشَى: وَاَللَّهِ إنَّ ذَلِكَ لَأَمْرٌ مَا لِي فِيهِ مِنْ أَرَبٍ، فَقَالَ لَهُ: يَا أَبَا بَصِيرٍ، فَإِنَّهُ يُحَرِّمُ الْخَمْرَ، فَقَالَ الْأَعْشَى: أَمَّا هَذِهِ فَوَاَللَّهِ إنَّ فِي النَّفْسِ مِنْهَا لَعُلَالَاتٍ، وَلَكِنِّي مُنْصَرِفٌ فَأَتَرَوَّى مِنْهَا عَامِي هَذَا، ثُمَّ آتِيهِ فَأُسْلِمُ. فَانْصَرَفَ فَمَاتَ فِي عَامِهِ ذَلِكَ، وَلَمْ يَعُدْ إلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ
✧ When he was in Makkah or near it, one of the polytheists of Quraysh intercepted him and asked him about his affair. He told him that he had come seeking the Messenger of God ﷺ to become a Muslim. He said to him, "O Abā Baṣīr, he forbids fornication." Al-Aʿshā said, "By God, that is a matter in which I have no desire." He said to him, "O Abā Baṣīr, he forbids wine." Al-Aʿshā said, "As for this, by God, in the soul there are lingering cravings for it, but I am turning back to drink my fill of it this year of mine, then I will come to him and become a Muslim." So he turned back and died in that year of his, and he did not return to the Messenger of God ﷺ.
Sirat Ibn Hisham 447No grade recorded
[ ذُلُّ أَبِي جَهْلٍ لِلرَّسُولِ ﷺ ] قَالَ ابْنُ إسْحَاقَ: وَقَدْ كَانَ عَدُوُّ اللَّهِ أَبُو جَهْلِ بْنُ هِشَامٍ مَعَ عَدَاوَتِهِ لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ وَبُغْضِهِ إيَّاهُ، وَشِدَّتِهِ عَلَيْهِ، يُذِلُّهُ اللَّهُ لَهُ إذَا رَآهُ
✧ The humiliation of Abū Jahl before the Messenger ﷺ. Ibn Isḥāq said: The enemy of God, Abū Jahl b. Hishām, despite his enmity toward the Messenger of God ﷺ, his hatred of him, and his harshness toward him, God would humiliate him before him whenever he saw him.