Tarikh (al-Tabari) 2186
The caliphate of Muʿāwiyah b. Abī Sufyān
ذِكْرُ قَتْلِ عُرْوَةَ ابْنِ أُدَيَّةَ وَغَيْرِهِ مِنَ الْخَوَارِجِ وَفِي سنة ثمان وخمسين اشْتَدَّ عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ زِيَادٍ عَلَى الْخَوَارِجِ فَقَتَلَ مِنْهُمْ صَبْرًا جَمَاعَةً كَثِيرَةً، وَفِي الْحَرْبِ جَمَاعَةً أُخْرَى، وَمِمَّنْ قَتَلَ مِنْهُمْ صَبْرًا عُرْوَةُ بْنُ أَدِيَةَ. وَسَبَبُ ذَلِكَ أَنَّ ابْنَ زِيَادٍ خَرَجَ فِي رِهَانٍ لَهُ، فَلَمَّا جَلَسَ يَنْتَظِرُ الْخَيْلَ اجْتَمَعَ النَّاسُ وَفِيهِمْ عُرْوَةُ بْنُ أَدِيَةَ، فَأَقْبَلَ عَلَى ابْنِ زِيَادٍ، فَقَالَ: خَمْسٌ كُنَّ فِي الْأُمَمِ [قَبْلَنَا ]، فَقَدْ صِرْنَ فِينَا: أَتَبْنُونَ بِكُلِّ رِيعٍ آيَةً تَعْبَثُونَ وَتَتَّخِذُونَ مَصَانِعَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَخْلُدُونَ وَإِذَا بَطَشْتُمْ بَطَشْتُمْ جَبَّارِينَ وَذَكَرَ خَصْلَتَيْنِ نَسِيَهُمَا الرَّاوِي، فَلَمَّا قَالَ ذَلِكَ ظَنَّ ابْنُ زِيَادٍ أَنَّهُ لَمْ يَجْتَرِئْ عَلَى مِثْلِ ذَلِكَ إِلَّا وَمَعَهُ جَمَاعَةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِهِ، فَقَامَ فَرَكِبَ وَتَرَكَ رِهَانَهُ، فَقِيلَ لِعُرْوَةَ: مَا صَنَعْتَ، وَاللَّهِ لَيَقْتُلَنَّكَ. فَتَوَارَى، فَطَلَبَهُ ابْنُ زِيَادٍ فَهَرَبَ وَأَتَى الْكُوفَةَ، فَأُخِذَ وَقُدِمَ بِهِ عَلَى ابْنِ زِيَادٍ، فَقَطَعَ يَدَيْهِ وَرِجْلَيْهِ وَقَتَلَهُ، وَقَتَلَ ابْنَتَهُ. وَأَمَّا أَخُوهُ أَبُو بِلَالٍ مِرْدَاسٌ فَكَانَ عَابِدًا مُجْتَهِدًا عَظِيمَ الْقَدْرِ فِي الْخَوَارِجِ، وَشَهِدَ صِفِّينَ مَعَ عَلِيٍّ فَأَنْكَرَ التَّحْكِيمَ، وَشَهِدَ النَّهْرَوَانَ مَعَ الْخَوَارِجِ، وَكَانَتِ الْخَوَارِجُ كُلُّهَا تَتَوَلَّاهُ، وَرَأَى عَلَى ابْنِ عَامِرٍ قَبَاءً أَنْكَرَهُ فَقَالَ: هَذَا لِبَاسُ الْفُسَّاقِ ! فَقَالَ أَبُو بَكْرَةَ: لَا تَقُلْ هَذَا لِلسُّلْطَانِ فَإِنَّ مَنْ أَبْغَضَ السُّلْطَانَ أَبْغَضَهُ اللَّهُ، وَكَانَ لَا يَدِينُ بِالِاسْتِعْرَاضِ، وَيُحَرِّمُ خُرُوجَ النِّسَاءِ، وَيَقُولُ لَا نُقَاتِلُ إِلَّا مَنْ قَاتَلَنَا وَلَا نَجْبِي إِلَّا مَنْ حَمَيْنَا. وَكَانَتِ الْبَثْجَاءُ، امْرَأَةٌ مِنْ بَنِي يَرْبُوعٍ، تُحَرِّضُ عَلَى ابْنِ زِيَادٍ وَتَذْكُرُ تَجَبُّرَهُ وَسُوءَ سِيرَتِهِ، وَكَانَتْ مِنَ الْمُجْتَهِدَاتِ، فَذَكَرَهَا ابْنُ زِيَادٍ، فَقَالَ لَهَا أَبُو بِلَالٍ: إِنَّ التَّقِيَّةَ لَا بَأْسَ بِهَا فَتَغَيَّبِي فَإِنَّ هَذَا الْجَبَّارَ قَدْ ذَكَرَكِ. قَالَتْ: أَخْشَى أَنْ يَلْقَى أَحَدٌ بِسَبَبِي مَكْرُوهًا. فَأَخَذَهَا ابْنُ زِيَادٍ فَقَطَعَ يَدَيْهَا وَرِجْلَيْهَا، فَمَرَّ بِهَا أَبُو بِلَالٍ فِي السُّوقِ فَعَضَّ عَلَى لِحْيَتِهِ وَقَالَ: أَهَذِهِ أَطْيَبُ نَفْسًا بِالْمَوْتِ مِنْكَ يَا مِرْدَاسُ ؟ مَا مِيتَةٌ أُمُوتُهَا أَحَبُّ إِلَيَّ مِنْ مِيتَةِ الْبَثْجَاءِ ! وَمَرَّ أَبُو بِلَالٍ بِبَعِيرٍ قَدْ طُلِيَ بِقَطِرَانٍ فَغُشِيَ عَلَيْهِ ثُمَّ أَفَاقَ فَتَلَا: سَرَابِيلُهُمْ مِنْ قَطِرَانٍ وَتَغْشَى وُجُوهَهُمُ النَّارُ. ثُمَّ إِنَّ ابْنَ زِيَادٍ أَلَحَّ فِي طَلَبِ الْخَوَارِجِ فَمَلَأَ مِنْهُمُ السِّجْنَ وَأَخَذَ النَّاسَ بِسَبَبِهِمْ وَحَبَسَ أَبَا بِلَالٍ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَقْتُلَ أَخَاهُ عُرْوَةَ، فَرَأَى السَّجَّانُ عِبَادَتَهُ فَأَذِنَ لَهُ كُلَّ لَيْلَةٍ فِي إِتْيَانِ أَهْلِهِ، فَكَانَ يَأْتِيهِمْ لَيْلًا وَيَعُودُ مَعَ الصُّبْحِ، وَكَانَ صَدِيقٌ لِمِرْدَاسٍ يُسَامِرُ ابْنَ زِيَادٍ، فَذَكَرَ ابْنُ زِيَادٍ الْخَوَارِجَ لَيْلَةً فَعَزَمَ عَلَى قَتْلِهِمْ، فَانْطَلَقَ صَدِيقُ مِرْدَاسٍ إِلَيْهِ فَأَعْلَمَهُ الْخَبَرَ، وَبَاتَ السَّجَّانُ بِلَيْلَةِ سُوءٍ خَوْفًا أَنْ يَعْلَمَ مِرْدَاسٌ فَلَا يَرْجِعُ، فَلَمَّا كَانَ الْوَقْتُ الَّذِي كَانَ يَعُودُ فِيهِ إِذَا بِهِ قَدْ أَتَى، فَقَالَ لَهُ السَّجَّانُ: أَمَا بَلَغَكَ مَا عَزَمَ عَلَيْهِ الْأَمِيرُ ؟ قَالَ: بَلَى قَالَ: ثُمَّ جِئْتَ ؟ قَالَ: نَعَمْ لَمْ يَكُنْ جَزَاؤُكَ مِنِّي مَعَ إِحْسَانِكَ إِلَيَّ أَنْ تُعَاقَبَ. وَأَصْبَحَ عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ فَقَتَلَ الْخَوَارِجَ، فَلَمَّا أُحْضِرَ مِرْدَاسٌ قَامَ السَّجَّانُ، وَكَانَ ظِئْرًا لِعُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ، فَشَفَعَ فِيهِ وَقَصَّ عَلَيْهِ قِصَّتَهُ، فَوَهَبَهُ لَهُ وَخَلَّى سَبِيلَهُ. ثُمَّ إِنَّهُ خَافَ ابْنَ زِيَادٍ فَخَرَجَ فِي أَرْبَعِينَ رَجُلًا إِلَى الْأَهْوَازِ، فَكَانَ إِذَا اجْتَازَ بِهِ مَالٌ أَخَذَ مِنْهُ عَطَاءَهُ وَعَطَاءَ أَصْحَابِهِ ثُمَّ يَرُدُّ الْبَاقِي، فَلَمَّا سَمِعَ ابْنُ زِيَادٍ خَبَرَهُمْ بَعَثَ إِلَيْهِمْ جَيْشًا عَلَيْهِمْ أَسْلَمُ بْنُ زُرْعَةَ الْكِلَابِيُّ سَنَةَ سِتِّينَ، وَقِيلَ: أَبُو حُصَيْنٍ التَّمِيمِيُّ، وَكَانَ الْجَيْشُ أَلْفَيْ رَجُلٍ، فَلَمَّا وَصَلُوا إِلَى أَبِي بِلَالٍ نَاشَدَهُمُ اللَّهَ أَنْ يُقَاتِلُوهُ فَلَمْ يَفْعَلُوا، وَدَعَاهُمْ أَسْلَمُ إِلَى مُعَاوَدَةِ الْجَمَاعَةِ، فَقَالُو: أَتَرُدُّونَنَا إِلَى ابْنِ زِيَادٍ الْفَاسِقِ ؟ فَرَمَى أَصْحَابُ أَسْلَمَ رَجُلًا مِنْ أَصْحَابِ أَبِي بِلَالٍ فَقَتَلُوهُ، فَقَالَ أَبُو بِلَالٍ: قَدْ بَدَءُوكُمْ بِالْقِتَالِ. فَشَدَّ الْخَوَارِجُ عَلَى أَسْلَمَ وَأَصْحَابِهِ شَدَّةً رَجُلٍ وَاحِدٍ فَهَزَمُوهُمْ فَقَدِمُوا الْبَصْرَةَ، فَلَامَ ابْنُ زِيَادٍ أَسْلَمَ وَقَالَ: هَزَمَكَ أَرْبَعُونَ وَأَنْتَ فِي أَلْفَيْنِ، لَا خَيْرَ فِيكَ ! فَقَالَ: لَأَنْ تَلُومَنِي وَأَنَا حَيٌّ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَنْ تُثْنِيَ عَلَيَّ وَأَنَا مَيِّتٌ. فَكَانَ الصِّبْيَانُ إِذَا رَأَوْا أَسْلَمَ صَاحُوا بِهِ: أَمَا أَبُو بِلَالٍ وَرَاءَكَ ! فَشَكَا ذَلِكَ إِلَى ابْنِ زِيَادٍ، فَنَهَاهُمْ فَانْتَهَوْا. ( وَقَالَ رَجُلٌ مِنَ الْخَوَارِجِ: أَأَلْفَا مُؤْمِنٍ مِنْكُمْ زَعَمْتُمْ وَيَقْتُلُهُمْ بِآسِكَ أَرْبَعُونَا كَذَبْتُمْ لَيْسَ ذَاكَ كَمَا زَعَمْتُمْ وَلَكِنَّ الْخَوَارِجَ مُؤْمِنُونَا [ هِيَ الْفِئَةُ الْقَلِيلَةُ قَدْ عَلِمْتُمْ عَلَى الْفِئَةِ الْكَثِيرَةِ يُنْصَرُونَا ]
Translation
✧ Mention of the killing of ʿUrwah b. Udayyah and others among the Khawārij. In the year fifty-eight, ʿUbayd Allāh b. Ziyād intensified his severity against the Khawārij. He put to death a large group of them by execution, and another group in battle. Among those he killed by execution was ʿUrwah b. Udayyah. The reason for that was that Ibn Ziyād went out for one of his horse races. When he sat down waiting for the horses, the people gathered, and among them was ʿUrwah b. Udayyah. He turned to Ibn Ziyād and said: "Five traits existed among the nations before us, and they have now come to exist among us: 'Do you build on every height a monument for amusement? And take for yourselves palaces, that perhaps you may abide forever? And when you strike, you strike as tyrants.'" And he mentioned two other traits which the narrator forgot. When he said that, Ibn Ziyād suspected that he would not have dared to say such a thing unless a group of his companions was with him. So he rose, mounted, and abandoned his race. It was said to ʿUrwah: "What have you done? By God, he will surely kill you." So he went into hiding. Ibn Ziyād sought him, but he fled and came to al-Kūfah. He was seized and brought to Ibn Ziyād, who cut off his hands and feet and killed him, and he killed his daughter. As for his brother Abū Bilāl Mirdās, he was a devout worshipper, extremely earnest, of great standing among the Khawārij. He witnessed Ṣiffīn with ʿAlī and rejected the arbitration, and he witnessed al-Nahrawān with the Khawārij. All of the Khawārij held him in affection. He saw on Ibn ʿĀmir a striped cloak which he disapproved of and said: "This is the garment of the wicked!" Abū Bakrah said: "Do not say this to the ruler, for whoever hates the ruler, God hates him." He did not hold to indiscriminate killing, and he forbade the going out of women, and he used to say: "We fight only those who fight us, and we collect tribute only from those whom we protect." Al-Bathjāʾ, a woman of Banū Yarbūʿ, used to stir up people against Ibn Ziyād and mention his tyranny and his evil conduct. She was one of the most earnest in worship. Ibn Ziyād mentioned her, so Abū Bilāl said to her: "Dissimulation is permissible, so go into hiding, for this tyrant has mentioned you." She said: "I fear that someone may meet with harm because of me." Ibn Ziyād seized her and cut off her hands and feet. Abū Bilāl passed by her in the market, and he bit his beard and said: "Are you more content with death than you, O Mirdās? No death I could die is dearer to me than the death of al-Bathjāʾ!" And Abū Bilāl passed by a camel smeared with tar and fainted; then he regained consciousness and recited: "Their garments of liquid pitch and fire covering their faces." Then Ibn Ziyād persisted in seeking out the Khawārij, filling the prison with them and seizing people on their account. He had imprisoned Abū Bilāl before he killed his brother ʿUrwah. The jailer observed his worship, so he permitted him every night to go to his family. He would go to them at night and return at dawn. A friend of Mirdās used to converse with Ibn Ziyād at night. One night Ibn Ziyād mentioned the Khawārij and resolved to kill them. Mirdās's friend went to him and informed him of the news. The jailer spent a miserable night, fearing that Mirdās would learn of it and not return. But at the time when he used to return, he came. The jailer said to him: "Has the news not reached you of what the emir has resolved?" He said: "Yes." He said: "Then you came anyway?" He said: "Yes. It would not be proper for me, given your kindness to me, that you should be punished on my account." In the morning, ʿUbayd Allāh killed the Khawārij. When Mirdās was brought forward, the jailer, who was a foster brother of ʿUbayd Allāh, stood up and interceded for him and told his story, so he granted him to him and set him free. Then he feared Ibn Ziyād, so he departed with forty men to al-Ahwāz. Whenever he came upon wealth, he took from it his stipend and the stipends of his companions, then returned the rest. When Ibn Ziyād heard of them, he sent against them an army under Aslam b. Zurʿah al-Kilābī in the year sixty—and it is also said: Abū Ḥuṣayn al-Tamīmī—and the army numbered two thousand men. When they reached Abū Bilāl, he adjured them by God not to fight him, but they did not comply. Aslam called on them to return to the community, but they said: "Will you return us to Ibn Ziyād the transgressor?" Then Aslam's men shot and killed a man among Abū Bilāl's companions. Abū Bilāl said: "They have started fighting you." The Khawārij charged against Aslam and his companions with the charge of a single man and routed them. They came to al-Baṣrah, and Ibn Ziyād blamed Aslam and said: "Forty men routed you while you were with two thousand? There is no good in you!" He said: "That you should blame me while I am alive is better than that you praise me when I am dead." When the boys saw Aslam, they would shout at him: "Is Abū Bilāl behind you?" He complained of that to Ibn Ziyād, and he forbade them, and they stopped. ( A man of the Khawārij said: 'Do you claim they are two thousand believers of yours, yet forty of them at Āsik kill them? You have lied; it is not as you claimed, but the Khawārij are the believers. They are the small party, as you have known, who are aided against the large party.' )
Grades by grader
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