Tarikh (al-Tabari) 2729
Then the Year 137 AH Began
قَالَ بَعْضُهُمْ: كَتَبَ الْمَنْصُورُ إِلَى أَبِي مُسْلِمٍ: أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَإِنَّهُ يَرِينُ عَلَى الْقُلُوبِ، وَتَطْبَعُ عَلَيْهَا الْمَعَاصِي، فَقَعْ أَيُّهَا الطَّائِرُ، وَأَفِقْ أَيُّهَا السَّكْرَانُ، وَانْتَبِهْ أَيُّهَا الْحَالِمُ، فَإِنَّكَ مَغْرُورٌ بِأَضْغَاثِ أَحْلَامٍ كَاذِبَةٍ، وَفِي بَرْزَخِ دُنْيَا قَدْ غَرَّتْ مَنْ قَبْلَكَ، وَسُمَّ بِهَا سَوَالِفُ الْقُرُونِ، هَلْ تُحِسُّ مِنْهُمْ مِنْ أَحَدٍ أَوْ تَسْمَعُ لَهُمْ رِكْزًا [ مَرْيَمَ: 98 ]. وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُعْجِزُهُ مَنْ هَرَبَ، وَلَا يَفُوتُهُ مَنْ طَلَبَ، وَلَا تَغْتَرَّ بِمَنْ مَعَكَ مِنْ شِيعَتِي وَأَهْلِ دَعْوَتِي، فَكَأَنَّهُمْ قَدْ صَاوَلُوكَ، إِنْ أَنْتَ خَلَعْتَ الطَّاعَةَ، وَفَارَقْتَ الْجَمَاعَةَ، بَدَا لَكَ مِنَ اللَّهِ مَا لَمْ تَكُنْ تَحْتَسِبُ، مَهْلًا مَهْلًا، احْذَرِ الْبَغْيَ أَبَا مُسْلِمٍ; فَإِنَّهُ مَنْ بَغَى وَاعْتَدَى تَخَلَّى اللَّهُ مِنْهُ، وَنَصَرَ عَلَيْهِ مَنْ يَصْرَعُهُ لِلْيَدَيْنِ وَالْفَمِ، وَاحْذَرْ أَنْ تَكُونَ سُنَّةً فِي الَّذِينَ قَدْ خَلَوْا مِنْ قَبْلُ، فَقَدْ قَامَتِ الْحُجَّةُ، وَأَعْذَرْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَإِلَى أَهْلِ طَاعَتِي فِيكَ. قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: وَاتْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ نَبَأَ الَّذِي آتَيْنَاهُ آيَاتِنَا فَانْسَلَخَ مِنْهَا فَأَتْبَعَهُ الشَّيْطَانُ فَكَانَ مِنَ الْغَاوِينَ [ الْأَعْرَافِ: 175 ]. فَأَجَابَهُ أَبُو مُسْلِمٍ: أَمَّا بَعْدُ; فَقَدْ قَرَأْتُ كِتَابَكَ، فَرَأَيْتُكَ فِيهِ لِلصَّوَابِ مُجَانِبًا، وَعَنِ الْحَقِّ حَائِدًا، إِذْ تَضْرِبُ فِيهِ الْأَمْثَالَ عَلَى غَيْرِ أَشْكَالِهَا، وَتَضْرِبُ فِيهِ آيَاتٍ مُنَزَّلَةً مِنَ اللَّهِ لِلْكَافِرِينَ، وَمَا يَسْتَوِي الَّذِينَ يَعْلَمُونَ وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ، وَإِنَّنِي وَاللَّهِ مَا انْسَلَخْتُ مِنْ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ، وَلَكِنَّنِي يَا عَبْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ مُحَمَّدٍ كُنْتُ رَجُلًا مُتَأَوِّلًا فِيكُمْ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ آيَاتٍ أَوْجَبَتْ لَكُمْ بِهَا الْوِلَايَةَ وَالطَّاعَةَ، فَأْتَمَمْتُ بِأَخَوَيْنِ لَكَ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ، ثُمَّ بِكَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِمَا، فَكُنْتُ لَهُمَا شِيعَةً مُتَدَيِّنًا، أَحْسَبُنِي هَادِيًا، وَأَخْطَأْتُ فِي التَّأْوِيلِ، وَقَدِيمًا أَخْطَأَ الْمُتَأَوِّلُونَ، وَقَدْ قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى وَإِذَا جَاءَكَ الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِآيَاتِنَا فَقُلْ سَلَامٌ عَلَيْكُمْ كَتَبَ رَبُّكُمْ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ الرَّحْمَةَ أَنَّهُ مَنْ عَمِلَ مِنْكُمْ سُوءًا بِجَهَالَةٍ ثُمَّ تَابَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ وَأَصْلَحَ فَأَنَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ [ الْأَنْعَامِ: 54 ]. وَكَتَبَ إِلَيْهِ أَبُو مُسْلِمٍ: إِنَّ أَخَاكَ السَّفَّاحَ ظَهَرَ فِي صُورَةِ مَهْدِيٍّ، وَكَانَ ضَالًّا; أَمَرَنِي أَنْ أُجَرِّدَ السَّيْفَ، وَأَقْتُلَ بِالظِّنَّةِ، وَأُقْدِمَ بِالشُّبْهَةِ، وَأَرْفَعَ الرَّحْمَةَ وَلَا أُقِيلَ الْعَثْرَةَ، فَوَتَرْتُ أَهْلَ الدُّنْيَا فِي طَاعَتِكُمْ، وَتَوْطِئَةِ سُلْطَانِكُمْ حَتَّى عَرَفَكُمْ مَنْ كَانَ جَهِلَكُمْ، ثُمَّ إِنَّ اللَّهَ سُبْحَانَهُ تَدَارَكَنِي مِنْهُ بِالنَّدَمِ، وَاسْتَنْقَذَنِي بِالتَّوْبَةِ، فَإِنْ يَعْفُ عَنِّي وَيَصْفَحْ فَإِنَّهُ كَانَ لِلْأَوَّابِينَ غَفُورًا، وَإِنْ يُعَاقِبْنِي فَبِذُنُوبِي، وَمَا رَبُّكَ بِظَلَّامٍ لِلْعَبِيدِ. فَكَتَبَ إِلَيْهِ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ: أَمَّا بَعْدُ، أَيُّهَا الْمُجْرِمُ الْعَاصِي، فَإِنَّ أَخِي كَانَ إِمَامَ هُدًى، يَدْعُو إِلَى اللَّهِ عَلَى بَيِّنَةٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ، فَأَوْضَحَ لَكَ السَّبِيلَ، وَحَمَلَكَ عَلَى الْمَنْهَجِ، فَلَوْ بِأَخِي اقْتَدَيْتَ مَا كُنْتَ عَنِ الْحَقِّ حَائِدًا، وَعَنِ الشَّيْطَانِ وَأَمْرِهِ صَادِرًا، وَلَكِنَّهُ لَمْ يَسْنَحْ لَكَ أَمْرَانِ إِلَّا كُنْتَ لِأَرْشَدِهِمَا تَارِكًا، وَلَأَغْوَاهُمَا مُوَافِقًا، تَقْتُلُ قَتْلَ الْفَرَاعِنَةِ، وَتَبْطِشُ بَطْشَ الْجَبَابِرَةِ، وَتَحْكُمُ بِالْجَوْرِ حُكْمَ الْمُفْسِدِينَ، ثُمَّ مِنْ خَبَرِي أَيُّهَا الْفَاسِقُ أَنِّي قَدْ وَلَّيْتُ مُوسَى بْنَ كَعْبٍ خُرَاسَانَ، وَأَمَرْتُهُ بِالْمُقَامِ بِنَيْسَابُورَ، فَإِنْ أَرَدْتَ خُرَاسَانَ لَقِيَكَ بِمَنْ مَعَهُ مِنْ قُوَّادِي وَشِيعَتِي، وَأَنَا مُوَجِّهٌ لِلِقَائِكَ أَقْرَانَكَ، فَاجْمَعْ كَيْدَكَ وَأَمْرَكَ غَيْرَ مُسَدَّدٍ وَلَا مُوَفَّقٍ، وَحَسْبُ أَمِيرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ. وَلَمْ يَزَلِ الْمَنْصُورُ يُرَاسِلُهُ تَارَةً بِالرَّغْبَةِ وَتَارَةً بِالرَّهْبَةِ، وَيَسْتَخِفُّ أَحْلَامَ مَنْ حَوْلَهُ مِنَ الْأُمَرَاءِ وَالرُّسُلِ الَّذِينَ يَبْعَثُ بِهِمْ أَبُو مُسْلِمٍ، حَتَّى حَسَّنُوا لَهُ فِي رَأْيِهِ الْقُدُومَ عَلَى أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ سِوَى أَمِيرٍ مَعَهُ يُقَالُ لَهُ: نَيْزَكُ. فَإِنَّهُ لَمْ يُوَافِقْ عَلَى ذَلِكَ، فَلَمَّا رَأَى أَبَا مُسْلِمٍ قَدِ انْصَاعَ مَعَهُمْ قَالَ: مَا لِلرِّجَالِ مَعَ الْقَضَاءِ مَحَالَةٌ ذَهَبَ الْقَضَاءُ بِحِيلَةِ الْأَقْوَامِ
Translation
✧ Some of them said: Al-Manṣūr wrote to Abū Muslim: To proceed: indeed rust forms upon hearts, and acts of disobedience seal them. So alight, O bird, and sober up, O drunkard, and awaken, O dreamer, for you are deceived by the tangles of false dreams, and in the isthmus of a world that has deceived those before you, and by which the foremost of past generations were poisoned. Do you perceive any one of them, or hear from them any whisper? [Maryam: 98]. Indeed God is not incapable against one who flees, nor does one who is sought escape Him. Do not be deceived by those with you from my partisans and the people of my call, for it is as if they will turn against you, if you cast off obedience and separate from the community. There will appear to you from God what you did not reckon. Gently, gently! Beware of transgression, Abū Muslim; for whoever transgresses and oversteps, God withdraws from him and helps against him one who throws him down by the two hands and the mouth. Beware of becoming a precedent among those who have passed away before, for the proof has been established, and I have excused myself to you and to the people of my obedience concerning you. God, exalted be He, said: “And recite to them the account of him to whom We gave Our signs, but he detached himself from them, so Satan followed him, and he became one of the misguided” [al-Aʿrāf: 175]. Abū Muslim answered him: To proceed: I have read your letter, and I see you in it as one who avoids what is right and turns away from the truth, since you strike in it proverbs that do not fit their forms, and you apply in it verses sent down from God meant for the disbelievers. Those who know and those who do not know are not equal. By God, I have not detached myself from the signs of God, but I, O ʿAbd Allāh b. Muḥammad, was a man who interpreted from the Qurʾān, in your favor, verses that made loyalty and obedience to you obligatory. So I followed two of your brothers before you, then you after them. I was a partisan to them, devout, thinking myself rightly guided, but I erred in the interpretation, and interpreters of old have erred. God, exalted be He, said: “When those who believe in Our signs come to you, say: Peace be upon you. Your Lord has prescribed mercy upon Himself: whoever of you does evil in ignorance and then repents after it and sets things right, He is forgiving and merciful” [al-Anʿām: 54]. Abū Muslim also wrote to him: Your brother al-Saffāḥ appeared in the form of a Mahdī, but he was astray. He ordered me to unsheathe the sword, to kill on suspicion, to proceed on doubt, to remove mercy, and not to overlook a slip. So I made enemies of the people of this world in obedience to you and to make firm your authority, until those who had been ignorant of you came to know you. Then God, glorified be He, overtook me from him with remorse and rescued me through repentance. If He pardons me and overlooks, He is ever forgiving to the repentant; and if He punishes me, it is for my sins, and your Lord is not unjust to His servants. Then Abū Jaʿfar wrote to him: To proceed, O criminal sinner: my brother was an imam of guidance, calling to God upon a clear proof from God. He made the path clear to you and bore you on the right course. Had you followed my brother, you would not have turned from the truth or gone along with Satan and his affair. But no two affairs presented themselves to you without your abandoning the more rightly guided of them and conforming to the more erring of them. You kill like the killing of pharaohs, strike like the striking of tyrants, and judge with injustice like the judgment of corrupters. Then, about my news, O transgressor: I have appointed Mūsā b. Kaʿb over Khurāsān and ordered him to remain in Naysābūr. If you intend Khurāsān, he will meet you with those of my commanders and partisans who are with him, and I will send your equals to meet you. So gather your stratagem and your command, without being set aright or granted success. Sufficient for the Commander of the Faithful is God, and He is the best Disposer of affairs. Al-Manṣūr continued to correspond with him, at times with desire and at times with intimidation, and to belittle the judgment of the commanders and messengers around him whom Abū Muslim sent, until they made the idea of coming before Abū Jaʿfar seem good to him—except for a commander with him called Nayzak, who did not agree to that. When Abū Muslim saw that he had yielded along with them, he said: Men have no device against fate; fate has gone off with the device of peoples.
Grades by grader
No grade is recorded for this wording.