Tarikh (al-Tabari) 2732
Then the Year 137 AH Began
وَقَدْ رَوَى الْبَيْهَقِيُّ عَنِ الْحَاكِمِ، بِسَنَدِهِ أَنَّ عَبْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ الْمُبَارَكِ سُئِلَ عَنْ أَبِي مُسْلِمٍ; أَكَانَ خَيْرًا أَمِ الْحَجَّاجُ؟ فَقَالَ: لَا أَقُولُ إِنَّ أَبَا مُسْلِمٍ كَانَ خَيْرًا مِنْ أَحَدٍ، وَلَكِنْ كَانَ الْحَجَّاجُ شَرًّا مِنْهُ. وَقَدِ اتَّهَمَهُ بَعْضُهُمْ عَلَى الْإِسْلَامِ، وَرَمَوْهُ بِالزَّنْدَقَةِ، وَلَمْ أَرَ فِيمَا ذَكَرُوهُ مَا يَدُلُّ عَلَى ذَلِكَ، بَلْ عَلَى أَنَّهُ كَانَ مِمَّنْ يَخَافُ اللَّهَ مِنْ ذُنُوبِهِ، وَقَدِ ادَّعَى التَّوْبَةَ مِمَّا كَانَ سَفَكَ مِنَ الدِّمَاءِ فِي إِقَامَةِ الدَّوْلَةِ الْعَبَّاسِيَّةِ. وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِأَمْرِهِ. وَقَدْ رَوَى الْخَطِيبُ عَنْهُ أَنَّهُ قَالَ: ارْتَدَيْتُ الصَّبْرَ، وَآثَرْتُ الْكِتْمَانَ، وَحَالَفْتُ الْأَحْزَانَ وَالْأَشْجَانَ، وَسَامَحْتُ الْمَقَادِيرَ وَالْأَحْكَامَ حَتَّى بَلَغْتُ غَايَةَ هِمَّتِي، وَأَدْرَكْتُ نِهَايَةَ بُغْيَتِي. ثُمَّ أَنْشَأَ يَقُولُ: قَدْ نِلْتُ بِالْحَزْمِ وَالْكِتْمَانِ مَا عَجَزَتْ عَنْهُ مُلُوكُ بَنِي مَرْوَانَ إِذْ حَشَدُوا مَا زِلْتُ أَضْرِبُهُمْ بِالسَّيْفِ فَانْتَبَهُوا مِنْ رَقْدَةٍ لَمْ يَنَمْهَا قَبْلَهُمْ أَحَدُ طَفِقْتُ أَسْعَى عَلَيْهِمْ فِي دِيَارِهِمْ وَالْقَوْمُ فِي مُلْكِهِمْ بِالشَّامِ قَدْ رَقَدُوا وَمَنْ رَعَى غَنَمًا فِي أَرْضِ مَسْبَعَةٍ وَنَامَ عَنْهَا تَوَلَّى رَعْيَهَا الْأَسَدُ قَالَ ابن الجوزي: نَقَلْتُ مِنْ خَطِّ أَبِي الْوَفَا بْنِ عُقَيْلٍ قَالَ: وَجَدْتُ فِي تَعَالِيقِ مُحَقِّقٍ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْعِلْمِ: أَنَّ سَبْعَةً مَاتَ كُلُّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمْ وَلَهُ سِتٌّ وَثَلَاثُونَ سَنَةً، فَعَجِبْتُ مِنْ قِصَرِ أَعْمَارِهِمْ مَعَ بُلُوغِ كُلٍّ مِنْهُمُ الْغَايَةَ فِيمَا كَانَ فِيهِ، وَانْتَهَى إِلَيْهِ، فَمِنْهُمُ: الْإِسْكَنْدَرُ ذُو الْقَرْنَيْنِ، وَأَبُو مُسْلِمٍ صَاحِبُ الدَّوْلَةِ الْعَبَّاسِيَّةِ، وَابْنُ الْمُقَفَّعِ صَاحِبُ الْخَطَابَةِ وَالْفَصَاحَةِ، وَسِيبَوَيْهِ صَاحِبُ التَّصَانِيفِ وَالْمُتَقَدِّمُ فِي عِلْمِ الْعَرَبِيَّةِ، وَأَبُو تَمَّامٍ الطَّائِيُّ وَمَا بَلَغَ مِنَ الشِّعْرِ وَعُلُومِهِ، وَإِبْرَاهِيمُ النَّظَّامُ الْمُعَمِّقُ فِي عِلْمِ الْكَلَامِ، وَابْنُ الرِّيوَنْدِيِّ وَمَا انْتَهَى إِلَيْهِ مِنَ التَّوْغِيلِ فِي الْمَخَازِي. فَهَؤُلَاءِ السَّبْعَةُ لَمْ يُجَاوِزْ أَحَدٌ مِنْهُمْ سِتًّا وَثَلَاثِينَ سَنَةً، بَلِ اتَّفَقُوا عَلَى هَذَا الْقَدْرِ مِنَ الْعُمْرِ.
Translation
✧ Al-Bayhaqī narrated from al-Ḥākim, with his chain, that ʿAbd Allāh b. al-Mubārak was asked about Abū Muslim—whether he was better or al-Ḥajjāj? He said: I do not say that Abū Muslim was better than anyone, but al-Ḥajjāj was worse than him. Some accused him regarding Islam and hurled at him the charge of zandaqah (heresy), but I did not see in what they mentioned anything indicating that. Rather, it indicates that he was one who feared God for his sins, and he claimed repentance for the blood he had shed in establishing the Abbasid state. And God knows best about his affair. Al-Khaṭīb narrated from him that he said: I donned patience, preferred concealment, allied myself with sorrows and griefs, and reconciled myself to the decrees and judgments until I reached the utmost of my aspiration and attained the limit of my desire. Then he began to recite: I attained through resolve and concealment what the kings of Banū Marwān failed to attain when they gathered; I kept striking them with the sword until they awoke From a slumber no one before them had slept; I went about seeking them in their dwellings While the people in their kingdom in Syria were asleep; And whoever shepherds sheep in a land of lions And sleeps away from them, the lion takes over their shepherding. Ibn al-Jawzī said: I copied from the handwriting of Abū al-Wafā b. ʿAqīl, who said: I found in the notes of a verifying scholar that seven men each died at the age of thirty-six. I marvelled at the shortness of their lives, despite each of them reaching the utmost in his field and achieving its limit. Among them: Alexander Dhū al-Qarnayn, Abū Muslim the founder of the Abbasid state, Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ the master of oratory and eloquence, Sībawayh the author of works and foremost in Arabic grammar, Abū Tammām al-Ṭāʾī with what he attained in poetry and its sciences, Ibrāhīm al-Naẓẓām who delved deeply into theology, and Ibn al-Rīwandī with what he reached of delving into infamies. These seven, none of them exceeded thirty-six years; rather, they all coincided in this span of life.
Grades by grader
No grade is recorded for this wording.