Tarikh (al-Tabari) 3123
The year 198 AH
ذِكْرُ صِفَةِ الْأَمِينِ وَعُمْرِهِ وَوِلَايَتِهِ قِيلَ: إِنَّ مُحَمَّدًا وَلِيَ يَوْمَ الْخَمِيسِ لِإِحْدَى عَشْرَةَ لَيْلَةً بَقِيَتْ مِنْ جُمَادَى الْأُولَى سَنَةَ ثَلَاثٍ وَتِسْعِينَ وَمِائَةٍ، وَقُتِلَ لَيْلَةَ الْأَحَدِ لِسِتٍّ بَقِينَ مِنَ الْمُحَرَّمِ سَنَةَ ثَمَانٍ وَتِسْعِينَ وَمِائَةٍ، وَكُنْيَتُهُ أَبُو مُوسَى، وَقِيلَ: أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ. ( وَهُوَ ابْنُ الرَّشِيدِ هَارُونَ بْنِ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ الْمَهْدِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ الْمَنْصُورِ، وَأُمُّهُ زُبَيْدَةُ ابْنَةُ جَعْفَرٍ الْأَكْبَرِ ابْنِ الْمَنْصُورِ. وَكَانَتْ خِلَافَتُهُ أَرْبَعَ سِنِينَ وَثَمَانِيَةَ أَشْهُرٍ وَخَمْسَةَ أَيَّامٍ، وَقِيلَ: كَانَتْ وِلَايَتُهُ النِّصْفَ مِنْ جُمَادَى الْآخِرَةِ، وَكَانَ عُمْرُهُ ثَمَانِيًا وَعِشْرِينَ سَنَةً. وَكَانَ سَبْطًا، أَنْزَعَ، صَغِيرَ الْعَيْنَيْنِ، أَقْنَى، جَمِيلًا، طَوِيلًا، عَظِيمَ الْكَرَادِيسِ، بَعِيدَ مَا بَيْنَ الْمَنْكِبَيْنِ، وَكَانَ مَوْلِدُهُ بِالرُّصَافَةِ. وَلَمَّا وَصَلَ خَبَرُ قَتْلِهِ إِلَى الْمَأْمُونِ أَذِنَ لِلْقُوَّادِ، وَقَرَأَ الْفَضْلُ بْنُ سَهْلٍ الْكِتَابَ عَلَيْهِمْ، فَهَنَّئُوهُ بِالظَّفَرِ وَدَعَوْا لَهُ. وَأَكْثَرَ الشُّعَرَاءُ فِي مَرَاثِي الْأَمِينِ وَهِجَائِهِ، تَرَكْنَا أَكْثَرَهُ لِأَنَّهُ خَارِجٌ عَنِ التَّارِيخِ، فَمِمَّا قِيلَ فِي مَرَاثِيهِ قَوْلُ الْحُسَيْنِ بْنِ الضَّحَّاكِ، وَكَانَ مِنْ نُدَمَائِهِ، وَكَانَ لَا يُصَدِّقُ بِقَتْلِهِ، وَيَطْمَعُ فِي رُجُوعِهِ: يَا خَيْرَ أُسْرَتِهِ وَإِنْ زَعَمُوا إِنِّي عَلَيْكَ لَمُثْبَتٌ أَسِفُ اللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ أَنَّ لِي كَبِدًا حَرَّى عَلَيْكَ وَمُقْلَةً تَكِفُ وَلَئِنْ شَجِيتُ بِمَا رُزِئْتُ بِهِ إِنِّي لَأُضْمِرُ فَوْقَ مَا أَصِفُ هَلَّا بَقِيتَ لِسَدِّ فَاقَتِنَا أَبَدًا وَكَانَ لِغَيْرِكَ التَّلَفُ قَدْ كَانَ فِيكَ لِمَنْ مَضَى خَلَفٌ وَلَسَوْفَ يُعْوِزُ بَعْدَكَ الْخَلَفُ لَا بَاتَ رَهْطُكَ بَعْدَ هَفْوَتِهِمْ إِنِّي لِرَهْطِكَ بَعْدَهَا شَنِفُ هَتَكُوا بِحُرْمَتِكَ الَّتِي هُتِكَتْ حُرَمَ الرَّسُولِ وَدُونَهَا السُّجُفُ وَثَبَتْ أَقَارِبُكَ الَّتِي خُذِلَتْ وَجَمِيعُهَا بِالذُّلِّ مُعْتَرِفُ تَرَكُوا حَرِيمَ أَبِيهِمْ نَفَلًا وَالْمُحْصَنَاتُ صَوَارِخٌ هُتُفُ أَبْدَتْ مُخَلْخَلَهَا عَلَى دَهَشٍ أَبْكَارُهُنَّ وَرَنَّتِ النَّصَفُ سُلِبَتْ مَعَاجِرُهُنَّ وَاجْتُلِيَتْ ذَاتُ النِّقَابِ وَنُوزِعَ الشَّنَفُ فَكَأَنَّهُنَّ خِلَالَ مُنْتَهَبٍ دُرٌّ تَكَشَّفَ دُونَهُ الصَّدَفُ مَلِكٌ تَخَوَّنَ مُلْكَهُ قَدَرٌ فَوَهَى وَصَرْفُ الدَّهْرِ مُخْتَلِفُ هَيْهَاتَ بَعْدَكَ أَنْ يَدُومَ لَنَا عِزٌّ وَأَنْ يَبْقَى لَنَا شَرَفُ أَفَبَعْدَ عَهْدِ اللَّهِ تَقْتُلُهُ وَالْقَتْلُ بَعْدَ أَمَانِهِ سَرَفُ فَسَتَعْرِفُونَ غَدًا بِعَاقِبَةٍ عِزَّ الْإِلَهِ فَأَوْرِدُوا وَقِفُوا يَا مَنْ تَخَوَّنَ نَوْمَهُ أَرَقٌ هَدَتِ الشُّجُونُ وَقَلْبُهُ لَهِفُ قَدْ كُنْتَ لِي أَمَلًا غَنِيتُ بِهِ فَمَضَى وَحَلَّ مَحَلَّهُ الْأَسَفُ مُرِجَ النِّظَامُ وَعَادَ مُنْكَرُنَا عُرْفًا وَأُنْكِرَ بَعْدَكَ الْعُرُفُ وَالشَّمْلُ مُنْتَشِرٌ لِفَقْدِكَ وَالدُّنْيَا سُدًى وَالْبَالُ مُنْكَسِفُ وَقَالَ خُزَيْمَةُ بْنُ الْحَسَنِ يَرْثِيهِ عَلَى لِسَانِ أُمِّهِ زُبَيْدَةَ، وَتُخَاطِبُ الْمَأْمُونَ، وَكُنْيَةُ زُبَيْدَةَ أُمُّ جَعْفَرٍ: لِخَيْرِ إِمَامٍ قَامَ مِنْ خَيْرِ عُنْصُرِ وَأَفْضَلِ سَامٍ فَوْقَ أَعْوَادِ مِنْبَرِ لِوَارِثِ عِلْمِ الْأَوَّلِينَ وَفَهْمِهِمْ وَلِلْمَلِكِ الْمَأْمُونِ مِنْ أُمِّ جَعْفَرِ كَتَبْتُ وَعَيْنِي مُسْتَهِلٌّ دُمُوعُهَا إِلَيْكَ ابْنَ عَمِّي مِنْ جُفُونِي وَمَحْجَرِي وَقَدْ مَسَّنِي ضُرٌّ وَذُلُّ كَآبَةٍ وَأَرَّقَ عَيْنِي يَابْنَ عَمِّي تَفَكُّرِي وَهِمْتُ لِمَا لَاقَيْتُ بَعْدَ مُصَابِهِ فَأَمْرِي عَظِيمٌ مُنْكَرٌ جِدُّ مُنْكَرُ سَأَشْكُو الَّذِي لَاقَيْتُهُ بَعْدَ فَقْدِهِ إِلَيْكَ شَكَاةَ الْمُسْتَضِيمِ الْمُقَهَّرِ وَأَرْجُو لِمَا قَدْ مَرَّ بِي مُذْ فَقَدْتُهُ فَأَنْتَ لِبَثِّي خَيْرُ رَبٍّ مُغَيِّرِ أَتَى طَاهِرٌ لَا طَهَّرَ اللَّهُ طَاهِرًا فَمَا طَاهِرٌ فِيمَا أَتَى بِمُطَهَّرِ فَأَخْرَجَنِي مَكْشُوفَةَ الْوَجْهِ حَاسِرًا وَأَنْهَبَ أَمْوَالِي وَأَخْرَبَ أَدْوُرِي يَعِزُّ عَلَى هَارُونَ مَا قَدْ لَقِيتُهُ وَمَا مَرَّ بِي نَاقِصُ الْخَلْقِ أَعْوَرِ فَإِنْ كَانَ مَا أَبْدَى بِأَمْرٍ أَمَرْتَهُ صَبَرْتُ لِأَمْرٍ مِنْ قَدِيرٍ مُقَدِّرِ تَذَكَّرْ أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ قَرَابَتِي فَدَيْتُكَ مِنْ ذِي حُرْمَةٍ مُتَذَكِّرِ فَلَمَّا قَرَأَهَا الْمَأْمُونُ بَكَى، وَقَالَ: أَنَا - وَاللَّهِ - الطَّالِبُ بِثَأْرِ أَخِي، قَتَلَ اللَّهُ قَتَلَتَهُ. وَلَقَدْ أَسْرَفَ الْحُسَيْنُ بْنُ الضَّحَّاكِ فِي مَرَاثِي الْأَمِينِ، وَذَمِّ الْمَأْمُونِ، فَلِهَذَا حَجَبَهُ الْمَأْمُونُ عَنْهُ وَلَمْ يَسْمَعْ مَدِيحَهُ مُدَّةً، ثُمَّ أَحْضَرَهُ يَوْمًا، فَقَالَ لَهُ: أَخْبِرْنِي ! هَلْ رَأَيْتَ يَوْمَ قُتِلَ أَخِي هَاشِمِيَّةً قُتِلَتْ وَهُتِكَتْ ؟ قَالَ: لَا ! قَالَ: فَمَا قَوْلُكَ: وَمِمَّا شَجَا قَلْبِي وَكَفْكَفَ عَبْرَتِي مَحَارِمُ مِنْ آلِ النَّبِيِّ اسْتُحِلَّتِ وَمَهْتُوكَةٌ بِالْخُلْدِ عَنْهَا سُجُوفُهَا كَعَابٌ كَقَرْنِ الشَّمْسِ حِينَ تَبَدَّتِ إِذَا خَفَرَتْهَا رَوْعَةٌ مِنْ مُنَازِعٍ لَهَا الْمِرْطَ عَاذَتْ بِالْخُشُوعِ وَرَنَّتِ وَسِرْبُ ظِبَاءٍ مِنْ ذُؤَابَةِ هَاشِمٍ هَتَفْنَ بِدَعْوَى خَيْرِ حَيٍّ وَمَيِّتِ أَرُدُّ يَدًا مِنِّي إِذَا مَا ذَكَرْتُهُ عَلَى كَبِدٍ حَرَّى وَقَلْبٍ مُفَتَّتِ فَلَا بَاتَ لَيْلُ الشَّامِتِينَ بِغِبْطَةٍ وَلَا بَلَغَتْ آمَالَهَا مَا تَمَنَّتِ فَقَالَ: يَا أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ! لَوْعَةٌ غَلَبَتْنِي، وَرَوْعَةٌ فَاجَأَتْنِي، وَنِعْمَةٌ سُلِبْتُهَا بَعْدَ أَنْ غَمَرَتْنِي، وَإِحْسَانٌ شَكَرْتُهُ فَأَنْطَقَنِي، وَسَيِّدٌ فَقَدْتُهُ فَأَقْلَقَنِي، فَإِنْ عَاقَبْتَ فَبِحَقِّكَ، وَإِنْ عَفَوْتَ فَبِفَضْلِكَ. فَدَمَعَتْ عَيْنُ الْمَأْمُونِ وَقَالَ: قَدْ عَفَوْتُ عَنْكَ، وَأَمَرْتُ بِإِدْرَارِ أَرْزَاقِكَ عَلَيْكَ، وَعَطَائِكَ مَا فَاتَكَ مُتَمَّمًا، وَجَعَلْتُ عُقُوبَةَ ذَنْبِكَ امْتِنَاعِي مِنِ اسْتِخْدَامِكَ. ثُمَّ إِنَّ الْمَأْمُونَ رَضِيَ عَنْهُ وَسَمِعَ مَدِيحَهُ. وَمِمَّا قِيلَ فِي هِجَائِهِ: لِمْ نُبَكِّيكَ، لِمَاذَا ؟ لِلطَّرَبِ يَا أَبَا مُوسَى وَتَرْوِيجِ اللَّعَبْ وَلِتَرْكِ الْخَمْسِ فِي أَوْقَاتِهَا حِرْصًا مِنْكَ عَلَى مَاءِ الْعِنَبْ وَشَنِيفٍ أَنَا لَا أَبْكِي لَهُ وَعَلَى كَوْثَرٍ لَا أَخْشَى الْعَطَبْ لَمْ تَكُنْ تَعْرِفُ مَا حَدُّ الرِّضَى لَا وَلَا تَعْرِفُ مَا حَدُّ الْغَضَبْ لَمْ تَكُنْ تَصْلُحُ لِلْمُلْكِ وَلَمْ تُعْطِكَ الطَّاعَةَ بِالْمُلْكِ الْعَرَبْ لِمْ نُبَكِّيكَ ؟ لِمَا عَرَّضْتَنَا لِلْمَجَانِيقِ وَطَوْرًا لِلسَّلَبْ فِي عَذَابٍ وَحِصَارٍ مُجْهِدٍ سَدَّدَ الطُّرْقَ، فَلَا وَجْهَ الطَّلَبْ زَعَمُوا أَنَّكَ حَيٌّ حَاشِرٌ كُلُّ مَنْ قَدْ قَالَ هَذَا فَكَذَبْ لَيْتَهُ قَدْ قَالَهُ فِي وَجْدَةٍ مِنْ جَمِيعٍ ذَاهِبٍ حَيْثُ ذَهَبْ أَوْجَبَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْنَا قَتْلَهُ وَإِذَا مَا أَوْجَبَ الْأَمْرَ وَجَبْ كَانَ وَاللَّهِ عَلَيْنَا فِتْنَةً غَضِبَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَكَتَبْ وَقِيلَ فِيهِ غَيْرُ ذَلِكَ، تَرَكْنَا ذِكْرَهُ خَوْفَ الْإِطَالَةِ. [فَائِدَةٌ ] [فِيمَنْ وَلِيَ وَهُوَ هَاشِمِيٌّ ابْنُ هَاشِمِيَّةٍ ] قَالَ الْمَسْعُودِيُّ: (مَا وَلِيَ الْخِلَافَةَ إِلَى وَقْتِنَا هَذَا هَاشِمِيٌّ ابْنُ هَاشِمِيَّةٍ: سِوَى عَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ، وَابْنِهِ الْحَسَنِ، وَالْأَمِينِ; فَإِنَّ أُمَّهُ: زُبَيْدَةُ بِنْتُ جَعْفَرِ بْنِ أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ الْمَنْصُورِ، وَاسْمُهَا: أَمَةُ الْعَزِيزِ، وَزُبَيْدَةُ: لَقَبٌ لَهَا ). وَقَالَ إِسْحَاقُ الْمَوْصِلِيُّ: (اجْتَمَعَتْ فِي الْأَمِينِ خَصَائِلُ لَمْ تَكُنْ فِي غَيْرِهِ : كَانَ أَحْسَنَ النَّاسِ وَجْهًا وَأَسْخَاهُمْ، وَأَشْرَفَ الْخُلَفَاءِ أَبًا وَأُمًّا، حَسَنَ الْأَدَبِ، عَالِمًا بِالشِّعْرِ، لَكِنْ غَلَبَ عَلَيْهِ الْهَوَى وَاللَّعِبُ، وَكَانَ مَعَ سَخَائِهِ بِالْمَالِ بَخِيلًا بِالطَّعَامِ جِدًّا ). وَقَالَ أَبُو الْحَسَنِ الْأَحْمَرُ: (كُنْتُ رُبَّمَا أُنْسِيتُ الْبَيْتَ الَّذِي يُسْتَشْهَدُ بِهِ فِي النَّحْوِ، فَيُنْشِدُنِيهِ الْأَمِينُ، وَمَا رَأَيْتُ فِي أَوْلَادِ الْمُلُوكِ أَذْكَى مِنْهُ وَمِنَ الْمَأْمُونِ ).
Translation
✧ Mention of the description of al-Amīn, his age, and his reign It is said that Muḥammad took office on Thursday, when eleven nights remained of Jumādā al-Ūlā in the year one hundred and ninety-three, and that he was killed on the night of Sunday, when six nights remained of al-Muḥarram in the year one hundred and ninety-eight. His kunya was Abū Mūsā, and it is said: Abū ʿAbd Allāh. (He was the son of al-Rashīd Hārūn b. Abī ʿAbd Allāh al-Mahdī b. Abī Jaʿfar al-Manṣūr, and his mother was Zubaydah bt. Jaʿfar al-Akbar b. al-Manṣūr. His caliphate lasted four years, eight months, and five days, and it is said that his accession was in the middle of Jumādā al-Ākhirah, and his age was twenty-eight years. He was smooth-skinned, had a receding hairline, small eyes, an aquiline nose, handsome, tall, large-jointed, broad-shouldered, and he was born in al-Ruṣāfah. When news of his killing reached al-Maʾmūn, he granted permission to the commanders, and al-Faḍl b. Sahl read the letter to them, and they congratulated him on the victory and prayed for him. The poets said much in elegies for al-Amīn and in satire of him; we have omitted most of it because it falls outside the scope of history. Among what was said in elegies for him is the saying of al-Ḥusayn b. al-Ḍaḥḥāk, who was one of his boon companions and did not believe he had been killed, hoping for his return: O best of his family, though they claim that I am indeed grieved and sorrowful for you. God knows that I have a liver burning for you, and eyes that weep. And if I am stricken by what I have been afflicted with in you, I conceal more than I describe. Would that you had remained forever to fill our need, and that destruction had been for another. You were a successor for those who passed away, and after you a successor will be lacking. May your people not spend the night after their error— indeed, for your people after it I bear rancor. They tore the sanctity of yours that was torn— the sanctities of the Messenger, before which hang curtains. Your relatives, who were abandoned, stood firm, and all of them acknowledge humiliation. They left the women of their father as spoil, and the chaste women shriek and wail. Out of bewilderment their virgins exposed their anklets, and the middle-aged women moaned; their head-wraps were stripped, and the veiled one was unveiled and the earring was snatched. It was as if they, amid plunder, were pearls from which the shell had been laid bare. A king whose reign was betrayed by fate, so it collapsed, while the turns of time are ever changing. Far be it after you that glory should endure for us, or that honor should remain for us. Do you, after God's covenant, kill him? Killing after granting him safe-conduct is excess. Tomorrow you will know the consequence; the glory of God—so bring forth and halt. O you whose sleep is troubled by insomnia, whom sorrows guided and whose heart is anguished. You were my hope with which I was content; it passed away, and grief took its place. The order was thrown into confusion, and our unknown became known, and after you what is known is denied, and the union is scattered; because of losing you the world is neglected and the mind is gloomy. And Khuzaymah b. al-Ḥasan said, elegizing him in the words of his mother Zubaydah, addressing al-Maʾmūn—Zubaydah's kunya being Umm Jaʿfar: For the best imam who arose from the best stock, and the most excellent one who ascended the planks of the pulpit; for the heir of the knowledge of the ancients and their understanding, and for the king al-Maʾmūn, from Umm Jaʿfar, I wrote while my eyes pour forth tears, to you, O son of my uncle, from my eyelids and my eye-sockets. Harm has touched me, and the humiliation of grief, and thinking, O son of my uncle, has kept my eyes awake. I wandered distraught at what I met after his affliction; my affair is grave, denied, most denied. I shall complain of what I met after losing him to you, the complaint of one oppressed and subdued. And I hope for what has passed over me since I lost him— for you are the best lord, changer of my sorrow. Ṭāhir came—may God not purify Ṭāhir— for Ṭāhir in what he did is not purified. He brought me out with face uncovered, unveiled, plundered my wealth, and ruined my houses. Hārūn would grieve at what I have met, and at what has passed over me from that one-eyed defective creature. If what he displayed was by a command you gave, I shall endure a matter from an all-powerful, determining God. Remember, O Commander of the Faithful, my kinship; may I ransom you—one with sanctity who remembers. When al-Maʾmūn read it, he wept and said: "I am, by God, the seeker of vengeance for my brother; may God kill his killers." Al-Ḥusayn b. al-Ḍaḥḥāk indeed went to excess in elegies for al-Amīn and in censuring al-Maʾmūn, and for this reason al-Maʾmūn barred him from his presence and did not listen to his praise for a time. Then one day he summoned him and said to him: "Tell me! Did you see, on the day my brother was killed, any Hāshimite woman who was killed or violated?" He said: "No." He said: "Then what about your saying: Among what grieved my heart and checked my tears were women of the Prophet's family whose sanctity was violated; and a veiled maiden in al-Khuld, from whom her curtains were drawn aside— like the sun's disc when it appears; when terror from a contender for her cloak overcomes her, she seeks refuge in submission and moans; and a herd of gazelles from the forelock of Hāshim cried out with the call of the best of the living and the dead; I bring back my hand, whenever I remember it, upon a burning liver and a shattered heart. May the gloaters' night not pass in contentment, and may their hopes not attain what they wished. He said: "O Commander of the Faithful! A passion overcame me, and a terror overtook me suddenly, and a blessing of which I was deprived after it had overwhelmed me, and a kindness for which I gave thanks that made me speak, and a master whom I lost, which distressed me. If you punish, it is by your right; and if you pardon, it is by your grace." Al-Maʾmūn's eyes filled with tears, and he said: "I have pardoned you, and I have ordered that your allowances be continued to you, and your stipend for what you missed be paid in full, and I have made the punishment for your offense my refraining from employing you." Then al-Maʾmūn was pleased with him and listened to his praise. Among what was said in satire of him: Why should we weep for you? Why? For delight, O Abū Mūsā, and for the promotion of play, and for abandoning the five prayers at their times out of your eagerness for the juice of the grape, and for an earring—I do not weep for it—and for a Kawthar— I do not fear ruin. You did not know the limit of contentment, no, nor did you know the limit of anger. You were not fit for kingship, and the Arabs did not give you obedience through kingship. Why should we weep for you? Because you exposed us to mangonels and at times to plunder, in torment and exhausting siege— you blocked the roads, so there was no way to seek. They claimed that you are alive, one who shall be resurrected; everyone who said this has lied. Would that he had said it out of grief, from all that is gone wherever it went, God has made killing him obligatory upon us, and when He makes a matter obligatory, it is binding. By God, he was a trial upon us; God is angry with him, and He decreed it. Other things were said about him; we have omitted mentioning them for fear of length. [Note] [On those who held office being a Hāshimite son of a Hāshimite woman] Al-Masʿūdī said: "No one has held the caliphate down to our time being a Hāshimite son of a Hāshimite woman except ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, his son al-Ḥasan, and al-Amīn; for his mother was Zubaydah bt. Jaʿfar b. Abī Jaʿfar al-Manṣūr, and her name was Amat al-ʿAzīz, and Zubaydah was a title given to her." And Isḥāq al-Mawṣilī said: "In al-Amīn were combined qualities that were not in anyone else: he was the most handsome of people in face and the most generous of them, and the noblest of the caliphs in father and mother, of good education, knowledgeable in poetry, but passion and play prevailed over him, and despite his generosity with money he was exceedingly stingy with food." And Abū al-Ḥasan al-Aḥmar said: "I would sometimes forget a line of poetry cited as evidence in grammar, and al-Amīn would recite it to me; and I have not seen among the children of kings anyone more intelligent than him and al-Maʾmūn."
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No grade is recorded for this wording.