Sirat Ibn Hisham 239
The account of the soothsayer of Janb about the Messenger of God ﷺ
[ مَا جَرَى بَيْنَ عُمَرَ بْنِ الْخَطَّابِ وَسَوَادِ بْنِ قَارِبٍ ] قَالَ ابْنُ إسْحَاقَ: وَحَدَّثَنِي مَنْ لَا أَتَّهِمُ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ كَعْبٍ، مَوْلَى عُثْمَانَ بْنِ عَفَّانَ، أَنَّهُ حَدَّثَ: أَنَّ عُمَرَ بْنَ الْخَطَّابِ، بَيْنَا هُوَ جَالِسٌ فِي النَّاسِ فِي مَسْجِدِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ، إذْ أَقْبَلَ رَجُلٌ مِنْ الْعَرَبِ دَاخِلًا الْمَسْجِدَ، يُرِيدُ عُمْرَ بْنَ الْخَطَّابِ، فَلَمَّا نَظَرَ إلَيْهِ عُمَرُ ؓ، قَالَ: إنَّ هَذَا الرَّجُلُ لَعَلَى شِرْكِهِ مَا فَارَقَهُ بَعْدُ، أَوْ لَقَدْ كَانَ كَاهِنًا فِي الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ. فَسَلَّمَ عَلَيْهِ الرَّجُلُ، ثُمَّ جَلَسَ، فَقَالَ لَهُ عُمَرُ ؓ: هَلْ أَسْلَمْتَ ؟ قَالَ: نَعَمْ يَا أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ، قَالَ لَهُ: فَهَلْ كُنْتَ كَاهِنًا فِي الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ ؟ فَقَالَ الرَّجُلُ: سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ يَا أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ لَقَدْ خِلْتَ فِيَّ، وَاسْتَقْبَلْتنِي بِأَمْرٍ مَا أَرَاكَ قُلْتَهُ لِأَحَدٍ مِنْ رَعِيَّتِكَ مُنْذُ وُلِّيتَ مَا وُلِّيتَ؛ فَقَالَ عُمَرُ: اللَّهُمَّ غُفْرًا، قَدْ كُنَّا فِي الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ عَلَى شَرٍّ مِنْ هَذَا، نَعْبُدُ الْأَصْنَامَ، وَنَعْتَنِقُ الْأَوْثَانَ، حَتَّى أَكْرَمْنَا اللَّهُ بِرَسُولِهِ وَبِالْإِسْلَامِ؛ قَالَ: نَعَمْ، وَاَللَّهِ يَا أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ، لَقَدْ كُنْتُ كَاهِنًا فِي الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ؛ قَالَ: فَأَخْبرنِي مَا جَاءَكَ بِهِ صَاحِبُكَ، قَالَ: جَاءَنِي قَبْلَ الْإِسْلَامِ بِشَهْرٍ أَوْ شَيْعِهِ، فَقَالَ: أَلَمْ تَرَ إلَى الْجِنِّ وَإِبْلَاسِهَا، وَإِيَاسِهَا مِنْ دِينِهَا، وَلُحُوقِهَا بِالْقِلَاصِ وَأَحْلَاسِهَا. قَالَ ابْنُ هِشَامٍ: هَذَا الْكَلَامُ سَجْعٌ، وَلَيْسَ بِشِعْرٍ. قَالَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ كَعْبٍ: فَقَالَ عُمَرُ بْنُ الْخَطَّابِ عِنْدَ ذَلِكَ يُحَدِّثُ النَّاسَ: وَاَللَّهِ إنِّي لَعِنْدَ وَثَنٍ مِنْ أَوْثَانِ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ فِي نَفَرٍ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ، قَدْ ذَبَحَ لَهُ رَجُلٌ مِنْ الْعَرَبِ عِجْلًا، فَنَحْنُ نَنْتَظِرُ قَسْمَهُ لِيَقْسِمَ لَنَا مِنْهُ، إذْ سَمِعْتُ مِنْ جَوْفِ الْعِجْلِ صَوْتًا مَا سَمِعْتُ صَوْتًا قَطُّ أَنْفَذَ مِنْهُ، وَذَلِكَ قُبَيْلَ الْإِسْلَامِ بِشَهْرٍ أَوْ شَيْعِهِ، يَقُولُ: يَا ذَرِيحُ، أَمْرٌ نَجِيحٌ، رَجُلٌ يَصِيحُ، يَقُولُ: لَا إلَهَ إلَّا اللَّهُ قَالَ ابْنُ هِشَامٍ: وَيُقَالُ: رَجُلٌ يَصِيحُ، بِلِسَانٍ فَصِيحٍ، يَقُولُ: لَا إلَهَ إلَّا اللَّهُ. وَأَنْشَدَنِي بَعْضُ أَهْلِ الْعِلْمِ بِالشِّعْرِ:: عَجِبْتُ لِلْجِنِّ وَإِبْلَاسِهَا وَشَدِّهَا الْعِيسَ بِأَحْلَاسِهَا تَهْوِي إلَى مَكَّةَ تَبْغِي الْهُدَى مَا مُؤْمِنُو الْجِنِّ كَأَنْجَاسِهَا قَالَ ابْنُ إسْحَاقَ: فَهَذَا مَا بَلَغَنَا مِنْ الْكُهَّانِ مِنْ الْعَرَبِ
Translation
✧ Ibn Isḥāq said: One whose word I trust reported to me from ʿAbd Allāh b. Kaʿb, a client of ʿUthmān b. ʿAffān, that he related: While ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb was sitting among the people in the mosque of the Messenger of God ﷺ, a man from the Arabs came into the mosque, seeking ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb. When ʿUmar ؓ saw him, he said: This man has not yet left his idolatry, or he was a soothsayer in the Age of Ignorance. The man greeted him and sat down. ʿUmar ؓ asked him: Have you embraced Islam? He replied: Yes, O Commander of the Faithful. ʿUmar asked: Were you a soothsayer in the Age of Ignorance? The man said: Glory be to God, O Commander of the Faithful! You have suspected me and met me with something I do not think you have said to any of your subjects since you took charge. ʿUmar said: O God, forgive me. In the Age of Ignorance we were in a worse state than this: we worshipped idols and embraced graven images until God honored us with His messenger and with Islam. The man said: Yes, by God, O Commander of the Faithful, I was a soothsayer in the Age of Ignorance. ʿUmar said: Tell me what your companion brought you. He said: He came to me a month before Islam or so, and said: Have you not seen the jinn and their despair, and their hopelessness of their religion, and their joining the young camels and their saddles? Ibn Hishām said: This speech is rhymed prose, not poetry. ʿAbd Allāh b. Kaʿb said: ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb then told the people: By God, I was at an idol of the idols of the Age of Ignorance among a group of Quraysh. A man from the Arabs had sacrificed a calf to it, and we were waiting for its division so that he might give us a share. Then I heard from the belly of the calf a voice, and I have never heard a voice more piercing than it, about a month or so before Islam, saying: O Dharīḥ, a successful matter, a man crying out, saying: There is no god but God. Ibn Hishām said: It is also said: a man crying out, with an eloquent tongue, saying: There is no god but God. One of the people learned in poetry recited to me: I marvel at the jinn and their despair, and their urging the camels with their saddles, heading to Makkah seeking guidance, for the believing jinn are not like their impure ones. Ibn Isḥāq said: This is what has reached us of the soothsayers of the Arabs.
Grades by grader
No grade is recorded for this wording.