Sirat Ibn Hisham 309
Poetry of b. al-Aslat in defense of the Messenger ﷺ
[ شِعْرُ ابْنُ الْأَسْلَتِ فِي الدِّفَاعِ عَنْ الرَّسُولِ ﷺ ] قَالَ ابْنُ إسْحَاقَ: فَقَالَ أَبُو قَيْسِ بْنِ الْأَسْلَتِ - وَكَانَ يُحِبُّ قُرَيْشًا، وَكَانَ لَهُمْ صِهْرًا، كَانَتْ عِنْدَهُ أَرْنَبُ بِنْتُ أَسَدِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الْعُزَّى بْنِ قُصَيٍّ، وَكَانَ يُقِيمُ عِنْدَهُمْ السِّنِينَ بِامْرَأَتِهِ - قَصِيدَةً يُعَظِّمُ فِيهَا الْحُرْمَةَ، وَيَنْهَى قُرَيْشًا فِيهَا عَنْ الْحَرْبِ، وَيَأْمُرُهُمْ بِالْكَفِّ بَعْضُهُمْ عَنْ بَعْضٍ، وَيَذْكُرُ فَضْلَهُمْ وَأَحْلَامَهُمْ، وَيَأْمُرُهُمْ بِالْكَفِّ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ، وَيُذَكِّرُهُمْ بَلَاءَ اللَّهِ عِنْدَهُمْ، وَدَفْعَهُ عَنْهُمْ الْفِيلَ وَكَيْدَهُ عَنْهُمْ، فَقَالَ:: يَا رَاكِبًا إمَّا عَرَضَتْ فَبَلِّغْنَ مُغَلْغِلَةً عَنِّي لُؤَيَّ بْنَ غَالِبِ رَسُولُ امْرِئٍ قَدْ رَاعَهُ ذَاتُ بَيْنِكُمْ عَلَى النَّأْيِ مَحْزُونٍ بِذَلِكَ نَاصِبِ وَقَدْ كَانَ عِنْدِي لِلْهُمُومِ مَعَرَّسٌ فَلَمْ أَقْضِ مِنْهَا حَاجَتِي وَمَآرِبِي نُبَيِّتُكُمْ شَرْجَيْنِ كُلَّ قَبِيلَةٍ لَهَا أَزْمَلٌ مِنْ بَيْنِ مُذْكٍ وَحَاطِبِ أُعِيذُكُمْ بِاَللَّهِ مِنْ شَرِّ صُنْعِكُمْ وَشَرِّ تَبَاغِيكُمْ وَدَسِّ الْعَقَارِبِ وَإِظْهَارِ أَخْلَاقٍ وَنَجْوَى سَقِيمَةٍ كَوَخْزِ الْأَشَافِي وَقْعُهَا حَقُّ صَائِبِ فَذَكِّرْهُمْ بِاَللَّهِ أَوَّلَ وَهْلَةٍ وَإِحْلَالِ أَحْرَامِ الظِّبَاءِ الشَّوَازِبِ وَقُلْ لَهُمْ وَاَللَّهُ يَحْكُمُ حُكْمَهُ ذَرُوا الْحَرْبَ تَذْهَبُ عَنْكُمْ فِي الْمَرَاحِبِ مَتَى تَبْعَثُوهَا تَبْعَثُوهَا ذَمِيمَةً هِيَ الْغُولُ لِلْأَقْصَيْنَ أَوْ لِلْأَقَارِبِ تُقَطِّعُ أَرْحَامًا وَتُهْلِكُ أُمَّةً وَتَبْرِي السَّدِيفَ مِنْ سَنَامٍ وَغَارِبِ وَتَسْتَبْدِلُوا بِالْأَتْحَمِيَّةِ بَعْدَهَا شَلِيلًا وَأَصْدَاءً ثِيَابَ الْمُحَارِبِ وَبِالْمِسْكِ وَالْكَافُورِ غُبْرًا سَوَابِغًا كَأَنَّ قَتِيرَيْهَا عُيُونُ الْجَنَادِبِ فَإِيَّاكُمْ وَالْحَرْبَ لَا تَعْلَقَنَّكُمْ وَحَوْضًا وَخِيمَ الْمَاءِ مُرَّ الْمَشَارِبِ تَزَيَّنُ لِلْأَقْوَامِ ثُمَّ يَرَوْنَهَا بِعَاقِبَةٍ إذْ بَيَّنَتْ، أُمَّ صَاحِبِ تُحَرِّقُ لَا تُشْوِي ضَعِيفًا وَتَنْتَحِي ذَوِي الْعِزِّ مِنْكُمْ بِالْحُتُوفِ الصَّوَائِبِ أَلَمْ تَعْلَمُوا مَا كَانَ فِي حَرْبِ دَاحِسٍ فَتَعْتَبِرُوا أَوْ كَانَ فِي حَرْبِ حَاطِبِ وَكَمْ قَدْ أَصَابَتْ مِنْ شَرِيفٍ مُسَوَّدٍ طَوِيلِ الْعِمَادِ ضَيْفُهُ غَيْرُ خَائِبِ 287 عَظِيمِ رَمَادِ النَّارِ يُحْمَدُ أَمْرُهُ وَذِي شِيمَةٍ مَحْضٍ كَرِيمٍ الْمَضَارِبِ وَمَاءِ هُرِيقَ فِي الضَّلَالِ كَأَنَّمَا أَذَاعَتْ بِهِ رِيحُ الصَّبَا وَالْجَنَائِبِ يُخَبِّرُكُمْ عَنْهَا امْرُؤٌ حَقُّ عَالِمٌ بِأَيَّامِهَا وَالْعِلْمُ عِلْمُ التَّجَارِبِ فَبِيعُوا الْحِرَابَ مِلْمُحَارِبِ وَاذْكُرُوا حِسَابَكُمْ وَاَللَّهُ خَيْرُ مُحَاسِبِ وَلِيُّ امْرِئٍ فَاخْتَارَ دِينًا فَلَا يَكُنْ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيبًا غَيْرَ رَبِّ الثَّوَاقِبِ أَقِيمُوا لَنَا دِينًا حَنِيفًا فَأَنْتُمْ لَنَا غَايَةٌ قَدْ يُهْتَدَى بِالذَّوَائِبِ وَأَنْتُمْ لِهَذَا النَّاسِ نُورٌ وَعِصْمَةٌ تُؤَمُّونَ، وَالْأَحْلَامُ غَيْرُ عَوَازِبِ وَأَنْتُمْ، إذَا مَا حُصِّلَ النَّاسُ، جَوْهَرٌ لَكُمْ سُرَّةُ الْبَطْحَاءِ شُمُّ الْأَرَانِبِ تَصُونُونَ أَجْسَادًا كِرَامًا عَتِيقَةً مُهَذَّبَةَ الْأَنْسَابِ غَيْرَ أَشَائِبِ تَرَى طَالِبَ الْحَاجَاتِ نَحْوَ بُيُوتِكُمْ عَصَائِبَ هَلْكَى تَهْتَدِي بِعَصَائِبِ لَقَدْ عَلِمَ الْأَقْوَامُ أَنَّ سَرَاتَكُمْ عَلَى كُلِّ حَالٍ خَيْرُ أَهْلِ الْجَبَاجِبِ وَأَفْضَلُهُ رَأْيًا وَأَعْلَاهُ سُنَّةً وَأَقْوَلُهُ لِلْحَقِّ وَسْطَ الْمَوَاكِبِ فَقُومُوا فَصَلُّوا رَبَّكُمْ وَتَمَسَّحُوا بِأَرْكَانِ هَذَا الْبَيْتِ بَيْنَ الْأَخَاشِبِ فَعِنْدَكُمْ مِنْهُ بَلَاءٌ وَمَصْدَقٌ غَدَاةَ أَبِي يَكْسُومَ هَادِي الْكَتَائِبِ كَتِيبَتُهُ بِالسَّهْلِ تُمْسِي وَرَجْلُهُ عَلَى الْقَاذِفَاتِ فِي رُءُوسِ الْمَنَاقِبِ فَلَمَّا أَتَاكُمْ نَصْرُ ذِي الْعَرْشِ رَدَّهُمْ جُنُودُ الْمَلِيكِ بَيْنَ سَافٍ وَحَاصِبِ فَوَلَّوْا سِرَاعًا هَارِبِينَ وَلَمْ يَؤُبْ إلَى أَهْلِهِ مِلْحُبْشِ غَيْرُ عَصَائِبِ فَإِنْ تَهْلِكُوا نَهْلِكْ وَتَهْلِكْ مَوَاسِمٌ يُعَاشُ بِهَا، قَوْلُ امْرِئٍ غَيْرِ كَاذِبِ قَالَ ابْنُ هِشَامٍ: أَنْشَدَنِي بَيْتَهُ: وَمَاءٌ هُرِيقَ، وَبَيْتَهُ: فَبِيعُوا الْحِرَابَ وَقَوْلَهُ: وَلِيُّ امْرِئِ فَاخْتَارَ، وَقَوْلَهُ: عَلَى الْقَاذِفَاتِ فِي رُءُوسِ الْمَنَاقِبِ أَبُو زَيْدٍ الْأَنْصَارِيُّ وَغَيْرُهُ
Translation
✧ [Poetry of Ibn al-Aslat in defense of the Messenger ﷺ] Ibn Isḥāq said: Abū Qays b. al-Aslat—who loved Quraysh and was related to them by marriage, for Arnab bt. Asad b. ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā b. Quṣayy was his wife, and he would stay with them for years on account of his wife—composed a qaṣīdah in which he magnified the sacred territory, forbade Quraysh therein from war, commanded them to restrain one another, mentioned their merit and their forbearance, commanded them to refrain from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and reminded them of God's favor toward them and His repelling the Elephant from them and His foiling its scheme against them. He said: O rider, if you are exposed, convey from me with thoroughness to Luʾayy b. Ghālib A message of a man whom the discord among you has alarmed, despite the distance, grieved and wearied thereby. There had been with me a lodging-place for cares, but I did not fulfill from them my need and my desires. We see you as two parties, every tribe having a clamor from among kindlers and gatherers of firewood. I seek refuge for you with Allah from the evil of your deeds, and the evil of your mutual envy, and the hiding of scorpions, And the displaying of base morals and sickly secret talk, whose impact is like the piercing of iron skewers, a true and unerring hit. So remind them of Allah at the first moment, and of the making lawful of the sacred antelopes, the lean ones. And say to them—and Allah judges with His judgment—leave war; it will depart from you into the wide lands. Whenever you send it forth, you send it forth blameworthy; it is the ghoul for the far-off and the near kin. It severs wombs, destroys a community, and cuts off the hump-fat from the camel's hump and withers. And after it you would exchange the red striped garments for tattered rags and scraps as the clothing of the warrior, And for musk and camphor, dusty long coats of mail, whose two rows of rings are like the eyes of locusts. Beware of war; let it not cling to you, and a watering-trough of foul water and bitter drinking-places. It adorns itself for peoples, then they see it with a final outcome when it becomes clear, a mother of calamity. It burns and does not leave a weak person half-roasted, and it aims at the mighty among you with unerring deadly fates. Did you not know what happened in the war of Dāḥis, so that you might take heed, or what was in the war of Ḥāṭib? How many a noble, black-clad chief of lofty tent-pole, whose guest was not disappointed, Great of fire-ashes, whose affair was praiseworthy, and of pure character and generous in his striking-places, And water poured out in error, as if the east wind and the southern winds had broadcast it— A truly knowledgeable man will tell you about its days, and knowledge is the knowledge of experiences. So sell the spears to the warrior and remember your reckoning, and Allah is the best reckoner, The guardian of a man who chose a religion, so let there not be over you a watcher other than the Lord of the piercing stars. Establish for us a ḥanīf religion, for you are for us a goal by which the forelocks may be guided. And you are for these people a light and a protection; you are sought, and the forbearing minds are not absent. And you, when people are assayed, are pure substance; yours is the center of the valley, high-nosed of the rabbits. You guard noble, ancient bodies, of refined lineages, not mixed. You see the seeker of needs heading toward your houses in bands of the perishing, guided by bands. The peoples have known that your chiefs are, in every condition, the best of the people of the cooking-pits, And the best of them in judgment, the highest in custom, and the most truthful in speech for the truth amid the processions. So arise and pray to your Lord and touch the corners of this House between the rugged mountains, For with you there is from Him a favor and a proof on the morning of Abū Yaksūm, the leader of the battalions. His battalion in the plain comes to evening and his foot-soldiers are on the high rugged passes on the heads of the mountain-roads. When the help of the Lord of the Throne came to you, the armies of the King turned them back amid dust and pebbles. They fled swiftly in flight, and none of the Ethiopian host returned to his family except bands. If you perish, we perish, and the seasons by which people live perish—the saying of a man who is not a liar. Ibn Hishām said: Abū Zayd al-Anṣārī and others recited to me his verse: "And water poured out," and his verse: "So sell the spears," and his saying: "The guardian of a man who chose," and his saying: "on the high rugged passes on the heads of the mountain-roads."
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