The Epistle of Forgiveness. Abu l-'Ala al-Ma'arri

to him, “Show me unfamiliar dirhams, then I shall believe in you, and other people will join me: how about giving me a dirham struck with your name and that of your father!” Al-Ḥallāj replied, “How could I, since such a coin has not been made?” The man answered, “He who presents that which is not present can make that which has not been made!”

      In his writings one finds: “I am he who drowned the people of Noah and who destroyed ʿĀd and Thamūd.” When his fame spread and the ruler63 had gained reliable intelligence about him, he signed the sentence of one thousand lashes and the amputation of his hands, after which he had him burned in the fire, at the end of the year 309 [922]. Al-Ḥallāj said to Ḥāmid ibn al-ʿAbbās, “I shall destroy you!” Ḥāmid replied, “Now there is proof that you claim what you have been charged with.”

      3.8

      وابن أبي العَزاقر أبو جعفر محمد بن علي الشَلْمغاني أهله من قرية من قرى واسط تُعرف بشلمغان، وصورته صورة الحلاج ويدَّعي عنه قوم أنه إله، وأن الله حلّ في آدم ثم في شِيث ثم في واحدٍ واحدٍ من الأنبياء والأوصياء والأئمة حتى حلّ في الحسن بن عليّ العسكريّ وأنه حلّ فيه. وكان قد استغوى جماعةً منهم ابن أبي عَونٍ صاحب كتاب التشبيه، ومعه ضُربت عنقه. وكانوا يُبيحونه حرمهم وأموالهم يتحكّم فيهم، وكان يتعاطى الكيمياء، وله كتب معروفة.

      The case of Ibn Abī l-ʿAzāqir Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Shalmaghānī,64 whose family is from a village near Wāsiṭ called Shalmaghān, was similar to the case of al-Ḥallāj: people claimed that he was a god, that God had dwelt in Adam, then in Seth, then in each successive prophet, legatee,65 and imam, until He dwelled in al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-ʿAskarī, and finally in himself. He had led a number of people astray, including Ibn Abī ʿAwn, the author of The Book of Simile, who was beheaded along with him. They allowed him free use of their women and their property; he ruled over them according to his whims. He dabbled in alchemy, and he wrote some books that are well known.

      3.9

      وكان أحمد بن يحيى الراوَنْديّ من أهل مرْو الرُّوذ حسن السِّتر جميل المذهب، ثم انسلخ من ذلك كله بأسباب عرضتْ له، ولأن علمه كان أكثر من عقله، وكان مثله كما قال الشاعر:

ومَنْ يُطيق مَرَدًّا عند صَبْوته

ومَن يقومُ لمستورٍ إِذا خَلَعا؟

      صنّف:

      كتاب التاج، يحتجّ فيه لقِدَم العالَم، فنقضه أبو الحسين الخيّاط.

      الزمُرُّذ، يحتجّ فيه لإبطال الرسالة. نقضه الخيّاط.

      نعت الحكمة، سفّه الله – تعالى – في تكليف خَلْقِه أمره، نقضه الخيّاط.

      الدامغ، يطعن فيه على نظم القرآن.

      القضيب، يُثبتُ أنّ علم الله محْدَث، وأنه كان غير عالم حتى خلق لنفسه علمًا، نقضه الخيّاط.

      المرْجان، في اختلاف أهل الإسلام.

      Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā al-Rāwandī, from Marw al-Rūdh, had a good reputation and was doctrinally sound. Then he divested himself of all this, for various reasons, and because “his learning was greater than his intellect.”66 He was like the one described by the poet:67

      And who is able to repel someone in his youthful folly?

      Who can stand up to a decent man when he casts off restraint?

      He wrote the following books: The Book of the Crown, in which he argues for the pre-eternity of the world; it was refuted by Abū l-Ḥusayn al-Khayyāṭ. Also, The Emerald, in which he argues the invalidity of prophetic mission, also refuted by al-Khayyāṭ. In In Praise of Wisdom he declares that God the Exalted had been foolish to impose His command on His creatures; it was also refuted by al-Khayyāṭ. In The Brain-Basher68 he attacks the composition of the Qurʾan. In The Rod he establishes that God’s knowledge is not temporally originated, and that He did not have knowledge until He created knowledge for Himself. It was refuted by al-Khayyāṭ.69 The Coral deals with the differences of opinion among the Muslims.70

      3.10.1

      علي بن العباس بن جُريج الرُّوميّ، قال أبو عثمان الناجم: دخلتُ عليه في علّته التي مات فيها، وعند رأسه جام فيه ماء مثلوج وخنجر مجرَّد لو ضُرب به صدر خرج من ظهر، فقلت: ما هذا؟ قال: الماء أَبُلّ به حلقي فقلّما يموت إنسان إلا وهو عطشان. والخنجر، إن زاد عليّ الألم نحرتُ به نفسي. ثم قال: أقصّ عليك قِصّتي تستدلّ بها على حقيقة تَلَفي: أردتُ الانتقال من الكَرْخ إلى باب البصرة، فشاورتُ صديقنا أبا الفضل وهو مُشتَقٌّ من الإفضال، فقال: إذا جئتَ القنطرة فخذْ على يمينك – وهو مشتقّ من اليُمْن – واذهبْ إلى سِكّة النعيمة – وهو مشتقّ من النعيم – فاسكنْ دار ابن المُعافَى – وهو مشتقّ من العافية – فخالفتُه لتعسي ونحْسي. فشاورتُ صديقنا جعفرًا – وهو مشتقّ من الجوع والفرار – فقال: إذا جئت القنطرة فخذ على شمالك – وهو مشتقّ من الشؤم – واسكن دار ابن قِلابة. وهي هذه لا جَرَمَ، قد انقلبت بي الدنيا، وأضرّ ما عليّ العصافير في هذه السِّدرة تصيح: سِيقْ سِيقْ: فها أنا في السياق، ثم أنشد:

أبا عثمان أنت قريعُ قومِكْ	وجُودُك للعشيرةِ دونَ لَوْمِكْ
تمتَّعْ من أخيك فما أُراه	يراكَ ولا تراه بعد يومِكْ

      ʿAlī ibn al-ʿAbbās ibn Jurayj al-Rūmī: Abū ʿUthmān al-Nājim says, “I visited him when he was ill with the disease that would carry him off.