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

while the Sheikh is there—may God always support him, and may it never be parted from him, never cease to bring him blessings and to be blessed in his presence! I have found that its inhabitants acknowledge his acts of kindness, to say nothing of Abū l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Khalaf al-Mumattaʿ92—may God give him lasting vigor!—for I found clear evidence of his beneficence toward the Sheikh, while the latter’s tongue is voluble with his approbation and his laudation, having filled heaven with prayer and earth with praise.93

      The Prophet at the Beginning of his Mission

      5.1

      قالت قريشٌ للنبي عليه الصلاة والسلام: أتباعك من هؤلاء الموالي كبِلالٍ وعَمَّارٍ وصُهَيب، خيرٌ من قُصَيّ بن كلاب، وعبد مَناف وهاشم وعبد شمس؟ فقال: نعم، والله لئن كانوا قليلًا ليكثُرُنَّ، ولئن كانوا وُضَعاءَ ليَشْرُفُنَّ حتى يصيروا نجومًا يُهتدى بهم ويُقتدى، فيقال: هذا قول فلان وذكر فلان. فلا تُفاخروني بآبائكم الذين مُوِّتوا في الجاهلية، فلَمَا يُدَهْدِه الجُعَل بمِنخره خيرٌ من آبائكم الذين مُوِّتوا فيها. فاتَّبعوني أجعلْكم أنسابًا، والذي نفسي بيده، لتَقْتَسِمُنَّ كنوز كِسرى وقيصر.

      فقال له عمُّه أبو طالب: أبقِ عليّ وعلى نفسك. فظنَّ عليه الصلاة والسلام أنه خاذلُه ومُسْلِمه، فقال: ياعمّ، والله لو وضعوا الشمس في يميني والقمر في شمالي على أن أترك هذا الأمر حتى يُظهره الله أو أَهلِك فيه ما تركتُه. ثم استعبر باكيًا، ثم قام. فلمّا ولَّى ناداه: أقبلْ يا ابن أخي. فأقبل. فقال: اذهبْ وقل ما شئتَ، فوالله لا أسلمتُك لسوء أبدًا.

      The men of Quraysh said to the Prophet—blessing and peace upon him—: “Your followers who are freedmen—such as Bilāl, ʿAmmār, or Ṣuhayb94—are they better than Quṣayy ibn Kilāb, ʿAbd Manāf, Hāshim, or ʿAbd Shams?”95 He replied, “Yes, by God, though they be few they will be many; though they be lowly, they will be noble, to the point of becoming stars by which one is guided and that are followed. Then people will say, ‘This was said by So-and-so, or mentioned by So-and-so.’ So do not boast to me of your ancestors who died in pre-Islamic ignorance.96 Truly, what the dung beetle rolls about with its nose is better than your ancestors who died then! So follow me and I shall give you worthy lineages! By Him who holds my soul in His hand, you shall divide among yourselves the treasures of Chosroes and Caesar!”

      Abū Ṭālib, his paternal uncle, said to him, “Spare me and yourself!”97 So he thought—blessing and peace be upon him—that his uncle was deserting him and forsaking him, and he said, “Uncle, I swear by God that even if, on condition that I abandon this, they put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left, I shall never give it up until either God makes it prevail or I die!” Then he burst into tears and sobbed. He stood up and as he turned away, his uncle called him, “Come here, my nephew!” He did so and then Abū Ṭālib said, “Go and say whatever you want, for, by God, I shall never forsake you and let you come to any harm!”

      5.2

      فكان عليه الصلاة والسلام يذكر يومًا ما لقي من قومه من الجهد والشدة، قال: لقد مكثتُ أيامًا وصاحبي هذا – يشير إلى أبي بكر – بضع عشرة ليلة ما لنا طعامٌ إلا البرير في شُعَب الجبال. وكان عُتبة بن غَزْوان يقول إذا ذكر البلاء والشدّة التي كانوا عليها بمكّة: لقد مكثنا زمانًا ما لنا طعامٌ إلا ورق البَشام أكلناه حتى تقرحت أشداقُنا، ولقد وجدتُ يومًا تمرةً فجعلتُها بيني وبين سعد وما منا اليوم أحدٌ إلا وهو أمير على كُورة. وكانوا يقولون فيمن وجد تمرةً فقسّمها بينه وبين صاحبه: إن أسعدَ الرجلين من حصلت النَّواةُ في قسمه، يلوكها يومَه وليلته، من عَدَم القوت. وكذا قال رسول الله صلّى الله عليه وسلّم: لقد رَعيتُ غُنيماتِ أهل مكّة لهم بالقراريط.

      وابتداء أمره أنه وقف على الصَّفا ونادى: يا صباحاه، يا صباحاه! فجاءوا يهرعون فقالوا: ما دهَمك؟ ما طَرَقَك؟ قال: بم تعرفونني؟ قالوا: محمد الأمين. قال: أرأيتم إن قلتُ لكم إن خَيلًا قد طَرقَتكم في الوادي، وإن عسكرًا قد غشيكم من الفَجّ، أكنتم تُصدّقوني؟^١ قالوا: اللهمَّ نعم، ما جرّبنا عليك كذِبًا قطّ. قال: فإن الذي أنتم عليه، ليس لله ولا من الله ولا يرضاه الله، قولوا: لا إله إلا الله، واشهدوا أني رسوله، واتبعوني تُطِعْكُم العرب وتملكوا^٢ العجم، وإن الله قال لي: استخرجْهم كما استخرجوك، وابعثْ جيشًا أبعثْ خمسة أمثاله، وضمن لي أنه ينصرُني بقومٍ منكم، وقال لي: قاتلْ بمن أطاعك من عصاك. وضمن لي أنه يغلب سلطاني سلطانَ كسرَى وقيصر.

      ١ ق، إف: (تصدقونني).

      ٢ في النسخ: (تملكون).

      One day the Prophet—blessing and peace upon him—mentioned the trouble and hardship he had experienced at the hands of his fellow tribesmen: “For days I went with no food but the fruit of the arāk tree in the mountain clefts. My companion here (pointing at Abū Bakr) went for more than ten days.” ʿUtbah ibn Ghazwān, speaking of the distress and hardship they had suffered in Mecca, said, “We stayed for some time with nothing to eat except leaves of the balsam tree, which we ate until our jaws were sore. One day I found a date and I divided it between myself and Saʿd; and now every single one of us is a governor of a province!” They used to say that when someone found a date and divided it between himself and his friend, the luckier of the two was the one who got the stone, for he could chew it day and night, so scarce was food. The messenger of God—God bless and preserve him—also said, “I used to shepherd the small herds of the Meccans for a trifling sum.”98

      His mission began when he stood at al-Ṣafā and called out, “O dawn! O dawn!” They came hurrying toward him and said, “What has happened to you? What has come over you?” He asked them, “How do you know me?” “As Muḥammad, the trusted one,” they said. He continued, “Do you think that if I said to you that horsemen are coming against