In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The best of generations in stances and exemplary deeds,
Following the Messenger whenever he strove or spoke.
Mawaddah Association
Presents:
Portraits from the Lives of the Tabi'un
By Dr. Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
May Allah have mercy on him.
'Amir ibn Sharahbil,
May Allah have mercy on him.
Six years into the caliphate of al-Faruq, may Allah be pleased with him,
A boy of frail body and slight build was born to the Muslims.
That was because his twin brother crowded him in their mother's womb,
Leaving him little room to grow.
Yet after that, his brother was never able—
Nor was anyone else—to rival him in the realms of knowledge, forbearance,
Memory, comprehension, and sheer genius.
That was 'Amir ibn Sharahbil al-Himyari,
Known as al-Sha'bi,
The genius prodigy of the Muslims in his era.
Al-Sha'bi was born in Kufa and grew up there,
Yet al-Madinah al-Munawwarah
Was the longing of his heart and the aspiration of his soul.
So he would travel to it from time to time
To meet the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
And to learn directly from them,
Just as the noble Companions used to journey to Kufa,
Taking it as a launching base for jihad in the cause of Allah
Or as an abode for their residence.
Thus, he had the opportunity to meet around five hundred of the noble Companions,
And to narrate from a large number of their eminent figures,
Such as 'Ali ibn Abi Talib,
Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas,
Zayd ibn Thabit,
'Ubadah ibn al-Samit,
Abu Musa al-Ash'ari,
Abu Sa'id al-Khudri,
Al-Nu'man ibn Bashir,
'Abdullah ibn 'Umar,
'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas,
'Adi ibn Hatim,
Abu Hurayrah,
'A'ishah, the Mother of the Believers,
And many, many others,
May Allah be pleased with them all.
Al-Sha'bi was a youth of blazing intellect and an alert heart,
Possessing a refined mind and precise comprehension,
A marvel in the strength of his retention and memory.
For it was related from him that he said:
"I have never written black ink on white paper,
Nor has any man narrated a hadith to me without my memorizing it,
Nor have I ever heard words from anyone
And wished that he would repeat them to me."
The young man was devoted to knowledge and infatuated with learning,
Expending his life and his most precious possessions for their sake,
And deeming all hardships trivial in their pursuit,
For he used to say:
"If a man were to travel from the farthest reaches of the Levant to the farthest reaches of Yemen,
And memorized a single word that benefited him in the rest of his life,
I would consider that his journey was not wasted."
Such was the extent of his knowledge that he used to say:
"The least of what I have learned is poetry;
Yet if I wished, I could recite it to you for a whole month
Without ever repeating anything I had already recited."
A study circle used to be held for him in the Grand Mosque of Kufa,
Around which people gathered in crowds,
While Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) were still alive,
Going about their daily lives among the people.
Indeed, 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)
Once heard him recounting to the people the accounts of the military expeditions,
With all their intricacies and subtle details.
So he listened attentively to him and said:
"I witnessed with my own eyes some of what he is recounting,
And I heard it with my own ears,
Yet he has memorized and transmitted it better than I have!"
The testimonies to the vastness of al-Sha'bi's knowledge
And his sharp presence of mind are abundant and plentiful.
Among these is what he narrated about himself:
He said, "Two men came to me boasting of their ancestry;
One of them was from the tribe of Banu 'Amir,
And the other was from Banu Asad.
The 'Amiri had overpowered his companion and gained the upper hand over him,
Grabbing him by his garment and dragging him forcefully toward me,
While the Asadi was humiliated before him, pleading with him:
'Let me go! Let me go!'
But the 'Amiri said to him:
'By Allah, I will not let you go until al-Sha'bi judges between me and you!'
So I turned to the 'Amiri and said to him:
'Release your companion so that I may judge between you two.'
Then I looked at the Asadi and said:
'Why do I see you yielding meekly to him,
When you possess six marks of glory
That belonged to no other among the Arabs?
The first of them
Is that from among you was a woman sought in marriage by the master of creation,
Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
And Allah married her to him from above the seven heavens,
With Gabriel, peace be upon him, serving as the emissary between them;
She is the Mother of the Believers, Zaynab bint Jahsh.
Thus, this noble distinction belonged to your people,
And to no other among the Arabs besides you.
The second
Is that from among you was a man destined for Paradise walking upon the earth:
'Ukkashah ibn Mihsan.
This belonged to you, O Banu Asad,
And to no one else among mankind.
The third
Is that the very first banner tied in Islam
Belonged to a man from among you:
'Abdullah ibn Jahsh.
The fourth
Is that the very first war booty distributed in Islam was his booty.
The fifth
Is that the first person to pledge allegiance at the Pledge of al-Ridwan was from among you;
For your companion Abu Sinan ibn Wahb came
To the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
And said: 'O Messenger of Allah,
Stretch out your hand that I may pledge allegiance to you.'
He, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
'Upon what?'
He replied: 'Upon whatever is in your soul.'
He (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
'And what is in my soul?'
He replied: 'Either victory or martyrdom.'
The Prophet said: 'Yes,'
And accepted his pledge of allegiance,
Whereupon the people began pledging allegiance following the example of Abu Sinan's pledge.
And the sixth
Is that your people, Banu Asad,
Made up one-seventh of the Emigrants on the day of Badr.'"
The 'Amiri was dumbfounded and fell silent.
There is no doubt that al-Sha'bi
Intended to support the weak and defeated against the strong and triumphant;
Had the 'Amiri been the humiliated one,
He would have recounted to him virtues of his people beyond what he ever knew.
When the caliphate passed to 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan,
He wrote to al-Hajjaj, his governor over Iraq:
"Send me a man well-suited for matters of both religion and this worldly life,
Whom I may take as a confidant and companion."
So he sent al-Sha'bi to him.
The caliph made him one of his closest intimates,
Turning to his knowledge in complex dilemmas,
Relying upon his counsel in grave crises,
And dispatching him as an ambassador between himself and other monarchs.
He once sent him on a mission to Justinian, the Emperor of the Romans.
When al-Sha'bi entered his presence and the Emperor heard him speak,
He was captivated by his intellect, astounded by his shrewdness,
And impressed by his vast erudition and powerful eloquence.
So he detained him at his court for many days, contrary to his usual custom with envoys.
When al-Sha'bi insisted that he grant him permission to return to Damascus,
The Roman Emperor asked him:
"Are you from the royal household?"
He replied: "No;
I am merely an ordinary man from among the common Muslims."
When the Emperor finally permitted him to depart,
He said to him:
"When you return to your sovereign—
Meaning 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan—
And convey to him all that he wishes to know,
Deliver this letter to him."
When al-Sha'bi returned to Damascus,
He hastened to meet 'Abd al-Malik,
Disclosing to him everything he had seen and heard,
And answering all that the caliph asked him about.
As he stood up to take his leave,
He said: "O Commander of the Believers,
The Roman Emperor entrusted me with this letter for you."
He handed it to him and departed.
When 'Abd al-Malik read it,
He said to his servants:
"Bring him back to me!"
So they brought him back.
'Abd al-Malik said to al-Sha'bi:
"Do you know what is in this letter?"
He replied:
"No, O Commander of the Believers."
'Abd al-Malik said:
"The Roman Emperor has written to me, saying:
'I marvel at the Arabs!
How could they make anyone their ruler other than this young man?'"
Al-Sha'bi quickly remarked:
"He only said this because he has not seen you;
Had he seen you, O Commander of the Believers,
He would never have said it."
'Abd al-Malik said:
"Do you know why the Roman Emperor wrote this to me?"
Al-Sha'bi replied:
"No, O Commander of the Believers."
'Abd al-Malik said:
"He only wrote this to me
Because he envied me for having you,
And wished to incite me to execute you and rid himself of you."
When news of this reached the Roman Emperor,
He remarked:
"How remarkable he is!
By Allah, I intended nothing other than that."
Al-Sha'bi attained such a high standing in knowledge
That made him one of the four foremost scholars of his era;
Al-Zuhri used to say:
"The premier scholars are four:
Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib in Medina,
'Amir al-Sha'bi in Kufa,
al-Hasan al-Basri in Basra,
and Makhul in the Levant."
Yet al-Sha'bi,
out of profound humility, felt embarrassed
whenever anyone conferred upon him the title of "scholar."
A man once addressed him, saying:
"Answer me, O learned jurist!"
So he said:
"Woe to you!
Do not praise us for qualities we do not possess.
The true jurist is one who refrains from what Allah has forbidden,
and the true scholar is one who fears Allah.
And how far we are from that!"
Another person asked him about a legal matter,
and he replied:
"'Umar ibn al-Khattab ruled such-and-such concerning it,
and 'Ali ibn Abi Talib ruled such-and-such."
The questioner asked him:
"And what do you say, O Abu 'Amr?"
He smiled bashfully and said:
"What will you do with my opinion
after having heard the verdicts of 'Umar and 'Ali?"
Al-Sha'bi was
adorned with noble traits and illustrious virtues.
Among these was
that he detested disputation
and carefully refrained from meddling in what did not concern him.
One of his companions spoke to him one day, saying:
"O Abu 'Amr!"
He replied, "At your service."
The man said:
"What do you say regarding the dispute among the people concerning these two men?"
Al-Sha'bi asked:
"Which two men do you mean?"
He said:
"'Uthman and 'Ali."
Al-Sha'bi replied:
"By Allah, I have no desire whatsoever
to arrive on the Day of Resurrection as an adversary of 'Uthman ibn 'Affan,
or of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib,
may Allah be pleased with them both."
Al-Sha'bi combined profound knowledge with forbearance;
it is related that a man once insulted him in the foulest manner
and hurled the most offensive words at him.
Yet he did no more than say to him:
"If you are truthful in what you accuse me of,
may Allah forgive me;
and if you are lying,
may Allah forgive you."
Despite his eminent stature and abundant virtue, al-Sha'bi
never disdained acquiring knowledge or receiving wisdom from the humblest of people.
A Bedouin used to attend his gatherings regularly,
yet he remained perpetually silent.
So al-Sha'bi said to him:
"Will you not speak?"
The Bedouin replied:
"I remain silent so that I remain safe,
and I listen so that I may learn.
Indeed, the benefit of a person's ear accrues to himself,
whereas the benefit of his tongue accrues to others."
Al-Sha'bi continued to quote the Bedouin's words throughout his life.
Al-Sha'bi was endowed with an eloquence of speech
and a mastery of expression
granted only to the rarest of lucid orators.
An example of this is
that he spoke to 'Umar ibn Hubayrah al-Fazari, the governor of the two Iraqs,
concerning a group of men he had imprisoned, saying:
"O Emir!
If you have imprisoned them unjustly,
then justice demands their release;
and if you have imprisoned them justly,
then your pardon can encompass them."
The governor was so impressed by his words
that he released them out of respect for him.
Despite al-Sha'bi's consummate dignity
and his lofty standing in religion and knowledge,
he possessed a pleasant spirit and an engaging wit,
never missing a humorous remark when an occasion arose.
A man once entered upon him
while he was sitting with his wife,
and asked:
"Which of you is al-Sha'bi?"
He replied, "This one,"
pointing to his wife.
Another person asked him:
"What was the name of Iblis's wife?"
He replied:
"That was a wedding we did not attend."
Perhaps what best illustrates al-Sha'bi's character
is what he recounted about himself, saying:
"I never unfastened my posture-wrap to look at anything scandalous that people gaze upon;
I never struck a servant of mine;
and no relative of mine ever died in debt
without my settling it on his behalf."
To conclude,
al-Sha'bi lived a long life,
reaching well over eighty years of age.
When he answered the call of his Lord
and news of his death reached al-Hasan al-Basri,
the latter said:
"May Allah have mercy on him!
For he possessed vast knowledge
and immense forbearance,
and he held an esteemed place in Islam."
Al-Sha'bi was indeed vast in knowledge,
immense in forbearance,
and held an esteemed rank in Islam.
Al-Hasan al-Basri—
a paragon in deeds and an exemplar—
followed the Messenger in every endeavor and word.
They were here, watering the dry clouds of our lives,
so even if we honor them, their renown rises far higher.
They departed, leaving a question echoing in the conscience:
Has any star ever soared and shone as brightly as they did?
They filled life with glorious achievements through their deeds,
and by them, humanity's realm was brightened and adorned.