English Translation of al-Jahshiyari’s Kitab al-Wuzaraʾ wa al-Kuttab: 7: Scribes During the Reign of ʿAbd al-Malik b. Marwān
During the Reign of ʿAbd al-Malik b.
Marwān
Qabīṣah b. Dhuᵓayb b. Ḥalḥalah [b. ʿAmr] al-Khuzaʿī, known by the kunya of Abū Isḥāq, used to work as a scribe of
ʿAbd al-Malik. He was particularly close to him, and his position with ʿAbd
al-Malik was such that he would read the letters that came to ʿAbd al-Malik
before ʿAbd al-Malik himself read them.
Marwān b. al-Ḥakam had designated his other
son, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, to succeed to the caliphate after ʿAbd al-Malik’s death.
Once ʿAbd al-Malik had consolidated his authority, however, he considered
setting aside his father’s arrangement and appointing his own sons, al-Walīd
and Sulaymān, as his successors. Qubayṣah b. Dhūʾayb advised him against doing
so, saying that death might overtake ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz and spare the caliph the
need to act. ʿAbd al-Malik had appointed his brother ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz as governor
of Egypt. In Jumādā al-Awwal of the year 85 AH, the letter announcing ʿAbd
al-ʿAzīz’s death arrived, and Qubayṣah read it before ʿAbd al-Malik, as was his
custom with such documents. He then offered the caliph condolences on the death
of his brother ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz. Thereafter, ʿAbd al-Malik appointed his son ʿAbd
Allāh b. ʿAbd al-Malik as governor of Egypt, designated al-Walīd and Sulaymān
as his heirs, and sent orders to the provincesaccordingly;, the people then
pledged allegiance to them.
Among the scribes of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b.
Marwān was Yānās b. Khumāyā, a native of al-Ruhā. Yānās enjoyed considerable
influence with him, and ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz had built a palace for him at the gate of
the mosque in al-Fusṭāṭ. When news of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz’s death reached ʿAbd
al-Malik, he sent al-Ḍaḥḥāk b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān to Egypt, instructing him to go
to Yānās, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz’s scribe, and divide his wealth between himself and the
scribe. Al-Ḍaḥḥāk said:
I went to him, and we divided the wealth.
Most of what I took was copper, which was mined in the land of the Romans,
except for the jewelry and precious stones, which I did not divide with him. I
said: 'The Commander of the Faithful will divide and share these with you.’ I brought
everything to ʿAbd al-Malik, and when it was placed before him, he started
flipping through the items with a stick he was holding. He came across a
necklace, took it, and said to Yānās: "Take this jewelry." When he left,
I said to him: "The Commander of the Faithful has been generous in
dividing your wealth." Yānās responded to me saying: "A single bead
from that necklace is worth more than everything else he left to me."
Abū al-Zuʿayziʿah, the mawlā of ᶜAbd
al-Malik, would work on the bureau of correspondence for him. One day, ʿAbd
al-Malik asked him: “O Abū al-Zuʿayziʿah, have you ever eaten to the point of
being completely full?" Al-Zuʿayziʿah replied: "No." ʿAbd
al-Malik said: "How come?" He answered: "Because when we cook,
we cook until everything is tender, and when we chew, we chew thoroughly. We do
not overburden our stomachs (nakuẓẓu), nor do we leave it empty."
Zufar b. al-Ḥārith was present with ʿAbd
al-Malik, and with him was Abū al-Zuʿayziʿah. It happened after the people
agreed upon the rule of ᶜAbd al-Malik. Zufar said to ʿAbd al-Malik: “Praise be
to God who granted you victory in spite of those who disliked it (kariha)!”
Abū al-Zuʿayziʿah said: “Only a disbeliever would dislike this (kariha).”
Zufar said to him: “You are not true! For God said to His Prophet Muhammad: ‘it
was your Lord who made you [Prophet] venture from your home for a true
purpose––though a group of the believers disliked it (kārihūn)’ [Qurʾān,
8:5]. Did He call [those who were unwilling] believers, or did He call them
disbelievers?" This made ʿAbd al-Malik angry. Zufar then said: “O
Commander of the Faithful, if I said: 'Praise be to God who granted you
victory,' would that make me happy? Would you not despise me, and would God not
despise me [knowing] that I fought against you for nine years?" ʿAbd
al-Malik replied: "You are correct!"
Rawḥ b. Zinbāᶜ al-Judhāmī also wrote for
ʿAbd al-Malik. Rawḥ was also known by the kunya Abū Zurʿah. ʿAbd al-Malik often
[praised him], saying: "Rawḥ b. Zinbāᶜ is a Syrian in terms of obedience,
an Iraqi by ambitiousness, a Ḥijāzī in jurisprudence, and a Persian in
writing."
Muʿāwiyah once intended to [punish] Rawḥ.
So Rawḥ said to him: “O Commander of the Faithful, do not allow an enemy—whom you
have already defeated—to take pleasure in my humiliation, do not, through me, grieve
a friend whom you have once brought joy, and do not tear down a pillar in me that
you yourself have built. Will not your forbearance and kindness prevail over my
ignorance and offense?” So
the caliph stopped [from punishing] him and recited a line of poetry:
إِذَا اللهُ سَنَّى عَقْدَ شَيْءٍ تَيَسَّرَا
When Allah
smooths (sannā) the knot of an
affair, it is easily untied.
ʿAbd al-Malik b. Marwān had appointed his
brother Bishr over Iraq, along with Rawḥ b. Zanbāᶜ. When Bishr arrived in Iraq,
he became involved in drinking, and he felt it increasingly difficult to
tolerate Rawḥ b. Zinbāᵓ’s position. Therefore,
he said [to his close circle]: “Who can get rid of him for me?” Surāqah
al-Bārīqī said: “I [will do that for you].” “Then Surāqah went to the entrance
passage of Rawḥ’s residence and wrote on the wall:
يا رَوْحُ، مَنْ لِدَنَانِيرٍ مُجَرَّشَةٍ
إِذَا نَعَاكَ لِأَهْلِ المَغْرِبِ نَاعِي؟
O Rawḥ, who will tend to the well-struck
dinars
when a herald announces your death to the
people of the Maghrib?
إِنَّ الخَلِيفَةَ قَدْ شَالَتْ نَعَامَتُهُ
فَاحْتَلْ لِنَفْسِكَ يَا رَوْحُ بْنَ زِنْبَاعِ!
The caliph’s power has waned (shālat naᶜāmatu
hū),
So find a way to protect yourself, O Rūḥ b.
Zanbāᶜ!
Above these lines, he wrote: "One of
the poets of the jinn says."
When Rawḥ saw this, he went to Bishr and
asked for permission to return to Syria. Bishr started to persuade him to stay,
but Rawḥ̣ refused, and eventually, Bishr gave him permission. When Rawḥ̣ came
to ʿAbd al-Malik, he greeted him, saying: “Praise be to God for your safety, O
Commander of the Faithful!” ʿAbd al-Malik asked: "What do you mean?"
Rawḥ explained the story, and ʿAbd al-Malik said: "Bishr and the people
of Iraq have mocked you when they found it difficult to tolerate you, so they
plotted for your departure to bring themselves relief.
Then Rabīʿah al-Jurashī worked as a scribe for
ʿAbd al-Malik. When the caliph resolved to invest [al-Walīd] with the covenant of succession, he consulted al-Jurashī and said: “I have thought
over putting him in charge of some of the districts first. And once his tenure there is completed, I will
make him my successor." Rabʿīʿah advised him, saying: "Wait for a
year.” But he refused. Then he said: “O Commander of the Faithful, if you sent
al-Walīd to distribute wealth among the people, they would not be satisfied
with him. How could they accept him as a tax collector, where if he is strict,
he will be blamed, and if he is lenient, he will be incapacitated? Rather, give
him [governorship] of judiciary (maᶜāwin) and
military expeditions, it will bring him honor and recognition."
This resembles a story narrated about Abū
al-ʿAbbās al-Ṭūsī and Abū Jaʿfar al-Manṣūr. The caliph said to him, along with
ʿĪsā b. ʿAlī, al-ʿAbbās b. Muḥammad, and others from his inner circle: “I have
decided to appoint al-Mahdī over al-Sawād and the provinces (kuwar) of
Dijlah." All of them approved his decision, except for al-Ṭūsī, who sought
to talk to the [caliph] in private [istakhlā hu]. Then he said to the
caliph: “Tell me, what if al-Mahdī follows a different path from yours and
adopts leniency? Would you be satisfied with that?” Al-Manṣūr replied: “No, by
God!” Al-Ṭūsī then said: “So you want to make him beloved by the people, but by
appointing him to this position, you will only make them dislike him,
especially those close to you. Instead, let ʿĪsā b. Mūsā take this position,
and make al-Mahdī responsible for overseeing people's grievances. Command him
to act with justice and fairness.” At this, Al-Manṣūr laughed so hard that he
kicked his legs [against the ground in amusement] (faḥaṣa bi rijlayhi).
When Qubayṣah b. Dhūᵓayb passed away, the
caliph put in his place ʿAmr b. al-Ḥārith al-Fahmī, a freedman of the Banī
ʿĀmir b. Lūʾay. When ʿAmr died, he appointed Janāḥ, his freedman, as the head
of the bureau of the seal (dīwān al-khātam) and managed with the rest of
his scribes.
There were two dīwān offices in
Kūfah and Baṣrah: one in Arabic for the census of people and their stipends—and
this was the dīwān established by ʿUmar—and the other in Persian for the
management of state revenues. The same system existed in al-Shām, where one dīwān
was kept in Greek and the other in Arabic. This arrangement remained in place
until the days of ʿAbd al-Malik b. Marwān.
When al-Ḥajjāj was appointed over Iraq, he
had Ṣāliḥ b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān as his scribe, who was also known by the kunya of Abū
al-Walīd. At that time, Zāddān Farrūkh was in charge of the Persian dīwān.
After Zādhān Farrūkh, Ṣāliḥ b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān took over, and this eased the
burden on al-Ḥajjāj, who became particularly fond of him. Ṣāliḥ said to Zādhān
Farrūkh: “I have eased the burden on al-Ḥajjāj, and I fear that he may replace
you in favor of me, even though you are my superior.” Zādhān Farrūkh replied:
“Do not do that, for he is more in need of me than I am of him.” Ṣāliḥ asked:
“How is that?” Zādhān explained: “He does not find anyone else to handle the
accounts.” Ṣāliḥ said: “If I wanted, I could have translated the accounts to
Arabic.” Zādhān replied: “Convert one line, then.” However, when Ṣāliḥ changed
several lines to Arabic, Zādhān Farūkh said to his companions: “Look for a
different place to live.” Al-Ḥajjāj then ordered Ṣāliḥ to transfer the dīwān
offices to Arabic in the year 78 AH.
The majority of the scribes of Iraq were
disciples of Ṣāliḥ. Among them were: al-Mughīrah b. Abī Qurrah, who wrote for
Yazīd b. al-Mahallab, Qaḍham b. Abī Sulaym, and Shaybah b. Ayman, who both
wrote for Yūsuf b. ʿUmar. Also among them were al-Mughīrah and Saʿīd, the sons
of ʿAtiyyah. Saʿīd was writing for ʿUmar b. Hubayrah. Among his disciples was Marwān
b. Iyās, who wrote for Khālid al-Qasrī. And there were other [disciples of him]
as well.
One day, al-Ḥajjāj said to Ṣāliḥ: "I
have thought about you, and I find that your wealth and your blood are
permissible for me, and I would not be sinful if I were to take both." Ṣāliḥ
replied: "The harshest part of this matter, may God honor the prince, is
that this statement comes after deep thought." Al-Ḥajjāj laughed at him
but did not respond further.
When
al-Ḥajjāj came to Iraq, his rule weighed heavily upon the people of the land.
The dahāqīn (landowners and important figures) gathered around Jamīl b.
Buṣbuhrī, a man of prudence and standing, and complained to him of what they
feared from al-Ḥajjāj’s harshness. He said to them, “Tell me: where was he born?”
They replied, “The Ḥijāz.” He said, “A weak man, though full of self-regard. And
where was he brought up?” They replied, “In Syria.” He said, “That is worse.”
Then he said, “How good your condition would be, provided that you are not
afflicted, along with him, by a scribe from among your own people!”—meaning
from the people of Bābil. But they were afflicted with Zādhān Farrūkh, who was
one-eyed and wicked. Jamīl then struck for them the well-known parable: An
axe-head, with no handle in it, was thrown among some trees. Some of the trees
said to the others, “This has not been thrown here for any good.” But an old
tree said to them, “So long as no handle from among you enters its socket, do
not fear it.”
Sarjūn
b. Manṣūr, the Christian, used to manage the dīwān of al-Shām (Bureau of
Syria) in Byzantine Greek for ʿAbd al-Malik and those who preceded him. One
day, ʿAbd al-Malik ordered him to do something, but Sarjūn was sluggish and
hesitant about it. When the Caliph repeated his command and urged him, he
noticed neglect and shortcoming on Sarjūn's part. ʿAbd al-Malik then said to Abū
Thābit, Sulaymān b. Saʿd al-Khushanī—who was in charge of his dīwān of al-rasāʾil
(Bureau of Correspondence)—'Do you see how presumptuous Sarjūn is being with
us? I suspect he thinks we are utterly dependent on him and his craft. Do you
have any stratagem?' Sulaymān replied, 'If you wish, I could convert the
accounts into Arabic.' ʿAbd al-Malik said, 'Do so.' Thus, he converted it, and
consequently, ʿAbd al-Malik reassigned all the dīwāns of al-Shām to him.
It
has been narrated that ʿAbd al-Malik had a Christian scribe of mid-rank among
his scribes, who was called Shamʿal. The Caliph, having disapproved of
something he did, struck him with a staff (mikhṣarah) that was in his
hand. It hit Shamʿal's leg and left a mark on it. Shamʿal noticed a group of ʿAbd
al-Malik's entourage who bore him enmity, and their joy [at his misfortune] was
evident. Thereupon, he impromptu recited:
أمن ضربة بالرجل مني تهافتت ... عداتي ولا عيب لا علي ولا نكر
وان أمير المؤمنين وفعله ... لكالدهر
لا عار بما فعل الدهر
Is
it because of a blow to the leg that my enemies rejoice, while there is no
shame upon me, nor any disgrace?
Indeed,
the Commander of the Faithful and his actions are just like Fate—there is no
dishonor in what Fate decrees.
When
al-Ḥajjāj appointed ʿUbayd Allāh b. al-Mukhārib over al-Fallūjatayn (the two
Fallujahs), the latter said upon arriving there: "Is there a dihqān
(village lord) here whose counsel can be relied upon?" He was told: "Jamīl
b. Buṣbuhrī." So, he summoned him and sought his advice. Jamīl said:
"Have you come for the pleasure of your Lord, for the pleasure of the one
who appointed you, or for your own satisfaction?" He replied: "I have
only consulted you to seek the satisfaction of all." Jamīl then said:
"Commit these traits to memory on my authority: Let not your forbearance (ḥilm)
vary among your subjects. Rather, let your forbearance toward the noble and the
lowborn be identical. Do not employ a chamberlain (ḥājib), so that any
caller from among the people of your province may approach you with full
confidence of reaching you. Sit for long periods to receive the people of your
province, so that your sub-agents (ʿummāl) will stand in awe of you. And
never accept a gift (hadiyyah), for its giver will not be satisfied even
with a thirty-fold return for it. If you do all of that, then [you may] flay
their skins from their horns to their feet."
He
said: "So I acted upon his advice, and [consequently] I collected [in
taxes] eighteen million dirhams."
When
Yazīd b. al-Muhallab—who governed Khurāsān on behalf of al-Ḥajjāj—defeated ʿAbd
al-Raḥmān b. al-ʿAbbās b. Rabīʿah b. al-Ḥārith in battle, he ordered Yaḥyā b. Yaʿmar
al-ʿAdwānī, who used to write his correspondence (rasāʾil), to write to al-Ḥajjāj
announcing the victory.
Yaḥyā
b. Yaʿmar wrote:
We engaged the enemy, and God granted us
their backs [in flight]. We killed a faction, captured a faction, while another
faction fled to the mountain peaks, the depths of the valleys (ʿarāʾir
al-awdiyah), the hollows of the lowlands (ahḍām al-ghīṭān), and the
bends of the rivers (athnāʾ al-anhār). Thus, we spent the night on the
mountain crest (ʿurʿurah al-jabal), while the enemy spent the night at
its base (ḥaḍīḍ).
Upon
[reading this], al-Ḥajjāj asked: "Who writes for Yazīd b. al-Muhallab?"
He was told: "Yaḥyā b. Yaʿmar." Consequently, al-Ḥajjāj wrote to Yazīd,
ordering him to dispatch Yaḥyā to him with all speed by the barīd.[1]
When Yaḥyā arrived, al-Ḥajjāj found him to be the most eloquent of men.
He
asked him: "Where were you born?" Yaḥyā replied: "In
al-Ahwāz." al-Ḥajjāj then asked: "From where did you acquire this
eloquence?" He replied: "I memorized the speech of my father, who was
an eloquent man." al-Ḥajjāj then said to him: "Tell me, does ᶜAnbasah
son of Saʿīd commit grammatical errors (yalḥan)?" Yaḥyā replied:
"Yes, frequently." al-Ḥajjāj asked: "What about so-and-so?"
Yaḥyā replied: "Yes [he does too]." al-Ḥajjāj then said: "Then
tell me about myself. Do I commit grammatical errors?" Yaḥyā replied:
"No, you are the most eloquent of people." al-Ḥajjāj insisted:
"You must tell me [the truth]!" Yaḥyā then said: "Indeed, you
commit subtle grammatical errors (laḥn khafiyy). You add a letter or
omit a letter, and you place inna where anna should be." al-Ḥajjāj
said: "I grant you a respite of three days. If I find you in Iraq after
three days, I will execute you." Consequently, Yaḥyā returned to Khurāsān.
One day, al-Ḥajjāj said to one of his scribes:
"What do the people say about me?" The scribe begged to be excused
[from answering], but al-Ḥajjāj did not excuse him. The scribe then said:
"They say that you are tyrannical (ẓalūm), oppressive (ghashūm), a shedder of blood (qattāl),
despotic (ʿasūf), and a liar (kadhdhāb)." al-Ḥajjāj replied:
"In everything they have said, they spoke the truth, except for the lying.
By God, I have never told a lie since I learned that lying disgraces its
author!"
Yazīd b. Abī Muslim—whose father’s name was Dīnār—was
among the clients (mawālī) of the Thaqīf tribe, though not by
manumission (mawlā ʿatāqah). He was the foster brother of al-Ḥajjāj
through nursing and managed the Bureau of Correspondence (dīwān al-rasāʾil)
for him. His
kunyah was Abū al-ʿAlāʾ. al-Ḥajjāj used to allocate him three hundred dirhams
each month. Out of this, Yazīd would give his wife fifty dirhams, spend
forty-five dirhams on the price of meat, and spend the remainder on
flour and his other living expenses. If anything remained from it, he would
purchase water to give to the poor, or sometimes he would buy quṭuf (perhaps outer coverings or cloaks in which
one wraps oneself to keep out the cold) and distribute them among them. Yet, despite this [piety], he would
execute crowds of people (yaqtulu al-khalq) on behalf of al-Ḥajjāj.
It is related that al-Ḥajjāj visited him during
an illness and found in front of him a brazier (kānūn) made of clay and
a lamp-stand (manārah) made of wood. He said to him: "O Abū
al-ʿAlāʾ, I see that your allowance does not suffice you." Yazīd replied:
"If three hundred does not suffice me, then thirty thousand will not
suffice me."
When death approached al-Ḥajjāj in the month of
Ramaḍān in the year 95 AH (714 CE), he appointed Yazīd b.
Abī Muslim as his successor over
the land-tax (kharāj) of Iraq, and he remained [in office] for nine
months.
It has been narrated that a voice was heard coming from the grave of
al-Ḥajjāj. This was reported to Yazīd b. Abī Muslim, who, upon being informed, rode out
with the people of Syria until he reached the grave. He listened closely, and
when he heard the sound, he said: "May God have mercy on you, O Abū Muḥammad!
You never abandon [Qur'anic] recitation, whether alive or dead!" Then he
rode away.
This [clever response] resembles what was narrated on the authority
of ʿĀʾishah, the daughter of Saʿd b. Abī Waqqāṣ:
Muʿāwiyah passed by Saʿd on the road to Mecca
after the dawn prayer, accompanied by the people of Syria. He stopped by Saʿd
on the road to Mecca and greeted him with peace, but Saʿd did not return his
greeting. Muʿāwiyah then said to the people of Syria: "Do you know who
this is? This is Saʿd, the companion of the Messenger of God—may God bless him
and grant him peace. He does not speak until the sun rises."
When this reached Saʿd, he said: "By God, my silence was not for the
reason he stated, but rather, I simply detested speaking to him!"
It reached ʿAbd al-Malik b. Marwān that one of
his scribes had accepted a gift. He asked him: "Have you accepted a gift
since I appointed you?" The scribe replied: "Your affairs are
upright, the revenues are flowing, the officials/governors
are praised, and your kharāj
is abundant."
ʿAbd al-Malik said to him: "Answer me regarding what I asked you!"
The scribe replied: "Yes, I have accepted." ʿAbd al-Malik then said: "By God, if you
accepted a gift without intending to recompense the giver, then you are mean
and ignoble. If you accepted it to employ a man whom you would not have
employed but for his gift, then you are a cheater. And if you intended to compensate the giver
for his gift, without betraying any trust or compromising any religious duty
for him, you have nonetheless accepted that which loosens the tongues of your subject against you,
makes all your neighbors covetous of you, and strips you of the awe of your
authority. There is no good in a man who commits an act that cannot escape
blame, ignobility, treason, or foolishness." He then dismissed him from
his post.
Sārzādh, who belonged
to Bādhīn, used to write for Muṣʿab
b. al-Zubayr
over the kharāj. Writing his correspondence (rasāʾil) was ʿAbd
Allāh b. Abī
Farwah, whose kunyah was Abū ʿAbd Allāh. He was the grandfather of al-Rabīʿ, the client (mawlā)
of al-Manṣūr.
ʿAbd Allāh, ʿAbd al-Malik, and Muṣʿab were
close companions in their youth, scarcely ever parting. Whenever ʿAbd al-Malik
acquired a garment, the two friends would acquire the like of it. Once, ʿAbd
al-Malik was clothed in a fine suit (ḥullah), and Ibn Abī Farwah was clothed
in a similar one, while Muṣʿab was left unable to find anything to wear, as he
possessed the least of them. Ibn Abī Farwah mentioned this to his father, who
then clothed Muṣʿab in a suit identical to theirs, delivering it through his
son. Later, when Muṣʿab governed
Iraq, he employed Ibn Abī Farwah as his scribe (istaktabahu). One
day, while Ibn Abī Farwah was with him, a pearl necklace (ʿiqd jawhar) was brought to Muṣʿab. It had been seized in
one of the Persian lands (bilād al-ʿajam) and had belonged to one of
their kings. Its
value was unknown. Muṣʿab began turning it over, marveling at it. Then, he said
to Ibn Abī
Farwah: "O ʿAbd Allāh, would it please you if I gifted it to you?" He
replied: "Yes, by God, O Amīr, that would indeed please me." So, Muṣʿab
handed it over to him. Seeing that
ʿAbd Allāh rejoiced over it with exceeding joy, Muṣʿab said: "By God, my
joy on the day you clothed me in that ḥullah was greater than your
joy with this necklace now!" This necklace became the source of wealth for
Ibn Abī
Farwah and his descendants.
Muṣʿab al-Zubayrī mentioned that the governor
of Khurāsān discovered a treasure containing a palm tree that had belonged to
Khosrow (Kisrā). It was crafted of gold, its clusters (ʿathākīl)
made of pearls, gems, and red and green rubies. The governor dispatched it to Muṣʿab
b. al-Zubayr.
When it arrived, Muṣʿab gathered the appraisers, who valued it at two million dīnārs.
He asked: "To whom shall I give it?" It was suggested: "To your
wives and family." He replied: "No, rather to a man who once extended
a helping hand to us and showed us kindness. Summon ʿAbd Allāh b. Abī Farwah."
So, he gave it to him. When Muṣʿab
was killed, Ibn Abī Farwah wrote to ʿAbd al-Malik and offered him a sum of money,
thereby securing safety for himself through his wealth. He was the wealthiest resident of Medina.
The name of Abū Farwah was Kaysān, a client (mawlā)
of al-Ḥārith al-Ḥaffār, who was himself a client of ʿUthmān b. ʿAffān.
Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Abī Farwah was noble and elegant. Muṣʿab
al-Zubayrī mentioned that Muḥammad wrote [the following verses] to a slave-girl
of his for whom he held a special affection, while he was staying in an
orchard:
إن لي عند كل نفحة بستا ... نٍ من
الورد أو من الياسمينا
نظرةً والتفاتةً لكِ أرجو ... أن تكوني
حلَلْتِ فيما يلينا
Indeed, with every passing breeze from an
orchard
Of roses or of jasmine, I cast
a glance and turn my eyes, desperately hoping
That you have come to dwell in the lands near
us.
The following verses are also attributed to ʿAbd
Allāh:
ولما أتينا منزلا طله الندى ... أنيقا وبستانا من النور
حاليا
أجد لنا حسن المكان وطيبه ... منى فتمنينا فكنت الأمانيا
And when we came to a dwelling bedewed with
moisture,
Elegant, and an orchard adorned with blossoms,
The beauty and pleasantness of the place
renewed for us
Desires, so we wished, and you were the ultimate wish.
Muṣʿab al-Zubayrī once passed by Medina but did
not stop there, due to a strict injunction laid upon him by ʿAbd Allāh [the
Caliph Ibn al-Zubayr]
because of something he disapproved of—forbidding him from turning aside into
the city and ordering him to halt at al-Baydāʾ. ʿAbd Allāh b. Jaʿfar and ʿĀṣim b. ʿUmar met on the
morning of that night, and ʿAbd Allāh b. Jaʿfar said to ʿĀṣim: "Do you see what
this young man has done to us? He fled from us and did not turn aside to visit
us." So, they both went out to him.
Muṣʿab turned to them and said: "It is as
if I can see the two of you when you met, saying: 'This young man has slighted
us and bypassed us,' while you did not know my excuse. Indeed, the Commander of
the Faithful strictly enjoined me to halt at al-Baydāʾ, and I shall not disobey
him." Then he said to ʿĀṣim: "O Abū ʿUmar, state your demand." ʿĀṣim
enumerated several things, including slaves, sheep, and furnishings. Muṣʿab
said: "This is not presently at hand with us, but you shall have its
value." It was appraised at sixteen thousand dīnārs, and he ordered
that sum for him. Then he turned to ʿAbd Allāh b. Jaʿfar
and said: "O Abū Jaʿfar, you shall have double that amount." ʿAbd
Allāh asked: "Why did you not ask me to state my demand?" Muṣʿab
replied: "Because I know your casual detachment." ʿAbd Allāh remarked: "By God, had you
done so, I would have stripped you of everything you see, leaving you
empty-handed!" When they
departed, ʿAbd Allāh said to ʿĀṣim: "Have you ever seen the like of this
young man—more intelligent, more generous, or more forbearing (aḥlam)?"
Muḥammad b. Sallām reported on the authority of Abū al-Yaqzān:
A scribe belonging to Muṣʿab b. al-Zubayr once
wrote: "Min al-Muṣʿab" (From the Muṣʿab). Muṣʿab remarked:
"What are these two superfluous letters?"—meaning the definite
article alif and lām.
____________________________________
[1] The barīd was
the official postal relay, consisting of stations and mounts used for rapid
government communication and travel. It also served an intelligence-gathering
function. [Translator].
A Brief Comment by the Translator:
A recurring discussion in this section concerns the delicate balance between personal initiative and institutional obedience. For instance, Qubayṣah’s counsel to ʿAbd al-Malik regarding the succession of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz versus the caliph’s own sons illustrates the strategic advisory role of scribes, who could mediate between dynastic ambitions and political prudence. Similarly, Yaḥyā b. Yaʿmar’s dispatch via the barīd to al-Ḥajjāj and his subsequent examination demonstrate that a scribe’s literacy and rhetorical competence were recognized as instruments of both trust and authority. These instances underscore that scribes were not passive recorders of events; they were active participants in the administration’s ethical, political, and procedural dimensions .
The section also highlights interpersonal dynamics, including the tension between local bureaucrats and provincial governors, the management of wealth, and the caliph’s evaluation of loyalty and competence. Rawḥ b. Zinbāʿ’s interactions with Bishr and al-Ḥajjāj, along with episodes involving Yaḥyā’s skill in assessing grammatical correctness, reveal an administrative culture in which judgment, discretion, and even literary acumen could determine an individual’s influence and security. Al-Jahshiyārī presents these episodes with attention to both narrative detail and moral consequence, allowing students to see how personal qualities intersected with institutional responsibilities .
Overall, the discussion of scribes under ʿAbd al-Malik b. Marwān highlights the integral role of administrative expertise, communication, and loyalty in the consolidation of caliphal authority. The text provides a rich resource for understanding how bureaucracy functioned as a system of governance in which human skill and judgment were as crucial as formal office, and it frames these figures as pivotal intermediaries whose contributions shaped both policy and historical memory.
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