Ibn Abbs reciting poetry in the sacred masjid and the criticism thereof by

al-Azraq

the
Ibn


Ibn
by
qadi-laureate
Tarr
al-Jariri (303-390),
who said:

:


Ali
Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-JahmAbu Tlib the scribenarrated to us. He said:
Umar ibn Shabbah narrated to us. He said:
Abu Yahya az-Zuhri narrated to me. He said:
Ibn Abi Thbit narrated to us. He said:
Abu Sayyr told me, via Umar al-Baraka, who said:

While Ibn Abbs was in the sacred masjid, along with Ibn al-Azraq and others of the
khawarij
khawarijquestioning him
himthen came Umar ibn Abi Rabiah in two garments, dyed with
rose or something
something yellow. He proceeded until he offered salutation and sat.
Ibn Abbs turned to him and said, Sing to us.
us. He then recited:
Of Naam tribe, passing morning fresh,
morn o'
o' morrow, or leaving expelled;
[]

He came to its end and then Ibn al-Azraq turned and said, Allah! O Ibn Abbs, we struck
the backs of our mounts, coming from distant lands, to ask you about the all and the
arm and you seem thus inconvenienced! Yet an
an extravagant member of the affluent
Quraysh comes to you and sings to you:
She saw a man, under the sun's stroke
ashamed, as at night he had but failed.
failed.

Ibn Abbs responded, That is not what he said. He said:

She saw a man, under the sun's stroke
struck thereby, but at night he had chilled.
chilled.

Ibn al-Azraq said, I see that you have memorized this verse. He replied, Yes, and if you
wish me to sing the whole poem to you, I will sing it to you both. He said, I wish. So he
sang the whole poem until he reached the end. He then turned to Ibn Abi Rabiah and said,
Sing. He said:
Tomorrow the home of our neighbors drifts away

So Ibn Abbs [to complete the verse] said:

but the home beyond the

the morrow is more distant.

Ibn Abi Rabiah said, Allah mend thee! As such, that is my linehave you heard it
before? He said, No, but as such, that is how it should be.
be.

al-Jals a-li al-Kf wal-Ans an-Ni ash-Shf, Vol. 1 Pg. 726-7.

Produced in English by Yahya Abu Hassn