Guillaume--Life of Muhammad.pdf - Radical Truth

The LIfe of Muhammad
Vle smote men with our sharp s\vords
Until they flocked to his religion
And \ve begat the greatest of Quraysh. I
We bcgat the prophet of good of Hashim's line.
Do not boast, 0 Banil Darim, for your boast
\Vill turn to shame when noble deeds are mentioned.
Curse you, would you boast against us
When you are our servants, half wet-nurses and half slaves?
If you've come to save your lives and property
Lest they be divided as booty,
Then give not God an equal and embrace Islam
And do not dress like foreigners.
881. There is another verse which we have omitted because it is obscene.
882. Another version is '0 boil like the boils of a camel and death in the
house of a Saluli woman!'
883. Zayd b. Aslam from 'Ata' b. Yasar from 1. 'Abbas said: God sent down
concerning 'Amir and Arbad: 'God knows what every female carries, what
the wombs keep small and what grows larger' as far as the words 'and they
have no friend against Him.' He said, 'The mu'aqqibiit are those who "by
God's order" protect Muhammad.' Then He mentioned Arbad and how
God killed him and said 'And He sends thunderbolts and He smites whom
He will' as far as the words 'powerful in device' (13. 9-14).
884. His verse '\Vho spoiled the spoiler' is on the authority of Abu 'Ubayda
and his verse 'Liberal when times were bad' has not 1.1.'s authority.
885. The last verse has not I.I.'s authority. [It is to be found in Die Gedichte
des Labid, ed. C. Brockelmann, Leiden, 1891, p. 2, with some variants.]
886. These tv.'o verses are part of a larger poem of his [cd. Chalidi, pp. 15 f.]
887. al-Jarud b. Bishr b. al-Mu'alla was in the deputation. He was a
Christian.
888. Another report is that he said, 'I am done with him who does not
pronounce the shahiida.'
889. Musaylima b. Thumama surnamed Abu Thumama.
890. Or al-l;Iaushiya [in Najd].
891. Malik b. I:Iarim al-Hamdani was the leader on that day.
892. ,The first verse and the words 'If we conquer' are from someone other
than 1.1. [It is not cited by T., a fact which might perhaps indicate that it
was added by an interpolator.]
893. Abu"Ubayda quoted me the line thus: 'Hoping for its welfare and the
praise of it.'
• 1 Through the prophet's great-grandmother. v.s.
Ibn Hz"sham's Notes
894· Abu 'Gbayda recited the verse to me thus:
I gave you an order on the day of Dhu $an'a'.
I ordered you to fear God, to come to Him and accept His promise
But you were like a little donkey ,
\Vhose lust beguiled him away.
He did not know the rest of the poem. [Five more verses are given by T
(1733 f.).] ..
895· The word bithafn' is on Abu 'Ubayda's authority.
8.9 6 . AI-Ash'ath was a SOn of 'the cater of bitter herbs' on his mother's
sIde._ !he eater,s_ ",~ere al-I:-Iarith b. 'Amr b. I:-Iujr b. 'Amr b. l\lu'awiva b.
al-I:Ianth ~. l\Iu a~""lya b. Thaur b. .l.VIuratti' b. .l.VIu'a\....iya b. Kindi or Kinda.
He was gIven thIS name because 'Amr b. al-Habula al-Ghassani raided
them when al-I:Iarith was ~way and plundered and took captives. Among the
!atter was Umm Unas ~. Auf b. l\Iul)allam al-Shaybani, wifc of al-Harith b.
:un~' On the way she saId to 'Amr: 'l\lethinks I sec a black man with'blubber
lIps lIke those of a camel eating bitter herbs who has seized thy neck' .
I H- . h S h " meaning
a - . ant. 0 e was called 'the eater of bitter herbs'. 1\.1urar arc plants
~hen al-I:Lir~thfollo,":ed ~im with B. Bakr b. \Va'il, overtook him and killed
hIm and deltvered hIS \\flfe, and what he had seized. AI-H,'irith b HT
aI-Yashkuri said to 'Amr b. al-l\Iundhir who was 'Amr b. i-lind al-Lak~~~~
~e .forced you, lord of Ghassan, to pay for (killing) I\lundhir
\\ hIIe the blood that was shed could not be measured, ,
because al-!:Iarith. al-A'raj al-Ghassani had killed his father al-l\lundhir.
The verse ~ccurs In ~~ odc of his. This story is too long for me to relate as
! have avoI~~d'prohxlt~. Some .say the eater of bitter herbs \vas I:Iujr b.
Amr b. ~u aWlya :\'ho IS the ~ubJect of this story, and got the name because
he and hIS companIOns ate thIS herb on this raid.
897. THE COMING OF THE DEPUTATIO:".~ OF HAMD.i.~
~ccording to ,",,:hat ~ trush-vo~hy a~thorit? tol(~ me from 'Ann b. 'Abdullah
. Udhayna al- Abdl fro~ Abu IsI:wq al-Subay 1::l deputation from I-Iamd,ln
among v.'hom \vere lVIiihk b. Namat, and Abu Thaur Dhu'!-I\'II·S)l'·- d
M-n b A ' ' . - - dr, an
a 1 _ .. ~ yla, and I)lmam b. :I\Ialik al-Salm,inl, and 'Amira b. I\-IaIik
al-Khanfl
b
came and met the apostle on his return from Tabu-k
., weanng
.
TO es of Ya:nan cloth, and, turbans of Aden, with wooden saddles on 1\-lahri
a?d ArJ:tabl camels. Maltk b. Namat and another man were the rajaz
sIngers of the people, one of them saying:
Hamdan has the best of princes and of subjects'
It has no equal in the universe.
'
High is its position, and from it come
Warriors and chiefs! with goodly wealth therein.
A.Dh. is \\Tong in saying that this word (dka-l) means 'what kings take from their
subjects'. See Lane.