The Life of Abdullah ibn Al-Mubarak

أو آان يتعب خيله في باطل *** فخيولنا يوم الصبيحة تتعب
Or him whose horse tires in pursuing pretence
Then our horses toil on the morning of combat
ريح العبير لكم ونحن عبيرنا *** رهج السنابك والغبار الأطيب
For you is the smell of fragrance, but our fragrance
Is the dust and dirt kicked off, which is more pleasant
ولقد اتانا من مقال نبينا *** قول صحيح صادق لا يكذب
And indeed, the words of our Prophet have reached us
A correct and truthful statement, which cannot be denied
لا يستوي غبار خيل االله في *** أنف امرئ ودخان نار تلهب
The dust stirred up by the Horse of Allah which enters a man's nose
Can never coexist with the smoke of a blazing fire (Hell) 106
هذا آتاب االله يحكم بيننا *** ليس الشهيد بميت لا يكذب
This is the Book of Allah which shall judge between us
Surely, the martyr is not dead and this can never be refuted
Ibn Abi Sukaynah said, 'So I met al-Fudhayl in the Haram (Makkah) with the letter and when
he read it, tears came to his eyes and he said, 'Indeed, Abu Abdur-Rahman (Ibn al-Mubarak)
has told the truth and he has certainly advised (me).' 107
His words matched his actions for he was not one to keep back from engaging in the actual
battle. Not only did he hold his post as a Murabit (guard), he also plunged into the heat of
battle when the occasion called for it. Ibn Muthanna narrates that 'Abdullah ibn Sinan said, 'I
was with Ibn al-Mubarak and Mu'tamir ibn Sulayman in Tarsus when the call to arms was
made. So Ibn al-Mubarak came out along with the people. When the two ranks faced each
other, a Roman emerged and requested a duel (one-on-one fight until death). So a man went
out to him but the infidel overpowered him and killed him. He kept doing that until he
killed six of the Muslims whereupon he began to boast and walk with pride in between the
two ranks. He requested a duel but no-one went out to him. So Ibn al-Mubarak turned to me
and said, 'If I am killed, do such and such for me.' And then he moved his horse and went out to
the dueller. He fought him for a while and then killed him. He (Ibn al-Mubarak) requested
another duel and so another infidel came out to him and he killed him too until he had
killed six of the Romans. He requested a duel but it seemed like they all feared him!
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106 Ibn al-Mubarak here alludes to the Hadith reported by al-Nasa'i: 'The dust (stirred up) in the Way of Allah
and the Fire of Jahannam will never come together in the chest of a slave.'
107 Al-Nujum al-Zahirah fi Muluk Misr wa al-Qahira, by Tughri Burdi, also recorded in Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Siyar
A'lam al-Nubala (8/413) and other collections.
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