Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

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• ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā: He was an Alawid. Aʿmash narrates:
رأيت عبد الرحمن محلوقا على المصطبة وهم يقولون له العن الكاذبين-‏ وكان رجال ضخما به ربو-‏
فقال:‏ اللهم العن الكاذبين آه،‏ ثم يسكت:‏ علي وعبد الله بن الزبير والمختار
I saw ʿAbd al-Raḥmān with a shaven head upon a raised platform. They
were demanding, “Curse the liars.” (He was a big person who experienced
difficulty in breathing) He would say, “O Allah curse the liars,” gasping for
breath. He would then remain silent and say, “ʿAlī, ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr
and al-Mukhtār.” 2
Al-Aʿmash further says:
وأهل الشام حوله كأنهم حمير ل يدرون ما يقول،‏ وهو يخرجهم من اللعن
The people of Shām around him were as though they were donkeys. They
did not know what he was saying, whereas he was removing them from
cursing. 3
Al-Dhahabī has also stated that Ḥajjāj once hit him so that he may revile
ʿAlī I. 4
1 ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Layla (his name was Yasār according to one view) al-Anṣārī al-Awsī, Abū ʿĪsā
al-Kūfī. He was from the prominent jurists of the successors. ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr said regarding
him, “I saw ʿAbd al-Raḥmān in a gathering wherein a group of the Ṣaḥābah M were present, one
of them being Barāʾ I. They were listening to his conversation and being attentive toward him.”
He was part of the revolt of Ibn al-Ashʿath. He drowned in 82 A.H. His narrations appear in the six
books. See: Tārīkh Baghdād 10/199; Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq 36/76; Tahdhīb al-Kamāl 17/372; Siyar Aʿlām
al-Nubalāʾ 4/262.
2 Al-Maʿrifah wa al-Tārīkh 3/3; Ḥilyah al-Awliyāʾ 4/351; Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq 36/98; Siyar Aʿlām al-
Nubalāʾ 4/265.
3 Al-Maʿrifah wa al-Tārīkh 3/3; Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq 36/98; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 4/264; Tahdhīb al-
Tahdhīb 6/235. Al-Aʿmash intended to say that Ibn Abī Laylā was saying, “ʿAliyyun…” in the state of Rafʿ
which denotes the beginning of a new sentence. Had he intended to curse them he would have said,
“ʿAliyyan…” in the state of Naṣb.
4 Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 4/267.
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