Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

Ibn Ḥajr states, “The reason why he is known as al-Muʿarqab is because
Ḥajjāj or Bishr ibn Marwān 1 told him to revile ʿAlī I, and when he refused
to do so they cut his Achilles. 2 This was because he loved ʿAlī I. 3
Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-Thaqafī had likewise summoned Ḥujr al-Madarī 4
and told him, “My brother Ḥajjāj has written to me that I make you stand
before the people and that your curse ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib.” He replied by
saying, “Gather the people for me.”
When he gathered them Ḥujr stood amongst them and said:
إل إن المير محمد بن يوسف أمرني بلعن علي فالعنوه لعنه الله
Behold the governor Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf has ordered me to curse ʿAlī, so
curse him, may Allah curse him. 5
In conclusion, the Umayyads were so harsh and aggressive that many a people
stayed away from crossing the limits. One of the successors, ʿAbd Allah ibn
1 Bishr ibn Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam al-Umawī, Abū Marwān al-Dimashqī. He governed Kūfah and
Baṣrah for his brother ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān. He had a soft nature, always had a smiling face, and
was generous and praiseworthy. He would not bar anyone from his door and would say, “Only woman
cover up.” He passed away in Baṣrah in 75 A.H. due to a sickness which befell him. See: al-Muntaẓam
6/131; Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq 10/253; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 4/145; al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah 9/7.
2 Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb 10/143.
3 Maʿrifah al-Thiqāt 3/280.
4 Ḥujr ibn Qays al-Hamdānī al-Madarī. A prominent successor of Yemeni descent. He lived during
the era of Jāhiliyyah but did not hear anything from Nabī H. He was of those who served ʿAlī
I. Al-ʿIjlī has said regarding him, “A reliable successor.” I did not come across his date of demise.
His narrations appear in the Sunans of Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasāʾī and Ibn Mājah. See: al-Mustadrak ʿalā al-
Ṣaḥīḥayn 2/390; Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq 56/310; Tahdhīb al-Kamāl 5/475; Jāmiʿ al-Taḥṣīl p. 161; Tahdhīb
al-Tahdhīb 2/188.
5 Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq 56/310; al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah 9/80. Also see another story in al-Mustadrak
ʿalā al-Ṣaḥīḥayn 2/390; also see the comments of Ibn Ḥajr upon it in Lisān al-Mīzān 4/122.
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