ويحك يا أحمد، ما تقول؟
فأقول: أعطوني شيئًا من كتاب الله عزّ وجلّ أو سنّة رسوله صلى الله عليه وسلم أقول به.
قال: ثم رجع فجلس ثم قال للجلاد: تقدم أَوْجِعْ قطع الله يدك!
After I had been struck nineteen lashes, he—meaning al-Muʿtaṣim—rose from his seat and walked up to me.
“Aḥmad,” he said, “why are you killing yourself? I swear to God, I want what’s best for you.”
Then ʿUjayf began jabbing at me with the hilt of his sword. “Do you think you can win against this whole lot?”
“For shame!” someone called out. “The caliph is standing there waiting for you.”
“Commander of the Faithful!” cried another. “Kill him, and let his blood be on my hands!”
Then more of them chimed in. “Commander of the Faithful, you’ve been fasting, and now you’re standing in the sun!”102
“Come on, Aḥmad,” he said. “Say something!”
“Give me something I can believe,” I said, “from the Book of God or the sunnah of His Emissary.”
He went back to his chair and sat down.
“Proceed,” he said to the lictor. “Let him feel it, damn you!”
٢٦،٦٩
ثم قام الثانية فجعل يقول: ويحك يا أحمد، أجبني.
فجعلوا يقبلون عليّ ويقولون: ويلك يا أحمد، إمامك على رأسك قائم!
وجعل عبد الرحمن يقول: من صنع من أصحابك في هذا الأمر ما تصنع؟
قال: وجعل يقول، يعني المعتصم: ويحك! أجبني إلى شيء لك فيه أدنى فرج حتى أُطلق عنك بيدي.
قال: فقلت: يا أميرَ المؤمنين أعطوني شيئًا من كتاب الله عزّ وجلّ أو سنّة رسوله حتى أقول به.
قال: فرجع فجلس فقال للجلادين: تقدموا.
فجعل الجلاد يتقدّم ويضربني سوطين ويتنحّى وهو في خلال ذلك يقول: شدّ قطع الله يدك!
قال أبي: فذهب عقلي.
فأفقتُ بعد ذلك فإذا الأقياد قد أُطلقتْ عنّي فقال لي رجل ممن حضر: إنا كببناك على وجهك وطرحنا على ظهرك باريّة ودُسْناك.
قال أبي: فما شعرتُ بذلك.
وأتوني بسَويق فقالوا لي: اشرب وتقيّأ.
فقلت: لست أفطر.
Soon he rose a second time, saying, “Come on, Aḥmad! Tell me what I want to hear.”
The others joined in, saying, “Shame on you, Aḥmad: your imam is standing here waiting for you.”
“Which of your associates,” asked ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, “is doing what you’re doing?”
“Tell me whatever you can manage,” al-Muʿtaṣim said to me, “and I’ll unchain you with my own hands.”
“Give me something I can believe,” I said, “from the Book of God or the sunnah of His Emissary.”
Again he went back to his chair and sat down. “Proceed,” he said to the lictors. Again they came up one by one and struck me two lashes apiece, with al-Muʿtaṣim calling out, “Harder, damn you!” As each stepped aside another would come up and hit me twice more, with him shouting all the while, “Harder, damn you all!”
That’s when I passed out.103
Some time later I came to my senses to find that my chains had been removed.
“We threw you face down,” said one of the men who had been there. “Then we rolled you over on the ground and trampled you.”
I had no memory of that.
They brought me some barley water and told me to drink it and vomit.
“I can’t break the fast,” I told them.
٢٧،٦٩
ثم جيء بي إلى دار إسحاق بن إبراهيم فحضرت صلاة الظهر فتقدم ابن سَماعة فصلّى فلمّا انفتل من الصلاة قال لي: صلّيتَ والدم يسيل في ثوبك؟
فقلت: قد صلّى عُمر وجرحه يثعب دمًا.
They took me back to Isḥāq ibn Ibrahīm’s place, where I attended the noon prayer.104 Ibn Samāʿah stepped forward to lead the prayer. When he finished he asked me, “How could you pray when you’re bleeding inside your clothes?”
“ʿUmar prayed with blood spurting from his wounds,” I answered.
٢٨،٦٩
قال أبو الفضل: ثم خُلّي عنه فصار إلى منزله فمكث في السجن منذ أُخذ وحُمل إلى أن ضُرب وخُلّي عنه ثمانية وعشرين شهرًا.
قال صالح: ولقد أخبرني أحد الرجلين اللذين كانا مع أبي، يعني في الحبس،١ وكان هذا الرجل قد سمع ونظر ثم جاءني٢ بعد ذلك فقال لي: يا ابن أخي، رحمة الله على أبي عبد الله والله ما رأيت أحدًا يشبهه ولقد جعلت أقول له في
