I make a statement and he condemns it? People will have to choose sides. And if there’s one thing I hate, it’s conflict.”
“Let me go and see for myself,” said the man.
“You go ahead,” said al-Maʾmūn.
So the man traveled to Wāsiṭ, where he found Yazīd in his mosque and sat down with him.
“Yazīd,” said the man, “the caliph sends his regards and wants you to know that he intends to declare that the Qurʾan is created.”
“You’re lying,” said Yazīd. “The caliph would never force people to take a position they don’t understand or accept. If you want to see for yourself, come back when the study circle gathers. When everyone’s here, you can tell them what you told me.”
The next day the man waited for the people to gather and then said, “God be pleased with you, Yazīd! The caliph sends his regards and wants you to know that he intends to declare that the Qurʾan is created. What do you have to say about that?”
“You’re lying,” said Yazīd. “The caliph would never force people to take a position they don’t understand or accept, and that no one has ever believed in before.”
So the man came back and said to the caliph, “You were right! Here’s what happened,” and told the story.
“Now do you see?” said al-Maʾmūn. “He played you perfectly.”
الباب السابع والستون
في ذكر قصّته مع المأمون
Chapter 67
His Experience with al-Maʾmūn54
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قال العلماء بالسِّير: كتب المأمون وهو بالرَّقّة إلى إسحاق بن إبراهيم وهو صاحب الشرطة ببغداد بامتحان الناس فامتحنهم.
According to his biographers, al-Maʾmūn sent a letter from al-Raqqah55 to the chief of the Baghdad police, Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm, telling him to put the community to the test, which he did.
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أخبرنا المحمّدان: ابن ناصر وابن عبد الباقي قالا: أخبرنا حَمْد بن أحمد قال: أخبرنا أبو نُعَيم أحمد بن عبد الله قال: حدثنا محمّد بن جعفر وعلي بن أحمد قالا: حدثنا محمّد بن إسماعيل بن أحمد، وأخبرنا هِبة الله بن الحسين بن الحاسب قال: أخبرنا الحسن بن أحمد بن١ البَنّا قال: أخبرنا أبو الفتح بن أبي الفَوارس قال: أخبرنا أحمد بن جعفر بن سَلْم قال: حدثنا عمر بن محمّد بن عيسى الجَوْهَري قالا:
حدثنا صالح بن أحمد بن حنبل قال: سمعتُ أبي يقول: لما أُدخلنا على إسحاق بن إبراهيم للمحنة قُرئ علينا كتابُ الذي صار إلى طَرَسوس – يعني المأمون – فكان فيما قُرئ علينا {ليسَ كمِثْلِه شَيء} و{هُوَ خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ} فقلت: {وهو السميعُ البَصير}.
قال صالح: ثم امتحن القوم فوجّه بمن امتنع إلى الحبس فأجاب القوم جميعًا غير أربعة: أبي ومحمّد بن نوح وعُبيد الله بن عمر القَواريري والحسن بن حمّاد سَجّادة. ثم أجاب عُبيد الله بن عمر والحسن بن حماد وبقي أبي ومحمّد بن نوح في الحبس فمكثا٢ أيّامًا في الحبس ثمّ ورد الكتاب من طرسوس بحملهما فحُملا مُقيَّدين زميلَيْن.
١ ليس في هـ. ٢ د: فمكث.
We cite the two Muḥammads, Ibn Nāṣir and Ibn ʿAbd al-Bāqī, who cite Ḥamd ibn Aḥmad, who cites Abū Nuʿaym Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh, who heard Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar and ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad report that they heard Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Aḥmad; and we cite Hibat Allāh ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Ḥāsib, who cites al-Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Bannā, who cites Abū l-Fatḥ ibn Abī l-Fawāris, who cites Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar ibn Salm, who heard ʿUmar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā l-Jawharī, who along with Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Aḥmad heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal’s son Ṣāliḥ report:
[Ṣāliḥ:] I heard my father say, “When they took us in to be questioned by Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm, the first thing they did was to read aloud the letter written by the one in Tarsus”—that is, al-Maʾmūn.56 “They recited some verses to us, including «Nothing is like Him»57 and «He is the creator of everything.»58 When I heard ‘Nothing is like Him,’ I recited «He is the One who hears and sees.»59
“Then those present were put to the test. Those who withheld their assent were taken away and locked up. Of them all, only four resisted. Their names are Muḥammad ibn Nuḥ; ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar al-Qawārīrī; al-Ḥasan ibn Ḥammād, called Sajjādah; and my father. Later ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar and al-Ḥasan ibn Ḥammād gave in too, leaving only Muḥammad ibn Nūḥ and my father in confinement. There they stayed until, several days later, a letter arrived from Tarsus ordering the two of them to be transported there. They were duly sent, shackled one to the other.”
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أخبرنا المحمّدان ابن ناصر وابن عبد الباقي قالا: أخبرنا حمد بن أحمد قال: أخبرنا أبو نعيم الحافظ قال: حدثنا سليمان بن أحمد، وأخبرنا ابن ناصر قال: أنبأنا أبو عليّ الحسن بن أحمد قال: أخبرنا عليّ بن أحمد بن عمر الحَمّامي قال: أخبرنا ابن الصوّاف قالا: حدثنا عبد الله بن أحمد بن حنبل قال:
حدثني أبو مَعْمَر القَطِيعي قال: لما حضرنا في
