صفة أبي تمّام وأخبار أهله

Abū Tammām Described; Stories Told of His Family

١٥٥155

حدّثني عَوْن بن محمّد قال

كان أبو تمّام طُوالًا وكانت فيه تمتمة يسيرة وكان حلو الكلام فصيحًا كأنّ لفظه لفظ الأعراب.

I cite ʿAwn ibn Muḥammad al-Kindī, who said:

Abū Tammām was tall and had a slight stammer. He spoke smoothly and eloquently like the Bedouin.

١٥٦156

حدّثني عليّ بن الحسن الكاتب قال

رأيت أبا تمّام وأنا صبيّ صغير فكان أسمر طُوالًا.

I cite ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan al-Kātib, who said:

When I was a boy, I saw Abū Tammām—he was dark-skinned and tall.

١٥٧157

حدّثني أحمد بن يزيد المُهَلَّبيّ قال

كنت جالسًا مع ابن عَتّاب فمرّ بنا رجل من الكتّاب فجلس إلينا وكان فصيحًا مليح الحديث فأطال معنا ثمّ قام فقال لي ابن عتّاب ما رأيت رجلًا أشبه لفظًا بأبي تمّام من هذا إلّا حُبْسة قليلة كانت في لسان أبي تمّام.

I cite Aḥmad ibn Yazīd al-Muhallabī, who said:

I was sitting with Ibn ʿAttāb when a scribe passed by and joined us. He was articulate, his conversation delightful. He stayed for quite a while, and then got up and left.

“I have never before met anyone who speaks more like Abū Tammām,” Ibn ʿAttāb said to me, “though he does not have Abū Tammām’s slight stammer.”

١٥٨158

حدّثني عبد الله بن عبد الله قال

كان لأبي تمّام أخ يقال له سَهْم وكان يقول الشعر فمن شعره [الطويل]

وَنَازَعْتُهُ شَيْئًا إِلَيْهِ مُبَغَّضًا	فَلَمَّا رَأَى وَجْدِي بِهِ صَارَ يَعْشَقُهْ
فَدَعْهُ وَلَا تَحْزَنْ عَلَى فَائِزٍ بِهِ	فَإِنَّ جَدِيدَاتِ ٱللَّيَالِي سَتُخْلِقُهْ

I cite ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh, who said:

Abū Tammām had a brother by the name of Sahm, who also composed poetry. This is an example:

I vied with him for something he had been taught to abhor,

but when he saw my passion for him⁴³⁴ he came to love it.

Let him be! Don’t grieve with envy should someone else win him:

he will be worn out by the ever-changing nights.

١٥٩159

حدّثني سوَّار بن أبي شراعة قال حدّثني البحتريّ قال

كان لأبي تمّام أخ يقال له سَهْم وكان يقول شعرًا دونًا فجاء إلى أبي تمّام يستميحه فقال له والله ما يفضل عنّي شيء ولكنّي أحتال لك فكتب إلى يحيى بن عبد الله بقصيدة أوّلها [الكامل]

إِحْدَى بَنِي بَكْرِ بِنْ عَبْدِ مَنَاهِ

بَيْنَ ٱلْكَثِيبِ ٱلْفَرْدِ فَٱلْأمْوَاهِ

فقال فيها

سَهْمُ بْنُ أَوْسٍ فِي ضَمَانِكَ وَاثِقٌ١	أنْ لَسْتَ بِٱلنَّاسِي وَلَا بِٱلسَّاهِي
أَجْزِلْ لَهُ ٱلْحَظَّيْنِ مِنْكَ وَكُنْ لَهُ	رُكْنًا عَلَى ٱلْأَيَّامِ لَيْسَ بِوَاهِي
بِوِلَايَتَيْنِ وِلايَةٍ مَشْهُورَةٍ	فِي كُورَةٍ وَوِلَايَةٍ بِالجَاهِ
هُوَ فِي ٱلْغِنَى غَرْسِي وَغَرْسُكَ فِي ٱلْعُلَا	أَنَّى أَرَدْتَ وَأَنْتَ غَرْسُ ٱللهِ

١ ا: واثقًا.

I cite Sawwār ibn Abī Shurāʿah, who cites al-Buḥturī as follows:

Abū Tammām had a brother called Sahm who composed mediocre verse. He came to Abū Tammām and asked him for a gift. “By God,” Abū Tammām said, “I have nothing to spare, but I will come up with a plan.”⁴³⁵ He wrote a poem to Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd Allāh.⁴³⁶ It begins:

A woman of the tribe of Bakr ibn ʿAbd Manāt⁴³⁷

between the single dune and the watering holes. . .

In the poem he said:

Sahm ibn Aws trusts that you vouch

not to overlook or forget anyone.

Lavish on him both your fortunes,

be his unyielding defence against Time

In both your spheres of power: one your territory,

which all acknowledge, the other conferred by your high rank.

In wealth Sahm is my protégé, and in high station yours.

Whatever you decide, you are the protégé of God.⁴³⁸

١٦٠160

حدّثني أحمد بن إسماعيل قال حدّثني أبو سَهْل الرازيّ قال

لمّا ولي محمّد بن طاهر خراسان دخل الناس لتهنئته فكان فيهم تمّام بن أبي تمّام الطائيّ فأنشده [الكامل]

هَنَّاكَ رَبُّ ٱلنَّاسِ هَنَّاكَا	مَا مِنْ جَزِيلِ ٱلْمُلْكِ أَعْطَاكَا
قَرَّتْ بِمَا أُعْطِيتَ يَا ذَا ٱلْحِجَى	وَٱلْبَاسِ وَٱلْإنْعَامِ عَيْنَاكَا
أَشْرَقَتِ ٱلْأَرْضُ بِمَا نِلْتَهُ	وَأَوْرَقَ ٱلْعُودُ لِنَجْوَاكَا

فاستضعفت الجماعة شعره وقالوا يا بُعدَ ما بينه وبين أبيه. فقال محمّد لعبد الله بن إسحاق وكان يعرّفه الناس وهو على أَمره قل لبعض شعرائنا أجِبْه فغمز رجلًا في المجلس فأقبل على تمّام فقال [الكامل]

حَيَّاكَ رَبُّ ٱلنَّاسِ حَيَّاكَا	إِنَّ ٱلَّذِي أَمَّلْتَ أَخْطَاكَا
مَدَحْتَ خِرْقًا مُنْهِبًا مَالَهُ	وَلَوْ رَأَى مَدْحًا لَوَاسَاكَا
فَهَاكَ إِنْ شِئْتَ بِهَا مِدْحَةً	مِثْلَ ٱلَّذِي أَعْطَيْتَ أَعْطَاكَا

فقال تمّام أعزّ الله الأمير إنّ الشعر بالشعر رِبًا فاجعل بينهما رَضْخًا من دراهم حتّى يحلّ لي ولك. فضحك محمّد وقال إن لم يكن معه شعر أبيه فمعه ظرف أبيه أعطوه ثلاثة آلاف درهم. فقال عبد الله بن إسحاق ولقول أبيه في الأمير عبد الله بن طاهر [البسيط]

أمَطْلِعَ ٱلشَّمْسِ تَنْوِي أَنْ تَؤُمَّ بِنَا

فَقُلْتُ كَلَّا وَلٰكِنْ مَطْلِعَ ٱلْجُودِ

ثلاثة آلاف أخرى. قال ويعطى ذلك.

I cite Aḥmad ibn Ismāʿīl, who cites Abū Sahl al-Rāzī, who said:

The people came to congratulate Muḥammad ibn Ṭāhir when he was appointed governor of Khurasan. Abū Tammām’s son, Tammām, was one of them and he recited these verses to Muḥammad:

May the Lord of Mankind⁴³⁹ let you enjoy, let you enjoy

the bountiful realm He has given you!

May what you have been given be pleasing to your eyes,

you sagacious, brave, and generous man!

May the earth shine with your achievements,

and may your whispered secrets make the wood of the pulpit sprout leaves.⁴⁴⁰

The assembled company thought Tammām’s poem weak. “A far cry from his father!” they said. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Isḥāq, who was in the governor’s service, had told him who everyone was. “Tell one of our poets to respond to him!” Muḥammad instructed him. ʿAbd Allāh winked at one of the men present. He stepped forward and delivered the following verses to Tammām:

May the Lord of Mankind greet you, greet you!

Your expectations have failed you.

You praised a leader who gives his wealth as spoils

and would give you a share of it, if he could spot any praise.

Take this as your praise if you like;

he has given you what you gave him.

“God support the Commander,” Tammām said. “This poem is payment of interest on my poem. Throw in a few dirhams, so that the interest becomes lawful⁴⁴¹ for both of us.”

“He may not have his father’s gift for poetry, but he certainly has his panache,” Muḥammad laughed and gave him three thousand dirhams. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Isḥāq chimed in, “And another three thousand dirhams for this verse by his father about Commander ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṭāhir:

‘Are you taking us to where the sun rises?’

‘No,’ I replied, ‘to the place where generosity rises.’”⁴⁴²

Tammām received it all.⁴⁴³