Bashir b. Jadhlam
Bashīr b. Jadhlam (Arabic: بشیر بن جذلم) was a companion of Imam al-Sajjad (a) and a poet in the early Islamic period. When the caravan of the Captives of Karbala were returning from Syria to Medina, Bashir went to Medina before the caravan's arrival at the command of Imam al-Sajjad (a), letting people know about the caravan.
Biography
In books of history, his name is written in different ways: "Bishr b. Jadhlam", "Bashir b. Jadhlam", "Bishr b. Hadhlam", and "Bashir b. Hadhlam".[1] There is no information about his life. His father was a poet, and he himself composed poems too.[2]
Accompaniment of the Captives of Karbala
In Ahl al-Bayt's (a) procession from Syria to Medina, Bashir accompanied them, but it is not known why he was with them. Before the caravan's arrival in Medina, he was commissioned by Imam al-Sajjad (a) to go to Medina ahead of the caravan, letting them know of the martyrdom of Abu Abd Allah and the arrival of the caravan of Ahl al-Bayt (a). Thus, he went to Medina and gave people the news of Imam al-Husayn's (a) martyrdom in al-Masjid al-Nabawi with the following two verses:
O people of Yathrib, there is no standing for you in here
Al-Husayn was murdered, so shed tears
His torso lies in blood in Karbala
And his head is moved around on top of a spear[3]
Bashir informed people that Imam al-Sajjad (a) and other Ahl al-Bayt (a) are settled outside the city. Bashir says about that day: "upon hearing the news, all women in Medina poured out of their homes and cried. Such a number of crying men and women were never seen before, and after the demise of the Prophet (s) there was no day bitterer than this day for Muslims."[4]
Notes
References
- Amīn, Sayyid Muḥsin al-. Aʿyān al-Shīʿa. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Wafāʾ, 1371 AH.
- Bayḍūn, Labīb al-. Mawsūʿat Karbalāʾ. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, [n.d].
- Ibn Ṭāwūs. Al-Malhūf ʿalā qatla l-ṭufūf. Qom: Dār al-ʾUswa, 1417 AH.
- Shubbar, Sayyid Jawād al-. Adab al-ṭaff. Najaf: Dār al-Murṭaḍā, [n.d].