The first qasamah oath ever sworn took place during the Jahiliyyah, and it concerned us, the clan of Banu Hashim.A man from Banu Hashim was hired by a man from Quraysh, from a different sub-clan, and he set out with him among his camels. A man from Banu Hashim passed by him whose pack-bag's loop had broken, and he said, "Help me with a rope to fasten the loop of my pack-bag, so that the camels do not bolt." So he gave him a rope, and he fastened the loop of his pack-bag with it.When they stopped to rest, all the camels were hobbled except for one. The man who had hired him asked, "Why is this camel not hobbled like the rest?"He replied, "It has no rope.""Where is its rope?" he asked.Then he hurled a stick at him, and his appointed time had come in it.A man from Yemen passed by him, and he said to him, "Will you attend the pilgrimage season?"The man answered, "I do not normally attend, but I might."He said, "Will you ever in your lifetime deliver a message from me?""Yes," he replied.He said, "When you attend the pilgrimage season, call out, 'O people of Quraysh!' When they answer you, call out, 'O people of Banu Hashim!' If they answer you, ask for Abu Talib, and inform him that so-and-so killed me over a rope."The hired man died, and when the man who had hired him returned, Abu Talib came to him and asked, "What happened to our companion?"He said, "He fell ill, and I took good care of him and saw to his burial myself."Abu Talib replied, "He was deserving of that from you."Some time passed. Then the man to whom the message had been entrusted arrived at the pilgrimage season and called out, "O people of Quraysh!"They said, "Here is Quraysh."He called, "O people of Banu Hashim!"They said, "Here is Banu Hashim."He asked, "Where is Abu Talib?"They said, "Here is Abu Talib."He said, "So-and-so charged me to deliver a message to you, that so-and-so killed him over a rope."So Abu Talib went to him and said, "Choose one of three options from us. If you wish, pay one hundred camels, for you killed our companion. If you wish, fifty men from your people will swear that you did not kill him. If you refuse, we will kill you in retaliation for him."The man went to his people, and they said, "We will swear."Then a woman from Banu Hashim, who was married to one of them and had borne him a child, came and said, "Abu Talib, I would like you to excuse this son of mine from being one of the fifty, and do not press his oath where oaths are pressed." So he did.Then a man from them came to him and said, "Abu Talib, you sought fifty men to swear in place of one hundred camels, so that each man's share is two camels. Here are two camels, accept them from me, and do not press my oath where oaths are pressed." So he accepted them.Forty-eight men came forward and swore the oath.Ibn Abbas said, "By Him in whose hand is my soul, before the year had turned, not one of those forty-eight remained with an eye that blinked."
حدثنا أبو معمر حدثنا عبد الوارث حدثنا قطن أبو الهيثم حدثنا أبو يزيد المدني عن عكرمة
إن أول قسامة كانت في الجاهلية لفينا بني هاشم كان رجل من بني هاشم استأجره رجل من قريش من فخذ أخرى فانطلق معه في إبله فمر رجل به من بني هاشم قد انقطعت عروة جوالقه فقال أغثني بعقال أشد به عروة جوالقي لا تنفر الإبل فأعطاه عقالا فشد به عروة جوالقه فلما نزلوا عقلت الإبل إلا بعيرا واحدا فقال الذي استأجره ما شأن هذا البعير لم يعقل من بين الإبل قال ليس له عقال قال فأين عقاله قال فحذفه بعصا كان فيها أجله فمر به رجل من أهل اليمن فقال أتشهد الموسم قال ما أشهد وربما شهدته قال هل أنت مبلغ عني رسالة مرة من الدهر قال نعم قال فكتب إذا أنت شهدت الموسم فناد يا آل قريش فإذا أجابوك فناد يا آل بني هاشم فإن أجابوك فسل عن أبي طالب فأخبره أن فلانا قتلني في عقال ومات المستأجر فلما قدم الذي استأجره أتاه أبو طالب فقال ما فعل صاحبنا قال مرض فأحسنت القيام عليه فوليت دفنه قال قد كان أهل ذاك منك فمكث حينا ثم إن الرجل الذي أوصى إليه أن يبلغ عنه وافى الموسم فقال يا آل قريش قالوا هذه قريش قال يا آل بني هاشم قالوا هذه بنو هاشم قال أين أبو طالب قالوا هذا أبو طالب قال أمرني فلان أن أبلغك رسالة أن فلانا قتله في عقال فأتاه أبو طالب فقال له اختر منا إحدى ثلاث إن شئت أن تؤدي مائة من الإبل فإنك قتلت صاحبنا وإن شئت حلف خمسون من قومك إنك لم تقتله فإن أبيت قتلناك به فأتى قومه فقالوا نحلف فأتته امرأة من بني هاشم كانت تحت رجل منهم قد ولدت له فقالت يا أبا طالب أحب أن تجيز ابني هذا برجل من الخمسين ولا تصبر يمينه حيث تصبر الأيمان ففعل فأتاه رجل منهم فقال يا أبا طالب أردت خمسين رجلا أن يحلفوا مكان مائة من الإبل يصيب كل رجل بعيران هذان بعيران فاقبلهما عني ولا تصبر يميني حيث تصبر الأيمان فقبلهما وجاء ثمانية وأربعون فحلفوا قال ابن عباس فوالذي نفسي بيده ما حال الحول ومن الثمانية وأربعين عين تطرف