Tarikh (al-Tabari) 15
Creation of the heavens and the earth
ذِكْرُ الْقِلَاعِ إِنَّمَا اتَّخَذَ الْمُلُوكَ وَالْجَبَّارُونَ الْقِلَاعَ لِتَعْصِمَهُمْ مِنَ الْأَعْدَاءِ، وَهِيَ أَكْثَرُ مِنْ أَنْ تُحْصَى. قَالَ أَبُو الْحُسَيْنِ ابْنُ الْمُنَادِي: وَمِنْ أَعْجَبِهَا بُنْيَانًا وَأَمْنَعُهَا قَلْعَةُ مَارْدِينَ، فَإِنَّهَا أُسِّسَتْ عَلَى مُصَابَرَةِ الطَّالِبِ أَرْبَعِينَ عَامًا فَلَوْ نَزَلَ عَلَيْهَا مَلِكٌ بِجَيْشِهِ هَذَا الْمِقْدَارَ لَمَا افْتَتَحَهَا لِأَنَّهُ يُدَّخَرُ فِيهَا قُوتُ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً وَلَا يَتَغَيَّرُ، وَتَسَعُ بُيُوتُهَا وَمَنَارَاتُهَا مِنَ الْمُدَّخَرِ هُوَ أَكْثَرُ مِقْدَارًا مِنْ ذَلِكَ، وَفِيهَا مِنَ الْعُيُونِ الْعَذْبَةِ عَشَرَاتٌ كَثِيرَةٌ. وَقَلْعَةُ بَعْلَبَكَّ، وَقَلْعَةُ تَدْمُرَ، وَقَلْعَةُ فَامِيَةَ، وَقَلْعَةُ الشُّوشِ بِالْأَهْوَازِ، وَهُمَا قَلْعَتَانِ إِحْدَاهُمَا فَوْقَ الْأُخْرَى، وَمِثْلُهَا قَلْعَةُ السُّوسِ الْأَقْصَى عَلَى بِنَائِهَا، وَبِبِلَادِ الرُّومِ حُصُونٌ وَقِلَاعٌ كَثِيرَةٌ، وَبِبِلَادِ أَرْمِينِيَّةَ مِنَ الْقِلَاعِ وَالْحُصُونِ أُلُوفٌ أَحْصَنُهَا قَلْعَةُ مَلِيحٍ الْكَبِيرِ، وَبِخُرَاسَانَ وَسِجِسْتَانَ وَبِلَادِ الْمَشْرِقِ قِلَاعٌ عَلَى جِبَالٍ شَوَامِخَ كَثِيرَةُ الْعَدَدِ، وَهُنَالِكَ قَلْعَةُ سُلَيْمَانَ. قَالَ الْحَسَنُ: كَانَ سُلَيْمَانُ يَغْدُو مِنْ جِبَالِ بَيْتِ الْمَقْدِسِ فَيُقِيلُ بِإِصْطَخْرَ ثُمَّ يَرُوحُ مِنْ إِصْطَخْرَ فَيَبِيتُ بِقَلْعَةِ خُرَاسَانَ يُقَالُ لَهَا قَلْعَةُ سُلَيْمَانَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ.
Translation
✧ Mention of the fortresses Kings and tyrants only took fortresses to protect them from enemies, and they are too many to count. Abū al-Ḥusayn b. al-Munādī said: Among the most wondrous of them in construction and the most impregnable is the fortress of Mārdīn, for it was founded to withstand a besieger for forty years. If a king descended upon it with his army for that duration, he would not conquer it, because provisions for forty years are stored in it and do not spoil, and its houses and larders can hold stored amounts greater than that, and in it are many tens of sweet springs. And the fortress of Baʿlabakk, the fortress of Tadmur, the fortress of Fāmiyah, and the fortress of al-Shūsh in al-Ahwāz, which are two fortresses one above the other, and similar to it is the fortress of al-Sūs al-Aqṣā in its construction. In the lands of the Byzantines there are many strongholds and fortresses, and in the lands of Armenia there are thousands of fortresses and strongholds, the most impregnable of which is the fortress of Malīḥ al-Kabīr. In Khurāsān, Sijistān, and the lands of the East there are numerous fortresses on lofty mountains, and there is the fortress of Sulaymān. Al-Ḥasan said: Sulaymān would set out in the morning from the mountains of Bayt al-Maqdis and take his midday rest in Iṣṭakhr, then depart from Iṣṭakhr and spend the night at the fortress of Khurāsān called the fortress of Sulaymān ﷺ.
Grades by grader
No grade is recorded for this wording.