Tarikh (al-Tabari) 1938
The caliphate of ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb
قِصَّةُ السَّدِّ ذَكَرَ ابْنُ جَرِيرٍ بِسَنَدِهِ أَنَّ شَهْرَبْرَازَ قَالَ لِعَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ رَبِيعَةَ لَمَّا قَدِمَ عَلَيْهِ حِينَ وَصَلَ إِلَى الْبَابِ، وَأَرَاهُ رَجُلًا فَقَالَ شَهْرَبْرَازُ: أَيُّهَا الْأَمِيرُ إِنَّ هَذَا الرَّجُلَ كُنْتُ بَعَثْتُهُ نَحْوَ السَّدِّ، وَزَوَّدْتُهُ مَالًا جَزِيلًا، وَكَتَبْتُ لَهُ إِلَى الْمُلُوكِ الَّذِينَ يَلُونِي، وَبَعَثْتُ لَهُمْ هَدَايَا، وَسَأَلْتُ مِنْهُمْ أَنْ يَكْتُبُوا لَهُ إِلَى مَنْ يَلِيهِمْ مِنَ الْمُلُوكِ حَتَّى يَنْتَهِيَ إِلَى سَدِّ ذِي الْقَرْنَيْنِ، فَيَنْظُرَ إِلَيْهِ وَيَأْتِيَنَا بِخَبَرِهِ. فَسَارَ حَتَّى انْتَهَى إِلَى الْمَلِكِ الَّذِي السَّدُّ فِي أَرْضِهِ، فَبَعَثَهُ إِلَى عَامِلِهِ مِمَّا يَلِي السَّدَّ، فَبَعَثَ مَعَهُ بَازْيَارِهْ وَمَعَهُ عُقَابُهُ، فَلَمَّا انْتَهَوْا إِلَى السَّدِّ إِذَا جَبَلَانِ بَيْنَهُمَا سَدٌّ مَسْدُودٌ، حَتَّى ارْتَفَعَ عَلَى الْجَبَلَيْنِ، وَإِذَا دُونَ السَّدِّ خَنْدَقٌ أَشَدُّ سَوَادًا مِنَ اللَّيْلِ لِبُعْدِهِ، فَنَظَرَ إِلَى ذَلِكَ كُلِّهِ وَتَفَرَّسَ فِيهِ، ثُمَّ لَمَّا هَمَّ بِالِانْصِرَافِ قَالَ لَهُ الْبَازْيَارِ: عَلَى رِسْلِكَ. ثُمَّ شَرَحَ بَضْعَةَ لَحْمٍ مَعَهُ فَأَلْقَاهَا فِي ذَلِكَ الْوَادِي، وَانْقَضَّ عَلَيْهَا الْعُقَابُ. فَقَالَ: إِنْ أَدْرَكَهَا فِي الْهَوَاءِ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَقَعَ فَلَا شَيْءَ، وَإِنْ لَمْ يُدْرِكْهَا حَتَّى تَقَعَ، فَذَلِكَ شَيْءٌ. قَالَ: فَلَمْ يُدْرِكْهَا حَتَّى وَقَعَتْ فِي أَسْفَلِهِ وَأَتْبَعَهَا الْعُقَابُ فَأَخْرَجَهَا، فَإِذَا فِيهَا يَاقُوتَةٌ، وَهِيَ هَذِهِ. ثُمَّ نَاوَلَهَا الْمَلِكُ شَهْرَبْرَازُ لِعَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ رَبِيعَةَ، فَنَظَرَ إِلَيْهَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ ثُمَّ رَدَّهَا إِلَيْهِ، فَلَمَّا رَدَّهَا إِلَيْهِ فَرِحَ وَقَالَ: وَاللَّهِ لَهَذِهِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ مَمْلَكَةِ هَذِهِ الْمَدِينَةِ - يَعْنِي مَدِينَةَ بَابِ الْأَبْوَابِ الَّتِي هُوَ فِيهَا - وَوَاللَّهِ لَأَنْتُمْ أَحَبُّ إِلَيَّ مِلْكَةً مِنْ آلِ كِسْرَى، وَلَوْ كُنْتُ فِي سُلْطَانِهِمْ ثُمَّ بَلَغَهُمْ خَبَرُهَا لَانْتَزَعُوهَا مِنِّي، وَايْمُ اللَّهِ لَا يَقُومُ لَكُمْ شَيْءٌ مَا وَفَّيْتُمْ وَوَفَّى مَلِكُكُمُ الْأَكْبَرُ. ثُمَّ أَقْبَلَ عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ رَبِيعَةَ عَلَى الرَّسُولِ الَّذِي ذَهَبَ عَلَى السَّدِّ فَقَالَ: مَا حَالُ هَذَا الرَّدْمِ ؟ يَعْنِي: مَا صِفَتُهُ ؟ - فَأَشَارَ إِلَى ثَوْبٍ فِي زُرْقَةٍ وَحُمْرَةٍ؛ فَقَالَ: مِثْلُ هَذَا. فَقَالَ رَجُلٌ لِعَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ: صَدَقَ وَاللَّهِ؛ لَقَدْ نَفَذَ وَرَأَى. فَقَالَ: أَجَلْ، وَصَفَ صِفَةَ الْحَدِيدِ وَالصُّفْرِ، قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: آتُونِي زُبَرَ الْحَدِيدِ حَتَّى إِذَا سَاوَى بَيْنَ الصَّدَفَيْنِ قَالَ انْفُخُوا حَتَّى إِذَا جَعَلَهُ نَارًا قَالَ آتُونِي أُفْرِغْ عَلَيْهِ قِطْرًا. [ الْكَهْفِ: 96 ] وَقَدْ ذَكَرَ الْبُخَارِيُّ فِي " صَحِيحِهِ " تَعْلِيقًا أَنَّ رَجُلًا قَالَ لِلنَّبِيِّ، ﷺ، رَأَيْتُ السَّدَّ. فَقَالَ: " كَيْفَ رَأَيْتَهُ ؟ " قَالَ: مِثْلَ الْبُرْدِ الْمُحَبَّرِ. فَقَالَ: " رَأَيْتَهُ ". قَالُوا: ثُمَّ قَالَ عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ رَبِيعَةَ لِشَهْرَبْرَازَ: كَمْ كَانَتْ هَدِيَّتُكَ ؟ قَالَ: قِيمَةَ مِائَةِ أَلْفٍ فِي بِلَادِي، وَثَلَاثَةِ آلَافِ أَلْفٍ فِي تِلْكَ الْبُلْدَانِ.
Translation
✧ The Story of the Dam Ibn Jarīr mentioned with his chain of transmission that Shahrabarāz said to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Rabīʿah when he came to him upon arriving at the Gate, and he showed him a man. Shahrabarāz said: O commander, I had sent this man toward the dam, and I provided him with abundant wealth, and I wrote for him to the kings who come after me, and I sent them gifts, and I asked them to write for him to the kings who come after them until he reached the dam of Dhū al-Qarnayn, so that he might look at it and bring us its news. He traveled until he reached the king in whose land the dam is, and he sent him to his governor in the vicinity of the dam, and he sent with him his falconer with his eagle. When they reached the dam, there were two mountains with a dam built between them, so that it rose above the two mountains, and before the dam there was a trench blacker than the night because of its depth. He looked at all of that and examined it closely. Then when he was about to leave, the falconer said to him: At your leisure. Then he cut a piece of meat he had with him and threw it into that valley, and the eagle swooped down upon it. He said: If it catches it in the air before it lands, then it is nothing, but if it does not catch it until it lands, then that is something. He said: It did not catch it until it landed at its bottom, and the eagle followed it and brought it out, and in it was a ruby, and it is this one. Then the king Shahrabarāz handed it to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Rabīʿah, and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān looked at it and then returned it to him. When he returned it to him, he rejoiced and said: By Allah, this is better than the kingdom of this city—meaning the city of Bāb al-Abwāb in which he was—and by Allah, you are dearer to me as possessors than the house of Kisrā, and if I were under their authority and news of it reached them, they would seize it from me. And by the oath of Allah, nothing will withstand you as long as you remain faithful and your greatest king remains faithful. Then ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Rabīʿah turned to the messenger who had gone to the dam and said: What is the condition of this barrier?—meaning: what is its description?—He pointed to a garment of blue and red, and said: Like this. A man said to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān: By Allah, he has spoken truly; he has indeed penetrated and seen. He said: Yes, he described the appearance of iron and brass. Allah, exalted be He, said: “Bring me blocks of iron” until, when he had leveled it between the two mountain sides, he said, “Blow,” until, when he had made it fire, he said, “Bring me molten copper to pour over it.” [Al-Kahf: 96] Al-Bukhārī mentioned in his Ṣaḥīḥ in a suspended report that a man said to the Prophet ﷺ: I saw the dam. He said: “How did you see it?” He said: Like the striped Yemeni cloak. He said: “You have seen it.” They said: Then ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Rabīʿah said to Shahrabarāz: How much was your gift? He said: Its value was one hundred thousand in my lands, and three thousand thousand in those lands.
Grades by grader
No grade is recorded for this wording.