Dalil
العربية

Tarikh (al-Tabari) 2805

Then the year 146 AH began

ثُمَّ دَخَلَتْ سَنَةُ سِتٍّ وَأَرْبَعِينَ وَمِائَةٍ ذِكْرُ انْتِقَالِ الْمَنْصُورِ إِلَى بَغْدَاذ وَكَيْفِيَّةِ بِنَائِهَا   وَفِيهَا فِي صَفَرٍ، تَحَوَّلَ الْمَنْصُورُ مِنْ مَدِينَةِ ابْنِ هُبَيْرَةَ إِلَى بَغْدَاذَ وَبَنَى مَدِينَتَهَا، وَقَدْ ذَكَرْنَا فِي سَنَةِ خَمْسٍ وَأَرْبَعِينَ السَّبَبَ الْبَاعِثَ لِلْمَنْصُورِ عَلَى بِنَاءِ مَدِينَةِ بَغْدَاذَ، وَنَذْكُرُ الْآنَ بِنَاءَهَا. وَلَمَّا عَزَمَ الْمَنْصُورُ عَلَى بِنَاءِ بَغْدَاذَ شَاوَرَ أَصْحَابَهُ، وَكَانَ فِيهِمْ خَالِدُ بْنُ بَرْمَكَ، فَأَشَارَ أَيْضًا بِذَلِكَ، وَهُوَ خَطَّهَا، فَاسْتَشَارَهُ فِي نَقْضِ الْمَدَائِنِ وَإِيوَانِ كِسْرَى وَنَقْلِ نَقْضِهَا إِلَى بَغْدَاذَ، فَقَالَ: لَا أَرَى ذَلِكَ، لِأَنَّهُ عَلَمٌ مِنْ أَعْلَامِ الْإِسْلَامِ يَسْتَدِلُّ بِهِ النَّاظِرُ عَلَى أَنَّهُ لَمْ يَكُنْ لِيُزَالَ مِثْلُ أَصْحَابِهِ عَنْهُ بِأَمْرِ دُنْيَا، وَإِنَّمَا هُوَ عَلَى أَمْرِ دِينٍ، وَمَعَ هَذَا فَفِيهِ مُصَلَّى عَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ. قَالَ الْمَنْصُورُ: لَا، أَبَيْتَ يَا خَالِدُ إِلَّا الْمَيْلَ إِلَى أَصْحَابِكَ الْعَجَمِ ! وَأَمَرَ بِنَقْضِ الْقَصْرِ الْأَبْيَضِ، فَنُقِضَتْ نَاحِيَةٌ مِنْهُ وَحُمِلَ نَقْضُهُ، فَنَظَرَ، فَكَانَ مِقْدَارُ مَا يَلْزَمُهُمْ لَهُ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ ثَمَنِ الْحَدِيدِ. فَدَعَا خَالِدَ بْنَ بَرْمَكَ فَأَعْلَمَهُ ذَلِكَ، فَقَالَ: يَا أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ قَدْ كُنْتُ أَرَى أَنْ لَا تَفْعَلَ، فَأَمَّا إِذْ فَعَلْتَ فَإِنِّي أَرَى أَنْ تَهْدِمَ لِئَلَّا يُقَالَ إِنَّكَ عَجَزْتَ عَنْ هَدْمِ مَا بَنَاهُ غَيْرُكَ. فَأَعْرَضَ عَنْهُ وَتَرَكَ هَدْمَهُ. وَنَقَلَ أَبْوَابَ مَدِينَةِ وَاسِطَ فَجَعَلَهَا عَلَى بَغْدَاذَ، وَبَابًا جِيءَ بِهِ مِنَ الشَّامِ، وَبَابًا آخَرَ جِيءَ بِهِ مِنَ الْكُوفَةِ عَمِلَهُ خَالِدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ الْقَسْرِيُّ، وَجَعَلَ الْمَدِينَةَ مُدَوَّرَةً لِئَلَّا يَكُونَ بَعْضُ النَّاسِ أَقْرَبَ إِلَى السُّلْطَانِ مِنْ بَعْضٍ، وَعَمِلَ لَهَا سُورَيْنِ، السُّورُ الدَّاخِلُ أَعْلَى مِنَ الْخَارِجِ، وَبَنَى قَصْرَهُ فِي وَسَطِهَا، وَالْمَسْجِدَ الْجَامِعَ بِجَانِبِ الْقَصْرِ. وَكَانَ الْحَجَّاجُ بْنُ أَرْطَاةَ هُوَ الَّذِي خَطَّ الْمَسْجِدَ، وَقِبْلَتُهُ غَيْرُ مُسْتَقِيمَةٍ يَحْتَاجُ الْمُصَلِّي أَنْ يَنْحَرِفَ إِلَى بَابِ الْبَصْرَةِ لِأَنَّهُ وُضِعَ بَعْدَ الْقَصْرِ. وَكَانَ الْقَصْرُ غَيْرَ مُسْتَقِيمٍ عَلَى الْقِبْلَةِ. وَكَانَ اللَّبِنُ الَّذِي يُبْنَى بِهِ ذِرَاعًا فِي ذِرَاعٍ، وَوُزِنَ بَعْضُهَا لَمَّا نُقِضَ، وَكَانَ وَزْنُ لَبِنَةٍ مِنْهُ مِائَةَ رَطْلٍ وَسِتَّةَ عَشَرَ رَطْلًا، وَكَانَتْ مَقَاصِيرُ جَمَاعَةٍ مِنْ قُوَّادِ الْمَنْصُورِ وَكُتَّابِهِ تَشْرَعُ أَبْوَابُهَا إِلَى رَحْبَةِ الْجَامِعِ، فَطَلَبَ إِلَيْهِ عَمُّهُ عِيسَى بْنُ عَلِيٍّ أَنْ يَأْذَنَ لَهُ فِي الرُّكُوبِ مِنْ بَابِ الرَّحْبَةِ إِلَى الْقَصْرِ لِضَعْفِهِ، فَلَمْ يَأْذَنْ لَهُ، قَالَ: فَاحْسُبْنِي رَاوِيَةً، فَأَمَرَ النَّاسَ بِإِخْرَاجِ أَبْوَابِهِمْ مِنَ الرَّحْبَةِ إِلَى فُصْلَانِ الطَّاقَاتِ. وَكَانَتِ الْأَسْوَاقُ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ، فَجَاءَ رَسُولٌ لِمَلِكِ الرُّومِ، فَأَمَرَ الرَّبِيعَ فَطَافَ بِهِ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ، فَقَالَ: كَيْفَ رَأَيْتَ ؟ قَالَ: رَأَيْتُ بِنَاءً حَسَنًا إِلَّا أَنِّي رَأَيْتُ أَعْدَاءَكَ مَعَكَ وَهُمُ السُّوقَةُ. فَلَمَّا عَادَ الرَّسُولُ عَنْهُ أَمَرَ بِإِخْرَاجِهِمْ إِلَى نَاحِيَةِ الْكَرْخِ. وَقِيلَ: إِنَّمَا أَخْرَجَهُمْ لِأَنَّ الْغُرَبَاءَ يَطْرُقُونَهَا وَيَبِيتُونَ فِيهَا، وَرُبَّمَا كَانَ فِيهِمُ الْجَاسُوسُ. وَقِيلَ: إِنَّ الْمَنْصُورَ كَانَ يَتْبَعُ مَنْ خَرَجَ مَعَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، وَكَانَ أَبُو زَكَرِيَّاءَ يَحْيَى بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، مُحْتَسِبُ بَغْدَاذَ، لَهُ مَعَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ مَيْلٌ، فَجَمَعَ جَمَاعَةً مِنَ السَّفَلَةِ فَشَغَبُوا عَلَى الْمَنْصُورِ، فَسَكَّنَهُمْ وَأَخَذَ أَبَا زَكَرِيَّاءَ فَقَتَلَهُ، وَأَخْرَجَ الْأَسْوَاقَ، فَكُلِّمَ فِي بَقَّالٍ، فَأَمَرَ أَنْ يُجْعَلَ فِي كُلِّ رُبْعٍ بَقَّالٌ يَبِيعُ الْبَقْلَ وَالْخَلَّ حَسْبُ. وَجُعِلَ الطَّرِيقُ أَرْبَعِينَ ذِرَاعًا. وَكَانَ مِقْدَارُ النَّفَقَةِ عَلَى بِنَائِهَا وَبِنَاءِ الْمَسْجِدِ وَالْقَصْرِ وَالْأَسْوَاقِ  وَالْفُصْلَانِ وَالْخَنَادِقِ وَأَبْوَابِهَا أَرْبَعَةَ آلَافِ أَلْفٍ وَثَمَانِمِائَةٍ وَثَلَاثَةً وَثَلَاثِينَ دِرْهَمًا. وَكَانَ الْأُسْتَاذُ مِنَ الْبَنَّائِينَ يَعْمَلُ يَوْمَهُ بِقِيرَاطِ فِضَّةٍ، وَالرُّوزْكَارِيُّ بِحَبَّتَيْنِ، وَحَاسَبَ الْقُوَّادَ عِنْدَ الْفَرَاغِ مِنْهَا فَأَلْزَمَ كُلًّا مِنْهُمْ بِمَا بَقِيَ عِنْدَهُ فَأَخَذَهُ، حَتَّى إِنَّ خَالِدَ بْنَ الصَّلْتِ بَقِيَ عَلَيْهِ خَمْسَةَ عَشَرَ دِرْهَمًا فَحَبَسَهُ وَأَخَذَهَا مِنْهُ. ذِكْرُ مَا وَرَدَ فِي ذِكْرِ مَدِينَةِ بَغْدَادَ مِنَ الْآثَارِ،  وَالتَّنْبِيهُ عَلَى ضَعْفِ مَا رُوِيَ فِيهَا مِنَ الْأَخْبَارِ فِيهَا أَرْبَعُ لُغَاتٍ، بَغْدَادُ وَبَغْدَاذُ بِإِهْمَالِ الذَّالِ الثَّانِيَةِ وَإِعْجَامِهَا، وَبَغْدَانُ بِالنُّونِ آخِرَهُ، وَبِالْمِيمِ مَعَ ذَلِكَ أَوَّلًا مَغْدَانُ، وَهِيَ كَلِمَةٌ أَعْجَمِيَّةٌ، قِيلَ: إِنَّهَا مُرَكَّبَةٌ مِنْ بَغْ وَدَاذَ، فَقِيلَ: بَغْ بُسْتَانٌ، وَدَاذُ اسْمُ رَجُلٍ. وَقِيلَ: بَغِ اسْمُ صَنَمٍ - وَقِيلَ: شَيْطَانٌ - وَدَاذُ: عَطِيَّةٌ. أَيْ عَطِيَّةُ الصَّنَمِ، وَلِهَذَا كَرِهَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ الْمُبَارَكِ وَالْأَصْمَعِيُّ وَغَيْرُهُمَا تَسْمِيَتَهَا بَغْدَاذَ، وَإِنَّمَا يُقَالُ لَهَا: مَدِينَةُ السَّلَامِ. وَكَذَا سَمَّاهَا بَانِيهَا أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ الْمَنْصُورُ; لِأَنَّ دِجْلَةَ كَانَ يُقَالُ لَهَا: وَادِي السَّلَامِ. وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يُسَمِّيهَا الزَّوْرَاءَ، وَهُوَ لَقَبٌ لَهَا. فَصْلٌ فِي ذِكْرِ مَحَاسِنِ بَغْدَادَ وَمَا رُوِيَ فِيهَا عَنِ الْأَئِمَّةِ النُّقَّادِ   قَالَ يُونُسُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الْأَعْلَى الصَّدَفِيُّ الْمِصْرِيُّ: قَالَ لِي الشَّافِعِيُّ: هَلْ رَأَيْتَ بَغْدَادَ؟ قُلْتُ: لَا. فَقَالَ: لَمْ تَرَ الدُّنْيَا. وَعَنِ الشَّافِعِيِّ قَالَ: مَا دَخَلْتُ بَلَدًا قَطُّ إِلَّا عَدَدْتُهُ سَفَرًا، إِلَّا بَغْدَادَ فَإِنِّي حِينَ دَخَلْتُهَا عَدَدْتُهَا وَطَنًا. وَقَالَ بَعْضُهُمْ: الدُّنْيَا بَادِيَةٌ، وَبَغْدَادُ حَاضِرَتُهَا. وَقَالَ ابْنُ عُلَيَّةَ: مَا رَأَيْتُ أَعْقَلَ فِي طَلَبِ الْحَدِيثِ مِنْ أَهْلِ بَغْدَادَ وَلَا أَحْسَنَ رَغْبَةً. وَقَالَ ابْنُ مُجَاهِدٍ: رَأَيْتُ أَبَا عَمْرٍو ابْنَ الْعَلَاءِ فِي النَّوْمِ فَقُلْتُ: مَا فَعَلَ اللَّهُ بِكَ؟ فَقَالَ لِي: دَعْنِي مِنْ هَذَا، مَنْ أَقَامَ بِبَغْدَادَ عَلَى السُّنَّةِ وَالْجَمَاعَةِ وَمَاتَ، نُقِلَ مِنْ جَنَّةٍ إِلَى جَنَّةٍ. وَقَالَ أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ عَيَّاشٍ: الْإِسْلَامُ بِبَغْدَادَ، وَإِنَّهَا لَصَيَّادَةٌ تَصِيدُ الرِّجَالَ، وَمَنْ لَمْ يَرَهَا لَمْ يَرَ الدُّنْيَا. وَقَالَ أَبُو مُعَاوِيَةَ: بَغْدَادُ دَارُ دُنْيَا وَآخِرَةٍ. وَقَالَ بَعْضُهُمْ: مِنْ مَحَاسِنِ الْإِسْلَامِ يَوْمُ الْجُمْعَةِ بِبَغْدَادَ، وَصَلَاةُ التَّرَاوِيحِ بِمَكَّةَ، وَيَوْمُ الْعِيدِ بِطَرَسُوسَ. قَالَ الْخَطِيبُ: مَنْ شَهِدَ الْجُمْعَةَ بِمَدِينَةِ السَّلَامِ عَظَّمَ اللَّهُ فِي قَلْبِهِ مَحَلَّ الْإِسْلَامِ; لِأَنَّ مَشَايِخَنَا كَانُوا يَقُولُونَ: يَوْمُ الْجُمْعَةِ بِبَغْدَادَ كَيَوْمِ الْعِيدِ فِي غَيْرِهَا مِنَ الْبِلَادِ. وَقَالَ بَعْضُهُمْ: كُنْتُ أُوَاظِبُ عَلَى الْجُمْعَةِ بِجَامِعِ الْمَنْصُورِ، فَعَرَضَ لِي شُغْلٌ فَصَلَّيْتُ فِي غَيْرِهِ، فَرَأَيْتُ فِي الْمَنَامِ كَأَنَّ قَائِلًا يَقُولُ لِي: تَرَكْتَ الصَّلَاةَ بِالْجَامِعِ وَإِنَّهُ لَيُصَلِّي بِالْجَامِعِ كُلَّ جُمْعَةٍ سَبْعُونَ وَلِيًّا؟! وَقَالَ آخَرُ: أَرَدْتُ الِانْتِقَالَ مِنْ بَغْدَادَ إِلَى غَيْرِهَا، فَرَأَيْتُ كَأَنَّ قَائِلًا يَقُولُ لِي فِي الْمَنَامِ: أَتَنْتَقِلُ مِنْ بَلَدٍ فِيهِ عَشَرَةُ آلَافِ وَلِيٍّ لِلَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ؟! وَقَالَ بَعْضُهُمْ: رَأَيْتُ كَأَنَّ مَلَكَيْنِ أَتَيَا بَغْدَادَ فَقَالَ أَحَدُهُمَا لِصَاحِبِهِ: اقْلِبْ بِهَا فَقَدْ حَقَّ الْقَوْلُ عَلَيْهَا. فَقَالَ الْآخَرُ: كَيْفَ أَقْلِبُ بِبَلَدٍ خُتِمَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ اللَّيْلَةَ خَمْسَةَ آلَافِ خَتْمَةٍ؟! وَقَالَ أَبُو مُسْهِرٍ، عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الْعَزِيزِ، عَنْ سُلَيْمَانَ بْنِ مُوسَى قَالَ: إِذَا كَانَ عِلْمُ الرَّجُلِ حِجَازِيًّا، وَخُلُقُهُ عِرَاقِيًّا، وَطَاعَتُهُ شَامِيَّةً فَقَدْ كَمُلَ. وَقَالَتْ زُبَيْدَةُ لِمَنْصُورٍ النَّمَرِيِّ: قُلْ شِعْرًا تُحَبِّبُ فِيهِ بَغْدَادَ إِلَى الرَّشِيدِ، فَقَدِ اخْتَارَ سُكْنَى الرَّافِقَةِ. فَقَالَ: مَاذَا بِبَغْدَادَ مِنْ طِيبِ الْأَفَانِينِ وَمِنْ مَنَازِلَ لِلدُّنْيَا وَلِلدِّينِ     تُحْيِي الرِّيَاحُ بِهَا الْمَرْضَى إِذَا نَسَمَتْ وَجَوَّشَتْ بَيْنَ أَغْصَانِ الرَّيَاحِينِ قَالَ: فَأَعْطَتْهُ أَلْفَيْ دِينَارٍ. وَقَالَ الْخَطِيبُ: وَقَرَأْتُ فِي كِتَابِ طَاهِرِ بْنِ مُظَفَّرِ بْنِ طَاهِرٍ الْخَازِنِ بِخَطِّهِ مِنْ شِعْرِهِ: سَقَى اللَّهُ صَوْبَ الْغَادِيَاتِ مَحَلَّةً     بِبَغْدَادَ بَيْنَ الْكَرْخِ فَالْخُلْدِ فَالْجِسْرِ هِيَ الْبَلْدَةُ الْحَسْنَاءُ خُصَّتْ لِأَهْلِهَا     بِأَشْيَاءَ لَمْ يُجْمَعْنَ مُذْ كُنَّ فِي مِصْرِ هَوَاءٌ رَقِيقٌ فِي اعْتِدَالٍ وَصِحَّةٍ     وَمَاءٌ لَهُ طَعْمٌ أَلَذُّ مِنَ الْخَمْرِ وَدِجْلَتُهَا شَطَّانِ قَدْ نُظِمَا لَنَا     بِتَاجٍ إِلَى تَاجٍ وَقَصْرٍ إِلَى قَصْرِ ثَرَاهَا كَمِسْكٍ وَالْمِيَاهُ كَفِضَّةٍ     وَحَصْبَاؤُهَا مِثْلُ الْيَوَاقِيتِ وَالدُّرِّ وَقَدْ أَوْرَدَ الْخَطِيبُ فِي هَذَا أَشْعَارًا كَثِيرَةً، وَفِيمَا ذَكَرْنَا كِفَايَةٌ.

Translation

✧ Then the year 146 AH began Mention of al-Manṣūr's move to Baghdādh and how it was built In this year, in Ṣafar, al-Manṣūr moved from the city of Ibn Hubayrah to Baghdādh and built his city there. We have already mentioned in the year 145 AH the reason that prompted al-Manṣūr to build the city of Baghdādh, and we shall now mention its construction. When al-Manṣūr resolved to build Baghdādh, he consulted his companions, among whom was Khālid b. Barmak, who also advised that, and he it was who laid out its plan. He consulted him about demolishing al-Madāʾin and the īwān of Kisrā and transporting their materials to Baghdādh, but he said: "I do not think that should be done, because it is one of the landmarks of Islam by which the observer may infer that it was not removed from its like by any worldly matter, but rather it is a matter of religion. Moreover, it contains the prayer-place of ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib." Al-Manṣūr said: "No, Khālid, you insist on inclining toward your Persian comrades!" And he ordered the demolition of the White Palace. A section of it was demolished and its materials were transported, but he then considered and found that the cost they would incur for it was greater than the price of the iron. So he summoned Khālid b. Barmak and informed him of that, and he said: "O Commander of the Faithful, I had thought you should not do it; but since you have done it, I think you should demolish it completely, lest it be said that you were unable to demolish what someone else had built." So he turned away from him and left off demolishing it. He transported the gates of the city of Wāsiṭ and set them up on Baghdādh, as well as a gate brought from Syria and another gate brought from Kūfah made by Khālid b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Qasrī. He made the city round so that no one group of people would be closer to the ruler than another. He built for it two walls, the inner wall being higher than the outer one, and he built his palace in its center and the congregational mosque beside the palace. Al-Ḥajjāj b. Arṭāh was the one who laid out the mosque, and its qiblah is not straight: the worshipper needs to turn toward the Basra gate because it was laid out after the palace, and the palace is not aligned correctly with the qiblah. The bricks used in its construction were one cubit by one cubit. Some of them were weighed when it was demolished, and the weight of one brick was one hundred and sixteen raṭls. A number of the commanders and secretaries of al-Manṣūr had enclosures whose doors opened onto the square of the mosque. His paternal uncle ʿĪsā b. ʿAlī asked him to permit him to ride from the gate of the square to the palace because of his weakness, but he did not permit him. He said: "Then reckon me a water-carrier." So he ordered people to move their doors from the square to the arcaded passages. The markets were inside the city. An envoy from the king of the Byzantines came, and al-Manṣūr ordered al-Rabīʿ to take him around the city. Then he said: "How did you find it?" He said: "I saw a fine building, except that I saw your enemies among you, and they are the market people." When the envoy had left him, he ordered that they be moved out to the area of al-Karkh. It is said that he moved them out only because strangers would come to them at night and sleep there, and sometimes there might be a spy among them. It is also said that al-Manṣūr was pursuing those who had gone out with Ibrāhīm b. ʿAbd Allāh, and that Abū Zakariyyāʾ Yaḥyā b. ʿAbd Allāh, the market inspector of Baghdādh, had an inclination toward Ibrāhīm. He gathered a group of the riffraff and they rioted against al-Manṣūr, but he calmed them, seized Abū Zakariyyāʾ, and killed him, and he expelled the markets. He was spoken to about a greengrocer, so he ordered that in each quarter there be one greengrocer selling only vegetables and vinegar. The road was made forty cubits wide. The total expenditure on its construction, including the mosque, the palace, the markets, the arcades, the moats, and its gates, was four million eight hundred and thirty-three thousand dirhams. The master builder worked for a qīrāṭ of silver a day, and the laborer for two ḥabbahs. He settled accounts with the commanders when it was finished, and he required each of them to pay what remained with him and took it. Even Khālid b. al-Ṣalt owed fifteen dirhams, so he imprisoned him and took it from him. Mention of the reports that have come about the city of Baghdād and a note on the weakness of the narrations concerning it It has four linguistic forms: Baghdād and Baghdādh, with the second dhāl unpointed or pointed; Baghdān with a nūn at the end; and with a mīm at the beginning as well, Maghdān. It is a foreign word. It is said to be composed of bagh and dādh: bagh means garden and dādh is a man's name. It is also said: bagh is the name of an idol—or a devil—and dādh means gift, that is, the gift of the idol. For this reason ʿAbd Allāh b. al-Mubārak, al-Aṣmaʿī, and others disliked calling it Baghdādh, and it was to be called only Madīnat al-Salām (the City of Peace). Thus its builder Abū Jaʿfar al-Manṣūr named it, because the Tigris was called Wādī al-Salām (the Valley of Peace). Some call it al-Zawrāʾ, which is a byname for it. A section on the merits of Baghdād and what has been narrated about it from the critical imams Yūnus b. ʿAbd al-Aʿlā al-Ṣadafī al-Miṣrī said: al-Shāfiʿī said to me: "Have you seen Baghdād?" I said: "No." He said: "You have not seen the world." From al-Shāfiʿī, he said: "I have never entered any city without considering it a journey, except Baghdād, for when I entered it I considered it a homeland." One of them said: "The world is a desert, and Baghdād is its capital." Ibn ʿUlayyah said: "I have not seen people more intelligent in seeking ḥadīth than the people of Baghdād, nor better in their desire for it." Ibn Mujāhid said: "I saw Abū ʿAmr b. al-ʿAlāʾ in a dream and said: 'What has God done with you?' He said to me: 'Leave me from this. Whoever dwells in Baghdād upon the Sunnah and the community and dies is transferred from one garden to another.'" Abū Bakr b. ʿAyyāsh said: "Islam is in Baghdād, and it is indeed a huntress that ensnares men; whoever has not seen it has not seen the world." Abū Muʿāwiyah said: "Baghdād is the abode of this world and the next." One of them said: "Among the excellences of Islam are Friday in Baghdād, the tarāwīḥ prayer in Makkah, and the day of the festival in Ṭarsūs." Al-Khaṭīb said: "Whoever attends Friday prayer in the City of Peace, God magnifies in his heart the standing of Islam, because our shaykhs used to say: Friday in Baghdād is like the day of the festival in other lands." One of them said: "I used to attend Friday prayer regularly at the mosque of al-Manṣūr, but some business came up, so I prayed elsewhere. Then I saw in a dream as if someone said to me: 'You have left off praying at the mosque, though seventy saints pray there every Friday?!'" Another said: "I wanted to move from Baghdād to another place, and I saw as if someone said to me in a dream: 'Will you move from a city in which there are ten thousand saints of God, mighty and glorious?!'" One of them said: "I saw as if two angels came to Baghdād, and one of them said to his companion: 'Overturn it, for the word has been deserved against it.' The other said: 'How can I overturn a city in which the Qurʾān was completed five thousand times last night?!'" Abū Mushir said, from Saʿīd b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, from Sulaymān b. Mūsā, he said: "When a man's knowledge is Hijāzī, his character ʿIrāqī, and his obedience Shāmī, then he is complete." Zubaydah said to Manṣūr al-Namarī: "Compose poetry in which you make Baghdād beloved to al-Rashīd, for he has chosen to dwell in al-Rāfiqah." So he said: What is in Baghdād of the fragrance of all kinds, and of dwellings for this world and for religion? The winds revive the sick there when they blow gently and rustle among the branches of the sweet herbs. He said: And she gave him two thousand dinars. Al-Khaṭīb said: I read in the book of Ṭāhir b. Muẓaffar b. Ṭāhir al-Khāzin, in his own handwriting, from his poetry: May God water with the downpour of the morning clouds a place in Baghdād, between al-Karkh, al-Khuld, and the bridge. It is the fair city, singled out for its people with things that have never been combined since they were in Miṣr: an air delicate in its moderation and health, and water whose taste is sweeter than wine, and its Tigris, two banks arranged for us with crown after crown and palace after palace. Its soil is like musk, its waters like silver, and its pebbles like rubies and pearls. Al-Khaṭīb has cited many poems on this subject, and in what we have mentioned there is sufficiency.

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No grade is recorded for this wording.