Tarikh (al-Tabari) 3708
The affair of al-Husayn b. Hamdan
بِنَاءِ الْمَهْدِيَّةِ فِي سَنَةُ ثَلَاثٍ وَثَلَاثِمِائَةٍ خَرَجَ الْمَهْدِيُّ بِنَفْسِهِ إِلَى تُونِسَ وَقَرْطَاجَنَّةَ وَغَيْرِهِمَا يَرْتَادُ مَوْضِعًا عَلَى سَاحِلِ الْبَحْرِ يَتَّخِذُ فِيهِ مَدِينَةً. وَكَانَ يَجِدُ فِي الْكُتُبِ خُرُوجَ أَبِي يَزِيدٍ عَلَى دَوْلَتِهِ، وَمِنْ أَجْلِهِ بَنَى الْمَهْدِيَّةَ، فَلَمْ يَجِدْ مَوْضِعًا أَحْسَنَ وَلَا أَحْصَنَ مِنْ مَوْضِعِ الْمَهْدِيَّةِ، وَهِيَ جَزِيرَةٌ مُتَّصِلَةٌ بِالْبَرِّ كَهَيْئَةِ كَفٍّ مُتَّصِلَةٍ بِزَنْذٍ، فَبَنَاهَا وَجَعَلَهَا دَارَ مُلْكِهِ، وَجَعَلَ لَهَا سُورًا مُحْكَمًا وَأَبْوَابًا عَظِيمَةً وَزْنُ كُلِّ مِصْرَاعٍ مِائَةُ قِنْطَارٍ. وَكَانَ ابْتِدَاءُ بِنَائِهَا يَوْمَ السَّبْتَ لِخَمْسٍ خَلَوْنَ مِنْ ذِي الْقِعْدَةِ سَنَةَ ثَلَاثٍ وَثَلَاثِمِائَةٍ، فَلَمَّا ارْتَفَعَ السُّورُ أَمَرَ رَامِيًا [ أَنْ ] يَرْمِيَ بِالْقَوْسِ سَهْمًا إِلَى نَاحِيَةِ الْمَغْرِبِ، فَرَمَى سَهْمَهُ فَانْتَهَى إِلَى مَوْضِعِ الْمُصَلَّى، فَقَالَ: إِلَى مَوْضِعِ هَذَا يَصِلُ صَاحِبُ الْحِمَارِ، يَعْنِي أَبَا يَزِيدَ الْخَارِجِيَّ، لِأَنَّهُ كَانَ يَرْكَبُ حِمَارًا. وَكَانَ يَأْمُرُ الصُّنَّاعَ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ، ثُمَّ أَمَرَ أَنْ يُنْقَرَ دَارُ صِنَاعَةٍ فِي الْجَبَلِ تَسَعُمِائَةَ شِينِيٍّ، وَعَلَيْهَا بَابٌ مُغْلَقٌ، وَنُقِرَ فِي أَرْضِهَا أَهْرَاءُ لِلطَّعَامِ، وَمَصَانِعُ لِلْمَاءِ، وَبَنَى فِيهَا الْقُصُورَ وَالدُّورَ، فَلَمَّا فَرَغَ مِنْهَا قَالَ: الْيَوْمَ أَمِنْتُ عَلَى الْفَاطِمِيَّاتِ، يَعْنِي بَنَاتِهِ، وَارْتَحَلَ عَنْهَا. وَلَمَّا رَأَى إِعْجَابَ النَّاسِ بِهَا، وَبِحَصَانَتِهَا، كَانَ يَقُولُ: هَذَا لِسَاعَةٍ مِنْ نَهَارٍ، وَكَانَ كَذَلِكَ لِأَنَّ أَبَا يَزِيدَ وَصَلَ إِلَى مَوْضِعِ السَّهْمِ، وَوَقَفَ فِيهِ سَاعَةً، وَعَادَ وَلَمْ يَظْفَرْ.
Translation
✧ BUILDING OF AL-MAHDIYYA In the year 303 (915/916 CE), al-Mahdi personally went out to Tunis, Carthage, and other places, scouting for a site on the seacoast on which to establish a city. He had found in the books the emergence of Abu Yazid against his state, and for that reason he built al-Mahdiyya. He found no site finer or more fortified than the site of al-Mahdiyya, which is a peninsula connected to the mainland in the shape of a palm connected to a wrist. He built it and made it the seat of his rule, and he gave it a solid wall and great gates, each leaf weighing one hundred qintars. The commencement of its construction was on Saturday, five nights having passed of Dhu al-Qaʿda in the year 303. When the wall rose, he ordered an archer to shoot an arrow with a bow toward the west. He shot his arrow and it ended up at the place of the prayer ground. He said: "To the place of this one will the owner of the donkey reach," meaning Abu Yazid the Kharijite, because he used to ride a donkey. He used to direct the craftsmen in what they made. Then he ordered that a shipyard be carved into the mountain to accommodate nine hundred shinis, with a closed gate over it. In its ground were carved grain silos and water cisterns, and he built in it palaces and houses. When he finished it, he said: "Today I am assured for the Fatimid women," meaning his daughters, and he departed from it. When he saw the people's admiration for it and its fortification, he used to say: "This is for an hour of a day." And so it was, because Abu Yazid reached the place of the arrow and stood in it for an hour, then returned without achieving victory.
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