Tarikh (al-Tabari) 3835
Then the Year 322 AH Began
[الْقَاهِرُ يَسْأَلُ عَنْ أَخْلَاقِ خُلَفَاءِ الْعَبَّاسِيِّينَ] قَالَ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَلِيٍّ الْخُرَاسَانِيُّ: (أَحْضَرَنِي الْقَاهِرُ يَوْمًا وَالْحَرْبَةُ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ فَقَالَ: أَسْأَلُكَ عَنْ خُلَفَاءِ بَنِي الْعَبَّاسِ فِي أَخْلَاقِهِمْ وَشِيَمِهِمْ، قُلْتُ: أَمَّا السَّفَّاحُ... فَكَانَ مُسَارِعًا إِلَى سَفْكِ الدِّمَاءِ، وَاتَّبَعَهُ عُمَّالُهُ عَلَى مِثْلِ ذَلِكَ، وَكَانَ مَعَ ذَلِكَ سَمْحًا وَصُولًا بِالْمَالِ. قَالَ: فَالْمَنْصُورُ؟ قُلْتُ: كَانَ أَوَّلَ مَنْ أَوْقَعَ الْفُرْقَةَ بَيْنَ وَلَدِ الْعَبَّاسِ وَوَلَدِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ، وَكَانُوا قَبْلَهُ مُتَّفِقِينَ، وَهُوَ أَوَّلُ خَلِيفَةٍ قَرَّبَ الْمُنَجِّمِينَ، وَأَوَّلُ خَلِيفَةٍ تُرْجِمَتْ لَهُ الْكُتُبُ السُّرْيَانِيَّةُ وَالْأَعْجَمِيَّةُ; كَكِتَابِ «كَلَيْلَةُ وَدِمْنَةُ»، وَكُتُبِ «إِقْلِيدِسَ»، وَكِتَابِ الْيُونَانِ، فَنَظَرَ النَّاسُ فِيهَا وَتَعَلَّقُوا بِهَا، فَلَمَّا رَأَى ذَلِكَ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِسْحَاقَ... جَمَعَ الْمَغَازِيَ وَالسِّيَرَ، وَالْمَنْصُورُ أَوَّلُ مَنِ اسْتَعْمَلَ مَوَالِيَهُ، وَقَدَّمَهُمْ عَلَى الْعَرَبِ. قَالَ: فَالْمَهْدِيُّ؟ قُلْتُ: كَانَ جَوَادًا عَادِلًا مُنْصِفًا; رَدَّ مَا أَخَذَ أَبُوهُ مِنَ النَّاسِ غَصْبًا، وَبَالَغَ فِي إِتْلَافِ الزَّنَادِقَةِ، وَبَنَى الْمَسْجِدَ الْحَرَامَ وَمَسْجِدَ الْمَدِينَةِ وَالْأَقْصَى. قَالَ: فَالْهَادِي؟ قُلْتُ: كَانَ جَبَّارًا مُتَكَبِّرًا، فَسَلَكَ عُمَّالُهُ طَرِيقَهُ عَلَى قِصَرِ أَيَّامِهِ. قَالَ: فَالرَّشِيدُ؟ قُلْتُ: كَانَ مُوَاظِبًا عَلَى الْغَزْوِ وَالْحَجِّ، وَعَمَرَ الْقُصُورَ وَالْبِرَكَ بِطَرِيقِ مَكَّةَ، وَبَنَى الثُّغُورَ; كَأَذَنَةَ وَطَرَسُوسَ وَالْمِصِّيصَةِ وَمَرْعَشَ، وَعَمَّ النَّاسَ إِحْسَانُهُ، وَكَانَ فِي أَيَّامِهِ الْبَرَامِكَةُ وَمَا اشْتُهِرَ مِنْ كَرَمِهِمْ، وَهُوَ أَوَّلُ خَلِيفَةٍ لَعِبَ بِالصَّوَالِجَةِ، وَرَمَى النُّشَّابَ فِي الْبُرْجَاسِ، وَلَعِبَ بِالشِّطْرَنْجِ مِنْ بَنِي الْعَبَّاسِ. قَالَ: فَالْأَمِينُ؟ قُلْتُ: كَانَ جَوَادًا، إِلَّا أَنَّهُ انْهَمَكَ فِي لَذَّاتِهِ فَفَسَدَتِ الْأُمُورُ. قَالَ: فَالْمَأْمُونُ؟ قُلْتُ: غَلَبَ عَلَيْهِ النُّجُومُ وَالْفَلْسَفَةُ، وَكَانَ حَلِيمًا جَوَادًا. قَالَ: فَالْمُعْتَصِمُ؟ قُلْتُ: سَلَكَ طَرِيقَهُ، وَغَلَبَ عَلَيْهِ حُبُّ الْفُرُوسِيَّةِ وَالتَّشَبُّهِ بِمُلُوكِ الْأَعَاجِمِ، وَاشْتَغَلَ بِالْغَزْوِ وَالْفُتُوحِ. قَالَ: فَالْوَاثِقُ؟ قُلْتُ: سَلَكَ طَرِيقَةَ أَبِيهِ. قَالَ: فَالْمُتَوَكِّلُ؟ قُلْتُ: خَالَفَ مَا كَانَ عَلَيْهِ الْمَأْمُونُ وَالْمُعْتَصِمُ وَالْوَاثِقُ مِنَ الِاعْتِقَادَاتِ، وَنَهَى عَنِ الْجِدَالِ وَالْمُنَاظَرَاتِ وَالْأَهْوَاءِ وَعَاقَبَ عَلَيْهَا، وَأَمَرَ بِقِرَاءَةِ الْحَدِيثِ وَسَمَاعِهِ، وَنَهَى عَنِ الْقَوْلِ بِخَلْقِ الْقُرْآنِ، فَأَحَبَّهُ النَّاسُ. ثُمَّ سَأَلَ عَنْ بَاقِي الْخُلَفَاءِ وَأَنَا أُجِيبُهُ بِمَا فِيهِمْ، فَقَالَ لِي: قَدْ سَمِعْتُ كَلَامَكَ، وَكَأَنِّي مُشَاهِدٌ الْقَوْمَ، ثُمَّ قَامَ).
Translation
✧ [Al-Qāhir Asks About the Character of the Abbasid Caliphs] Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-Khurāsānī said: (One day al-Qāhir summoned me while the spear was before him, and he said: I ask you about the caliphs of the Banū al-ʿAbbās regarding their character and qualities. I said: As for al-Saffāḥ... he was quick to shed blood, and his governors followed him in the like of that, and along with that he was generous and liberal with wealth. He said: And al-Manṣūr? I said: He was the first to bring about division between the sons of al-ʿAbbās and the sons of Abī Ṭālib, whereas before him they had been united. He was the first caliph to draw near astrologers, and the first caliph for whom Syriac and foreign books were translated, such as the book "Kalīlah wa-Dimnah," the books of Euclid, and the book of the Greeks. So people looked into them and became attached to them. When Muḥammad b. Isḥāq... saw that, he compiled the military campaigns and biographies. Al-Manṣūr was the first to employ his clients and give them precedence over the Arabs. He said: And al-Mahdī? I said: He was generous, just, and fair. He restored what his father had taken from people by force, he went to great lengths in destroying the heretics, and he built the Sacred Mosque, the Mosque of Madinah, and al-Aqṣā. He said: And al-Hādī? I said: He was tyrannical and arrogant, and his governors followed his way during his short days. He said: And al-Rashīd? I said: He was constant in raiding and pilgrimage, he built palaces and cisterns on the road to Makkah, and he built the frontier fortresses, such as Adhanah, Ṭarsūs, al-Miṣṣīṣah, and Marʿash. His benevolence encompassed the people, and in his days there were the Barāmikah and what became famous of their generosity. He was the first caliph of the Banū al-ʿAbbās to play polo, shoot arrows at a target, and play chess. He said: And al-Amīn? I said: He was generous, except that he indulged in his pleasures, and so affairs became corrupted. He said: And al-Maʾmūn? I said: The stars and philosophy dominated him, and he was forbearing and generous. He said: And al-Muʿtaṣim? I said: He followed his way, and love of horsemanship and imitating the kings of the non-Arabs dominated him, and he occupied himself with raiding and conquests. He said: And al-Wāthiq? I said: He followed the way of his father. He said: And al-Mutawakkil? I said: He opposed what al-Maʾmūn, al-Muʿtaṣim, and al-Wāthiq had held of beliefs. He forbade disputation, debate, and whims, and he punished for them. He commanded the recitation of ḥadīth and listening to it, and he forbade the doctrine of the createdness of the Qurʾān, and so the people loved him. Then he asked about the remaining caliphs, and I answered him concerning what was in them. He said to me: I have heard your words, and it is as if I am observing the people. Then he rose.)
Grades by grader
No grade is recorded for this wording. Ask what scholars say about its grade