Nuzhat al-Qulūb - The Geographical Part of the Nuzhat-al-Qulub

The present translation, as noted in the preface to the Persian text of the Nuzhat-al-Qulūb, was made some years ago when collating the MSS for that volume, and is now published to com- plete the work. This sets out to give a description of Persia and Mesopotamia in the decadent days of Sulṭān Abū Sa`īd the Īl- Khān, the great-grandson of Hūlāgū the conqueror of Baghdād; but there is not, I fear, a very great amount of new information to be gained from the pages of Mustawfī’s geographical epitome. Ḥamd-Allāh quotes largely from older authorities, and in most cases we possess the texts which he used. However, in many of his accounts of towns and descriptions of provinces he has added something of his own, from personal observation, to what he has translated not very accurately from the Arabic texts. As State Accountant (Mustawfī) for so many years in the service of the Īl-Khāns, the revenue-lists at his command have enabled him to add interesting details not found elsewhere, and in spite of plagiarism (acknowledged or ignored) from prede- cessors, his work gives a graphic picture of the Lands of Īrān in the latter days of the Īl-Khāns. And as remarked in the preface to the Text, his account of Rūm (Asia Minor) is unique, and of unknown origin.

Ḥamd-Allāh, as proved by many passages in his writings, was a convinced Shī`ah. In the present work he recalls with pride his descent from Ḥurr Riyāḥī, who was the first to give his life for Ḥusayn, the Commander of the Faithful and grandson of the Prophet, being the proto-martyr at the Karbalā battle. But the Shī`ahs, in the time of Abū Sa`īd, do not appear to have been fanatics, and Ḥamd-Allāh’s great-grandfather (whom he quotes as to revenue details) had been State Accountant (Mus- tawfī of `Irāq) at Baghdād under one of the last Caliphs. In the matter of the Sunnī and Shī`ah population, it is interesting to observe in how many places in Persia the former sect was still in the preponderance as late as the middle period of the 14th century A.D.

In my translation proper names of persons have been shortened as much as possible, and the filiations have been omitted: the Fatimīd Caliph Al-Ḥākim bi-`amr-Allāh figures as Ḥākim, and `Omar ibn `Abd-al-`Azīz stands as `Omar II. Pious formulas have often been suppressed. For a like reason, in quotation, the name of the author is generally given in pre- ference to the title of his book. Yāqūt stands for the Mu-`jam- al-Buldān, and Qazvīnī for either the `Ajāib-al-Makhlūqāt, the Āthār-al-Bilād, or the Tuḥfat-al-Gharāib. Again, the references to page and volume of the texts has not in this translation been repeated from the foot-notes of the Persian text, to the pages of which the Arab figures in brackets, e.g. [], refer. In the long lists of villages (for example, round Qazvīn and in other places where Ḥamd-Allāh had himself been) the variants are often as numerous as the number of the MSS. consulted, and these variants must be sought in the notes to the Text. In the explanatory notes to the present volume, the reader will find references, as a rule, only to translations of Oriental works, and for the Arabic, Persian or Turkish originals he must turn to the foot-notes of the Persian volume.

In the Itineraries (Chapter XV) and occasionally elsewhere my friend the late General Sir A. H. Schindler, whose know- ledge of Persian geography was unrivalled, had supplied me with a few notes, and these have been inserted under his initials [A. H. S.]. For the identification and situation of the towns and provinces described by Ḥamd-Allāh the reader may refer to the Lands of the Eastern Caliphate or to Palestine under the Moslems; where, also, a short account will be found of the various Oriental Geographers, whose names precede the in- numerable quotations given by our author.

As was the case in printing the Text, my friend Professor E. G. Browne has come to my help, he has read the proofs, and in many places emended my translation. To him I owe a great debt of gratitude, and my work would have been far more faulty, lacking his aid, than it is, I fear, even now. ‘Traduttore traditore’ says the Italian proverb, and I agree. Nevertheless Professor Browne must not be held responsible for my transla- tion as a whole; in rendering the Persian into English, when I considered my method of rendering Ḥamd-Allāh sufficiently adequate, the corrections suggested have often been neglected.

G. LE STRANGE.

The Sanctuaries of Mecca and Medina. Mention in Qurān and in the Traditions. Position and size of Mecca. Ṭāif. Building of the Ka`bah: Adam, Abraham and Ishmael. The Well Zamzam. The Black Stone. Water channels. The Ḥarām or Sanctuary. Its limits. The Ka`bah and its Corners. Shrines round the Ka`bah. Restorations of the Ka`bah. Its dimensions. The Court of the Ka`bah. Shrines and houses outside the Sanctuary. Ṣafā and Marwah. `Arafāt. Mount Ḥirā. Tombs of Companions, saints and learned men. Distances of divers places from Mecca and Medina

PART THE THIRD. Describing towns, provinces and lands; and the same is divided into four Books.

BOOK I. Describing the Two Noble Sanctuaries (Mecca and Medina), may God Almighty enoble them, and the Further Mosque (at Jerusalem). Although these places are not actually within the Kingdom of Īrān, and the main object of the author of this work is to describe the Lands of Īrān, yet in view of the fact that the aforesaid places are the most excellent lands in the whole world being the Qiblah (praying-point) of those who possess the Faith, it seemed in every way better to begin by writing a first and separate Book dealing with the description of the conditions of those lands, in order that this work might thus include the major part of all matters and be complete in what is reported therein.

Now these noble Sanctuaries are very often mentioned in the Qurān and in the Traditions, as for example where the Almighty says (Qurān, ch. XVII. v. 1) Glory be to Him who carried his servant (Muḥammad) by night from the Mosque of the Ḥaram (of Mecca) to the Further Mosque (at Jerusalem) whose precinct We have blessed that We might show him of our signs, for He is the Hearer the Seer. And in the Maṣābīḥ¹ it is reported as a Tradition of the Prophet that he said The camels are (at all times) saddled to visit these three Mosques, namely the Mosque of the Ḥaram (at Mecca), the Further Mosque (at Jerusalem), and this my Mosque (at Medina).

Description of the Ḥaram (Sanctuary)² of the Venerated Ka`bah, may Allah glorify its renown. The House of the Ka`bah is in the Ḥaram Mosque, and that Mosque is in the city of Mecca, and that city is in the province of the Ḥijāz, which lies in the Second Clime. The longitude (of Mecca) is 77° from the Fortunate Isles¹, and its latitude is 21° 40' from the Equator:— and (these figures being represented in the Abjad by the letters pronounced `Izz and Kām respectively) it is good and suitable that in both latitude and longitude this city should rank as Glory (`Izz) and Repose (Kām). The city lies in a valley, bounded on the east by Mount Abū Qubays and Mount Qu`ay- qu`ān, of which two Abū Qubays [] is the higher. To the west of the city lie the hill of Minā and Mount Thabīr, the latter a very high hill overhanging the quarters of Minā and Muzdalifah: further the Ram which formed the sacrifice of Ishmael was brought down from this mountain. To the north of Mecca lies Mount Ṣafā, and to the south Mount Marwah².

Mecca is a great city, measuring more than 10,000 paces in a circuit, but within these limits there are ruins and waste places with many hillocks and mounds. In its honour numerous verses of the Qurān have been revealed, also Traditions; as for instance where the Almighty said (Qurān, ch. II. v. 120) And then Abraham said, Lord make this a secure land (for the reference is to this country of the Ḥijāz). Further there is the Tradition of the Prophet who said Verily this land God Almighty did make it sacred on the day that He created the heavens and the earth, and it is a Ḥaram (Sanctuary), by the sanctification of God Almighty, even to the Day of Resurrection. Further the Prophet said as he stood overlooking Ḥazzawarah³ By Allah (O Mecca) thou art to my mind of the best of the earth—or according to another version —thou art the best beloved of God, be He exalted and glorified, and had I not been forced to leave thee, I had never gone forth from thee. The lands of Mecca are not suitable for ploughing and sowing, even as God Himself has said (Qurān, ch. XIV. v. 40) referring to it as an unfruitful valley nigh to thy Holy House, and all provisions that they need have to be brought from neighbouring districts. Thus the district of Ṭāif, which is 8 leagues distant, is the chief granary of Mecca, which looks to Ṭāif for all supplies; and Ṭāif lies near the mountain of Ghazwān upon which snow and ice are found to remain (some part of the year), and on no other mountain in the Arabian peninsula is this the case. The climate of Ṭāif by reason of the neighbourhood of this mountain is excellent, and its fruits are abundant and of good flavour.

In the Kitāb-al-Ma`ārif Ibn Qutaybah, quoting Wahb ibn Munabbih, writes that when Adam was expelled from Paradise he fell down on the Island of Sarandīb (Ceylon); and after one hundred years of humiliation and weeping his repentance was accepted. But his grief at being cut off from Paradise was so great that God Almighty in pity sent him down from Paradise a tabernacle, and this was brought and set up in the place where the Ka`bah now stands. It was in the form of a house, being of a single block of corundum with golden lamps. According to another account it is said that this tabernacle was the House of the Prototype, and Adam was commanded to go in pilgrimage thereto. Further Adam was made to take up his abode here, and according to one account it was at the time of the Flood, or according to another account at the time of Adam’s death, that this tabernacle was carried up back into Heaven.

The descendants of Adam, by command of Seth, [] in place thereof built a House of stone and clay, but this during the Flood was laid in ruins, and for about two thousand years it remained thus. Then Abraham, the Friend of God, by Hagar begot Ishmael, whereby Sarah came to show such jealousy as forced him to send both Hagar and Ishmael away from the presence of Sarah, and Abraham by divine command took them both to this waste land and abandoned them. Afterwards Hagar, seeking water on the mountain side, ran backwards and forwards —even as now the pilgrims must run the Course (in remembrance of the same between Ṣafā and Marwah)—whereupon Ishmael fell to weeping and rubbing his heel on the ground, when, from under his heel the water of the well Zamzam came forth. Hagar, that the water might not come to waste, set a clod of earth before its flow to dam it back, and it is reported that had not Hagar thus restrained it, it would have become a river and a greater river than any in the whole world. It is further said that had the people of those parts not been misbelievers, this water had long before come to the surface, but by reason of their infi- delity it continued to run underground, coming to form a well. The water having been thus discovered, the Jurhamites migrated hither, and Ishmael was brought up among them. When he had come to man’s estate, by the command of the Almighty, Abraham and Ishmael together built the House of the Ka`bah of stone from Mount Qu`ayqu`ān.

This House was without a roof; and God sent down to them from Paradise the Black Stone, which was set in the corner of the House, this same being a block measuring about half an ell across every way. At first this stone had been white, but by reason of the many times that the infidels did rub it with their unclean hands it became black, as is said in the Tradition of the Prophet, upon whom be peace¹, The Stone when it was sent down from Paradise was whiter even than milk, but the sins of the children of Adam have made it black: and again he said speaking of this stone Verily God will send it to announce the Day of Resurrection, and it will then have two eyes wherewith to see and a tongue wherewith to speak, and it will certify as to him who has kissed it. And again he said Verily the Black Stone will arise on the Day of the Resurrection, and it will have two eyes wherewith to look, and a tongue wherewith to talk, and it will give testimony as to whosoever hath kissed it. Verily it is a stone that floats upon water and it does not get hot with fire when this is kindled upon it.

As soon as they had finished constructing the Ka`bah, and it had been commanded to make Visitation here, men began to settle round it and build fine houses, and thus emulating one another, the place gradually became a mighty city. The climate is very [] warm, and for water at first there was none but what was given by the Well of Zamzam. The story of that Well is known, how it became choked up so that no man knew where it lay, and how `Abd-al-Muṭṭalib, the grandfather of the Prophet, saw its place in a dream and dug there, when he found certain golden antelopes and certain arms of war. Then the Quraysh contended with him for their possession, but by a divine decree they were given to him for his own. This Well lies on the east side of the Ka`bah, it is forty ells deep, and at its mouth the opening is eleven ells round. Over it they have built a dome, and they have set two square beams of teak wood on either side thereof, from each of which hang six pulleys for drawing up the water. The water is indeed brackish, but the people of Mecca always took their water from this well, till, in the time of the Abbasid Caliphs, the Lady Zubaydah wife of Hārūn-ar-Rashīd first dug underground watercourses in Mecca. After her time these fell to ruin, and so remained till the days of the Caliph Muqtadir, who restored them. But again they became choked till the Caliph Qāim once again caused the water to flow through them. Again in the time of the Caliph Nāṣir they fell to ruin, and he too restored these underground watercourses, but after the overthrow of the Caliphate they became entirely choked with sand. Lastly in the time of the Amīr Chūpān once more they were made to run with water, and this is their state in Mecca at the present time.

The people of Mecca are for the most part dark-skinned; their occupation is commerce and they are mostly of the Ḥanafite sect.

Through the intercession of Abraham, the Friend of God, Mecca with its surrounding lands was made a Sanctuary (Ḥaram) by the command of the Almighty (and these are the limits of the same). First, on the Medina road the limit of the Ḥaram is at the third mile, or one league distant, and the Mīqāt¹ is at Dhū-l-Ḥulayfah, which last is eleven days’ journey from Mecca. Secondly, on the Jiddah road the Sanctuary limit is ten miles out, which is three leagues and one mile distant, and the Mīqāt is at Sa`diyyah<sup>2</sup> 20 leagues from Mecca. Thirdly, on the road to Syria and Egypt the Ḥaram limit is two leagues distant and the Mīqāt is at Juḥfah which is 33 leagues from Mecca, the same being two miles from the sea coast. Fourthly, on the Yaman and Tihāmah road the Ḥaram limit is seven miles out, namely two leagues and a mile away, and the Mīqāt is at Yalamlam which is 27 leagues from Mecca. Fifthly, on the Najd road the Sanctuary limit is two leagues distant, and the Mīqāt is at Qarn(-al-Manāzil) [] which is a day and a night march from Mecca. Sixthly, on the Ṭāif road the Ḥaram limit is at 11 miles, which is three leagues and two miles distant, and the Mīqāt is at Rakhāṭir<sup>3</sup> —this lies 11 leagues from Mecca. Seventhly, on the eastern road that goes to `Irāq the Sanctuary limit is nine miles distant, namely three leagues, and the Mīqāt is at Dhāt-al-`Irq⁴ which is 15 leagues and one mile from Mecca. The total circuit of the Sanctuary limits equals 37 miles which is 12 leagues and one mile, and to mark these limits boundary-stones are set up. Within the Sanctuary limits trees and plantings are rarely met with, but outside the Ḥaram there are numerous gardens and orchards and cultivated lands, also running water is there found. The total circuit of the Mīqāts amounts to 733 miles which is 244 leagues and one mile.

The Ḥaram Mosque (at Mecca). This lies in the middle of the city, and its Court is the place where the pilgrims make their circumambulation. The House of the Ka`bah is in the centre of this court, and all mosques in other countries that are built within their courts are so planned as to face towards the Ḥaram Mosque and the Ka`bah. There are four gates to the Ḥaram Mosque, the Gate of the Banī Shaybah is towards `Irāq opening northwards; and the Ṣafā Gate opens towards the west<sup>1</sup>. In the time of the Prophet, but five years before his mission was declared, the Quraysh rebuilt the Ka`bah, and they made its roof of the beams of wood which the Negus, who is the King of Abyssinia, had sent by sea to Syria for (roofing) the church of Antioch, but which were cast up at Jiddah, God Almighty having caused the ship to founder. By His dispensation the people of Mecca having taken them made the roof (of the Ka`bah) therefrom and set also four beams of the same under the roof. Then the Prophet, by God’s command and by the assent of the Quraysh, with his own blessed hand set the Black Stone out- side the Ka`bah in the `Irāq Corner, and this on a level of some- what less than a man’s height, that it should be possible to place and rub the hand on it; and this corner lies towards the east².

The Station of Abraham and the well Zamzam lie near by the angle of the Ka`bah which is turned towards the north and is known as the Syrian Corner, the angle towards the west being known as the Abyssinian Corner, while the angle towards the south is called the Yaman Corner. The House of the Ka`bah was given a Door of a single leaf, and they inlaid its face with silver, [] obtained from the silver³ antelopes that had been found in the well of Zamzam. In the days of `Abd-Allah ibn Zubayr, after the Ka`bah walls had been thrown down by the catapults of the Omayyad Caliph (Yazīd, who had sent an army to besiege Mecca), the Ka`bah was again rebuilt by him; and he then planned the House to be higher and more spacious, giving it also two doors. The Black Stone he had set inside the Ka`bah in the wall, asserting that as the Prophet had said that the Black Stone was a part of the Ka`bah, it was proper that it should be within the Ka`bah. After (the death of Ibn Zubayr) Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf, the Thakafite, destroyed what had just been rebuilt, placing the Black Stone once more outside in the Ka`bah wall, where the Prophet himself had set it, namely in the northern angle, which is called the `Irāq Corner. Ḥajjāj also restored the House to its former state, and he gave it one door only. The length of the Ka`bah measures 24 ells and a span, with a width of 23 ells and a span. The total area covered by the building is 475 (square) ells, and the area of the inside chamber of the Ka`bah is 444 (square) ells. The height of the building outside is 27 ells, and its roof was covered with tin plates, and the water-spout therefrom, which was on the right hand side, was made of silver. To the left of the Ka`bah lies the well of Zamzam¹.

The first person who clothed the Ka`bah with its covering was the Tubba` of Yaman, Asad Abū Karib Ḥimyarī, who was contemporary with King Bahrām Gūr the Sasanian, and with Kusay fifth in ascent of the forefathers of the Prophet. Referring to this a poet has said:

We gave for a covering to the House, which God hath sanctified,
An over-cloth that was embroidered and ornamented.

They say that it is a peculiarity of this House of the Ka`bah that no bird can fly over it. The Caliph `Othmān added to the Mosque a number of houses which the Caliph `Omar had bought, giving it thus a larger area; and the Omayyad Caliph Walīd son of `Abd-al-Malik erected in the Mosque many noble buildings, [] bringing hither from Syria columns of stone, and the roof of the Mosque he constructed of beams of teak-wood. The Abbasid Caliph Manṣūr surnamed Abū Dawānīq (‘Father of Pence,’ for his avarice) enlarged both the Mosque and the Court, and in the year 166 (783) his son the Caliph Mahdī again added thereunto, giving it its present dimensions. These are, for the place of Circumambulation 370 ells by 315 ells, and the circuit of the Mosque outside is 1580 ells.

All round the Mosque stand hostelries and colleges, and the outer gates are very numerous. Among the rest here is the Hostelry which was built by the Ascetic Khumārtāsh `Imādī of Qazvīn—on whom God have mercy—for the use of the Qazvīn Pilgrims. Further he bestowed 30,000 (gold) dīnārs on the governors of Mecca, for them to permit a latticed window to be made in the Hostelry that should look into the Mosque Court. The House in which the Prophet was born, and which is now known as the palace of Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf, stands alongside the Mosque Court, and Khayzurān, the mother of the Caliph Hārūn-ar-Rashīd, made it a Place of Assembly and added it to the Mosque. The Watering-place of the Pilgrims lies to the westward of the house of the Ka`bah in front of the Zamzam well, and the House of Convocation (Dār-an-Nadwah) is also on this western side of the Mosque in front of the Governor’s Palace (Dār-al-Imārat). The hill of Ṣafā stands to the eastward of the Mosque, with the Market street lying in between, and it is counted as part of the Abū Qubays Mountain. The hill of Marwah is to the west of the Mosque Court, and they say that Ṣafā and Marwah were, respectively, the names of a man and a woman of the Days of Ignorance (before Islam) who had com- mitted fornication in the Ka`bah. Then God Almighty turned them into stone, and the people of Mecca carried the man to the top of Mount Ṣafā, and the woman to the top of Mount Marwah, that all who saw them might take warning thereby; and thus these hills came by their name. But others say the names are merely the proper-names of the hills, and that the name of the man was Isāf and of the woman Nāhilah. In the Qurān the names of Ṣafā and Marwah frequently occur, as for instance (in chapter II. v. 153) where it is said Verily Ṣafā and Marwah were among the monuments of God; and in the Traditions of the Prophet it is reported that he said that the Beast of the Earth, whose appearance will be a sign of the imminence of the Day of Resurrection, will come from Mount Ṣafā.

The places called Mash`ar-al-Ḥarām and Ḥaṭīm lie between Ṣafā and Marwah, on the side of Mount Qu`ayqu`ān; and Minā is the valley [] that extends to the westward<sup>1</sup> of the Mosque area for a distance of about two miles. Jamrah is a steep pass in the further part of Minā, and the Masjid Khayf (Mosque of the Hill-skirt) stands to the west<sup>1</sup> of the Sanctuary area, in which same direction also lies `Arafāt, but beyond the Sanctuary limits, seeing that from it to Mecca is a distance of three miles.

The Mosque of `Āishah likewise is outside the Sanctuary, near by Upper Jamrah and Ḥudaybiyyah, which are over against the Sanctuary limits. Māzimayn is a valley between two hills and its further part is called Baṭn `Uranah, and near here is the road of the Wall of the Banī `Āmir, where the Pilgrims say the Prayer for midday and eventide. Near by is the spring named after `Abd-Allah of the Banī `Āmir son of Kurayz. Muzdalifah lies between Mecca and `Arafāt, and here the Pilgrims say their evening prayers, also pray before sleep, and the morning prayer likewise. Baṭn Muḥassir is a valley lying between Minā and Muzdalifah; and Mount Ḥirā² stands above Mecca. The Prophet made a circumambulation about it, which caused the mountain itself to begin to move (in respectful imitation), but the Prophet cried ‘Stand still, O Ḥirā’ and it did so. Also at the time of the Miracle of the Dividing of the Moon this mountain appeared between the two halves of the moon. The piece of ground called Baṭḥā which is one league distant from Mecca is counted as belonging to it, and the Mount called Thawr Aṭhal, wherein is the Cave of the Prophet, lies on the Medina road³. Lastly Jiddah is the port of Mecca folk when they set out from that city to go by sea.

Now as to the Prophets, verily Adam and his wife Eve— peace be on them both—lie buried on Mount Abū Qubays: and the Prophet Ṣāliḥ has his tomb in the city of Mecca, where it stands near the House of Convocation (already mentioned) to the west of the Sanctuary. Ishmael and his mother Hagar— peace be on them both—lie buried in the Sanctuary of the Ka`bah. The two sons of the Prophet Muḥammad who were born to Khadījah, and died before the Flight, both lie buried in the cemetery of Mecca, which lies outside the city. Of the illustrious Companions (of the Prophet) many are buried here: the first of them being As`ad ibn Zurārah¹, and the last of them being Abū Umāmah Bāhilī, who died in the year 86 (705).

Among the learned and great saints buried here are Abū `Abd-ar-Raḥmān of Nisā, fifth of the Masters of the true Tradition, also Muḥammad ibn `Alī [] Kattānī. The Carmathian chief Abū Sa`īd of Jannābah—upon whom be the curse of God—during the reign of the Abbasid Caliph Muqtadir in the year 319 (931) carried war against Mecca during the season of the Pilgrimage, and he slew many Moslem folk, making a general slaughter so that the well Zamzam was choked with the bodies of the slain, and the area round the Ka`bah was filled with 3000 corpses. Then he carried off the Black Stone, putting it to vile purposes, and the well Zamzam he defiled with ordure. For twenty years the Black Stone remained in the hands of the Carmathians, till the year 339 (950) when at Kūfah it was sold for 30,000 (golden) dīnārs to the agents of the Caliph Muṭī`. That Caliph then sent it to Mecca, and had it replaced in the `Irāq Corner of the Ka`bah, where till the present day it has rested in safety from all further evil; and may God Almighty preserve it so till the Day of Resurrection, safe from the wickedness of all abandoned, cast- off, and reprobate persons.

The distances from mecca to the chief towns of the Land of Īrān will now be given in brief, but further details, as is needful, will be set forth later (in Book II, Division iii, Section I) when describing the high-roads².

From Mecca to Sulṭāniyyah the capital of the Kingdom of Īrān it is, by way of Baghdād, 388 leagues. Mecca to Tabrīz, also a capital city, by way of Baghdād, it is 380 leagues. Mecca to Baghdād, also a capital city, by way of Najaf the Noble (Shrine of `Alī), it is 260 leagues. (And the following are the distances from Mecca to various cities of Īrān): to Ray 305 leagues, to Ardabīl 224 leagues, to Hamadān 277 leagues, to Kāshān 260 leagues, to Iṣfahān 301 leagues, to Samnān 229 leagues, to Shūstar 231 leagues, to Qāyin 280 leagues, to Nayshāpūr 420 leagues, to Tiflīs 501 leagues, to Balkh 507 leagues, to Marv 481 leagues, to Qum 294 leagues, to Sabzavār 402 leagues, to Yazd 304 leagues, to Qazvīn 370 leagues, to Shīrāz 207 leagues, to Nayrīz 309 leagues, to Hurmūz 204 leagues.

Now as to the distances from Mecca to other places of the habitable world, in the various directions of the four cardinal points of the compass, which same lie beyond the limits [] of the Land of Īrān, these distances are by astronomical estimate from latitude and longitude of the places, as the same are laid down in the various tables. In this estimate, which is but a theoretical computation, we have reckoned each degree as the equivalent of 25 leagues—following in this the authority of Ptolemy—and we have counted thus conjecturally, and by approximation, in order to bring into the reckoning the differences in the various roads which cross diverse latitudes.

The Eastern Quarter. The land of India, (namely) Dihlī, Qinnawj and Sūmnāth, distant 30°, and leagues 750. Zaytūn distant 34°, leagues 850. Khansāy, capital of Māchīn (South China), distant 52°, leagues 1300. Māchīn, capital of Sīn (China), distant 56°, leagues 1400. Khānbāligh (Pekin), capital of Khitāy, distant 46°, leagues 1150. Tīz and Makrān distant 20°, leagues 500. Daybul distant 20°, leagues 500. Qandahār and Kashmīr distant 35°, leagues 850. Transoxiana distant 30°, leagues 750. The country of Uighūr and Tangut distant 32°, leagues 750. The kingdom of Tibet distant 30°, leagues 700. The kingdom of Khwārazm distant 36°, leagues 650. Saqsīn and Bulghār distant 32°, leagues 750. Ṣaghāniyān distant 29°, leagues 725. Kaymāk distant 32°, leagues 800. Farkhār distant 27°, leagues 675. Kābul distant 21°, leagues 525. Qirghīz and Salangā distant 26°, leagues 650. The lands of Yājūj and Mājūj distant 62°, leagues 1550.

Western Quarter. Pilgrims (to Mecca) from this quarter of necessity pass through Medina, and hence we shall make our estimate of distances to that city; and from Medina to Mecca it is (in addition) 87 leagues. From Cairo to Medina it is 150 leagues; and from Alexandria to the same 210 leagues. From Damascus the capital of [] Syria it is 120 leagues. The land of Abyssinia is distant 12°, leagues 300. The land of Maghrib, where lives `Abd-al-Mu’min (the Almohad), distant 30°, leagues 750. Cordova, which is the capital of Spain, distant 48°, leagues 1200. Qayruwān distant 34°, leagues 850. The Berber country distant 12°, leagues 850.

The Northern Quarter. By way of Baghdād, to the Qipchāq Desert, 450 leagues, the Alān and Chirkas (Circassia) country 350 leagues, Ās and Rūs (country of Russians and Ossetes) 400 leagues, the Frank country 500 leagues, Yūnān (Greece) 200 leagues, Saqlāb (Sclavonia) 350 leagues, Badrīyah, Sanūrīyah and Baland (cities of the North) 450 leagues.

The Southern Quarter. Pilgrims from these parts reach Mecca first and then go on to Medina, the distances therefore are counted as to Mecca. Ṭāif 8 leagues, Ṣan`ā of Yaman 140 leagues, the Tihāmah district 148 leagues, Aden 120 leagues, `Omān 140 leagues, Sarandīb (Island of Ceylon) 300 leagues.

In regard to other countries, which for the avoidance of pro- lixity are not mentioned here (in detail), verily the distances from these to Mecca may be estimated in accordance with their propinquity, severally, to the diverse lands already given (in the above lists) and thus a total in leagues will be obtained. But exact knowledge in all these matters lies with God alone.

Medina, anciently Yathrib. Position. The Ditch and Wall. Fertility of its lands. Traditions; and Verses. The Governors of Medina. The Tomb of the Prophet. The Mosque and Colleges. Attempt to carry off bodies of Abū Bakr and `Omar. The Muṣallā. The Cemetery of Baqī` and those buried there. Villages and towns round Medina. Ḥijr and the Thamūd. Khaybarand Fadak. The Tīh, or Desert of the Wanderings. Jerusalem, the Aqṣā Mosque. Position. Story of Isaac, and the promise of God to him. The building of Jerusalem and the Mosque. David and Solomon. Destroyed by Nebuchad- nezzar. Rebuilding in days of Ezra. Cyrus the Persian. Days of Islam: `Omar restores the Qiblah. Frank conquest: restoration under Saladin. The Rock. Hebron and Nazareth

The Sanctuary of the Noble Tomb (of the Prophet, at Medina)—may God ever sanctify it. The Garden (which is the grave) of the Prophet—the blessing of God be upon him and his family—is in the city of Medina, and that city originally was named Yathrib; but the Prophet changed its name to Medina (meaning ‘the City’) as he (in the Tradition) testified saying Verily God called the City (Medina) Ṭābah (the good city). It stands in the Second Clime, its longitude from the Fortunate Isles being 65° 20', and its latitude north of the equator 25°. Some say that this land is of the Tihāmah province, but in the Ṣuwar-al-Aqālīm¹ it is stated that the Tihāmah is of the kingdom of Yaman, and that both Medina and Mecca are of the Ḥijāz province. Medina stands at the foot of Mount Uhud. On the eastern² side of the town is the `Aqīq river-bed a league and a half distant, in the direction by which the road from Mecca comes up. On the western side lies Mount Sal`, [] while on its northern side is Mount Uhud, this last being two leagues distant and there are no hills nearer than this to Medina. During the War of the Confederates (when the people of Mecca laid siege to Medina) the Prophet, under the advice of Salmān the Persian, caused a ditch to be dug round the city, which same ditch was twenty yards deep; and (at a later date) `Aḍud-ad-Dawlah Fanā Khusraw, the Daylamite prince, built a wall round Medina.

Medina is but a small town, being less than half the size of Mecca, its lands however are far more fruitful, and the climate is very warm. There are running streams here, and it possesses cultivated fields and gardens and date groves, also the dates of the kind called Bardī and `Ajwah are better here than in any other country. The inhabitants are for the most part dark- skinned, and the men have their occupation in commerce.

In honour of Medina many Traditions have been recorded. Among the rest in the Maṣābīḥ it is reported that the Prophet said Verily Abraham sanctified Mecca and made it a Sanctuary, but I have sanctified Medina making a Sanctuary all that lies between (the limits of) its calcined rocks. It is incumbent that no blood shall be shed there, and none shall wear weapons of war, and no place shall be enclosed there, except indeed for forage¹. Further the Prophet said At the gates of Medina are angels, so that the plague cannot enter the city, nor Ad-Dajjāl (Antichrist): and again he said He who can compass to die in Medina, let him die there, for verily I will intercede for any who shall die there. And again he said The last place of the places of Islām to come to ruin will be Medina. Faḍl son of `Abbās—may God receive them both² — wrote this line in reference to Medina:

(But weep) for Ṭaybah (a surname of Medina) which God did bless,
By reason (of the coming) of the Seal in the Prophets.

Also Ṣirmah the Anṣārī wrote:

And when (the Prophet) came to us God made manifest his religion,
And forthwith he became in Ṭaybah (Medina) happy and content.

Before the arrival of the Prophet in Medina the city was ruled by governors placed here by the Warden of the Desert, or by the Princes of Yaman: and for the most part the governor was a man either of the Banī Qurayẓah or of the Banī Naḍīr; and one of the Anṣārī wrote the following lines:

We shall still pay (for Medina) the tax, even after the tribute that is paid to Chosroes,
And the tribute to the tribes of Qurayẓah and Naḍīr. []

Among the peculiarities of Medina is this, that he who goes to and fro therein, his sweat is even as a perfumed odour.

The Noble Garden (Rawḍah-i-Sharīfah) which is the resting place of the Prophet—upon whom be peace—lies, as is well known, in this city, namely in the house of `Āishah, where his death took place. The shrine at the present time is included in the circuit of the Mosque, and lies to the left of the Qiblah (Niche), in the angle to the north-east<sup>1</sup>, for the Qiblah point in Medina is directed towards the south-east<sup>2</sup>. The Caliphs Abū Bakr and `Omar are also buried in the same spot. At the date when the Prophet first came to Medina, at the time of his Flight, this spot was unoccupied ground, and the Prophet having bought it built here a Mosque and a house for himself, using burnt bricks and palm beams. This building was enlarged by `Omar, and `Othmān again increased it greatly in area, giving it walls of cut stone, and the roof he made of teak wood. The Caliph Walīd son of `Abd-al-Malik further extended the size of these buildings, and the Abbasid Caliph Mahdī made them more spacious still, as also did Ma’mūn in his turn, and as he left them so they now remain. The length of the Mosque is 14 ells and its breadth is 12 ells³. All round stand many Colleges and Hostelries, also numberless fine buildings. Among the rest is a college and bath erected in the present time by the Amīr Chūpān⁴, for formerly there had been no bath-house in Medina. All round the Mosque lie the houses of the inhabitants, and these are very numerous. In praise of this Mosque it is reported in the Maṣābīḥ that the Prophet said What lies between my house and my pulpit is a garden of the gardens of Paradise, and there is a pulpit beside a tank.

In the book called Istiẓhār-al-Akhbār written by the Qāḍī Aḥmad of Dāmghān, and in the Majma`-Arbāb-al-Maslik<sup>5</sup> by Qāḍī Rukn-ad-Dīn Juvaynī it is reported that Ḥākim, who was the sixth of the Fatimite Caliphs of Egypt, seduced one of the Alids who were living at Medina, and persuaded him to dig by night a tunnel from his house to a place below the Tomb of the Prophet. Now this was done in order that the bodies of the Caliphs Abū Bakr and `Omar [] might be carried away from this holy Tomb, and then that they might do (any evil thing) with them, as they thought fit. But in the days when this work was going on, a whirlwind with thunderbolts and a mighty darkness fell on Medina, whereby people repenting of their sins were much afeared, and fled for succour to the Sanctuary of the Prophet. But the condition of terror did not cease until that certain Alid had (in great alarm) made a confession of his story, whereupon the governor of Medina seized on those who were digging the tunnel and brought them to justice. Then on that same day, the storm abated. All this happened in the year 411 (1020), and verily it was a miracle divinely vouchsafed in favour of Abū Bakr and `Omar near four centuries after their deaths; further the Caliph Ḥākim did not survive the completion of the year in which this attempt had been made.

The Muṣallā (Praying Station) of the Prophet where, on festivals and great days, he was wont to preach the sermon, lies on the west side of Medina, and within the city limits. The Cemetery of Medina, called Baqī`, lies to the westward of the town, and here is seen the grave of Ibrāhīm the Prophet’s (only) son, also the graves of his daughters. The Caliph `Othmān also was buried here, and the Commander of the Faithful Ḥasan, and `Abbās uncle of the Prophet, also the Imāms Zayn-al-`Ābidīn and Muḥammad Bāqir, and Ja`far Ṣādiq—the blessing of God be upon them one and all. The greater number of the glorious Companions of the Prophet—may God accept them—lie at rest here: as for instance As`ad ibn Zurārah¹, who was the first of them to die, his death taking place in the very year of the Flight, when the Prophet came to Medina. Here also lies Sahl ibn Sa`d Sā`idī the last of the Companions to die, he having passed away in the year 91 (710). Further of the Followers of the Companions many too lie here sepulchred, as likewise of the celebrated Imāms and learned men, such as the Imām Mālik ibn Anas al-Aṣbaḥī, and Nāfi` the first of the Seven Readers of the Qurān; while the tombs of the Caliph `Othmān and of Mālik lie between the Baqī` Cemetery and the Jewish graveyard, which last is the House of Perdition.

The well called Arīs, where the Caliph `Othmān dropped the ring of the Prophet from off his finger, and there lost it, lies near the palmgrove of Qubā which is two miles from Medina towards the Qiblah point (south), and at Qubā are seen a number of the houses of the Anṣārs forming as might be a village apart. All round Medina there are many important villages that are as large as country towns, and these are famous, though most are now in ruins. Thus there is Khaybar lying 27 leagues from Medina, which is a very large village with seven castles belonging to it, and near one of these was the house of Ziyād². Then there are the villages of Wādī-al-Qurā two leagues distant, and these occupy ground more spacious than [] Ṭāif (near Mecca). The village of Ḥijr is of the dependencies of Wādī-al-Qurā, being one day’s march distant therefrom. This was the abode of the people of Thamūd: of whom God Almighty has said in the Qurān (ch. LXXXIX. v. 8) Also Thamūd who hewed out the rocks in the valley; for here in the mountain side they dug out caves for habitations, as farther He has said (Qurān, ch. XXVI. v. 149) And, insolent that ye are, will ye hew out your dwellings in the mountains? In this place was the well where the dispute took place between the (men of Thamūd) concerning the she-camel of the prophet Ṣāliḥ, and whether or not she should be allowed to get to the watering-place, even as God Almighty, referring to the matter (in the Qurān, ch. XXVI. v. 155), has said For her (the she- camel) drink shall there be, and drink shall there be for you, on a several day for each.

Further there is the fort of Yanbu` which was given in mort- main to the Commander of the Faithful `Alī, and his sons after him, to hold for their use. Also the village of Fadak, which when the Prophet came into possession of the same by conquest, was decreed to be of his own private property; hence after his death the Commander of the Faithful `Alī, and (the Prophet’s daughter) Fāṭimah, sought to take Fadak for their possession by right of heritage, but `Omar forbade them to hold or take the same to their own use, asserting that prophets had no heirs, even as Muḥammad had himself affirmed when he said, as the Tradition reported, We of the company of Prophets, none is our heir, and the inheritance that we leave shall be for alms.

Then there is the village of Samīrah 30 leagues distant from Medina, with the Castle of Fayd in the Ṭayy country, of which `Āishah asserted that the Prophet had assigned it to her for her dowry, and which the Commander of the Faithful `Alī was never able to get into his possession (in spite of his being by right heir of the Prophet). Lastly there are the following¹ together with many others which are villages near Medina: `Arabiyyah, Waḥīdah, Namirah, Ḥadīqah, `Ādī, Khaḍirah, Sāirah, Raḥbah, Sayālah, Sāyah, Ruhāṭ, Ghurāb, Akḥal and Ḥamiyah.

The village of Jār is the port of the people of Medina, and it lies three marches distant from the city. The Mountain of Raḍwā, from which their millstones are brought, is also three marches distant from Medina on the high-road towards the Banī Ṭayy country. The village of Abwā, where the mother of the Prophet lies buried, stands on the Mecca road at a distance of 44 leagues from Medina; and two leagues further in the direction of Mecca is the halting-place of Juḥfah which (as already said) is the Mīqāt (where the Pilgrims don the Pilgrim dress). The Tīh (which is the Desert of the Wanderings) of Moses—peace be on him—lies along the road into Syria and Egypt from Medina. This accord- ing to the Ṣuwar-al-Aqālīm is a country measuring 40 leagues square, but other authorities give its dimensions as less than this.

[] The Farther Mosque (Masjid-i-Aqṣā). This Mosque stands in the city of Jerusalem, which city the Arabs call Bayt- al-Muqaddas (the Holy House) and the Jews Ælia; being of the province of Syria, and of the country of Palestine lying in the Third Clime. Its longitude from the Fortunate Isles is 56° 30', and its latitude north of the equator is 31° 50'. It stands on a height and from all sides you have to go up to it. In the Kitāb- al-Ma`ārif, Ibn Qutaybah, quoting the words of Wahb ibn Mu- nabbih, relates how it came to pass that Isaac commanded his son Jacob that he should take to wife the daughters of his uncle Laban the son of Nahor. Jacob therefore set out purposing to go to the house of his uncle, and he rested on the way at the stage which was Jerusalem. In the night he saw in his sleep a door open in the heavens above him, with warders there beside, and angels descending therefrom and ascending thereto. Then God Almighty made a revelation to him and spoke saying Verily I am the Lord, there is no God but me, I who am thy God and the God of thy fathers. Verily this Blessed Land thou shalt inherit, and thy children after thee, for I have blessed thee and them also, and I have given thee the Book and Wisdom and Prophecy, for I am with thee, and I will guard thee; until I have brought thee back to this same place, which I have established as a House, in which thou and thy children shall worship me, and that same is Bayt-al-Muqaddas (the Holy House). For this reason the place was named Quds (Holy), and Jacob, after his marriage in the land of Canaan, came and settled here, for Canaan is but three leagues distant therefrom.

The Children of Israel after his days built in this spot the city of Jerusalem, and this was made their capital. When the time came to the days of David, God Almighty gave him the vice- gerency, even as is said in the words of the Qurān (ch. XXXVIII. v. 25) O David verily we have made thee our vicegerent upon earth; judge therefore between men with truth. He therefore had his abode in Bayt-al-Muqaddas (which is Jerusalem), and laid the foundations of the Aqṣā Mosque, which same after his day his son Solomon brought to completion. It is commonly said that, from the date of its completion to this present day (in A.H. 730 which is A.D. 1330) 2583 years have passed. Further they relate that Solomon on a certain day went to view the building of the Mosque, and there as he was leaning on his staff Azrail (the Angel of Death) by command of the Lord Almighty took posses- sion of his soul. So (being dead) he stood there, quite still, lean- ing on his staff while a whole year passed, and the building of the walls of the Mosque reached completion. Meanwhile an ant [] had eaten through the wood of the staff, which forthwith broke, so that he fell down, and the news of his death was spread abroad.

In a later day Nebuchadnezzar, in wrath against the prophet John (the Baptist)¹ laid the city of Jerusalem in ruins, laying waste that Mosque also. Then it came about that the prophet Ezra passed by that place and found it all a ruin, and the matter lay heavy on his heart. Therefore he cried aloud, saying, ‘O God, thou who art all mighty, do Thou quickly restore to habitable- ness this Mosque and City.’ Then God Almighty gave command (concerning Ezra) that his soul should be taken from him, and that he should sleep for one hundred years, until the time when there should arise a king of the Kings of the Persians, whom the Israelites call Kūshak (Cyrus), and the Persians name Gūdarz the Ashghāniyān, and he it was who brought the city back to its former state of habitation. Then Ezra came back to life again, and became the guide (of the Children of Israel) to show them the way to revive the religion of Moses. Now the Tawrāt (the Books of the Law), which the Prophet Isaiah had written, and had hidden under the foot of one of the columns of the Mosque at Jerusalem, no one knowing which of the columns it was, this same being now discovered they were brought forth, thus giving testi- mony as to the truth of the religion of Ezra. So the Children of Israel accepted in all points his teaching, and they made all progress in the ceremonies of their religion, and in the perfecting of the building of that Mosque.

Then afterwards in the days of Islam, the Caliph `Omar re- stored the Qiblah of this Mosque to its true direction, and its Miḥrāb (Niche) was made to face the Ka`bah as of right. In later times the Omayyad and the Abbasid Caliphs, and the Sultans who governed in turn this land, elaborated and added greatly to these buildings, till (Jerusalem) became a paragon beyond all com- pare and reached such perfection that, according to the histories of Syria and Maghrib, except for the Two Sacred Cities, there was no building greater than (the Aqṣā Mosque) in this quarter of the habitable world. But in the year 490 of the Hijrah (A.D. 1097) the Franks wrenched this kingdom from the grasp of the Moslems, and they laid in ruin the Oratories of Islam, which same remained thus ravaged during ninety and five years, until in the year 585 (1189) the Ayyubid (Sultan Saladin) by the grace of God brought the land back into the path of Islam, and re-established the customs of the Moslems. Then over the gate of (the Aqṣā Mosque) they wrote (the words from the Qurān, ch. XXI. v. 105) where God Al- mighty says And now, since the Law was given, have we written in the Psalms that my servants, the righteous, shall inherit the earth.

Also in this Mosque is the Rock from which the Prophet, on the Night of his Journey into Heaven, made his ascent. Now this same stone, to conform itself to the convenience of the Prophet, raised one side of itself up to a height of ten ells from [] the ground; and when the Prophet commanded it to stay still, it halted, remaining thus half rising up, where to this day it may be seen, and it is a holy place of visitation that is held in much vene ration. Further of all the famous prophets who ever were here (in Jerusalem), there is for each one an oratory, but the oratory of David is the most venerated of them all, both by reason of its fine building, and by reason of its superior sanctity.

Ibn Khurdādbih records that the Station of Abraham, the Friend of God (at Hebron), lies at a distance of thirteen miles, which amounts to four leagues and a mile, from the Aqṣā Mosque, and at the present day this is a small town the circuit of which measures 3000 paces. Further in the book of the Ṣuwar-al-Aqālīm it is stated that two leagues¹ from Jerusalem lies a village which is called Nazareth the Illustrious (or of Galilee), which same is the birthplace of Jesus, and it is for this cause that the Christians go by the name of the Nazarenes, but God alone is all knowing in these matters.

Divisions of the Habitable World, according to Hermes Trismegistus, and according to the Persians, the Arabs, the Greeks and the Indians. Latitude and Longitude of the Limits of Īrān: length and breadth of that Country. Explanation of the Map of Īrān. The Frontiers of Īrān, countries to the east, west, north and south. The Qiblah-point: side of the Ka`bah faced from Īrān. General direction of the Qiblah in diverse provinces of Īrān. Exact direction found by the Indian Dial. Construction of the same. Directions for its use. Table drawn up by `Abd-ar-Raḥmān Khāzinī to find the exact Qiblah-point. Explanation of Table. Directions for its use. Example: the direction of the Qiblah at Qazvīn

BOOK II. Describing the state of the Land of Īrān, the same being composed in three Divisions.

DIVISION I. Description of Īrān as one among the kingdoms of the earth, with an explanation of its latitudes and longitudes and a notice of its frontiers, and of the direction of the Qiblah- point in its various provinces.

Now as to the division thereof, and of what portion of the habitable earth Īrān is accounted to be a part, on this point statements differ. And the Persians cite Hermes Trismegistus, of whom they say that he was endowed with triple wisdom, or with triple gifts, because he was at the same time a sage, and a prophet and a king, he being otherwise known as the prophet Idrīs; and he divided the earth into seven regions in the form of seven circles, one in the centre and six separately surrounding it. Of these the first, to the south, is the region of the Hindus: the second comprises the Arabians, with Yaman and Abyssinia: the third is that of Syria and Egypt and Maghrib; the fourth, which same is the middle region, is that of the land of Īrān; the fifth is the region of the Greeks, Franks and Sclavonians; the sixth has the Turks and Khazars, while the seventh is the region of China and Cathay, Khotan and Tibet. Another account is that sub- sequently, when King Farīdūn divided his kingdom among his three sons, he made the division in the breadth and into three parts, giving the eastern part to Tūr, and the western part to Salm, and the central part, which was the best and the place of his own abode, this he gave to his youngest son [] Īraj. This portion, therefore, was called Īrān after Īraj, and one of the Arab poets has referred to this division in his verses when he says:

In our lifetime we divided up our Kingdom,
Even as meat is cut up on the top of the block;
We have given Syria, and Greece
As far as the setting sun, to Salm the chief;
And to Tūr we have given the Turks;
While his cousin hath possession of the Land of China;
And on Īrān by force we have imposed
The Knight of the Kingdom and so have we attained content.

Now as is well known Salm and Tūr—because Īraj had the better part given to him—slew him, and strife thus brought into the affairs of these kingdoms remained. Others again assert that Īrān was called after Gayūmarth whose real name was Īrān, and others say it was called after Hūshang who likewise was known as Īrān. The more credible account, however, is that it was called after Īraj the son of Farīdūn.

Now the Arabs report that the prophet Noah divided the habitable world in the greater length into three parts. The southern part he gave to Ham, which same is the land of the blacks; the northern part he gave to Japhet, this being the land of those with the white and reddish skins; and the middle part he gave to Shem, and these are the lands of those who are brown-skinned: and Īrān is one among these. On the other hand the Greeks assert that their ancient sages held that the habitable earth was to be divided in the breadth, starting from Egypt, and into two parts. The eastern half they called Asia; and the western half was again divided into two by the Mediterra- nean sea. To the south of this sea was the quarter of the original race of men, and this was called Libya, and was the country of the blacks; while to the north of the Mediterranean was the second quarter called Europe, which was inhabited by those with white and red skins. Further, that half of the world called Asia they again halved by a line going from the north-east down to half-way along the southern side. The middle portion (between Asia and Europe, and to the west of this line) was the smaller half, and it was named Asia Minor, and it comprised the Land of Īrān and the Ḥijāz, also the Yaman and Khazar Countries; while the outer (eastern) portion was the larger half, and this was called Asia Major, which same comprised Cathay and Khotan, great and little China, Ind and Sind, with all their coasts.

Lastly, the Indian Sages divide the habitable world in squares, these laid out three by three. Of these they name the southern square Dakshin, which is the land of the Arabians: [] the northern square they call Ūtar, and this belongs to the Turks: the eastern square is that named Būrb, which same is that of great and little China; while the western square is named Basjim, which belongs to the people of Egypt and Berber. To the south- east is Agnī, which is of the Hindus; while to the north-east is Aysan, which is the land of Cathay and Khotan: to the north- west is Bāyab, which is the country of the Greeks and Franks; while to the south-west is Nayrit, which is the country of the Copts and Berbers, also Ifrīqīyah (North Africa) and Spain. Finally the central square is called Madwaysh, meaning Middle Kingdom, and this belongs to the Iranians, being the central portion of the habitable earth, also possessing the best of its lands and quarters and cities and districts¹.

Latitude and Longitude. As has been shown above, the Land of Īrān is situated in the central part of the habitable world, but more on the western quarter, so that in longitude most of it lies west of the central meridian (in longitude 90°), while the lesser part falls beyond and to the east of this central line. As regards latitude most of the lands of Īrān are of the Third and Fourth Climes, some few lying in the Second and Fifth Climes. The specification may thus be given: Īrān starts from Qūniyah (Ico- nium) in Asia Minor, in longitude 56° 30', and ends at Balkh on the Oxus in longitude 91°, and the difference between these two longi- tudes, which same represents the length in longitude of the Lands of Īrān, is 34° 30', as shown by the Astrolabe. This, according to the evaluation of Ptolemy, is equivalent to 856 leagues; but by compute of mensuration it is 761 leagues and a ninth; according, however, to what Abū Rayḥān (Al-Bīrūnī) gives by (road) estimate it is 647 leagues, it being 346 leagues from Balkh on the Oxus to Sulṭāniyyah, and 301 leagues from Sulṭāniyyah to Qūniyah (Ico- nium) in Asia Minor.

In latitude the lands of Īrān extend from `Abbādān near Baṣ- rah, which stands in latitude 29° 20', up to Bāb-al-Abwāb which lies in latitude 45°, and the difference between these two is the extent in latitude of the lands of Īrān, namely 15° 40', by the Astrolabe. This, according to the evaluation of Ptolemy, is equi- valent to 358 leagues; but by compute of mensuration it is 318 leagues and four-ninths with two-thirds of a ninth; according, however, to what Abū [] Rayḥān gives by (road) estimate it is 271 leagues, for by sum of mensuration along the high-roads it is 160 leagues from `Abbādān to Sulṭāniyyah, and from thence to Bāb-al-Abwāb, at the Iron Gates, it is 111 leagues. Lastly, the whole area of Īrān, according to the latitudes and longitudes as given by the mensuration of the Astrolabe, is 440 (square degrees). These therefore are the outer limits as regards the latitude and longitude of the Lands of Īrān, though of course the Lands of Īrān do not all exactly come within the limits of the square formed by the terminal straight lines of the latitudes and longitudes aforesaid, and there is much difference (of position and over- lapping along the frontiers).

In the description of the habitable world the positions of places are all reckoned from the equator, this being the topmost line¹, and (in the map of Īrān, therefore) whatsoever has been set down is after this wise from the tables (of latitudes and longi- tudes) of places that are commonly agreed to as being (towns) of importance. Now in the habitable world though the furthest longitude is at 180° and the highest latitude is 90°, yet the Seven Climes only begin in longitude 160°, going thence back to the longitude of 60°, while in latitude they only cover approximately 38°. But the object of our remarks on latitude and longitude has been merely to set forth the matter as it relates to the Lands of Īrān, which are situated (as already said) in the middle point of the Seven Climes, and hence those regions which lie at a distance from the frontiers of Īrān it has been convenient not to include in our Map of Īrān. Thus the longitudes are only shown as starting from the 63rd degree, and running up to the 112th degree, which therefore displays 50 degrees of longitude; while the latitudes run from the 16th degree to the 45th degree, which gives 30 degrees of latitude, as registered therein. This therefore is the explanation of the same and grace lies with God².

The Frontiers of the Land of Īrān. The eastern frontier lies on the province of Sind, then by Kābul, Ṣaghāniyān, Trans- oxiana and Khwārizm to the frontier of Saqsīn and Bulghār. The western frontier lies on the province of Nīksār (Neo-Caesarea) and Sīs, and thence to Syria. The northern frontier lies on the lands of the Ossetes and Russians, the Magyars and Circassians, the Barṭās and along the Khazar desert, which is also called the desert of Qipchāq, with the country of the Alāns and Franks. The dividing line between these last and the land of Īrān is formed by Alexander’s Cut (the Hellespont) and the Sea of the Khazars (the Caspian), which is also known as the Sea of Jīlān and Māzan- darān. [] The southern frontier lies on the desert of Najd, across which the road passes to Mecca, and on the right hand of this desert the line goes up to the frontiers of Syria, while on the left hand it comes down to the Persian Gulf, which adjoins the Indian Sea and is in communication therewith, from whence the frontier reaches India. Now although of these outer lands some, at times, have been under the sway of the sovereign of Īrān, and even in these parts some cities have been in fact founded by the sovereigns of Īrān, yet, since it is our intention here merely, and in particular, to lay down the exact frontier of Īrān, it is necessary to omit now any detailed mention of these outer lands.

Concerning the direction of the Qiblah-point in these countries.

The Qiblah throughout the whole of the Lands of Īrān stands to the south-west, and faces the main wall of the Ka`bah, which has pre-eminence over the other three walls, for the reason that in it opens the Door of the Ka`bah, and that at (its eastern end is) the angle where the Black Stone is set. This pre-eminence is further shown by the Tradition of the Prophet¹ who said Verily the Angle (of the Black Stone) and the Station (of Abraham) were two Sapphires of Paradise: but God has extinguished their brilliant light, and had He not so extinguished it, verily it had shone forth to light all things from the East to the West.

The Ka`bah (as regards longitude) lies on a meridian which is 16° west of the central meridian (in longitude 90°) of the habit- able earth; and it follows of necessity, from the varying latitudes and longitudes, that the Qiblah-point in different countries is also different. Thus in the provinces of the Two `Irāqs, Adharbayjān, Arrān and Mūghān, Shirvān, Gushtāsfī and in part of Gurjistān and in the whole of Kurdistān, Qūmis, Mazāndarān, Ṭabaristān, Jīlānāt and in part also of Khurāsān, it is necessary when you would stand facing the Qiblah that the north pole should be behind the back and over the right ear, and that the star called `Ayyūq (which follows the Pleiades) should rise behind the nape of the neck, and that the Scorpion’s Heart (Antares) should set over against the Qiblah-point. Further at the times of the spring and autumn equinox the sun sets and rises (in those countries) at points that are almost due west and east. On the other hand, in the countries of Armenia and Asia Minor, and Diyār Bakr and Diyār Rabī`ah, and in parts of Gurjistān, from what has already been explained, the Qiblah point faces rather more towards the east (than in the countries first described); while in the districts of Baṣrah and Khūzistān, in Fārs, Shabānkārah and Kirmān, in the lands of the Great Desert and Qūhistān, and in parts of Khurāsān it is necessary for exactly facing the Qiblah-point to turn more towards the west, while in Makrān, Hurmuz, [] Qays Island and Baḥrayn, you must face due west.

Now the approximate (Qiblah-point) of each of these places is clearly shown by the lines (of latitude and longitude) in the map (of Persia) that has been described above; but to get the exact direction of the Qiblah in any town it is necessary, in the place chosen, first to mark the line of the meridian and the true east and west points. These may be fixed in many ways, but of all ways that by means of the Indian Dial is the best known. Now the Indian Dial is constructed after this wise. They make the ground perfectly level and flat, and such that in no part of it is there deflexion or depression or eminence, and such that should a quantity of water be poured over the ground it should run off equally on all sides, without tending to run off the level more in any one direction. Then on this ground a circle of any de- sired size is drawn. Next, a conical stake is to be fashioned, of the quarter length of the diameter of this circle, such that its top be very pointed, and its body below be equally sharp, so that the base may be easily set up in the ground. Then this stake is to be planted upright in the centre of the circle, being firmly fixed there so that it cannot move from its position, and it will then be that the summit of the stake stands equidistant from any three, or more, points on the line of the circumference of the circle. This is the Indian Dial; further it must be verified that the conical stake be truly in the centre thereof. Then, at the middle hour of the fore-noon, let them attend to the shadow of the stake: and when it passes inside from outside the circle, the place where the shadow crosses the line of the circle is to be marked by a point (set in the ground). After the same way, at the middle time of afternoon, when, on the other side of the Indian Dial, the shadow from within is about to pass without the circle, then let the place where the shadow cuts the circumference be also marked. Let these two points be joined by a line across the Dial, and next this line is to be halved, and from the half-way point a line is to be drawn joining this to the centre of the circle (and prolonged) till it cuts the circumference of the Dial (above and below): which line is the meridian line of that place.

Further, this line, as will be seen, divides the Dial into two semicircles lying on either side of it. Let each semicircle next be halved, and a line to connect their half-way points be drawn. This line of necessity will be found to pass through the centre point of the Dial, and this line (where it cuts the circumference) marks the points, due east and due west, of the place in question. Thus, from these two major lines, four points have come to be fixed on the circle of the Dial. The two points at either end of the line going from east to west mark, at the east end, the point of sun-rise at the time of the equinox, and westward the point of sun-set at the time of the equinox. [] Likewise, of the two points at the extremities of the meridian line, that to the south marks the (true) southern point, and that to the north the (true) northern point. Thus by these major lines the Dial is divided into four equal quarters, and of these each arc must now be divided into ninety equal parts, which same will each be of the space of a degree. The Indian Dial therefore is made after this fashion, and the representation of the same is given in the diagram (on the next page).

Now for determining the exact direction of the Qiblah-point of any place it is, of course, necessary that the latitude and longitude of Mecca be known, also the latitude and longitude of the place in question; and, as has already been said, of Mecca—may God ennoble the same—the longitude is 77°, and the latitude 21° 40'. of now the longitude of the place in question be the same as the longitude of Mecca, then the town in question and Mecca occupy the same meridian by reason of the uniformity of the longitudes. And if the latitude of the town in question be higher than the latitude of Mecca, the direction of the Qiblah in that town will lie along the meridian due south; that is to say, in facing the Qiblah the north will lie behind the back. Conversely, if the

>graphic<

latitude of the town in question [] be lower than the latitude of Mecca, the Qiblah point in this case will be due north along the meridian, which is the same as saying that, in looking towards the Qiblah, the face must be turned to the north. If, on the other hand, the latitude of the place in question be the same as the latitude of Mecca, and their respective longitudes differ, then the Qiblah-point will lie along the line going east to west; and if the longitude of the place in question be greater than the longitude of Mecca, then for facing the Qiblah at that place, you must turn due west; while if contrariwise it be less, you must turn due east.

Now in these four cases just given it is not necessary to have recourse to any Table for ascertaining the amount of the arc of declination (of the Qiblah-point), for the Indian Dial is sufficient to show the cardinal points, east and west, with the meridian (marking north and south). But in the case where both the lati- tude and the longitude of the place in question differ from the latitude and longitude of Mecca, then if the latitude and longitude of the town be higher than the latitude and longitude of Mecca, its Qiblah-point will have to face south-west; and if its latitude and longitude be less than the latitude and longitude of Mecca, then its Qiblah-point will have to face north-east; while if the longitude of the town in question be more than the longitude of Mecca, its latitude at the same time being less than the latitude of Mecca, then its Qiblah-point must face north-west; and lastly, if the longitude of the place in question be less than the longitude of Mecca, while its latitude be higher, then the direction of the Qiblah-point will lie to the south-east. Now in these four latter cases some difficulty must occur in fixing the exact direction of the Qiblah-point, and to facilitate the matter, thus to avoid all labour in working out the calculation, a Table was drawn up, on the order of the Saljūq Sulṭān Sanjar, by the pious Shaykh `Abd- ar-Raḥmān Khāzinī¹, and by means of the same it is possible without trouble to fix the direction of the Qiblah-point in most places in Īrān.

Wherefore to use this Table for determining the Qiblah in the four last cases that were named above, it is requisite to obtain the difference between the longitude of Mecca and the longitude of the town in question, and likewise the difference between the latitude of Mecca and the latitude of the town in question. Next on the (vertical) side of the Table marked for the Longitudes you must find the place which has the number of degrees of the difference between the longitudes, and on the (horizontal or upper) side of the Table marked for the Latitudes find the difference of the latitudes; then in the place where, on the Table, the columns and lines running from these two figures intersect will be found marked the number of degrees and minutes giving the declination of the Qiblah-point from the meridian line. If both the latitude and longitude of the place in question be higher than the latitude and longitude of Mecca, the declination will have to be counted [] from the south point, where the line of the meridian cuts the circle of the Indian Dial; and in the western arc, from the point marked by the number of the degrees and minutes aforesaid, a line is to be drawn connecting this point with the centre of the Dial. This line will then show the direction of the Qiblah-point in the place in question, and the Miḥrāb (or Niche marking the direction of Mecca) must be set exactly in accordance with this line. If, however, the latitude and longitude of the town in ques- tion be less than the latitude and longitude of Mecca, then the declination must be counted from the north point in the Indian Dial, and the number of degrees and minutes be marked off on the eastern arc, by which you will then get the true line of the Qiblah. And if, again, the longitude of the place in question be higher, while its latitude be lower, than those, respectively, of Mecca, then beginning from the north point you must count the degrees along the arc westward; while lastly if the longitude of the place in question be less than that of Mecca and its latitude greater, then you must begin to count from the south point and along the arc to the eastwards: and this fulfils all possible cases for finding the Qiblah point.

An example is here given to show the way to use (the Table) taking the case of the direction of the Qiblah-point of Qazvīn, by which example that of other towns may be found. Of Qazvīn the longitude is 85°, and the latitude 36°: of Mecca—may God ennoble the same—the longitude is 77°, and the latitude 21° 40'¹, hence the difference of the longitudes is 8°, and the difference of the latitudes is 14° 20'. If now we take the degrees of the difference of the longitudes on the (vertical or) Longitude column (at the side) of the Table, and then take the difference of the latitudes (omitting the minutes) on the (horizontal) line of Latitudes (at the top) of the Table, and next carefully note the figures given at the point of intersection of the column with the line aforesaid, the figures will be found to be 28° 36', and this is the amount of the declination of the line marking the Qiblah-point of Qazvīn. Further, since both the latitude and the longitude of Qazvīn are respectively higher than the latitude and longitude of Mecca, we must count the declination from the south point of the Indian Dial, and along the western arc, and drawing a line from the point on the arc (marked by the number of degrees and minutes afore- said) to the centre of the Dial this will show the true direction of the Qiblah at Qazvīn¹. All this has been figured on the Indian Dial that is given above; and the Table which was drawn up will be found on the following page, but God alone is all knowing as to its exactitude.

The Land of Īrān. Revenues, Khurāsān not included. Total revenue under Ghāzān Khān, and at the time the author wrote. Amount under the Sassanian kings, and the days of Malik Shāh. Contrast with present state of decay. The Province of Arabian `Irāq: reasons for its precedence. Size. Area under cultivation. Mensuration and taxes established by `Omar. Re- venue under Ḥajjāj. Revenues under Mongols, assessment known as Rātib. Comparison of total at time of Ḥamd-Allah with accounts of the time of the Caliph Nāṣir. Edict as regards slaughter of cattle. Method followed in these Sections: reasons for beginning with Kūfah of Baghdād. Position of Kūfah. Description of the town, its walls and wells. The Mosque: column with mark of `Ali’s hand. The Oven of the Flood. Tombs of Companions and Holy Men. Taxation of Kūfah lands. Mashhad `Alī. Tomb of `Ali, how re-dis- covered. Story of Hārūn-ar-Rashīd. The Crooked Minaret. Karbalā, the Shrine of Ḥusayn. Shrine of Ezekiel, or Dhū-l-Kifl, and of Jonah. Baghdād its position: earlier cities here. Foundation by the Caliph Manṣūr of West Baghdād. East Baghdād built by Mahdī. Building of Sāmarrah, trans- ference thither of the capital. Return of Caliphs to Baghdād. Building of the Walls. The Great Mosque and the Palaces. The Gates. Climate, People and peculiarities of Baghdād. Canals and waterways. Colleges, Tombs and Shrines. Distances of various towns from Baghdād. Revenues of the City. Verses in praise of Baghdād

DIVISION II. Describing the provinces and districts of the Land of Īrān, and the nature of the climates, with the description of the buildings in each of the provinces, and their inhabitants; the same being detailed in twenty sections, each describing a single province.

Throughout the whole Land of Īrān, each of all the villages is like a city (for size), and stands independent of its province. Now in the matter of the revenues [] of the Land of Īrān, the province of Khurāsān is not a part thereof, for it is a separate Sultanate, the revenue of which, since Mongol times, has never been included in the sum total of Īrān, being written off on a sepa- rate account. And first, in regard to the epoch preceding the recent disorders¹.

Now during the several times when (as State Accountant) I computed the sum total until the first years of the reign of Ghāzān Khān—whom may God enfold in His forgiveness—the revenue amounted to 17,000,000 and odd (currency dīnārs), but after this early period, by reason of the just government of Ghāzān Khān which brought back such prosperity to the land, it reached the sum of 21,000,000 and odd (currency dīnārs). At the present time it probably does not amount to half this sum, for in most of the provinces usurpation of authority is rampant with this coming and going of armies, so that the people even do withhold their hands from sowing the fields. In the Masālik-al-Mamālik Ibn Khurdādbih states that King Khusraw Parvīz in the eighteenth year of his reign (A.D. 608)—which same was the last year of the Days of Infidelity, for the nineteenth year of his reign was that in which the Mission of the Prophet was made manifest—the sum total which was recorded for the whole of his kingdom amounted to 400,020,000 dīnārs of red gold¹, the same that at the present time are known as `Awāmil (‘Governors’), and at the exchange of the present time this is equivalent to 800,040,000 currency (dīnārs).

In the Risālat-i-Malikshāhī (Diary of Malik-Shāh) it is reported that in the days of the Saljūq Sultan Malik Shāh (the revenue amounted to) 215,000,000 and odd of red gold dīnārs¹, and since these dīnārs are to be reckoned as 21/3 dīnārs (currency) of the present day, this sum amounts to somewhat over 500,000,000 (dīnārs currency). From the above a comparison may be made in regard to the state of fertility of the land (in past times) and its ruin (in the present day), as a result of the irruption of the Mon- gols, and the general massacre of the people which took place in their days. Further there can be no doubt that even if for a thousand years to come no evil befalls the country, yet will it not be possible completely to repair the damage, and bring back the land to the state in which it was formerly. Least of all can this be in our times, by reason of the numerous unhappy events that so constantly befall so that the couplet:

Every day that passes makes cares of yesterday appear light:
Each new year that comes makes the losses of last year seem trivial,

became the continual utterance of the people. May God—be He glorified and exalted—cast a glance of pity and commise- ration upon us, [] and for all times to come have in His keeping and protection the Land of Īrān, and all other countries of the Moslems, guarding them from the calamities of the age; and may He, of His grace and beneficence and loving kindness and mercy, grant that we remain henceforth in perfect peace and complete tranquillity, with justice for all, and a stable government that changes not.

SECTION 1. Concerning the Province of Arabian `Irāq.

In the Masālik-al-Mamālik it is stated that Arabian `Irāq used to be called the Heart of Īrān-Shahr, and since the heart is the lord of life, it is suitable to begin with the description of this province; and again, in the Suwar-al-`Aqālīm it is said that since Arabian `Irāq lies to the Qiblah (Mecca-wards) of the Land of Īrān it is therefore likewise proper to set it in the forefront. And indeed since in this province was the capital where `Alī, the Com- mander of the Faithful, resided, and where he lies buried, also that for five hundred and forty years this was the seat of the Abbasid Caliphate, it were in any case incumbent to give it the priority. The frontiers of the province are near by the Desert of Najd, and thence down to the Persian Gulf; next they march with those of the province of Khūzistān, then by Kurdistān, and lastly Diyār Bakr. Its length, from Takrīt to `Abbādān, measures 125 leagnes: its breadth, from the Pass of Ḥulwān to Qādisīyah over against the Najd Desert, is 80 leagues; this giving an area of 10,000 square leagues.

During the Caliphate of `Omar, who bequeathed Arabian `Irāq to the Moslems, he gave orders to effect its mensuration, and after careful survey the result showed an area of 36,000,000 Jarībs¹. Accounting, however, as beforesaid, that the total area (of the province) is 10,000 square leagues, since each square league contains 40,000 Jarībs—each Jarīb being a square of 60 ells by 60 ells—these 10,000 square leagues would give 400,000,000 Jarībs. (But this is in excess, and) the measure- ment giving 10,000 square leagues can only be attained on the supposition that the area enclosed by the sides of latitude and longitude is a right-angled parallelogram. In point of fact the map does not show this to be the case, for evidently at one place the province is broader, and at another narrower, than what is supposed. And again a great portion of the province is water- less desert, or swamp-land which can only be waste and barren, while the mensuration that was effected in the time of `Omar assuredly took account only of ground that was under the plough, [] or planted, and where water was readily obtainable, which would fully account for the difference (above given) in the two estimates of the area.

The Caliph `Omar, further, established a land-tax of 4 dirhams (yearly) on every Jarīb of ground that was wheat bearing, while the lands under barley paid 2 dirhams, and he took 8 dirhams from palm orchards, counting 40 palms to the Jarīb; while lands growing vines and fruits paid 6 dirhams tax. The tributary (Christians and Magians) also he caused to be numbered, and they were 500,000 souls, whom he divided into three classes:—and of these the highest class were assessed to pay a poll-tax of 48 dirhams, the middle class 24 dirhams, and the lowest class 12 dirhams. Now these sums were payable year by year, and the total of both land-tax and poll-tax amounted to 128,000,000 dirhams, which at the usual exchange in our money is equivalent to 21,330,000 and odd (currency dīnārs). In the time of the (Omayyad governor) Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf this had fallen to 18,000,000 dirhams, which is equivalent to 3,000,000 (currency dīnārs) of the present day. Whereby the justice of `Omar and the tyranny of Ḥajjāj are clearly established, yet, though the Sunnīs hold `Omar to have been just, the Shī`ahs persistently account him to have been a tyrant.

Whatever remains of that assessment at the present day is known as Kharáj-i-Rātib (permanent impost), coming under matters that are administered by the Treasury, and the sum due from this property in the year 35 of the Khānī era¹ (A.D. 1335) amounted to somewhat over 3,000,000 currency dīnārs. This sum, however, by reason of the misrule of the local governors, is now much diminished; though if that area of land which was surveyed in the time of the Caliph `Omar were now under culti- vation, being either sown (for cereals) or planted (for orchards), it would yield a revenue more than double of what it does now. For even if it were all reckoned to be under barley, which only pays two dirhams for each Jarīb (the 36 million Jarībs at this rate would yield 72 million Abbasid dirhams, which is the equivalent of) 12 million currency dīnārs, or in tūmāns (of 10,000) 1200 tūmāns. Further, at the time when I myself was at Bagh- dād in charge of the tax-office there, I saw an official copy of the assessment drawn up in the reign of the Caliph Nāṣir, and herein the province of Arabian `Irāq was set down as yielding above 30 million currency dīnārs. Even in those days the (ill-advised) interference of the government, in matters connected with agricul- ture and farming, had reached such a pitch that it was forbidden any more to slaughter cattle. Alluding to which a poet wrote this couplet²:

We complained to him of the ruin of the Sawād (Babylonia);
Then like a fool he forbade us the flesh of oxen. []

But now at length, seeing that all interference with the culti- vation of the land has ceased on the part of the local governors, and that they have given orders in the diverse districts of `Irāq that the Treasury officials should abstain from perquisitions on the oxen that tread out the corn, and on the cattle or other beasts, doubtless the crops of former times will be equalled by those of the present day. May God Almighty, of His grace and mercy, vouch- safe to establish just and discreet governors throughout all the pro- vinces of the Land of Īrān, as well too as in every other country of Moslem rule: verily He alone is omnipotent in all things.

We now proceed to describe the various districts and cities, and although according to the alphabetical order we ought to be- gin with those having Alif (A) for initial, and Kūfah begins with a Kāf (K), while Baghdād begins with a Bā (B), yet since Kūfah was the capital of the Commander of the Faithful `Alī, and is the place where he lies buried, and since Baghdād is the Mother of the Cities of this land, and was the seat of the Abbasid Caliphate, where too is the Place of Martyrdom of the Imāms Mūsā-al- Kāẓim and Muḥammad-at-Taqī, we shall begin this Section with describing these two cities, and then take up the alphabetical order (in regard to other towns); also in all later Sections, for similar reasons, we shall begin in each case by describing the capital city of the province, and then take up the alphabetical order (for the remaining towns).

Kūfah. Of the Third Clime, and a town built since the days of Islām. Its longitude from the Fortunate Isles is 79° 32', and its latitude north of the equator 31° 35'. Now these figures (in the Abjad reckoning are represented by the letters which) may be read `Aṭila balāluhu, meaning ‘His adhesion was useless,’ which is a curious coincidence (having regard to the fate of the Caliph `Alī), and shows manifestly that no good deed can be wrought by the people of this city, nor can any credence be placed in their professions, and the same was abundantly proved by the history of their dealings with diverse members of the Family of the Prophet—on whom be peace. Further the Arabs have also a proverb which says The Kufite does not keep faith.

The city had originally been founded by Hūshang king of the Pīshdādian dynasty (of Persia), but it fell to ruin, and was in time rebuilt by Sa`d ibn Abī Waqqāṣ (the Arab General) in the days of the Caliph `Omar. At its foundation the sign of Aquarius was in the ascendant. The Caliph `Alī subsequently ordered the town of Hāshimiyyah to be laid out beside Kūfah, which same the Ab- basid Caliph Manṣūr completed. He also it was who surrounded it and Kūfah with walls, and the circuit of these same walls is 18,000 paces. The climate of the city is hotter than that of Baghdād; and the north wind is more prevalent there. Water is brought to Kūfah by the Nahr Nāḥiyah (the District Canal), which is taken from the Euphrates. The city possesses many palm groves, and the reeds (used for writing-pens) that grow here are larger and better than those found in any other province. Fine crops of cotton, corn and other cereals are raised in the vicinity.

The Oven whence the Flood poured forth in the days of Noah []—as is witnessed by the words of the Qurān (ch. XI. v. 42, and ch. XXIII. v. 27) And the Oven boiled up—stood ori- ginally on a piece of ground which at the present time is en- closed within the mosque of Kūfah at its north-western angle. Further in this same Mosque the Caliph `Alī received his death wound, when he (to support himself) laid his hand on one of its columns, and the impress of his blessed hand still appears upon this column; but at the present day, from the many times that the people have rubbed their hands on the place to obtain a bless- ing, it has become hollowed out. The Caliph `Alī also caused a well to be dug here, and except for this one well the wells of Kūfah do not give sweet water, but only water that is brackish and bitter. Kūfah at the present day for the most part is in ruin. The majority of its population is Shī`ah of the sect of the Twelve (Imāms). The people talk Arabic, but of a corrupt dialect. Here may be seen the tombs of many of the Companions, among the rest that of the last of them, `Abd Allah ibn Abi Bakr, who died in the year 86 (705): and among the Shaykhs and notables is found the grave of Abū `Amr¹ the third of the Seven Readers (of the Qurān).

Kūfah possesses many dependent districts and the revenues of the city are apportioned to the Treasury². That part which is desert pays the customary quota at the present time; while all that portion of the plain of Arabian `Irāq which is orchard-ground pays the land-tax, assessed in part under what is known as per- manent impost (Rātib), and in part under casual impost (Ḥādith). Of the winter and summer crops about one-third (of the produce) is paid over to the Treasury; the second-third (approximately), known as Bānī³, goes for the expenses of cultivation and similar charges; while the last third, which is the most considerable, is for the occupier. Furthermore at the present day (as already said) all these lands belong to the Treasury.

Two leagues distant from Kūfah towards the south-west lies Mashhad `Alī, the shrine of `Alī the Commander of the Faithful, known as the Mashhad-i-Gharwā (the Wondrous Shrine). For when `Alī had received his death wound, in the mosque at Kūfah, he gave it as his will that as soon as he was dead his body should be placed on a camel; then the camel was to be given its head and set in motion, and wheresoever the beast knelt down, there they should bury his body. This being done, it came to pass that the camel knelt at the place where now is the Shrine, and here in consequence was he buried. Now during the reigns of the Omayyad Caliphs his blessed resting place could not be dis- closed, and so it was also under the Abbasids until the reign of Hārūn-ar-Rashīd. [] But in the year 175 (791) Hārūn hap- pened to go a-hunting in these parts, and his quarry fleeing from him took refuge in this very spot. And however much the Caliph urged his horse into the place, into it the horse would not go; and on this awe took possession of the Caliph’s heart. He made enquiries of the people of the neighbourhood, and they acquainted him with the fact that this was the grave of `Alī. Hārūn ordered the ground to be excavated, and the body of `Alī was discovered lying there wounded. A tomb was afterwards erected, and the people began to settle in its vicinity.

A hundred and ninety and odd years later `Aḍud-ad-Dawlah the Būyid, in the year 366 (977), raised a mighty building over the grave, as it now exists, and the place has since become a little town, the circuit of which is 2500 paces. Here Ghāzān Khān built a hostelry for Sayyids and a Darvīsh-house. In the Risālah of Sulṭān Malik Shāh the Saljūq it is related that, on his road from Kūfah to Mashhad `Alī, the Sulṭān noticed a Minaret which was all crooked, so that half rose straight from the ground and half was falling over. He enquired of the matter and was told that `Alī had once passed by here, when this Minaret, to pay him respect, began to bend over: but the Caliph `Alī made a sign to it that it should remain thus.

Eight leagues to the west of Kūfah, out in the desert, stands Karbalā, the Shrine of the Commander of the Faithful Ḥusayn, which is known as the Mashhad Ḥāirī (the Shrine of Disrup- tion) because, as history relates, when in the reign of the Caliph Mutawakkil they dammed up the water in that spot to lay the shrine in ruin, the water burst through and left dry the ground where was the grave of Ḥusayn. The building over this, also, was built by `Aḍud-ad-Dawlah the Būyid, and it became at a later date a small town, the circuit of which measures 2400 paces. Out- side this is seen the tomb of my ancestor, in the eighteenth gene- ration, namely Ḥurr Riyāḥī¹, who was the first person to give his life (at the battle of Karbalā) for the sake of Ḥusayn the Com- mander of the Faithful, being martyred by those whom the Caliph Yazīd—may he be accursed—had sent. A Tradition is reported that the Prophet said He who makes visitation to (the tomb of) Al-Ḥusayn on the Night of Intention, God for a whole year will forgive him his sins; and they add that the night on which you should intend (your visitation) is the eve of the 1st of the month of Rajab.

Four leagues to the north of Kūfah and near the village of Bīr Malāḥah (the Brackish Well) is the tomb of the Prophet Dhū- 1-Kifl (Him of the Lot), to whose shrine the Jews make their pil- grimage [], as the Moslems do to the Ka`bah². Uljaytū Sulṭān, the Mongol, took the guardianship of this shrine out of the hands of the Jews and confided it to Moslems; he also built here a mosque with a minaret. To the east of Kūfah is the Station of the Prophet Yūnus (Jonah), and the shrine of Ḥudhayfah ibn al Yamān, who was one of the more intimate Companions of the Prophet Muḥammad.

Baghdād. Of the Third Clime, and the capital city of Arabian `Irāq. It was founded since the days of Islam, and lies on the bank of the Tigris. Its longitude from the Fortunate Isles is 77°, and its latitude north of the equator 33°. In the days of the Chosroes, however, on the place Baghdād now occupies, there was a village on the western bank of the Tigris called Karkh, which was built by Sapor II, and on the eastern bank lay Sābāṭ, a village of the dependencies of Nahrawān. In the plain (to the north) of this village Chosroes Anūshirvān laid out a garden, to which he gave the name of ‘the Garden of Justice’ (Bāgh-i-Dād), and afterwards this name, as Baghdād, came to be the proper name of the place. The Arabs call it Madīnat-as-Salām (the City of Peace), and the Persians call it Zawrā (Crooked).

Manṣūr, grandson of the grandson of `Abbās (the uncle of the Prophet), who was the second of the Abbasid Caliphs, and nick- named Abū Dawānīq (‘Father of Pence,’ from his stinginess), founded the city in the year 145 (762) on the western bank of the river, constructing many buildings, and when these were begun the Sign of Sagittarius was in the ascendant. His son Mahdī transferred his residence to the eastern bank, building (there the new Palace of) the Caliphate, and surrounding it with other quar- ters, which his son Hārūn-ar-Rashīd on his accession brought to completion after much labour. Such was then the size of the city that the houses stretched for a length of four leagues (along the Tigris banks), with a width across of a league and a half. In the reign of his son the Caliph Mu`taṣim, who had in his service (a Turkish bodyguard of) many Ghulāms, and these having become a source of trouble to the people of Baghdād, the seat of the Caliphate was transferred to Sāmarrah, where Mu`taṣim pro- ceeded to erect numerous palaces. Here in Sāmarrah—of his sons, grandsons and great grandsons—seven Caliphs reigned, namely Wāthiq, Mutawakkil, Muntaṣir, Musta`īn, Mu`tazz, Muhtadī and Mu`tamid, until it came to the reign of Mu`taḍid, grandson of Mutawakkil, the sixteenth (Abbasid) Caliph, who transferred the seat of the Caliphate again back to Baghdād.

After the time of Mu`taḍid all [] the remaining (Abbasid) Caliphs in succession had their abode in Baghdād, where in the reign of his son `Alī Muktafī the Dār-ash-Shāṭi’iyyah (the Palace of the River Bank)¹ and the great Mosque of Eastern Baghdād were both built. When it came to the reign (of the twenty- eighth Caliph) Mustaẓhir, he built round Baghdād a wall of burnt brick, surrounding this again by a ditch; and the circuit of this wall that enclosed in a semicircle the quarter known as the Double Ḥaram of the eastern bank was 18,000 paces. (East Baghdād then) had four Gates, namely the Gate of Khurāsān (or of the Khurāsān Road), the Khalaj Gate, the Ḥalbah Gate and the Gate of the Sulṭān’s Market¹. On the western bank lay the quarter that is known as Karkh, the wall surrounding which had a circuit of 12,000 paces. Most of the houses in the city were built of kiln-burnt bricks. The climate of Baghdād is excellent, being rather warm, but mild, and it is open to the north. The climate agrees equally with strangers and natives, but agrees with and suits women better than men.

At most seasons provisions are cheap here, scarcity and dear- ness being very rarely known, and even when they occur the dearth is not general, and provisions merely become locally some- what more expensive. The fruits of a warm climate are found here in excellence and in abundance, as for instance the date known as Makhtūm (‘sealed’), and that called Khastuwī (‘stoned’), also the Darrājī pomegranate and the Mūraqī grape, the equal of which are found in no other lands. The fruits of a cold climate, however, do not ripen here in great excellence. Both cotton and corn grow well, as also all other grain crops, so that in most seasons one (Mann) weight of seed gives a crop of twenty (Mann) weight, such being the growth and increase. In this country too the tamarisk (Gaz) tree attains such a size that its trunk measures from two to three fathoms in girth, and the Palma Christi (Khirwa`) becomes so big that a man can sit on its branches without their breaking. The hunting-grounds near Baghdād are numerous and excellent; and game is abundant. The country round is a plain, and its pasture-lands are rich; further the crops of this region are so abundant in their growth that, unless they are eaten down after the harvest they do not give their full increase; as a consequence the cattle here are always very fat.

The Tigris flows through the city; and (the Canal called) the Nahr`Īsā from the Euphrates likewise joins the Tigris at Baghdād, while two leagues below the city [] the Nahrawān Canal runs in, and thence (the Tigris) flows on down to Wāsiṭ. Its stream (at Baghdād) is a fine thing to see from the number of boats, and looks

Like the Milky way with the stars by night,

and is mighty pleasant to contemplate, though in truth this pleasure is not worth the risk of death by drowning. The wells in Baghdād have bitter or brackish water, and are for the most part about 15 ells deep: hence their water is only used for scouring and for washing clothes. The people here are fair-skinned, good look- ing, easy going and pleasant tempered, but slothfulness dominates their nature, and they pass their time in pleasure. Life is made easy to the rich by abundant comforts, whatever is needed for good living can easily be come by, while the poor with a few copper coins can get of a sufficiency for contentment. Most of the people here are fat in body, and corpulence among them at times is to such a degree that when in the reign of Uljaytū Sulṭān a certain baker, who was wont to sit in the Market of the Niẓā- miyyah quarter, was by royal command weighed, his weight amounted to 740 Baghdād Raṭls (pounds). Their speech is Arabic, but corrupt. Since this is the metropolitan city, Moslems of all sects are numerous here; the majority are Sunnīs of the Shāfi`ite sect, though the Ḥanbalites are also powerful, while the adherents of other sects are innumerable. Colleges and Darvīsh Convents are numerous; among the rest is the Niẓāmiyyah College, which is the greatest of them all; and the Mustanṣiriyyah, which is the most beautiful building in Baghdād. They say that it is a peculiarity of this city that no Caliph or Governor ever yet died within its limits.

Outside the city are numerous shrines and holy graves. Thus on the western bank there are the shrines of Kāẓim and his grand- son Taqī, the (Seventh and Ninth) Imāms¹ and this place is now a small town standing by itself, the circuit of which measures 6000 paces. Also there are on this side many other tombs: namely those of Ibn Ḥanbal (the Imām, and of the Sūfī Saints) Ibn Adham², Junayd Baghdādi, Sarī Saqaṭī, Ma`rūf Karkhī, Shiblī, Ḥallāj, Ḥārith Muḥāsibī, Ibn Masrūq, Ibn Muḥammad Murta`ish, Abū-l-Ḥasan Ḥuṣrī and Abū Ya`qūb Buwayṭī, the chief disciple of Shāfi`ī³, also of many other Shaykhs and learned men. On the eastern [] bank is the tomb of (the Imām) Abū Ḥanīfah, while in Ruṣāfah, which is a small township standing by itself, are the graves of the Abbasid Caliphs, and in (East) Baghdād city are the tombs of the Shaykh Shihāb-ad-Dīn Suhrawārdī, and of `Abd-al-Qādir Gīlānī⁴. To the north of the city again, but four leagues distant, lie the shrines of Shaykh Mukārim and Shaykh Sakrān, and there are besides these very many more tombs and shrines, the complete enumeration of which would be too long to write out here.

The distances from Baghdād to the various towns of Arabian `Irāq are as follows: Anbār 11 leagues; Baṣrah 70 leagues; Ba`qūbā 8 leagues; Takrīt 32 leagues; Nahrawān city 5 leagues; Nu`māniyyah 8 leagues; Ḥillah 18 leagues; Ḥadīthah 58 leagues; Ḥulwān 35 leagues; Sāmarrah 22 leagues; Kūfa 24 leagues; Madāin 6 leagues; Jabbul 10 leagues; and Wāsiṭ 40 leagues.

At the present day the revenues of the Baghdād lands have been assigned to the Treasury, and they amount approximately to 800,000 (currency dīnārs); further, the districts lying imme- diately round the city are known under the technical names of Afranchah and Muqāṭa`āt¹. The remaining towns of the province will now be enumerated in their (alphabetical) order. In regard to Baghdād both Arab and Persian poets have written many poems; and of what occurs to mind a quotation or two may be here set down. Thus Athīr-ad-Dīn Awmānī says:

If thou wouldst see the whole world together in one spot,
And see that world all living in luxury,
Be like the sun, thy whole face but one eye, and look at Baghdād,
Then wilt thou see it like the heaven round about the Pleiades.

This ode goes on to some length. Anvarī too has given us these verses:

How pleasant is the neighbourhood of Baghdād, the place for excellence and talent:
In all the world no one can point out another such region.

This ode too runs to some length. Further, an Arab poet has said:

Baghdād is a fine place for him who has wealth,
But for those who are poor it is an abode of wretchedness and restraint. []

Lastly, I myself too wrote this quatrain:

Baghdād is a good place, but only for him
Who has the means to attain his heart’s desire.
Such an one can pass his precious life with a boon companion,
And will not lose one single moment of youth.

A great number of other descriptions of Baghdād have been uttered and occur to my mind, but these few specimens will here suffice.

The chief cities of Arabian `Irāq. Anbār, and the captive Jews. Babylon. Baṣrah, its foundation. The Great Mosque: miracle of its Minaret. Com- panions buried here. The Ubullah Canal and the Tigris Estuary. Dates and Date groves of Baṣrah. Districts round `Abbādān. Towns near Bayāt. Takrīt and its castle. The `Aqarqūf hill. Ḥillah and the shrine of the Ex- pected Imām. Ḥīrah and the palaces of Khawarnaq and Sadīr. The Dujayl district. Rūmiyah. Sāmarrah and its palaces. The Great Mosque and the Malwīyah Minaret. Ba`qūbā and the Nahrawān Canal. `Ukbarā or `As- karah. The Castle of Shīrīn and its milk conduit. Muḥawwal and the Mosquito Charm. Madāin, chief of the Seven Cities. The Great Bridge. The Palace of the Chosroes. Manṣūr’s attempt to demolish it. Its shattered Arch. Shrine of Salmān the Persian. The `Īsā Canal. Nahrawān. Hīt and the bitumen springs. Wāsiṭ

Anbār. A town of the Third Clime, lying on the eastern bank of the Euphrates. King Luhrāsp the Kayāniyan built it as a prison for the captive (Jews) whom Nebuchadnezzar had brought here from Jerusalem. For this reason was it named Anbār (meaning the Barn, or Jail). King Sapor II rebuilt the city, and Saffāḥ the first of the Abbasid Caliphs founded here many mighty edifices, making it his capital. The circuit of its walls is 5000 paces. In climate and produce, also in the manners and customs of its peoples, it resembles Baghdād. Its revenue is 10,000 (dī- nārs)¹, and this is paid over to the Baghdād Treasury.

Bābil (Babylon). This is of the Third Clime, and it is one of the Seven Cities of (Arabian) `Irāq. It stands on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, and was founded by Cainan son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam. King Ṭahmūrath, Binder of Demons, the Pishdādian restored it, making it a very great city. Later it became the capital of Nimrod and of (Ḍaḥḥāk) Zuḥāk the son of `Alwān. Further Zuḥāk built here a castle which was known as Kang Dizh, the remains of which are now merely a mound; and in this city were many magicians. After the days of Zuḥāk the Kings of Canaan made it their capital, and after it had fallen to decay Alexander the Great restored its buildings, but these have now again gone to ruin. It is at the present time a dependency of Ḥillah. On the summit of a mound where stood of old the citadel of the city, there is a deep pit, and Qazvīnī states that (the two fallen angels) Hārūt and Mārūt are here imprisoned; but in other works it is reported that these fallen angels are imprisoned in the Brimstone Pit on Mount Damāvand.

Bazār-ar-Rūz. The revenues of this place amount to 20,000 (dīnārs). It is of the Third Clime, and its revenues aforesaid belong to the Treasury.

Baṣrah. This city is of the Third Clime, and its foundation dates from the early days of Islam. Its longitude is 74°, and its latitude 30°. The city was founded in the year 15 (636) of the Hijrah by the Caliph `Omar, and `Utbah [] ibn Ghazwān laid out the plan. Its Friday Mosque was built by `Abd-Allah ibn `Āmir of unburnt bricks, and Ziyād the son of (the Caliph Mu- `āwiyah) faced these with burnt tiles. It was further enlarged by the Caliph `Alī, and of him it is related that in order to obtain the true direction of the Qiblah he, with his blessed hand, lifted up on high the master builder, and by a miracle caused him to see plainly the Ka`bah (at Mecca), whereby the direction of the Qiblah-point was exactly laid. It is further said that any Friday Mosque which it is attempted to build of a larger plan than this mosque of Baṣrah, that mosque never reaches completion; for however much they may urge on the building one side of it will always collapse. An instance of this may be seen in the New Friday Mosque at Shīrāz, of which one portion is ever falling to the ground. In the mosque at Baṣrah is a minaret of which it is reported that if any go there, and adjure it with an oath in the name of (the Caliph) `Alī, and shall cry out, ‘Let the Minaret tremble (if this be the truth, and if not) let it be still,’ it will act accordingly, for although it is indeed a matter contrary to reason, yet in what pertains to any miracle wrought by the Caliph `Alī reason does not enter. At Baṣrah are the tombs of Talah and of Zubayr, which are much venerated and visited, also the shrines of many other of the Companions (of the Prophet), such as Anas ibn Mālik, who was the last of them to survive, he only dying in the year 91 (710)¹. Of the Followers (of the Companions) also there are many buried here, as for instance Ḥasan Baṣrī, Ibn Sīrīn, famous for his interpretation of dreams², Sufyān Thawrī, and Abū Dāūd Sijistānī, the third of the great Masters of Tra- dition, besides others who are beyond count.

The climate of Baṣrah by day is extremely warm, but at night it is relatively cooler. The water in its wells is brackish, but a fine canal comes thither from the Tigris Estuary: this is called the Nahr Ubullah, and it is near four leagues in length. The domain of Baṣrah contains many orchards, and the land of these orchards being high, the water of the Tigris Estuary stays in its ditches; but daily, at the high tide at sea, the water rises in the Estuary, and by this therefore all the Baṣrah orchards are irrigated. The orchards extend for near 30 leagues in the length by two leagues in the breadth, and by reason of the thickness of the trees you can nowhere see through for a space of more than a hundred ells. The charm of this place is one of the wonders of the whole world. The Baṣrah dates are excellent, and they are exported even to India and to Nearer and Further China. The people of Baṣrah are dark-skinned, and they are of the sect of the Twelve Imāms: their language is Arabic, but corrupt, and Persian also is spoken there. [] The province has many districts and among the largest are Balās and Zakīyah¹. Also Maysān, which same is the place whereon Iblīs—be he accursed—fell; it was founded by King Bahman ibn Isfandiyār, and later was restored by Alexander the Great. Then there is `Abbādān, beyond which there are no more habitations, as is recorded in the (well-known) line, ‘There is no village beyond `Abbādān.’ The longitude of `Abbādān is 84° 20', and its latitude 29° 20'; and concerning its excellencies many Traditions are reported, for it was accounted one of the frontier places of the Moslem lands over against the infidel Hindus. The revenues of Baṣrah and its dependencies, in the time prior to the late disturbances, amounted to 441,000 currency dīnārs.

Bandanījīn. In the Registers of the taxes this place is called Laḥf, and in common speech the first mentioned name is pro- nounced Bandīyān (or Wandīnān). It is a small town, and in climate and produce is just the opposite of Bayāt. Its revenues amount to 76,000 dīnārs.

Bayāt. This is a provincial capital. Bādarāyā and Bāku- sāyā are two similar towns, which with some other places are of the dependencies of Bayāt. In climate and produce all these are like other places in Arabian `Irāq. In Bayāt the streams of run- ning water are all brackish, but in the underground channels, which come from a distance of a league away, the water is sweet and fit for drinking. The revenue of Bayāt amounts to 46,000 currency dīnārs, and in Bādarāyā much sugar-cane is grown.

Takrīt. This is of the Fourth Clime; its longitude is 77° 20', and its latitude 34° 30'. It is a medium sized town, standing on the west bank of the Tigris. It is 6100 paces in circuit, and has a strong castle built on the river bank. Its climate is healthy, and of fruits the melon is here excellent. It is said that they sow in each year three crops.

`Aqarqūf Mound. This was built by king Kay Kāus, whom many account to be the same as Nimrod: and he built it because when he had thrown Abraham into the fiery furnace he came up hither to prove him.

Ḥadīthah. (The new Town, on the Tigris.) This is of the Fourth Clime, and in climate and products [] is the opposite of Takrīt.

Ḥarbā. This is a town of medium size, and it receives its water (by a canal) from the Tigris. It has many orchards, and its revenues amount to 25,100 dīnārs.

Ḥillah. This is of the Third Clime, and it is a city founded since the days of Islam. Its longitude is 79° 40', and its latitude 31° 50'. It was built by the Amīr Sayf-ad-Dawlah Ṣadaqah Manṣūr ibn Dubays Asadī during the reign of the Caliph Qāim, in the year 436 (1044)¹. The river Euphrates divides the town; most of its houses are on the western bank, with but a few on the eastern side. It has many palm groves, and for this cause its climate is close. For the most part provisions are cheap here, and its lands produce much the same crops as those of Baghdād. Its people are in religion of the sect of the Twelve Imāms. They are fair-skinned, and corpulent of body, like the people of Bagh- dād, and their speech is corrupt Arabic. In matters of religion they are very bigoted. They have made in Ḥillah a shrine where, according to their belief, the Expected Imām Mahdī—Muḥammad son of Ḥasan al `Askarī—will again appear, he (as is well known) having disappeared (from human sight) at Sāmarrah in the year 264 (878). The revenues of Ḥillah belong to the Treasury.

Ḥulwān. Of the Fourth Clime. It is one of the Seven Cities of Arabian `Irāq, lying in longitude 82° 55' and latitude 34°. Qubād, son of Fīrūz the Sassanian, founded it. It is now ruined, and only a portion of the lands are cultivated. Among its shrines, however, is the tomb of Ḥamzah², sixth of the Seven Qurān Readers. Some thirty villages are of its domain; and the taxes amount to 6100 dīnārs.

Ḥīrah. Of the Third Clime, and one of the Seven Cities of Arabian `Īrāq. It was formerly a great city, lying one league distant from Kūfah, but it is now a ruin. Sadīr and Khawarnaq, which are so often mentioned in poetry, and in narrations and conversations among the people, were two Kiosks which Nu`mān ibn Mundhir built here for King Bahrām Gūr. Their ruins still exist, and they were lofty buildings of which the poet speaks in the following verses: []

The tribes of Kaḥṭān found their glory and their legends on Bahrām Gūr:
And by his palace of Khawarnaq and Sadīr, men recognize the fashion of their rule.

Khāliṣ. Though now gone to ruin, this is still a most fruitful district lying on the Nahrawān Canal; having 30 villages in its dependencies. Its revenues amount to 73,000 dīnārs.

Khāniqīn. This was formerly a provincial capital, but is now a mere village. The Ḥulwān river passes through it: and 20 villages are of its dependencies. Its revenues amount to 12,200 dīnārs.

Dujayl. This is a considerable district which receives its water from the Tigris (Dijlah), and hence it is called Dujayl (the Little Tigris). The provincial capital of Wānah is its chief town, and it has fine villages to the number of near a hundred. The crops are excellent, and pomegranates, known as the Darrājī, are better here than in any other part of the Baghdād district. The revenues of this district amount to 35,000 dīnārs.

Daqūq. Of the Fourth Clime. A medium sized town, with a climate that is the best in all Arabian `Irāq. In its neigh- bourhood are naphtha springs. Its revenues amount to 78,600 dinārs.

Dayr `Āqūl. A small town lying between Baghdād and Wāsiṭ, having a close climate on account of its palm groves.

Rūmiyah. Of the Third Clime. It is one of the Seven Cities of Arabian `Irāq, having been built by King Anūshirvān the Just opposite Madāin, and on the exact plan of Antioch (in Syria). It is now a ruin.

Rādhān and Bayn-an-Nahrayn. These are two districts lying on the Nahrawān Canal, having excellent crops. Their revenues amount to 50,000 dīnārs¹.

Zangiābād. A district lying to the west of Khāniqīn. Its revenues amount to 11,500 dīnārs.

Sāmarrah. Of the Fourth Clime, and lying on the eastern bank of the Euphrates. Its gardens, with some of its buildings and villages, also occupy the western bank. Its longitude is 79° 54', and its latitude 34° 5'. [] It was originally founded by Sapor II, and seeing that in climate it was the best of all the lands of Arabian `Irāq, it came to be known as Surra-man-ra’a (meaning ‘Who sees it rejoices’), but afterwards it fell to ruin. Then the Caliph Mu`taṣim, son of Hārūn-ar-Rashīd, took in hand to restore the buildings, and made it his capital. In his days it attained such grandeur that its palaces and the surrounding houses covered a space measuring seven leagues in the length by one league in the breadth. By his orders they filled the nose-bags of his horses with earth, and brought their contents to form a hill, which hence was known as Tall-al-Makhālī (Nosebag-hill); thereon he built a high kiosk. Further he built the Friday Mosque in Sāmarrah, and set in the midst of its court a basin formed of one block of stone, this basin measuring 23 ells in circumference, with a height of 7 ells, and it was half an ell in thickness. This basin was known as Pharaoh’s Cup; and in all the country round for more than thirty leagues distant, there is no such block of stone found. Further he built a Minaret for the mosque, 170 ells in height, with a gangway (to ascend it, that went up) outside¹, and no Minaret after this fashion was ever built by any one before his time. In front of this mosque stands the tomb of the Imām `Alī an-Naqī, grandson of the (Eighth) Imām `Alī-ar-Riḍā; also of his son the (Eleventh) Imām Ḥasan `Askarī. The Caliph Muta- wakkil enlarged Sāmarrah, and in particular he built a magnifi- cent Kiosk, greater than which never existed in the lands of Īrān, and he gave it the title of the Ja`fariyyah (his name being Ja`far). But evil fortune—brought down on him in that he had laid in ruins the tomb of the Imām Ḥusayn son of `Alī (at Kar- balā)², and furthermore had prevented people from making their visitation to the same—decreed that, shortly after his death, his Kiosk (of the Ja`fariyyah) should be demolished, so that no trace of it now remains. Indeed, of Sāmarrah itself, at the present time, only a restricted portion is inhabited.

Ṣadrayn³. A district that produces much corn, dates and grain. It gets its water from the Euphrates, and its revenues amount to 30,000 dīnārs.

Ṭarīq-i-Khurāsān (The Khurasan Road). This is a consider- able district, and its chief town is Ba`qūbā, which was founded by a Princess of the family of the Chosroes whose name was Qūbā. It was at first called Bay`at Qūbā (the Church of Qūbā), but in course of time this became shortened to Ba`qūbā. It lies on the Nahrawān Canal, and a stream from this passes through the city. All its villages take their irrigation, for agriculture, from the Canal, and there are many orchards and palm-groves in the district. Innumerable oranges and citrons are grown here, so that from three to four hundred oranges may be had for a dirham. Its climate resembles that of Baghdād, but is more malarious, by reason of its [] numerous palm-groves. The towns of Bājisrā and Shahrābān (City of Ābān), which last was founded by a princess of the family of the Chosroes whose name was Ābān, are of its district: also the places known as Mahrūd and Ṭābaq; and in the neighbourhood there are more than 80 villages. The revenues of this district amount to 164,000 dīnārs as inscribed in the Registers.

`Ānah. Of the Fourth Clime: its longitude is 76° 30', and its latitude 34° 5'. It is a medium sized town with many suburbs, and in climate and produce is the opposite of the Dujayl district.

`Ukbarā or `Askarah⁴. This place was built by Sapor II. It was a city formerly, but now is in ruin.

Qaṣr Shīrīn. Of the Third Clime; built by King Khusraw Parvīz for his Queen Shīrīn. It was a mighty castle, of uncut stone, mortared, and it was 2000 paces in circuit. To the west- ward of the castle stood a custom-house, also built by Khusraw Parvīz, and a mighty and high guest-house, for the accommo- dation of those who came and went. Of this guest-house but little now remains. The Ḥulwān river flows by the place, and its climate is unwholesome for in the hot season at most times the (hot) Simūm wind blows. They had constructed a raised conduit, in which they say milk used to flow so that the water might run down to the custom-house, and it may be that they used to throw skins of milk into the conduit, and so serve both the custom-house and the castle. Where, however, the mouth of the stream is situated there are no fit pasture lands for cattle, seeing that only poisonous herbs grow here.

Qādisīyah (of the Tigris), a medium sized town, and one of the Seven Cities of Arabian `Irāq. It is now a ruin.

Qūsān¹. A medium sized town, with near a hundred villages of its dependencies. Its revenues amount to 94,000 dīnārs.

Muḥawwal. A small town lying two leagues distant to the west of Baghdād, on the banks of the `Īsā Canal. Its orchards are the continuation of the gardens of Baghdād. The (Abbasid) Caliphs built many fine palaces here, and in particular there was [] a Kiosk, built for the Caliph Mu`taṣim, where, because it stood in the midst of gardens, the mosquitoes had been numerous: until it was laid under a spell that prevented any single one of them from entering the building. The revenues of Muḥawwal are reckoned in with those of the `Īsā Canal district.

Madāin. Of the Third Clime, in longitude 82° and in latitude 38° 51'. It was founded by King Ṭahmūrath, the Demon-binder, of the Pīshdādian dynasty, who named it Girdābād, and it was completed by Jamshīd, who named it Ṭaysafūn (Ctesiphon). It was the largest of the Seven Cities of Arabian `Īrāq, for which reason it in particular was known as Madāin (meaning ‘the Cities’), —the six other cities are Qādisīyah, Rūmiyah, Ḥīrah, Bābil, Ḥulwān, and Nahrawān. All seven are now in ruins. King Jamshīd, the Pīshdādian, built over the Tigris at Madāin an arched bridge of stone and brick. This bridge Alexander the Greek destroyed, saying that it was a too great relic of the Persian Kings. Ardashīr Bābakān, when he rebuilt the city (of Madāin) making it his capital, desired also to rebuild this bridge, but could not accomplish it, therefore he made a bridge (of boats) with chains. After his time most of the Chosroes made Madāin their capital. Sapor II raised many buildings in this city, and Anū- shirvān the Just constructed the Hall of the Chosroes. This was a palace, built of brick and mortar, mightier than which none had ever been built by man: and the poet Buḥturī has described it in the following verses:

The Hall of the Chosroes is of such wondrous work, it is as though
It were a piece cut from the rugged flank of a mountain,
It is a height that dominates, and its battlements
Overpass the summits of Raḍwā and Quds (the mountains of Medina):
It is not known whether this be a work made by men for the Jinn
To inhabit, or a work made by the Jinn for man.

The court of the palace measured 150 ells square—of the Tailor ells: and there was here a great vestibule, the opening of which was 42 ells across, running back 82 ells, while in height it was 65 ells. All round this palace were lesser palaces, and many other buildings worthy of it, and referring to the just conduct of its builder and the strength of the building a poet has written this couplet: []

See therefore the reward of good deeds, for Time
Has not even now laid in ruin the palace of Chosroes.

The Caliph Manṣūr, when he was about to build Baghdād, desired to demolish this Hall of the Chosroes, and construct the houses of Baghdād from its materials: so he took counsel of his Wazīr Sulaymān ibn Khālid¹ on the subject. His Wazīr, how- ever, urged the Caliph against so doing, assuring him that for all time men would say ‘here was a king who, wanting to build a city, was unable to do so until he had laid in ruins another city.’ But Manṣūr would not give heed, saying that in his heart he (the Wazīr) was still devoted to the remembrance of the Chosroes, and that hence he was unwilling that such a monument of their great- ness should be brought to naught. The Caliph therefore ordered the demolition to be begun, but soon discovered that the materials obtained from Madāin did not repay the cost of demolition and carriage (to Baghdād). He thereupon would have counter-ordered the demolition; but the Wazīr now urged him to continue the work, saying that it must be carried through until the demolition was quite completed, lest the people should say ‘one king built it, and another was not even capable of demolishing it.’ Now (as is well known) the Arch of this Hall was shattered by his miracle on the night of the birth of the Prophet; and this same passed as a mighty portent, and an irrefragable proof of the prophetic office of Muḥammad our Prophet; and as long as this (shattered) arch shall stand, the testimony of the miracle cannot be ignored in the sight of men. Further it was thereby made known to all men that against him who had built this palace, and whose head when he stood there used to reach the roof thereof, one should arise to overthrow the family of this same man who had built this palace, and that the prophetic office of this last must needs be from God, and not a vain thing.

At the present day the (ancient) city of Madāin is in ruin. On the western river bank there is a (new) provincial capital built, but on the eastern side there are no (unruined) buildings standing, except the shrine of (the Prophet’s Companion) Salmān the Per- sian, which is situated over against the Hall of the Chosroes. Now the wells in those parts—as is the case in Baghdād—had bitter brackish water, and, as a miracle performed by Salmān, they report that when he died and his body came to be washed, the bucket fell down to the bottom of the well here, and no other bucket was to be had. Thereupon the water of this well rose up to its brim, and it became sweet, until, when they had finished the washing of the corpse, the water again sank back to its former place. It however remained sweet ever after, and except for this [] well there is no other that has sweet water in all this region.

Ma`bādiyyah¹. Of great saints there are buried here our master Aḥmad the Great, and our master Abū-l-Wafā.

The `Isā Canal. This was dug by `Īsā, the son of the Caliph Manṣūr’s uncle Mūsā. It was taken from the Euphrates, and he laid out villages and farms along its bank, to the number of some seventy, and their produce was abundant. The district called after the Caliph Mustanṣir, and the villages that lie on the side over against Baghdād, are watered by the tributaries of the `Īsā Canal. Its revenues, with these dependencies, amount to 876,505 dīnārs.

Nahr Malik (The Royal Canal). Some say this was dug by King Solomon, others name Manūchihr the Pīshdādian, others again Alexander the Great; but the true version is that Sapor, grandson of Darius, who is known as Sapor the Great, caused this canal to be made from the Euphrates (to the Tigris), and built villages on its banks. There are still here more than 300 villages and farms, which give abundant produce, and its revenues amount to 50,000 dīnārs.

Nahrawān. A great town, and one of the Seven Cities of Arabian `Irāq. It is of the Third Clime, and stands on the bank of the Tāmarrah Canal, which here takes the name of Nahrawān. The town is now in ruins; and its territory is counted as part of the Jalūlā lands, being of the dependencies of Ba`qūbā.

Nu`māniyyah. This is a provincial town, lying half way between Baghdād and Wāsiṭ. It stands on the Tigris bank, and it possesses many palm-groves.

Nīl. This is a district, and some villages are of its dependen- cies. It produces much corn, and its gardens and palm-groves are numerous.

Hīt. This is a town, with a strong castle, standing on the western bank of the Euphrates. It has thirty villages and depen- dencies; and from Jubbah down to Hīt, for 15 leagues the palm- groves are continuous. At Hīt on both banks of the Euphrates there are gardens, also palm-groves here are numerous and the fruit produced is abundant. In the village of Jubbah, which is of its dependencies, the climate is temperate, whereby nuts and almonds, dates and oranges, grow together in every garden, as also [] other fruits of both cold and hot countries. In Hīt, however, it is almost impossible to live on account of the evil smell of the bitumen spring.

Wāsiṭ. This is a city built since the times of Islam. It is of the Third Clime, its longitude being 81° 30', and its latitude 31° 20'. It was founded by (the great Omayyad viceroy) Ḥaj- jāj in the year 83 (702), and lies on the Tigris, for the most part on the western bank. It has many palm-groves, and for this reason its climate is somewhat damp. Its revenues belong to the Treasury, and amount to 448,500 dīnārs.