The story of Ain Zubaida and Khatam al-Rashid

By moamena Al-joukhi

1-the will

I pulled the last of my luggage over the NAQA, pulled her head into the water again, to straighten up to the torsion, the road is long and the Walk is arduous.

My mother spent a lot of the day and part of the night preparing things for me, trying not to forget anything.

I’ve only seen her face for a few moments since yesterday, but our eyes have never met. My mom was running two clouds heavy with tears، 

And now it’s time for them to rain, the farewell hour has passed! 

I hugged her to my chest and said: take it easy on you, mother, I am traveling for the greatest obedience, the pilgrimage of the sacred house of Allah. 

She said: Allah has made your Hajj justified and your travel easy, my son. I am saddened only by a wound in my heart that is still angry, for it has not been a week since the death of your father, may God have mercy on him.

I said: I would not have invited you, mother, if it had not been for his will for me to turn away from him this year, and I must set off today from Khorasan to Kufa, so as not to miss the caravan that is leaving for the Holy Land in ghurat Dhu al-Qa’dah.

Mom suddenly left me, went for a while and then came back. She pushed a worn-out book at me and said: Thank God I remembered it!

It was written by your father in his youth, in which he describes the path of his pilgrimage, take it, maybe you will find a benefit in it.

I said to myself: thank God that my mother does not improve reading Arabic-although she memorizes the Holy Quran-so as not to obscure the name of the book “the road to the old house is doomed.”

I took her in, she took me in, and then I set off on God’s blessing.

2-Road houses

 The pilgrims gathered at the Great Mosque of Kufa, separated the noon and afternoon groups, then prayed to Allah for safety and help, and prayed for longevity for the safe Caliph for what was lavished on the knees of the previous expense.

They were preparing while the drums were beating to signal the movement, ordered by the Emir of Hajj. 

She answered the tub of water, I watered my palm and then I breathed it, and I sat next to her, flipping through my father’s book, to see the landmarks of the road.

I leafed through the introduction of the book in a hurry, and in it my father dwelt on the hardships of travel and the dangers of the railways in desolate mufazzat, and then the number of houses before detailing what is in them, so I read hastily: 

The first source of water is located in (Al-mughaithah), and its name is Naseeb, its water is turbid, and its air is dust.. 

It may take three days to reach the blind, but this name agrees with it, it is a stony land that does not hold water..

After the stages, it reaches the (bottom) and sandy ground, where the hooves of the buggies dive, and there is a small plant with mud water.

If you reach the location of Zabala, you will see a city that is narrowing with its people and expats, so do not open your soul except to get out of it..

The traveler then fluctuates between a barren mofaza and a desert flat, in which water is scarce, if there is a well that is not fresh, then (the Fox) is located in a third of the way…

Then zrud, containing veins of sand, swallows water… 

Until you reach VED, which is a city where the road is halfway, and where pilgrims are busy buying what complements their journey. 

Then (Minden) where the road branches off to Mecca and Medina…

Then there are the holes and the holes that have not been dug.And then a desert with no buildings.. 

Until (UTAS) the junction of the Kufa road with Basra..

Then Miqat (with sweat) arrives and is followed by (Mecca) guarded by Allah. 

I closed the book, looked at the bone of the crowd, and I was afraid of the lack of water on the way, so I raised my hand to pray to Allah for safety and ease for the convoy.

As soon as I was greeted by a pious Sheikh, leaning on his stick, he sat down next to me and began to talk to me, and I knew that he was kufi and his name was Jacob, and that he was making Hajj alone.

The Emir of the caravan sent him to me to carry him with me, because he is not strong on the late Souk. She welcomed his company and smiled at his benevolent face.

The Sheikh said: You will be my son by the covenant of Allah, so will you be patient with me and help me, and trust me on that

I said: I promise, father, good company, you will not find more than me an ally and less offense.

The drums sounded and we set off at dawn on God’s blessing.

As soon as we passed the cities, the ground around us became solid stone, but we were walking on a level paved path. 

In the middle of the day, the club called for a break, so we went down to a fertile spot, where there is a pond in which fresh water pours. 

Shaykh Yaqub said: This is a pool (Atheeb) and it was filled with water that ran from a nearby eye. 

I thought to myself: isn’t it the first water in the bathhouse!

The next two days we walked in a soft sandy land, and the path was paved, equipped with houses and factories, and Miles (numbered stones) were installed in it to indicate the way, and torches were raised on the Wadi, to be lit at night to indicate travelers.

When we reached al-mugheithah, we saw a large square pond, with Euphrates water, and palm trees staring at it, and the people went down to rest, grateful and praying for the owners of the white hands.

I thought: maybe the rest of the way is better than described in the book, and believe my guess!

The House of the Blind was a safe planet, its water was an albedo, and the bottom was not muddy sandy, but it was full of good, full of life.

My look at the book Aroused The Sheikh’s curiosity, so I told him. 

He said: Believe Your father, the pilgrims suffered from hardship and thirst before the reconstruction of the Hajj Trail, which made people call the one who went missing, and the one who returned is born.

I asked: and who is the one who is credited with the reconstruction of the path? –

Shaykh: that is the favor of Allaah, for he mocked for the pilgrims of his house one of the finest women, Zubaydah or Umm Ja’far, may Allaah have mercy on her. 

I said, ‘ isn’t it the mother of the caliph Al-Ma’mun, may Allah protect him?’

Sheikh: It is a woman whose father is Harun al-Rashid, but she raised him in her room with her faithful son. 

As we are talking, if a westerly wind blew, only dust could be breathed by a breather.

The drums were beating, so we went down to a small diner, equipped with a water tank, and some godfathers came close to it, so we took care of them.

The Sheikh said: God willing, we will arrive on Tuesday morning at the bottom, which is an inhabited house, where pilgrims take shelter, so they will be filled with water and water, and there is a constructed Palace and two large ponds.

I said, You seem to be familiar with the route. 

He said: yes, my son, Al-Rashid (may Allaah have mercy on him) used to make a Hajj for a year and conquer a year, and if three hundred pilgrims made a hajj with him at their full expense, I would have made a hajj with them.

One year she accompanied Mrs. Zubaida’s passengers, and she saw for herself the bitterness of thirst they were experiencing, and the scarcity of water, so she swore to make sure that a pilgrim would not die of thirst. 

When she returned to Baghdad, she ordered to cut down the mountains and sculpt the rock to build a canal that would draw the water of the solution to the Haram, watering Mecca and the holy sites.

She completed her work by reconstructing the hajj routes from Iraq to Mecca, and all that she sees, my sons, of stations, houses, paved roads, and benefits that God’s delegation provides, is her care, she scarred him for her age, and spent her ammunition on him, in order to get closer to her Lord.

I said: she must have spent a lot of money!

He said: I spent about seven hundred and one thousand dinars of gold on the work of Makkah alone, but the path was dispersed and its banks were not fully counted, and it is estimated at one hundred and….. He suddenly stopped talking and then covered himself with his cloak and said: Let’s get out of this now and let’s go to sleep.

I stopped asking him, but I wondered: wasn’t his argument with her before she started working, so how did he know the alimony?’

3- Tabaristani

We arrived at a thriving and prosperous locality called Zabala, where there is a large round pond, deep wells carved into the rock, and a large mosque, and we followed to the cracks and then the lining, and there are two walls directing the water to a great pond, which was created by the makers.

Then we reached al-thaibiya, where a third of the way, a large city from which pilgrims come and Go, has one of the widest rectangular ponds, which has drawers.

I parted from my friend in the market to get what I needed, and I left the deceased in the barn to feed, and we agreed to meet at the mosque at noon prayer.

I spent the prayer, the worshipers dispersed, the elder did not come, he waited for me for a long time, she took me a year of sleep.

I woke up and didn’t find him, so I ran out of the mosque door, and a hand grabbed me from behind! He turned behind me, and then Sheikh Yacoub signaled me to shut up and follow him!

We left Al-thuwabiya quickly, unaware of the caravan, and then he asked me to take a different path of Hajj, and I refused, so he swore at me and reminded me of what we had trusted, so I went where he ordered me.

We crossed a flat land, the extent of which the party does not realize, I do not know how he knows it, and then he led me to a strange pointed-headed hill, so we went after it, and then descended.

I saw four graves, and one of them was empty! The Elder sat exhausted and knocked on God’s prayer, so I watered him and sat next to him.

Did you put up all this trouble to visit the graves of his loved ones!

I said, ‘ May Allah have mercy on them, who were they, Sheikh?’ 

He said, sit down, my son, I’m talking to you.

I was a young man, and I went out with a caravan to Hajj, before the creation of the Zubaydah trail, may Allah have mercy on her. We crossed a desolate desert similar to each other, we got lost and took a path other than water.

Some of the pilgrims turned back, some died of illness, and only five men survived, one of them a man from tabaristan.

We will not leave until we reach Makkah, which is guarded by Allah.

Sheikh Yacoub continued: We walked for days on deadly railways, and when a masked gang approached us, we were afraid, and we agreed to bury our money under a rock that we had learned, and we made a pact of secrecy.

When they arrived and searched us, they found no money, so they warned us to woe and to be patient. So tabaristani showed them the location of the money, so they took it away and left, leaving us one bag of water.

The men kissed tabaristani and began to abuse and blame him, and then we set off walking, with nothing but a water bag and a donkey to arrest him.

We vowed to get close to the water to save our souls, so the man from us drank enough Sparrow. 

We would shade ourselves if the sun kindled its Fire, Walk if it dimmed or dimmed, and sleep where the night had gone mad for us.

Then we saw this hill from afar,so we decided to climb it to see where the water was.

A little before the hill the donkey died of thirst, so I took the bagpipe from his back, and we left him.

We sat in the shadow of the hill, and the bagpipe opened and it was empty!! He was the last of us to drink, so either he drank it all, or he didn’t document it, so he spilled the water.

I accept everyone curses him, even cried as a child, and we do not know what he says with his tongue Ajmal.

When we woke up, we did not find tabaristani. 

And when we were thirsty, we realized that we were going to perish, and a man said, let each of us dig his own grave, and if he dies, his companions will bury him, in honor of his body. 

We dug four graves,and we sat waiting for our time. One of us ate a poisonous thorn, writhed in pain, and then died. We prayed for him and buried him .

And suddenly my friend, called Masroor, got up and stood up and said: no, God, we will not succumb to death with thirst! We have come out only in obedience to our Lord, so let us seek as Hagar sought between Safa and Marwah, and let us call him by his redeeming name, and he will not disappoint us. 

We went up the hill with great difficulty and saw The Shape of a well, so we rejoiced and walked to it, but we did not find a rope in it.

I went back to where the donkey was to get the rope, and that’s when I was stunned!

I found a bag full of water in the container!!

I bowed down to Allah, thanking him, and realized that we had taken an empty offering similar to her, so Allah forgave us for our injustice to tabaristani.

There was no water in the well, but we found Al-tabaristani had fallen and his neck was bruised.

I heard a murmur in the voice of Shaykh ya’qub as he said: May Allah have mercy on him, and send him if Allah wills.

Then he resumed: we prayed over him and buried him in one of the graves. Then we lit a fire and roasted from the meat of the Dead Donkey, God forgave us.

And God answered our supplication! At dawn, we saw on the horizon a great procession coming towards us, it was the procession of the Crown Prince of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, so we joined him, praise be to Allah and mana.

4. the deposit

The elder took out a small shovel from his sleeve, and proceeded to dig one of the graves!

I grabbed his hand and said: ‘What are you doing, aren’t you taking care of the sanctity of the dead?’ Didn’t he stop you wearing Hajj!

He said: I have deposited a deposit at this place and I came to get it back.

I said, ‘ a deposit in a grave?’!

He said, ‘ Don’t you remember we buried two men?’ This third one is my grave that I dug, and I buried something priceless in it. 

The Elder continued to dig slowly, resting and then digging again with trembling hands.

I took the shovel from him and started digging and said: I don’t want to miss the Hajj caravan for this.

I worked hard digging and digging to remove the sand, I dug as tall as a man, and then I heard a click and I rushed to dig, and I extracted a small box.

The Sheikh’s beds cheered, his features changed, he snatched the box from my hand and tucked it into his pocket and read: 

Allah commands you to perform faithfulness to her people (O Allah, I mean to perform as she likes and pleases). 

I knew it was honesty.

We turned back and the silence of the desert shrouded us, the Fox arrived, so our convoy is gone!

 I got excited, and I shouted at the sheikh: I missed the convoy! What are you good at and what have you chosen, my money, deposits and trusts But I went out as a pilgrim of the House of God. 

Shaykh Ali kissed me, silenced me, preached to me, and then assured me that we would catch sight of the caravan in feed, where the road is halfway, so the pilgrims stay for days to get what they need, to lighten what they carry, or to market their gifts. 

I decided not to stay overnight in thaalabiya, so we set off on the NAQA alone, as we saw that the trail facilities were set up.

We did not struggle to cut a couple of leagues from the ground, until the Sheikh was about to fall down from fatigue, so we went down at a Manhal, so I drank the NAQA and the Sheikh fell asleep, retreated into a shadow and fell asleep.

A strange sound woke me up!! It was like a muffled moan, followed by a loud foaming sound, so I prayed to Allah and stood still.

I saw a masked man bent over the elder and blocked his mouth with a rag, almost strangling him.. And the NAQA foams and froths, kicks with her moccasins, tries to untie her headband.

I screamed a deniable cry, pounced on the stranger like a seven, grabbed his claws, but he eluded me and managed to escape, so he ran towards his horse and released her legs to the wind.

The elder was in a deplorable state, his breath was breaking, his face was bluish. He whispered in a muffled voice: a thief.. He wants honesty… We’ve heard….We tracked down the Fox. 

I laid him down and gave him a drink, sprinkled water on his face, and rubbed his chest.

When he caught his breath a little, he said: honesty!.. Honesty!.. He pointed to his visitor and pulled out the box from him.

And then confused: in Mecca.. The bamboo house… Pure .. And pleased.. Honesty! Then send a loud rattle, deliver the soul.

I cried for the Sheikh as I had never cried before, I was between a desert and a sky, and these two do not bother the man with his tears, so I poured out what I had locked up from her when my father died, and I sobbed and hesitated in the prayer. 

I washed the body, shrouded it, put it behind me, and returned it to the pointed Hill, prayed for it and buried it in the grave that he dug with his hands many years ago, but for everyone there is a book.

I completed the walk towards a lonely, distressed fed, the load of my journey was lightened, and I carried what I pitied from being carried by the mountains, honesty! 

Fed, one of the most important cities, arrived by caravans, and its water flows from the nearby eyes and Wells, in dug channels, which are one of the precious relics of UM Ja’far.

I found my convoy, and they were glad to have me back, and then we prayed the absentee prayer to the Sheikh before we set off.

We reached Minden, where the road branches off from Al-Qurashi towards Mecca and Al-naqra towards Medina, then we continued to UTAS, where our road meets the Basra road, and then the Miqat of the people of Iraq is a race where pilgrims are crowded, and they are preparing for ihram.

5- The sweetness of uniformity

On the outskirts of Mecca, the delegations of the merciful from all over the world met, and they were greeted with greetings and magnification, and the lessons were spilled, and the longing for the Forbidden House raged. 

We entered dressed in ihram clothes, my heart was beating, and my skin was trembling, and I looked at the Kaaba-God has increased it greatly and honorably – and I saw it veiled behind a tunic of tears, and I floated around and echoed with the crowds for God’s sake for yours!

I float around my heart, I strive to open my heart, I stand in Arafat, my soul is elevated, I am stoned, my soul is cleansed.

I have been stripped of everything, I see only God, and I only hope for his forgiveness and satisfaction, it is the sweetness of monotheism.

6-ain Zubaida

We completed the Hajj thanks to Allah, and the pilgrims were busy packing their belongings, asking Allah to accept and safely arrive.

As for me, I was concerned about one thing, the performance of the trust that Sheikh Yacoub carried. 

And I remember his words: (in Mecca.. The bamboo house… There is a purist … And pleased)

I asked about Dar Al-bamboo, and it was said: it is a pilgrim’s House stopped by the bamboo grandmother of Caliph Al-Ma’mun – may Allah have mercy on her-located in an alley to the left of the ascendant to Safa. I entered the house and a heavenly expanse opened up in front of me surrounded by rooms, crowded with guests. I asked for Khalisa’s name, and she was told: she is the principal of the Waqf.

She was not alone in the house, but set off with her suwaih to fetch water from ain Zubaydah. 

I approached a man who seemed to be from Mecca and asked him: ‘Where is Zubaydah’s eye located?’

He smiled and said: Don’t you know Her, Pilgrim! Did you not draw from the abundant water, and take advantage of the puddles in the Holy passions! All these works people call ain Zubaydah.

I said: yes, and thank God, is it halal water or Haram

He said: it is a dissolved water, derived from the mountains of Mecca, flowing through channels of wonderful construction, pleasing to the eye, and ending in those ponds and basins.

I asked: and does it reach Mecca, or is Zamzam water enough for it 

Zubaydah has dug a huge mountain near Mecca, into which a canal coming from the eye of Wadi al-Nu’man is poured for watering.

As soon as we accepted Khalisa, she was an elderly woman, exalted in prestige and reverence.

I told her that I was looking for a man named Masroor and she said: come with me, son!

She led me down a narrow ascending path, interspersed with adjacent brick buildings, which have protruding wooden windows, to prevent the sun’s glare, and to cover what is in them.

We entered a house from her, and there was a very dark-skinned Sheikh, illuminating the face, sickness and time gathered on him and he lost his strength.

I greeted him, and he greeted me and said that his name was pleased and he was the faithful servant of Caliph Harun al-Rashid, may Allah have mercy on him, and his wife was Khalsa and she was the maid of Mrs. Zubaydah, may Allah have mercy on her.

I told them about myself, my journey, Sheikh Yacoub, his death and the honesty I carry.

I covered a delighted face with a cloud of sadness, and he knocked and then said: We are for Allah and we are returning to him! God bless you with his mercy, brother.

I said, ‘ is he Your brother?’

Masroor: he is my companion in Hajj, and in the service of Al-Rashid, I was his faithful servant, and he was the faithful treasurer.

I said: Sheikh Yaqub Khazen Al-Rashid!! 

7-The Ring of Al-Rashid

Khalisa: Yacoub was an honest and caring treasurer, so Mrs. Zubaida entrusted him with calculating and recording the enormous money banks for the works of Ain and Darb Zubaida during ten years, so he made them into huge records.

I thought to myself: that’s why he knew the value of alimony accurately!

Khalisa: when the work was finished, Jafar’s mother grabbed the records and threw them into the Tigris River.

I said: Why!؟

I heard her say: we left the account for the day of reckoning, whoever had something for him we forgave,and whoever had something for us we gave and we gave him the gift!

I took out the small box and gave it to a delighted, he returned it and did not accept it and said to me: do you know what’s in it?’

I said: no!

Delighted smiled and said: it’s an invaluable ring! So hear from me an experience،

When Caliph Harun was young, his grandfather, caliph Abu Ja’far al-Mansur, gave him a precious ring for what he saw of his mind and guidance, so his brother Hadi was angry and asked for the ring, and Harun refused. 

After many years, the caliphate ended to Hadi, so he sent a messenger to his brother Harun to hand him the ring, and Al-Rashid threw the ring to the messenger, and he deliberately dropped it into the Tigris.

On the first day of Rashid’s succession, he sent divers after the ring and they found it, and he was very pleased with that. 

After the death of Caliph Harun, and the assumption of Al-Amin Ibn Zubaydah, she kept the ring until she felt the imminence of her order, so she sent it to Jacob and me in secret, and recommended us to hand over the ring to caliph Al-Ma’mun, hoping that the ring of succession will remain inherited among the greatest successors of the Banu ‘ Abbas.

I asked, ‘ why didn’t you hand it over to the mother?’

He replied: We were afraid for ourselves, the accusations became haphazard for Al-Rashid’s entourage, so Jacob hid in Kufa, and I took refuge in the sanctuary, and we did not find a place for the ring, which we both know better than the graves we dug, and I was unable to return there for saqmi, but Jacob was busy with his work in Kufa.

Masroor put his hand on my shoulder and said: May Allah grant that the ring will reach you, so that you will be the one who fulfilled the commandment of Ja’far’s mother, may Allah have mercy on her.

I said: I am! And how is that

He said: the trick will not be executed and you will not lack the means.

8-between the eye and the ring

Imam Al-Faqih Yahya Ali Al-Khalifa Al-Ma’mun entered his majlis, and the MA’mun welcomed him and sat him next to him, this is the first time he came to him without an invitation for debate or study, the Faqih Yahya is of great importance, great among the private and public, and the MA’mun reveres scientists and appreciates science. 

Al-Mamun: have you come to tell us what opinion you probably have on new Fiqh issues, Imam 

Yahya: Allah has increased your keenness on knowledge, O Prince of believers, I have come for something else, I would love that no one else would hear it.

Everyone went away and shouted to the imam.

Imam: yesterday at the mosque, after the students broke away from the Fiqh Council, a masked young man I don’t know came to me.

So he gave me this box and said: it is a trust for the safe caliph, Allah has proven his wisdom, and he forced me to swear by oath to hand it over to you myself, so here is your deposit as it is, I don’t know what is in it. 

Al-Mamun opened the box and exclaimed with joy: the ring of Al-Rashid!! 

The ring was accompanied by a small piece of paper, which the Caliph read with tears in his eyes.

(Congratulations to the caliph of Muslims with a priceless ring, and congratulations to your flock, your mother who did not give birth to you, Zubaydah) 

May Allah have mercy on you and honor you by accepting and watering you from the basin of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). it is the good of charity to water the water, and your great deeds in the benefits of Muslims are priceless.

………

The ring of the caliphate has disappeared throughout history, but ain Zubaydah has remained for about a dozen centuries a great Waqf watering pilgrims. Running water irrigates the guests of mercy, and running charity fills the scales.. 

The balance of the venerable lady Zubaida is the wife of the best king of the Earth, Harun al-Rashid.