Summary

Reports say that Ziyad ordered Abd al-Rahman ibn Tabi al-Himyari, who was in charge of his estates, to grant Nafi ibn al-Harith al-Thaqafi land as far as he could walk. ¹

The account

Nafi walked until his sandal strap broke, and he sat down. Abd al-Rahman said to him: "That is enough." Nafi said: "Had I known, I would have walked on to al-Ubulla." He then asked to be allowed to throw his sandal, and he threw it until it reached the wash-tub. The place is in Basra. ¹

The data gives no date for this report; it needs an additional source.

Digging of the Ubulla Canal

Dijlat al-Awra's tidal rain-channel ran a farsakh, its Basra-side basin called al-Ijana; Umar ordered Abu Musa to dig the Basrans a canal — he began at al-Ijana, led it three farsakhs to Basra, making the Ubulla canal four — then the reach toward al-Hayri silted up. Ziyad, on the diwan under Abdallah ibn Amir, urged completing the dig and was stalled till Ibn Amir left for Khurasan; he resumed Abu Musa's channel to Basra with Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakra in charge, who opened the water racing his horse as it nearly outran him. Ibn Amir returned angry — 'you meant to carry off the canal's fame' — and the estrangement held between their houses for life; before the canal, folk drank from Dayr Qawus on the Tigris, a spot the spirits haunted.

Nafi' ibn al-Harith's Walking Grant

At a glance

In space

Summary

The account

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

Time

Digging of the Ubulla Canal