تمصير الكوفة

Some say, as al-Tabari reports, that Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas founded Kufa as a garrison city in 15 AH, and that Ibn Buqayla guided them to its site. ¹

Umar wrote to Sa'd ordering him to take for the Muslims a city of emigration and a garrison, and not to put a sea between him and them. He came to al-Anbar, but flies multiplied there, so he moved. Then he laid out Kufa, granted the people their plots, settled the tribes, and built the mosque in 17 AH. ²

When the mosquitoes troubled them, Umar wrote that the Arabs were like camels, which are not set right except by what sets camels right. He appointed Abu al-Hayyaj al-Asadi to lay out the plots. ²

Abd al-Masih ibn Buqayla showed Sa'd the site of Kufa, and the position of the mosque was fixed by arrows toward the four directions. A lot was drawn between Nizar and the people of Yemen, and the lot of the people of Yemen came out, so their plots were on the east side and the plots of Nizar on the west. Al-Baladhuri reports from al-Sha'bi that the people of Yemen were twelve thousand and Nizar eight thousand. ²

Al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba widened the mosque, Ziyad built it firmly and built the house of government. Abu Ubayda said that the founding of Kufa was in 18 AH. In a report, the Muslims stopped at al-Mada'in and found it unhealthy, so Sa'd wrote to Umar, and he ordered them to a site to the west. ²

Al-Baladhuri reports that Umar sent Muhammad ibn Maslama (may God be pleased with him), who burned the gate of Sa'd and took his palace. ²