had a red gem, the price of which was a thousand dinars. It was set in a
ring. While returning from Nubah on foot, he kept on lamenting: "if
only I had a steed I could mount in place of this ring." One Ummayad
of the Marwanid branch said:
When we fled (the 'Abbasides), gems proved to be most useful to us,
especially those that fetched small prices of not more than 5 dinars.
We could give such stones to a servant or a boy to fetch food and
other necessities. We could not dare to take out precious jewels, as
the disclosure of precious jewels in our possession could prove harmful instead of being beneficial to us.
And behold how Yazdgird could not benefit from the jewels which were
studded on his belt and instead became the cause of his own death. The
owner of the flour mill had demanded four dirhams from him but on
seeing the gems slew him underneath the mill. This is the reason why
you will seldom see a Magian but having four dirhams in his possession
after having learnt the moral of Yazdgird's slaying.
Nasr writes that Amir Nuh bin Mansur Samani had two rings. One
of them was known as khurbuzah, and had a red ruby the size of a grape
inset. The other had a diamond of the same shape inset. It is said that
people had never seen larger stones before.
Muslim kings held the Ka'aba in great reverence and, following the
practice of 'Abd al-Muttalib, used to send precious objects there. When
'Abd al-Muttalib had the well of Zam Zam dug out (after it had become
plugged), two bright swords were discovered. These were placed at the
gate of the Ka'aba. Two golden deer with patterns etched on them were
also excavated. One was set at the door for decorative purposes, the
other inside. The Holy Prophet also did the same thing. He had the
Golden Book of the Zoroastrians sent to him by Badhan the Persian after
having embraced Islam in the Yemen, suspended in the Ka'aba. Badhan
had sent the book of the Zoroastrians to the Prophet to convince him
that he had abjured the faith of his forbears.
Caliph 'Umar bin Khattab also followed the Sunnah of the Holy
Prophet. Two crescents, together with a milking pan and two precious
cups made from extremely costly stones, were sent to him after the conquest of Mada'in. They were deposited by him in the Ka'aba. All of
them were engraved with precious stones.
Yazid bin Mu'awiyah had two crescents which were previously in
one of the churches in Damascus, sent to the Ka'aba. These were decorated with the Kibrit-i-ahmar, that is, the rummanian ruby. Each crescent was worth a hundred thousand dinars. Accompanying the crescents
were two cups, one made of agate, the other crystalline, and two bottles,
made of agate and ruby. 'Abd Allah bin Zubayr had the gate of the
Ka'aba gilded with gold.
