Ibn Jarir (1) reports: It is related from ʿĪsā ibn al-Manṣūr that he said, “I found among al-Manṣūr’s archive registers showing that he spent on the construction of Madīnat al-Salām—its congregational mosque, the Golden Palace, the markets, the two defensive partitions, the moats, and its domes—four thousand thousand and eight hundred and eighty-three thousand dirhams (i.e., 4,883,000 dirhams). The daily wage of a master-builder was one qirāṭ of silver, while an ordinary labourer earned between two and three ḥabbah (small copper coins).”
Al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī (2) remarks: I have seen the same figure recorded in certain books. He also quotes someone who claimed that the expenditure reached eighteen thousand thousand—that is, eighteen million—Allah knows best.
Ibn Jarir (3) further states that al-Manṣūr bargained with one of the architects who had erected an elegant residence within the Palace of Government, knocking one dirham off the agreed price. He likewise audited one of the work overseers; when a surplus of fifteen dirhams appeared, he imprisoned the man until he produced the money—for al-Manṣūr was notoriously tight-fisted.
Al-Khaṭīb (4) observes: He built the city as a perfect circle, and no other round city is known anywhere on earth. Its foundations were laid at a moment chosen for him by the astrologer Nawbakht.
He then relates from one of the astrologers who said: When al-Manṣūr had finished building Baghdad he said to me, “Cast its horoscope.” I did so, and found Jupiter in Sagittarius. I informed him that the stars indicated a long life for the city, extensive building, the world’s inclination toward it, and people’s reliance on what it contained.
The astrologer added: I then gave him glad tidings, saying, “O Commander of the Faithful, no caliph will ever die in it.” He smiled and recited, “Praise be to Allah: ‘That is the bounty of Allah; He bestows it upon whom He wills, and Allah is the Lord of tremendous bounty’” (Qurʾān 57:21; 62:4).
It is reported that a poet composed lines on the matter, among them:
Her Lord decreed that no caliph shall ever meet his end within her—
For He decrees within His creation whatever He wills. (5)
Al-Khaṭīb endorsed this error, accepted it, and did not refute it in any way, despite his knowledge and insight (6).
He (7) also says: Some people maintain that al-Amīn was killed in the Darb of al-Anbār within the city. I mentioned this to the judge Abū al-Qāsim—