The Frontier Fortresses of Syria
265
Abu-Isḥâḳ al-Fazâri's opinion on the land of ath-Thaghr. I was informed by abu-Ṣâliḥ al-Anṭâki that abu-Isḥâḳ al-Fazâri hated to buy land in the frontier region [ath-Ṭhaghr] because he said, "Those who first wrested this land from the Greeks did not divide it among themselves, and it later passed to others. Thus it had been transmitted to others and attached to itself a suspicion that the wise man would do well to avoid."
Tithe-exemptions annulled by al-Mutawakkil. In ath-Thaghr, so many pieces of land were exempt from the tithe that the total income of tithes was diminished to such an extent that it could not meet the expenses. By al-Mutawakwil's orders, therefore, all these exemptions were in the year 243 abolished.
