speech of ʿUmar ibn-ʿAbd-al-ʿAzîz on his installment in the caliphate: "Fadak was among the spoils that Allah assigned the Prophet and the 'Moslems pressed not against it with horse and camel.' When Fâṭimah asked him to give her the land, he said, 'Thou hast nothing to demand from me, and I have nothing to give thee.' The Prophet used to spend the income from it on wayfarers. Then came abu-Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmân and ʿAli who put it to the same use as the Prophet. But when Muʿâwiyah became caliph he gave it as fief to Marwân ibn-al-Ḥakam; and the latter bestowed it on my father and on ʿAbd-al-Malik. Thus it was handed down to al-Walîd, Sulaimân and myself. When al-Walîd became caliph, I asked him to give me his share, which he did. In like manner, I asked Sulaimân for his share and he gave it. Thus I brought it into one whole again. And nothing that I possess is dearer to me than it! Be ye therefore my witnesses, that I have restored it to what it was."
Al-Maʾmûn gives Fadak to the descendants of Fâṭimah. In the year 210, the commander of the believers al-Maʾmûn ʿAbdallâh ibn-Hârun ar-Rashîd ordered that Fadak be delivered to the children of Fâṭimah. To that effect he wrote to his ʿâmil in al-Madînah, Ḳutham ibn-Jaʿfar, saying, "Greetings!—The commander of the believers, in his position in the religion of Allah and as caliph [successor] of his Prophet and a near relative to him, has the first right to enforce the Prophet's regulations and carry out his or-ders and deliver to him, whom the Prophet granted something or gave it as ṣadaḳah, the thing granted or given as such. In Allah alone does the success as well as the strength of the commander of the believers lie, and to do what makes him win His favor is his [the commander's] chief desire.
The Prophet had given Fâṭimah, his daughter, Fadak and bestowed it as ṣadaḳah on her. That was an evident and
