Page:A Moslem seeker after God - showing Islam at its best in the life and teaching of al-Ghazali, mystic and theologian of the eleventh century (IA moslemseekeraft00zwem).pdf/96



empire of the Seljuks rested on his shoulders. When Alp Arslan died in 465 Malek Shah suc ceeded him and from that time until his assassina tion, on the tenth of Ramadan, 485, Nizam Al Mulk was the greatest man in the empire and its real ruler. He was a friend of learning and letters and established colleges in many centres.

In A. H. 484, Al-Ghazali gained high fame at court and was appointed by Nizam Al-Mulk to teach in the Madrasa at Bagdad, the capital of the whole of Eastern Islam.

We have an interesting picture of the city of Bagdad about this time from the pen of Rabbi Benjamin, of Tudela, who visited the city some years after Al-Ghazali’s death (1160). He says: " The circumference of the city of Bagdad meas ures three miles; the country in which it is situated is rich in palm-trees, gardens and orchards, so that nothing equals it in Mesopotamia; merchants of all countries resort thither for purposes of trade, and it contains many wise philosophers well skilled in sciences, and magicians proficient in all sorts of witchcraft. The palace of the Caliph at Bag dad is three miles in extent. It contains a large park of all sorts of trees, both useful and orna mental, and all sorts of beasts, as well as a pond of water led thither from the river Tigris; and when ever the Caliph desires to enjoy himself and to sport and to carouse, birds, beasts and fishes are prepared for him and for his councillors, whom