OFFERING PRAYER AT TAQ KASRA

First: It is recommended to offer a two or more unit prayer at Taq Kisra (the remnants of the palace of the Sasanid king Khosrow I), because Imam ‘Ali Amir al-Mu’minin (‘a) offered a prayer there.

‘Ammar al-Sabati has reported that when Imam ‘Ali Amir al-Mu’minin (‘a) visited the city of al-Mada’in, accompanied by Dalaf ibn Bujayr, he wandered in the courtyard of Khosrow’s palace. Having offered a prayer, he stood up and asked Dalaf, who was accompanied by a group from the tribe of Sabat, to accompany him. The Imam (‘a) wandered around the chambers of Khosrow and in every place, he would tell Dalaf that such-and-such was in that place. Dalaf would answer, “By Allah I swear, this is as exactly as you are telling.” When he wandered about all the locations in that palace, Dalaf said to him, “O master and chief, it is as if you have put these things in these places!”

It is also reported that when Imam ‘Ali Amir al-Mu’minin (‘a) visited the city of al-Mada’in and passed by the traces of the palace of Khosrow, a man expressed that state by saying the following poetic verse:

Winds flew on the traces of their homes

As if they had already arranged for a date!

The Imam said, “You should have said (the following verse of the Holy Qur’an):

كَمْ تَرَكُوا مِنْ جَنَّاتٍ وَ عُيُونٍ وَ زُرُوعٍ وَ مَقَامٍ كَرِيمٍ وَ نِعْمَةٍ كَانُوا فِيهَا فَاكِهِينَ كَذَلِكَ وَ اَوْرَثْنَاهَا قَوْما آخَرِينَ فَمَا بَكَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّمَاءُ وَ الْاَرْضُ وَ مَا كَانُوا مُنْظَرِينَ

اِنَّ هَؤُلاءِ كَانُوا وَارِثِينَ فَاَصْبَحُوا مَوْرُوثِينَ لَمْ يَشْكُرُوا النِّعْمَةَ فَسُلِبُوا دُنْيَاهُمْ بِالْمَعْصِيَةِ اِيَّاكُمْ وَ كُفْرَ النِّعَمِ لا تَحُلَّ بِكُمُ النِّقَمُ