When his rule over Morocco became established, the general political climate became favourable to him and he was approached by multiple delegations of allegiant Arabs. As a result of this, it became clear that existing city of Volubilis [1] was too small to accommodate everyone. He thus wished to build a city that he might inhabit, along with his close entourage and governmental notables. One day, he set out on a riding party along with a retinue of close aides to choose an ideal spot. He eventually reached Mount Zaligh. Delighted by its height and by the purity of its air and soil, he had construction work began there. Some of the houses and fences had already been erected when, during one night, a flood came and demolished the houses and fences. Accordingly, he stopped any further work taking place and sent his adviser ‘Umayr b. Mus’ab al-Azdi [2] to find another location to build the new city he had his sights on.

‘Umayr b. Mus’ab alighted in Fahs Sayis, together with a retinue of close aides. He was pleased by this location and explored it well. From there, he arrived at the springs from which the valley of Fez sprouts forth. There he noticed some sixty original sources of water and found it all agreeable.

Armed with the good news, he headed back to Mawlay Idris al-Azhar so he too could take a look at the spot. Mawlay Idris al-Azhar found it to his liking. He purchased the thicket, wherein it was located, from the tribes of Banu al-Khayr and Banu Yarghish, who entered Islam at his hands. He then began to build the city, which he moved to along with his children. He built the mosque known as Jami’ al-Ashyakh, where he would deliver the public sermon on Fridays. He followed this up by building Jami’ al-Shurafa’. When he had completed it, he had the Friday public sermon established there too. He subsequently built his house, known as Dar al-Qaytun, in an area inhabited by the Jutiyyun nobles. He encircled it with marketplaces. He also instructed people to build, saying, ‘Whoever builds in a place or plants in it, it will be his.’ As a result, people began building things.

When the city of Fez was complete, he climbed the pulpit and delivered a sermon to the people amassed there, raising his hands skywards, and praying: ‘O Allah, You are fully aware that I did not build this city out of boastfulness, pride, ostentation, fame or material competition. I have only intended that You be worshipped in it, Your Book be recited in it, the laws of Your din be established in it, along with the Sunna of Your Prophet, Muhammad (upon him salutations and peace) , so long as the world endures. O Allah, give success to its inhabitants and residents to what is good, help them attain it, spare them the burden of their enemies, bestow on them abundant provisions, and unsheathe from them the sword of faith-testing ordeal and splitting disunion. You are indeed All-Powerful over every thing.’ Those in attendance recited amin after his supplication, and thus facets of goodness abounded in the city and blessings were manifest in it. Allah actualized his supplication by His favour, Glorified and Exalted is He: hardly will you find a poor man, in fact, but that he has ample provision; and hardly does a year pass by except that saints and pious people, whose number cannot be encompassed by other than their Creator, emerge from the city.

Among the fine qualities of urban Fez is that its river divides it into two, its brooks branching out amid houses, public baths, streets and marketplaces. It abounds in mosques, including the Qarawiyyin Mosque, which is considered the largest mosque in the world, in length and width. It has forty doors for entry. It is called Qarawiyyin Mosque because it is said that the reason behind its construction was a channel from al-Qayrawan. There is also the Andalus Mosque, the Diwan Mosque and other ones too.

The jurist ‘Abdullah al-Maghili praised it when he was serving as judge in the city of Azemmour and was yearning to be back in the urban area of Fez, may Allah safeguard it from any calamity:

O Fez, from moist earth Allah enlivened your soil
And gave you to drink the effusion of clouds spread out
O garden of this world surpassing Homs
By its vista more radiant and prettier
Room after room, and underneath flowing
A tastier water than cascading fresh nectar
And silken orchards embellished
By brooks as if vipers or tongues.

Mawlay Idris al-Azhar died on 2 Jumada II AH 213. He was thirty six years old. He was buried in his mosque, opposite its eastern wall. His shrine in Fez’s urban area is one of the sacred places therein. Moroccans seek it to find cure [from illnesses]. In this respect, it is like the shrine of Imam Abu ‘Abdullah al-Husayni in Egypt. Visitors head for it from far-away locations, and read litanies and the Dala’il [al-Khayrat] there. It has many endowments. O Allah, benefit us by them and by their secrets.