Book of Chess, Its Problems, and Its Subtleties

And praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds. Al-Hasan al-Basri said: "Give your hearts rest, for they quickly grow weary." The original Arabic term al-duthur refers to something that becomes effaced or rusted like a blade; here it suggests mental exhaustion or loss of focus. The heart must have something to which it can retreat for rest, and among the diversions with which kings occupy themselves, nothing is known to be better than the game of chess. The kings of the non-Arabs original: "al-A'jam," referring primarily to the Persians, who were credited with many courtly traditions. never ceased to require their children to learn it alongside all other refinements original: "Adab," the education in literature, etiquette, and ethics required of a gentleman..

Umar Umar ibn al-Khattab (d. 644 AD), the second Caliph of Islam. was once asked about chess, and he said: "There is no harm in it when it serves as a tool of war." A common early Islamic justification, viewing chess as a simulator for military tactics. It has been narrated by Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Hamza ibn al-Hasan ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Abbas, who said: My father told me, on the authority of his father, who said: Al-Hasan ibn Zayd came upon us while we were boys playing chess. He rested his leg upon the neck of his donkey and continued to say, "Move this one, and place that one [there]." Al-Hasan said: "There is no harm in it."

One of the wise men said: "It is fitting for a person of intellect not to deprive themselves of four things: work for the Afterlife; the pursuit of a livelihood; reflection through which one distinguishes what is beneficial from what is harmful; and pleasure in that which is not forbidden, to serve as an aid against the exhaustion of the other three." Ardashir Ardashir I (r. 224–242 AD), the founder of the Sassanid Persian Empire. said: "The ears have a path and the hearts have a king; distinguish between the two states and you will achieve mastery."

And the sternest thing reported regarding this is that Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) passed by a people who were playing chess and said: "What are these statues to which you are devoted?" Ali, the fourth Caliph and first Shia Imam, is quoting the Quran (Surah al-Anbiya 21:52), where the prophet Abraham questions his people's idol worship. This is a famous historical critique of the game's representational pieces. This was narrated by Al-Hasan, from Bahlul ibn Ubayd, from Ishaq, from Asim ibn Damra.