Now, the emir of the city was a fanatical Shiʿite (rafiḍī). When the story reached him, he seized upon it as a pretext to liquidate al-Khaṭīb. He ordered his chief of police to seize him by night and kill him. The chief of police, however, was a Sunni. That very night he came to al-Khaṭīb with a party of men; unable to defy the emir, he arrested him and said, “I have been commanded to do such-and-such to you. I can see only one way out: I shall pass by the house of the noble Sharīf Ibn Abī al-Jinn (1). When we draw level with it, leap inside; I will not pursue you. I shall then return to the emir and tell him what happened.”

Al-Khaṭīb did exactly that and entered the Sharīf’s house. The emir thereupon sent word to the Sharīf demanding that he hand the man over. The Sharīf replied, “O Emir, you know my own view concerning him and those like him, yet there is no benefit in killing him. He is well known in Iraq; if you kill him, a number of Shiʿites will be killed in reprisal and the shrines will be wrecked.”

The emir asked, “What do you advise?”

He answered, “I advise that he depart from your territory.”

So the emir ordered his expulsion. Al-Khaṭīb made his way to Tyre and stayed there for a time (2).

Abū al-Qāsim Ibn ʿAsākir said: Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī al-Damanashī (3) maligned al-Khaṭīb before the Commander of the Troops, saying, “He is a nasibī; he is narrating in the congregational mosque the merits of the Companions and the merits of al-ʿAbbās.” Ibn ʿAsākir also related—from someone who mentioned it—that a fascicle bearing the audition record of al-Qāʾim bi-Amr Allāh came into al-Khaṭīb’s possession. He took it, went to the Caliphal Palace, and requested permission to read it. He said: