to Ibn Suraqa al-Azdi, “What do you think?”
He answered, “I think you should stand firm and fight; flight is unseemly for a man like you, and you once blamed Marwān for it.”
ʿAbd Allāh replied, “I am heading for Iraq.”
Ibn Suraqa said, “Then I am with you.”
The men panicked and fled, abandoning the stores, the treasuries, and the entire camp; Abū Muslim took possession of everything and wrote to al-Manṣūr announcing the victory.
ʿAbd Allāh went into hiding. Al-Manṣūr sent his freedman to tally what Abū Muslim had seized, which enraged Abū Muslim; he even considered killing the man, declaring, “The Caliph’s share of this is only the one-fifth.”
ʿAbd Allāh and his brother ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn ʿAlī proceeded to Kūfa and entered upon ʿĪsā ibn Mūsā, the designated heir. He sought safe-conduct for ʿAbd al-Ṣamad, and al-Manṣūr granted it. As for ʿAbd Allāh, he made for his brother Sulaymān ibn ʿAlī in Baṣra and remained there in concealment.
When al-Manṣūr learned that Abū Muslim’s attitude had changed, he wrote to him in conciliatory tones: “I have appointed you over Egypt and Syria; settle in Syria and deputise someone for Egypt.”
When the letter reached him, Abū Muslim showed anger and said, “He gives me these, when all of Khurasan is mine?!” He began preparing to leave for Khurasan. It is said that he abused al-Manṣūr, resolved upon rebellion, and marched.
Al-Manṣūr set out for al-Madāʾin and wrote again to Abū Muslim, summoning him. Abū Muslim, already on the road to Ḥulwān, replied:
“There is now no enemy left for you but that Allah has delivered him into your hands. We used to relate of the kings of the House of Sāsān that ministers fear most when the common folk have grown quiet. We therefore prefer to keep our distance from you, while eager to honour our covenant so long as you honour yours. If that satisfies you, I am the best of your servants; but if you refuse, I shall annul what I have contracted with you, out of regard for myself. Peace.”
Al-Manṣūr answered with a reassuring, hope-giving letter, sending it with Jarīr ibn Yazīd ibn Jarīr al-Bajalī—the master strategist of his day—who deceived Abū Muslim and turned him back.