—namely Abū Muslim, the architect of the dynasty—saying: “I do not care which of the two of them is struck down.”
His uncle was routed and his cause collapsed. Afterwards relations between al-Manṣūr and Abū Muslim deteriorated, and he kept devising stratagems against him until he eliminated him completely and secured the throne (1).
Next, the two sons of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥasan (2) rose up against him, and his dominion was on the verge of slipping away; he even made ready to flee. Yet they were both killed within forty days, whereupon he “laid down his staff” and his authority became unshakable.
He now ruled the entire Muslim world, save only the peninsula of al-Andalus.
Al-Manṣūr would pay close attention even to trifling sums, invest them, and work tirelessly, so that—according to what is reported—he left behind 14,000,000 dinars in gold and 600,000,000 dirhams in silver.
In his politics and firmness he often modeled himself on three men: Muʿāwiyah, ʿAbd al-Malik, and Hishām.
It is said that when he killed Abū Muslim he sensed public unrest. After distributing money and preoccupying the people with Abū Muslim’s head, he came out, mounted the pulpit, and declared:
“O people! Do not leave the comfort of obedience for the desolation of disobedience; do not harbor treachery toward the imams, for Allah will bring it to light through slips of the tongue and blunders of action. Whoever tries to snatch from us even the fastening of the garment of the imamate, we shall make him taste what lies in this sheath. Abū Muslim pledged allegiance to us on the condition that if he broke it his blood would be lawful to us; he did break it, so we passed upon him the very judgment he had pronounced upon others. Our regard for his former rights did not prevent us from establishing the right against him. Therefore do not walk in the darkness of falsehood after striving in the brightness of truth. Had Abū Muslim’s true state been known, those among you who objected to his execution would have faulted us for delaying it. And peace.”