, among whom was ʿUmar ibn Shuʿayb, a burly man. They made for Alexandria and occupied it. Sometime later one of their number bought meat from a butcher; the two quarreled, and the butcher hurled a sheep’s stomach in his face. He returned to his people in that condition, so they came and killed the butcher. The people of Alexandria rose up against them and fighting broke out. The Andalusians drove the townsfolk out in flight and seized control of the city.

News of this reached the caliph al-Maʾmūn. He sent envoys to them and purchased the city on condition that they evacuate it and settle on the island of Iqriṭish (1). They complied, disembarked on the island, and conquered it, remaining there until Romanus son of Constantine overpowered it in 305 AH.

As for al-Ḥakam, he felt secure and wrote to the commander Muḥammad ibn Rustum, saying:

“A band of the riffraff of Cordoba incited rebellion and brandished their weapons. We therefore mustered men against them, slew them in great numbers, and—by God’s help—prevailed over them, all the while abstaining from their property and their women.”

Al-Ḥakam then issued a general amnesty. Talūt (2) had been in hiding for a year with a Jew; afterwards he emerged and sought refuge with the vizier Abū al-Bassām, who handed him over to al-Ḥakam, saying, “What does the prince make of a fat ram that has stood at its manger for a whole year?”

Al-Ḥakam replied, “That is heavy meat—what is the matter?”

He answered, “Talūt is in my possession.”

So al-Ḥakam ordered that he be brought before him.