—a route that would normally take a full month to traverse.

Later, Aḥmad b. Abī Duʾād came by night in disguise, looked at Bābak, and then informed al-Muʿtaṣim. The caliph could not restrain himself; he too came incognito and scrutinized him (1).

This wretch was a dualist (2), adherent to the religion of Mani and Mazdak. He believed in the transmigration of souls and deemed it lawful to cohabit with both a daughter and her mother (3).

It is also said that he was born of adultery, that his mother was one-eyed and was called Rūmiyya the barbarian; ʿAlī b. Mazdakān claimed he had slept with her and that Bābak was his son.

Another report holds that she was a vagabond from a village in Azerbaijan. A Nabataean fornicated with her, she conceived Bābak, and he was reared as a hired laborer in that very village.

In the region there were Khurramites with two chiefs, Jāwandān (4) and ʿImrān. Jāwandān perceived promise (5) in Bābak, hired him from his mother, and Jāwandān’s wife fell in love with the youth, disclosing to him their secrets.

Her husband was later killed while fighting his cousin; she claimed that he had appointed Bābak as his successor, and everyone believed her.

Bābak then ordered his followers to kill anyone they encountered at night; by morning several lay dead. Every scoundrel and highwayman joined their ranks, and Bābak’s cause swelled to its eventual size. His rule endured for twenty years, even longer, and he commanded nearly twenty thousand fighters devoid of faith—some of them outright zindīqs (heretics). They slew, took captives, and seized fortresses (6).