—was the Sufyani, and he called for the establishment of justice. He had already killed a soldier who had abused his wife; after that he covered his face with a veil, settled in al-Ghawr (the Jordan Valley), and his cause swelled in importance. The desert people rallied to him and the movement grew dangerous, so the governor of Damascus, Rajaʾ al-Ḥaṣṣārī, marched out against him with one thousand cavalrymen. He found al-Mubarraqʿ surrounded by nearly one hundred thousand followers and was awestruck. When planting season arrived the crowd melted away until only about two thousand remained with him. The two forces engaged. Al-Mubarraqʿ, a bold and courageous man, charged the army; they opened their ranks, then closed in, captured him, imprisoned him, and he died there. (1)

Ibn ʿĀʾidh said: Rajaʾ fought the people of al-Marj, Jisrin, Kafr Batna, and Saqba (2), and many were killed. Another report states that he made a night attack on Kafr Batna, killing more than one hundred thousand, slaughtering even the children, while three hundred of the troops fell.

Naftawayh said: Al-Muʿtaṣim is called al-Muthamman (“the Eighth”) because he is the eighth of the Abbasids, and he ruled for eight years and eight months.

He achieved eight conquests: Bābak, Amorium, the Zutt, the Sea of Basra, the fortress of al-Ajrāf, the Arabs of Diyār Rabīʿa, al-Shārī, and the subjugation of Egypt—meaning he overpowered its people—before his caliphate.

He also put to death eight notable figures: Bābak, Afshin, Māzyār, Bāṭīs, the chief of the heretics, ʿUjayf, Qārūn, and the leader of the Rāfiḍīs. (3)

Someone other than Naftawayh said: He left behind eight thousand thousand dinars in gold, eighteen thousand thousand dirhams, eighty thousand horses, eight thousand slaves, and eight—