Ishaq al-Musʿabi said, “By Allah, I have never seen anyone like al-Muʿtasim. I watched him dictate a letter while reading another, counting on his fingers, and at the same time reciting verses of poetry that he quoted as illustrations.”
Al-Muʿtasim died on Thursday, eleven nights into Rabiʿ al-Awwal in the year 227 AH. He was forty-seven years and seven months old. He was buried in Surra Man Raʾā, and his son al-Wathiq led the funeral prayer.
It is also reported that he said, “O Allah, I fear You because of myself, not because of anything that comes from You; and I hope in You because of what comes from You, not because of anything that comes from me.” (1)
Let us now mention his son al-Wathiq.
His other children were: Jaʿfar al-Mutawakkil, al-ʿAbbas, ʿAli, Ahmad, Muhammad, ʿAbd Allah, Sulayman, Ibrahim, Fatimah, Umm al-Qasim, Umm al-ʿAbbas, Umm Musa, ʿAʾishah, Umm al-Fadl, Umm Muhammad, Umm ʿIsa, Umm Musa, Umm Abīhā, and Umm ʿAbd Allah.
- Al-Wathiq bi-Allah Harun, son of al-Muʿtasim bi-Allah*
He was the caliph, Abu Jaʿfar—also known as Abu al-Qasim—Harun ibn al-Muʿtasim bi-Allah Abu Ishaq Muhammad ibn Harun al-Rashid ibn al-Mahdi Muhammad ibn al-Mansur, the ʿAbbasid, from Baghdad.
His mother was a Byzantine woman named Qaratis (2), who lived to see his caliphate.