So Abū ʿAbd Allah went in to al-Muʿtazz and said, “Peace be upon you.” He sat down and did not address him with any title of rulership. I later heard Abū ʿAbd Allah relate:

“When I entered and had taken my seat, the boy’s tutor said, ‘May Allah set the young prince aright! Is this the man whom the Commander of the Faithful has appointed to discipline and teach you?’ The child replied, ‘If he teaches me anything, I shall learn it.’ I was astonished at his intelligence and the quickness of his reply for one so young—he was indeed very small.”

Abū ʿAbd Allah’s illness dragged on. News of his state reached al-Mutawakkil, and Yaḥyā ibn Khāqān also spoke to him, telling him that the man sought none of the worldly life; so the caliph permitted him to leave. ʿUbayd Allah ibn Yaḥyā (1) arrived at the time of ʿAṣr (the afternoon prayer) and said, “The Commander of the Faithful has granted you leave and ordered that a ḥarrāqah (2) be prepared for you to sail downstream in.”

Abū ʿAbd Allah replied, “Bring me a small boat so that I may depart at once.” They fetched a boat for him, and he set off immediately.

Hanbal said, “We did not know of his arrival until someone said, ‘He has come.’ I went to meet him in the district of al-Qaṭīʿah; he had already stepped out of the boat, and I walked with him. He said to me, ‘Walk on ahead so that the people will not see you and recognize me,’ so I went on ahead.

“When he arrived (3) he threw himself onto his back, exhausted and worn out.

“He would sometimes borrow things from our house and from his son’s house, but once some money from the state reached us he refrained from doing so. Indeed, when during his illness a roasted pumpkin was prescribed for him and it was roasted in Ṣāliḥ’s oven, he found out and would not touch it (4); and there were many things of this sort.”