upon al-Mutawakkil; both men died, were rolled up in a carpet, and then buried together.

Bughā the Younger had grown estranged from al-Mutawakkil because of something the Caliph had said, while al-Muntaṣir was winning over the Turkish troops, especially those whom his father kept at a distance. (1)

Al-Masʿūdī reports that other accounts of his assassination also exist.

He adds: It is said that al-Mutawakkil spent, on the Jawsaq, the Jaʿfarī, and the Hārūnī palaces, more than two hundred million dirhams.

It is further related that he owned four thousand slave-concubines and lay with every one of them.

He was slain while the public treasury contained four million dinars and seven million dirhams. No prominent figure—serious or frivolous—failed to profit from his largesse and become wealthy. He even rewarded al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Ḍaḥḥāk al-Khalīʿ with four thousand dinars for a mere four verses of poetry.

About him Yazīd ibn Muḥammad al-Muhallabī composed:
"Death came upon him while every eye was sleeping—
Would that fate and straight-aimed spears had met him face to face!
A caliph whose wealth enriched no man (2),
And no soul nor body fashioned the like of him. (3)"

ʿAlī ibn al-Jahm relates: Ibn Ṭāhir presented al-Mutawakkil with several maidservants, among them Maḥbūba. She was a poetess, learned in many branches of knowledge, and an accomplished musician. She so captivated al-Mutawakkil that words fail to describe her standing with him. After the Caliph’s death she was assigned to Bughā the Elder. One day she entered his company for a drinking session. He ordered the curtain torn aside, summoned the singing-girls—who came in, resplendent with jewels and fine robes—and she herself arrived wearing plain white clothes and sat down, subdued. He said, “Sing.”

She excused herself, but he adjured her and had the lute placed in her lap, whereupon she improvised and sang: