And each one has his own distinction, and the …; on the day of the wager he stood firm, free of all hazard. (1)(2)
He also said—referring to al-Muhallabī:
“You have been truly gracious to the Ṭālibids after they had …, (3)
They were pushed aside for a season, and after that for yet another season; (4)
You restored the bond of Hāshim, so that I beheld them— (5)
After the enmity that had divided them—brothers once more. (6)”
Al-Muntaṣir then secured full control and struck his brothers al-Muʿtazz and Ibrāhīm from the pact of succession.
Among al-Muntaṣir’s own sayings, when he pardoned Abū al-ʿAmrad al-Shārī, was the following: “The delight of forgiveness is sweeter than the delight of requital, and the ugliest deed of one who possesses power is revenge.” (7)
Al-Masʿūdī said: “Al-Muntaṣir displayed justice openly among the populace, so they inclined toward him despite the awe he inspired.”
ʿAlī ibn Yaḥyā al-Munajjim said: “I have never seen anyone like al-Muntaṣir, nor anyone whose deeds were more generous without ostentation. He once saw me weighed down with grief and questioned me; I tried to evade him, but he put me under oath, so I revealed the matter to him …”
(1) The base manuscript reads al-hajun (with a final n), which is incorrect.
(2) Al-Buhturi, Diwan, vol. 2, p. 851, from a qasida in praise of Muhammad b. al-Muntasir b. Jaʿfar al-Mutawakkil. Its opening hemistich is: “Tabassama ʿan wadihin dhi ashar / wa-tanaththara min fātirin dhi hur” (It smiled with a bright, spirited face and gazed with languid, wide eyes). In the printed Diwan the reading is: yawm al-tafadul (“the day of distinction”).
(3) Both Wafi bi-l-wafayat and Tarikh al-khulafaʾ read dhammū (“they censured”).
(4) Both Wafi bi-l-wafayat and Tarikh al-khulafaʾ read baʿdahum (“after them”).
(5) Both Wafi bi-l-wafayat and Tarikh al-khulafaʾ read wa-wurida (“and it has been transmitted”).
(6) The two verses are found in Wafi bi-l-wafayat, vol. 2, p. 290, and in Tarikh al-khulafaʾ, p. 357.
(7) Tarikh al-khulafaʾ, vol. 1, p. 357. He is also reported to have said: “By Allah, no champion of falsehood is ever truly honored, even if the moon rose from his forehead, and no champion of truth is ever humiliated, even if the whole world closed in on him.” During his final illness he recited: “My soul never rejoiced in any worldly gain I took; / rather, to the Generous Lord I return.” See Al-Kamil, vol. 7, p. 115, and Wafi bi-l-wafayat, vol. 2, p. 290.