Then the governor of Basra died, and the Bedouin there rose in turmoil; they broke open the prisons, and his people escaped (1). He therefore hurried to Basra in Ramadan of the year 255 AH, surrounded by a band of supporters. A number of the populace’s black slaves rallied to him, and he corrupted them and emboldened them. Taking a palm-leaf strip, he wrote on a piece of cloth attached to it: “Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties in exchange for Paradise” (al-Tawbah 9:111). Beneath the verse he wrote his own name.

In the predawn hours, two nights before the end of Ramadan, he marched out with them—a thousand strong—addressed them and said, “You are the commanders, and you will one day rule….” He showered them with promises and false hopes. He then summoned their overseers and said, “I had intended to strike off your heads for the harm you did these youths.” They replied, “These men have fled (2); they will spare neither you nor us.” He ordered the boys to throw the overseers to the ground; they flogged each man five hundred lashes and bound them by an oath of divorce not to reveal his whereabouts to anyone.

It was said that about fifteen thousand slaves were working the estates of their masters in that region. When they warned their lords of what had taken place, the masters shackled them, but his faction came, smashed their fetters, and brought them over to him. When the day of Eid al-Fitr arrived, he planted his banner (3), led them in the Eid prayer, delivered a sermon, and told them that Allah intended to empower them and grant them dominion, swearing to them on that (4). Then he stepped down and led them in the regular prayer.

From that point on he never ceased plundering and raiding, his numbers swelling with every vagabond (5) and highwayman, until his cause became formidable and his sedition enormous. He seized horses, weapons, goods, money, and livestock, and came to be reckoned among the kings; and whenever an army confronted him, it was put to flight,