among the people, who feared him. Al-Muʿtamid thereupon invested him with the authority that had belonged to al-Muwaffaq and placed his own sons under his command. Later, al-Muʿtamid convened a public session in which he formally testified that he was removing his son, al-Mufawwaḍ ilā-Allāh Jaʿfar, from the position of heir apparent and conferring the succession exclusively upon Abū al-ʿAbbās; this took place in Muḥarram. Al-Muʿtamid died in Rajab, and it was said that he was smothered in a carpet.

Al-Muʿtaḍid was dark-skinned and slender, of well-proportioned build, with an aquiline nose (1). The front of his beard was long, and at the crown of his head he bore a white mole. A formidable dignity overshadowed him; I saw him during his caliphate.

I add: When allegiance was pledged to him, gifts from Khumarawayh arrived and he humbled himself—twenty mules laden with gold, besides horses, jewels, rare treasures, and even a giraffe. A gift also came from al-Ṣaffār, whereupon the Caliph appointed him over Khurasan. Al-Muʿtaḍid married Khumarawayh’s daughter, who entered Baghdad in splendor beyond description. He led the people in prayer on the Day of Sacrifice; in the first rakʿa he pronounced six extra takbīrs, and in the second he forgot its takbīrs, and his voice could scarcely be heard (2).

In the year 278 AH the first stirrings of the Qarmatī movement appeared.

There is no doubt that the community’s first serious weakness was the deliberate killing of its Caliph, ʿUthmān. That deed set the trials ablaze, leading to the Battle of the Camel and, afterward, the Battle of Ṣiffīn; torrents of blood were shed as a result. Then the Khārijites emerged, declaring both ʿUthmān and ʿAlī unbelievers; they fought on, and their rebellion endured