—Hārūn ibn al-Mahdī, the prince Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Hāshimī, an ʿAbbāsid from Baghdad, a man of letters famed for his polished verse.

He studied under al-Mubarrad and Thaʿlab, and he related hadith from his tutor Aḥmad ibn Saʿīd al-Dimashqī.

Those who transmitted from him include his tutor himself, Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā al-Ṣūlī, and others.

He was born in 249 AH.

In 296 AH the grandees recoiled from the caliphate of al-Muqtadir—still a mere youth—so they rose up, attacked him, killed his vizier, and installed Ibn al-Muʿtazz as caliph. He accepted on condition that “no Muslim be killed because of me.”

Yet al-Muqtadir still had his close retainers about him; they armed themselves and charged the rebels. Ibn al-Muʿtazz’s supporters scattered. Afraid, he went into hiding, was arrested, and secretly killed in Rabīʿ al-Ākhir of that same year: they handed him over to Muʾnis al-Khādim, who strangled him, wrapped him in a carpet, and sent the body to his family.

He was very dark-skinned, sharp-featured, and used to dye his hair black.

ʿAlī ibn Bassām lamented him:

By God, what a king laid waste!
Peerless in intellect, culture, and noble descent.
No “if only” nor “would that” could diminish you—
Save that the calling of letters claimed your life. (1)

He also left behind splendid prose (2), such as:

Whoever exceeds bare sufficiency will never be enriched by abundance.

The higher the worth of what is coveted, the deeper the sorrow when it is lost.