as well as his eloquence and beautiful handwriting.

When al-Qāsim lay dying he recommended him to al-Muktafi. The Caliph immediately appointed him as his chief scribe, drew him close, granted him an estate whose annual revenue reached fifty thousand dinars, and allotted him a monthly stipend of five thousand dinars.

Al-Ṣūlī relates: “He was born on the very night al-Mutawakkil was slain. Abū Maʿshar cast his horoscope and exclaimed, ‘How astonishing this child is! Had he been of Hāshimite stock I would have predicted the caliphate for him; as it stands, I predict the vizierate.’” He adds: “From that moment he continued to rise higher and higher.”

When al-Muktafi fell ill, he placed his children and household in the care of al-ʿAbbās.

Al-ʿAbbās was known for his generosity and his scrupulous fairness. Reports from court informants about some of his own associates would reach him; he would toss the papers back to those very men and laugh.

The vizier al-Qāsim used to marvel at the speed of al-ʿAbbās’s pen, saying, “His hand outstrips my tongue.” Al-Ṣūlī comments, “I have never seen a hand swifter than his!”

It is said that he once entrusted a secret to Ḥammād ibn Isḥāq. When al-ʿAbbās assumed office, Ḥammād advised him, “Seal your vessel and obscure your track.” He replied, “I have misplaced my waterskin—how am I to seal it? And I have lost his trail—how am I to hide it?”

Some of his poetry reads:
“O you who slays me with cold disdain—
were he to grant union, he would revive me.
He sees my very life-blood ebb away
as I would kiss his lips, yet he will not relent.
Alas for the estrangement that comes from him
and for the fickle temper you display!
Your phantom greets me kindly in my sleep,
yet when you are awake you treat me as a foe.”

Al-Ṣūlī also says: “Al-ʿAbbās’s arrogance and imperiousness grew severe; then al-Muktafi died, and he—”