—had the people swear allegiance to al-Muqtadir, seized the reins of government, and showed everyone that he would act as he pleased. As a result, all attention focused on him and every blame was laid at his door. Advisers had previously told him: “Choose for the caliphate a man who inspires awe; if you set up someone whom men do not fear, they will not fear you either. Each person will then demand an increase in his stipend, and if you refuse, he will become your enemy.”

Events unfolded exactly as foretold: disorder spread among the populace, and, in addition, al-ʿAbbās became burdensome to al-Muqtadir, his mother, and her entourage because he withheld certain benefits from them.

The emir al-Ḥusayn ibn Ḥamdān alleged that al-ʿAbbās had dispatched someone to corrupt his singing slave-girl with promises; Ibn Ḥamdān was passionately attached to her. Muḥammad ibn Dāwūd ibn al-Jarrāḥ, who headed the army bureau, enjoyed the obedience of the commanders. He therefore stirred them up against al-ʿAbbās and confided to trusted associates that he intended to pledge allegiance to Ibn al-Muʿtazz, saying that al-Muqtadir was only a boy.

Aḥmad ibn Ismāʿīl had a mamluk who had grown resentful of him. The mamluk sent a letter to al-ʿAbbās declaring his willingness to submit. Al-ʿAbbās replied, promising him the rank of “commander of commanders” — meaning the mamluk himself. The man set out for the capital with two thousand cavalry. When al-ʿAbbās learned that affairs were becoming unsettled, al-Marzubānī said to him before the assembled dignitaries: “May Allah honor the vizier! You have alienated a man like Aḥmad ibn Ismāʿīl over his slave Bars, while Aḥmad owns a thousand slaves the equal of Bars!”

Al-ʿAbbās answered, “I will patronize him and give him command so that he becomes great; was not the Prophet — Allah bless him and grant him peace — once a hired hand for Khadījah, and look at what came of him?”

Al-Ṣūlī remarks, “Had Aḥmad ibn Tumar not heard this from him directly, I would never have believed it.”

Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ḥamdān stormed out, exclaiming, “So you have used me as an argument? By Allah, I will kill you!”

When Bars drew near, al-ʿAbbās’s enemies grew fearful and resolved to kill him on the river. An emir boarded a ṭayyār, a swift riverboat, with him (1), and several others embarked in additional boats