the Book of Sincerity by al-Hasan al-Basri.’
Abū ʿUmar retorted, ‘You lie, O man whose blood is licit! We are familiar with the Book of Sincerity, and this is not in it.’
When Abū ʿUmar declared, ‘You lie, O man whose blood is licit,’ Ḥāmid said to him, ‘Put that in writing.’
Abū ʿUmar was still interrogating al-Ḥallāj, but Ḥāmid pressed him, placed the inkwell before him, and so he wrote a ruling permitting al-Ḥallāj’s blood. Everyone present in the session then added his signature.
Al-Ḥallāj said, ‘My back is inviolate and my blood is sacred. It is not lawful for you to force your own interpretation upon my words. My faith is Islam; my path is the Sunnah. By Allah, by Allah, beware of shedding my blood!’
He kept repeating these words while they were signing their names. Then they rose, returned al-Ḥallāj to prison, and dispatched a report of the session to al-Muqtadir. The reply was delayed for two days; this weighed heavily on Ḥāmid, who regretted what he had done and grew fearful. He therefore wrote a note to al-Muqtadir saying, ‘What took place in the session has become public knowledge. If you do not follow it up by killing this man, the people will fall into temptation because of him, and not two of them will differ about it.’
The next day an answer came back through Mufliḥ: ‘If the judges have declared his blood lawful, let Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Ṣamad, the chief of police, attend, take custody of him, and administer 1,000 lashes. If he dies, so be it; if not, his neck is to be struck.’
Ḥāmid rejoiced, summoned the chief of police, read the order to him, and instructed him to take charge of al-Ḥallāj. The chief refused, saying he feared the prisoner might be snatched from his hands.
So Ḥāmid sent some of his own pages with him to escort al-Ḥallāj to his court. It was agreed that the prisoner would be brought after the late evening prayer, accompanied by a group of his companions and some men mounted on tethered mules with grooms; he would be set upon one of the animals and taken in the midst of the crowd.
Ḥāmid added, ‘If he says to you, “I will make the Euphrates flow for you in gold,” do not lift the whip from him.’
After the evening prayer Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Ṣamad came to Ḥāmid with his men and mules. Ḥāmid ordered his pages to ride with him to his residence and bring out al-Ḥallāj. The page later recounted: ‘When I opened the door to him and ordered him to come out, he said, “Who is there—’