Thus he put her to shame. When al-Muqtadir heard of the incident he laughed, summoned his singing-girls, and had them perform a song about it.

Hamid bore the torture with notable fortitude, but was then dispatched to Wasit, where poison was slipped to him in eggs, and he died of severe dysentery.

It was reported that the grandees spoke of his hot temper and lack of experience, whereupon al-Muqtadir reproached Abu al-Qasim al-Hawwārī, the man who had recommended him.

Another account says that Hamid set about confiscating Ibn al-Furat’s wealth, and that quarrels broke out between him and his partner Ibn ʿIsa over the money, so that people composed these lines:

Stranger still than all you see—
Two viziers in a single land:
Here is the Sawad, but no vizier,
There a vizier, but no Sawad!

After that Hamid tortured al-Muhsin, Ibn al-Furat’s son, and took one million dinars from him. The burdens of the vizierate then fell to Ibn ʿIsa, while Hamid was left idle, retaining nothing but the title and the ceremonial procession. Al-Muqtadir perceived this and entrusted authority exclusively to Ibn ʿIsa. Hamid asked leave to farm the revenues of Isfahan and other districts, and permission was granted. People jested:

The vizier has become a hireling of his clerk,
Hoping the man will be gentle in his demands,
So he can still draw profit from the takings.

Al-Tanukhi relates: Abu ʿAbd Allah al-Sayrafī told me—quoting Abu ʿAli the merchant—that Hamid once rode out in Wasit to visit his orchard. He saw an old man lamenting, his family gathered round: the man’s house had burned down. Hamid’s heart softened and he said to his steward, “I do not wish to return this evening unless his house is rebuilt—complete with fittings and furnishings.” The steward hurried off, summoned the craftsmen, poured out the dirhams, and by late afternoon the work was finished; Hamid then returned.