twenty-two, the vizier Ibn Muqla managed to seize the man, threw him in prison, and raided his house. Inside he discovered scrolls and books that substantiated the charges against him, including letters in which he was addressed with expressions no human being deserves. These were placed before him; he acknowledged that the handwriting was theirs, yet he disavowed the contents and declared himself innocent of them. At that point Ibn ʿAbdūs stretched out his hand and slapped him.

As for Ibn Abī ʿAwn, he reached toward him, but his hand began to tremble; then he kissed his beard and head, exclaiming, “My God, my Provider, my Master!”

al-Rāḍī billāh said to him, “You claim you do not profess divinity—what, then, is this?”

He replied, “What responsibility do I bear for this man’s words? Allah knows I have never told him that I am a god.”

Ibn ʿAbdūs interjected, “He has not claimed godhood; he only claims to be the Gate to the Awaited Imam.”

They were then brought several times before assemblies of jurists and judges. In the end the scholars issued a ruling that his blood was lawful, so he was burned in Dhū al-Qaʿdah of that year. Ibn Abī ʿAwn was flogged with whips, then beheaded, and his body too was burned.

He had composed literary works and was counted among the leading secretaries.

We have recorded in the annals that in this same year al-Shalmaghānī appeared. Shalmaghān is a village in the district of Wāsiṭ.

Rumor spread that he was claiming lordship and that he could raise the dead. Ibn Muqla therefore brought him before al-Rāḍī, who listened to his statements, and he denied what had been alleged about him.

He declared, “Let punishment descend upon whoever engages me in mutual imprecation within three days—nine at the latest; otherwise my blood is lawful.”

He was then flogged with eighty lashes, put to death, and crucified.

On his account al-Muqtadir’s vizier al-Ḥusayn (1) was executed, having been accused of heresy. Abū Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Aḥmad ibn Hilāl ibn Abī ʿAwn al-Anbārī, the scribe, was also put to death.

Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn—also called “the Camel-driver”—had served as vizier to al-Muqtadir in the year