—especially a dream (1)—they would fill him with intense fear of al-Qāhir.

The commander of the Sājiyya regiment (2) therefore concealed evil intent; he mustered a party to assassinate the Caliph and they sallied forth at day-break. Al-Qāhir was asleep, still heavy with wine, and his vizier and chamberlain had already fled. The conspirators burst in on him with swords. He fled to the roof and tried to hide, but they caught him at last, a drawn sword in his hand. “Come down,” they said; he refused. “We are your servants,” they assured him. One of them then nocked (3) an arrow and said, “Come down, or I will kill you.” So he climbed down, and they seized him (4) on the sixth of Jumada al-Ākhira.

They thereupon swore allegiance to al-Rāḍī bi-llāh, Muḥammad ibn al-Muqtadir (5). Al-Qāhir was deposed and had his eyes put out with an iron spike because of his vicious conduct and his blood-letting.

His caliphate lasted one year, six months, and one week.

Al-Ṣūlī (6) said: “He was reckless, a prodigal shedder of blood, highly capricious, vile in his ways, and addicted to wine. Had it not been for the competence of his chamberlain Salāma, he would have destroyed both crop and progeny.”

He had fashioned a spear and carried it everywhere, never laying it aside until he had killed (7) a man.

Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī narrated: “Al-Qāhir once summoned me while holding that spear. I said, ‘Grant me safety.’ He replied, ‘On condition that you tell the truth.’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘I wish to ask you about the Abbasid caliphs.’ I recounted what I knew of their affairs, and he questioned me about them one by one. Then he said, ‘I have heard your words, and it is as though I behold those men before my eyes.’ He rose, the spear still in his hand; I resigned myself to death, but he turned aside toward the women’s apartments (8).”

Al-Masʿūdī said: “He took great sums of money from Muʾnis and his companions. When he was deposed…”