I were to command you to kill Abu Muslim?”
He fell silent for a moment. Abu Ayyub said, “Why do you not answer?” The man then muttered, in a faint voice, “I would kill him.” Al-Manṣūr chose four of the elite bodyguards, urged them to carry out the deed, and told them, “Stand behind the portico; when I clap my hands, rush in and strike him down.”
Al-Manṣūr sent a succession of messengers to Abu Muslim, one after another. Abu Muslim came, entered the palace, and then the Caliph’s presence, smiling. When he stood before him, al-Manṣūr began censuring him for each of his past actions, one by one, and Abu Muslim offered excuses for everything he had hastily done.
Abu Muslim then said, “O Commander of the Faithful, I hope your soul is now satisfied with me.”
Al-Manṣūr replied, “By Allah, this has only increased my anger toward you!” He struck one hand against the other; ‘Uthmān and the guards burst in and struck Abu Muslim with their swords until they killed him, wrapped him in a cloak, and ordered that he be thrown into the Tigris. That was the last anyone ever saw of him. He was killed on Wednesday, with four days remaining of Shaʿbān in the year 137 AH.
Among the reproaches al-Manṣūr levelled at him were: “You have written to me repeatedly, putting your own name before mine; you even sought the hand of my aunt Amīnah, and you claim to be the son of Sulayṭ ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbās, and other such pretensions.”
Abu Muslim answered, “O Commander of the Faithful, do not say this to me, for I laboured for your cause as everyone knows.”
Al-Manṣūr retorted, “Woe to you! Had even a black slave-woman risen up for that cause, Allah would have completed it for the sake of our grandfather and the protection of our house.” He then said, “By Allah, I will surely kill you.”
Abu Muslim replied, “Spare me, O Commander of the Faithful, for the sake of your enemies.”
Al-Manṣūr said, “And who is a greater enemy to me than you?” and ordered his execution, as described.
One of the commanders remarked, “O Commander of the Faithful, only now have you truly become Caliph.”
It is said that al-Manṣūr then recited:
She laid down her staff and settled where longing bade her,
As a traveller delights when he returns home.
Ibn Khallikān relates that when al-Manṣūr contemplated killing Abu Muslim he was uncertain whether to consult anyone, lest the matter spread. He therefore sounded out one of his trusted advisers, who said, “O Commander of the Faithful, Allah the Exalted says: ‘Had there been in them any deities other than Allah, the heavens and the earth would surely have been ruined’ (Quran 21:22).” Al-Manṣūr replied, “You have placed it in a receptive ear,” and resolved upon the act.
Biographical Note on Abu Muslim al-Khurasānī ⦗1⦘
He is ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muslim, known as Abu Muslim, the architect of the Abbasid state; some call him the Commander of the Household of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.