We have already explained how Abū Muslim came to exercise independent authority over Khurasan in 129 AH and how he spread the Abbasid summons there. He was a man of awe-inspiring presence, stern resolve, daring, and a tendency to act swiftly.
Ibn ʿAsākir relates (1) through Muṣʿab ibn Bishr, from his father, that a man once stood before Abū Muslim while he was delivering a sermon and said, “What is this black garb I see upon you?” Abū Muslim answered, “Abū al-Zubayr narrated to me from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) entered Mecca on the day of the Conquest wearing a black turban. These are the clothes of dignity (2) and the attire of state. Boy, strike off his head.”
Ibn ʿAsākir also transmits (3)—in the report of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Munīb, from him (4), from Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī, from his father, from his grandfather ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās—that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Whoever seeks the humiliation of Quraysh, Allah will humiliate him.” (5)
Ibrāhīm ibn Maymūn al-Ṣāʿigh, one of Abū Muslim’s companions and intimate associates during the clandestine phase of the movement, used to remind him that—once victory was secured—he must enforce the prescribed legal punishments (ḥudūd). After Abū Muslim had consolidated power, Ibrāhīm pressed him so insistently to fulfil that promise that he left him with no excuse. Abū Muslim therefore ordered that his head be struck off, but not before saying to him, “Why do you not denounce Naṣr ibn Sayyār, who fashions golden vessels for wine and sends them to the Umayyads?” Ibrāhīm replied, “Those men never drew me close to themselves nor promised me what you promised.”
Someone later saw in a dream that Ibrāhīm ibn Maymūn occupied lofty stations in Paradise because of his patience in enjoining right and forbidding wrong; he had truly devoted himself to that task—whereupon Abū Muslim killed him, may Allah have mercy upon him.
We have already mentioned Abū Muslim’s obedience to al-Saffāḥ, his solicitude for the latter’s cause, and his strict compliance with his edicts. Yet when the caliphate passed to al-Manṣūr, the new ruler treated him lightly and held him in contempt. Even so, he sent him against his own uncle ʿAbd Allāh in Syria; Abū Muslim defeated him, recovered Syria, and restored it to al-Manṣūr’s control. After that, Abū Muslim’s soul swelled with pride over al-Manṣūr, and he resolved to kill him. Al-Manṣūr sensed this—as well as the deep-seated aversion he already felt toward him. Indeed, he had more than once asked his brother al-Saffāḥ to execute Abū Muslim, but al-Saffāḥ would not. We have also described the letters and messages exchanged between the two men once al-Manṣūr grew wary of him and accused him of harboring evil intent,