which they plundered, together with the soldiers’ stores in Madinah of flour, sawiq and other provisions, and sold the whole lot for a pittance. News of what the sūdān had done reached al-Mansur, and he feared the disgrace such events might bring. The people therefore assembled, and Ibn Abi Sabrah—who was in prison—mounted the pulpit with irons still on his feet. He exhorted them to listen and obey al-Mansur and warned them of the evil their retainers had committed. They agreed to restrain their retainers, scatter them, and go to their governor to restore him to his post. They did so: the disturbance subsided, the people calmed down, the mischief was extinguished, and ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Rabiʿ returned to Madinah, where he cut off the hands of Wathiq, Abu al-Nar, Yaʿqil, and Misʿar.

Account of the Uprising of Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥasan in Basra

Ibrāhīm had fled to Basra and taken up residence among the Banū Dubayʿah in the house of al-Hārith ibn ʿĪsā, never showing himself by day. He arrived there only after wandering through many lands; both he and his brother had endured tremendous ordeals, and on several occasions the causes of their ruin nearly converged. At length his situation settled in Basra in 143 AH, after the pilgrims had dispersed.

Others say he reached the city at the beginning of Ramadan 145 AH; his brother had sent him there after declaring himself in Madinah. This was reported by al-Wāqidī (1). He added: Ibrāhīm used to canvass secretly on behalf of his brother, but when his brother was killed he openly summoned allegiance to himself in Shawwal of that year. The better-known view, however, is that he came while his brother was still alive and had already begun calling to himself, as mentioned earlier—Allah knows best.

When he arrived in Basra he stayed with Yaḥyā ibn Ziyād ibn Ḥassān al-Nabaṭī, remaining concealed there until he emerged this year in the house of Abū Farwah. The first to pledge allegiance to him were Numayla ibn Murrah, Afw Allah ibn Sufyān (2), ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Ziyād, ʿUmar ibn Salamah al-Hujaymī, and ʿUbayd Allah ibn Yaḥyā ibn Ḥuḍayn al-Raqāshī. They summoned the people to him, and a great multitude responded. He then moved to the house of Abū Marwān in the centre of Basra; his movement swelled in strength, groups of people swore allegiance to him, and the situation became grave.

Word reached al-Mansur, adding grief to the grief he already felt over his brother Muḥammad, for Ibrāhīm had come into the open before his brother was killed. What hastened his appearance was a letter his brother had sent him; he obeyed it, called people to his own cause, and his affairs became organised in Basra. The city’s governor on al-Mansur’s behalf was Sufyān ibn Muʿāwiyah, who secretly sided with Ibrāhīm. Reports about him reached Sufyān, yet he brushed them aside, branded the informants liars, and wished that Ibrāhīm’s matter would become fully manifest.

Al-Mansur reinforced him with two commanders from Khurasan accompanied by two thousand cavalry and infantry, quartering them with him so that he might draw strength from them against Ibrāhīm. Al-Mansur himself moved from Baghdad—he had already begun building it—to Kufah, and whenever he suspected a man of