It is reliably reported from Ibn ʿAbbās that he said, “From among us will come al-Saffāḥ and al-Manṣūr.” In another wording he added, “…until we hand it over to Jesus son of Mary.” The report has also been transmitted as marfūʿ (attributed to the Prophet), but that isnād is unsound, and even the mawqūf version (stopping with Ibn ʿAbbās) is weak.

Al-Khaṭīb relates that his mother Salāmah said, “When I conceived him it was as though a lion emerged from me. It rose on its forepaws and roared, and no lion remained anywhere but that it came and prostrated to him.”

While still a boy al-Manṣūr himself had an extraordinary dream of which he used to say, “It ought to be written on plates of gold and hung around the necks of children.” He recounted:

“I saw myself in the Sacred Mosque while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was inside the Kaʿbah and the people were gathered around it. A herald came out calling, ‘Where is ʿAbd Allāh?’ My brother al-Saffāḥ rose, stepping over the men, reached the door of the Kaʿbah, and the Prophet took him by the hand and led him inside. Before long he emerged carrying a black banner. Then the call went forth again: ‘Where is ʿAbd Allāh?’ My uncle ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAlī and I both started to run; I reached the door of the Kaʿbah first and entered. There I found the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, and Bilāl. He fastened a banner for me, entrusted me with his community, and wrapped a turban around my head whose coils were twenty-three in number. He then said,

“Take it, O Father of Caliphs, until the Day of Resurrection.” (1)

During the Umayyad period al-Manṣūr was once imprisoned, and there he met the astrologer Nūbakht. Perceiving signs of rulership in him, Nūbakht asked, “Of what family are you?” He replied, “Of the Banū al-ʿAbbās.” When the astrologer learned his lineage and teknonym he said, “You are the caliph who will rule the earth.” Al-Manṣūr exclaimed, “Woe to you! What are you saying?”—but Nūbakht insisted, “Exactly what I have told you. Give me a written pledge on this slip that you will reward me when you attain power.” Al-Manṣūr wrote it for him, and when he did in fact become caliph he honored the promise. Nūbakht embraced Islam at his hands—he had previously been a Magian—and thereafter became one of al-Manṣūr’s closest associates.

Al-Manṣūr led the people in the Pilgrimage in 140 AH, entering into iḥrām from al-Ḥīrah; again in 144, in 147, in 152, and finally in the very year of his death. He built Baghdad, al-Ruṣāfah, al-Rāfiqah, and his palace of al-Khuld.

Al-Rabīʿ Yunus the chamberlain said, “I heard al-Manṣūr say: ‘The caliphs are four—Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, and ʿAlī. The kings are four—Muʿāwiyah, ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān, Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, and I.’” (2)

Mālik reported: “Al-Manṣūr asked me, ‘Who are the best of people after the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?’ I replied, ‘Abū Bakr and ʿUmar.’ He said, ‘You are correct, and that is likewise the view of the Commander of the Believers.’”

Ismāʿīl al-Fihrī said, “I heard al-Manṣūr on the pulpit of ʿArafah on the Day of ʿArafah declare: ‘O people, I am but Allah’s sovereign upon His earth; I govern you by His enablement and guidance, and I am His treasurer over His wealth—I distribute it by His will and grant it (3) with His permission, and…’”