—until they deliver him to a King whose might and sovereignty admit no partner. (1)
He is the Peerless Creator of the heavens and the earth, the One who set the mountains firm and compelled the celestial bodies in their courses. (2)

Al-Manṣūr then said, “This is the moment for my appointed term to arrive and my life to draw to a close.” He had previously seen, in al-Khuld—the palace he had built and refined—a dream that alarmed him. He therefore said to al-Rabīʿ:

“Woe to you, al-Rabīʿ! I have seen a dream that has filled me with dread. I saw a man standing at the gate of this palace, saying:

It is as though the people of this palace have perished,
its residents and its chambers lie desolate;
and the lord of the palace, after all its splendor,
is borne to a grave on which great stones are piled. (3)

He remained in the Palace of Khuld for less than a year before he fell ill on the road to the pilgrimage. He entered Mecca exhausted and gravely weakened, and he died on the night of Saturday, six—others say seven—days having passed of Dhu al-Ḥijjah.

The last words he spoke were: “O Allah, bless me in my meeting with You.” It is also related that he said, “My Lord, if I have disobeyed You in many matters, I have obeyed You in that which You love most: bearing witness, with complete sincerity, that there is no god but Allah.” Then he died.

The inscription on his signet ring read: “Allah is the trust of the servant of Allah, and in Him he believes.” He was 63 years old at his death—according to the most reliable report—22 of those years spent as caliph, and he was buried at Bāb al-Maʿlā (may Allah have mercy on him).

Ibn Jarīr said (4): Among the elegies composed for him are the verses of the poet Salm al-Khāsir:

A wonder indeed, that two heralds proclaimed his demise—
how could any lips give voice to news of his death?
A king who, if he charged at Time for but a single day,
would have flung Time itself to the ground.
Would that the hand which scattered earth upon him
had never again possessed a single finger!
When the lands submitted to him under stern command,
even jinn and humankind lowered their gaze in fear.
Where is the lord of al-Zawra, to whom dominion
was entrusted for twenty-two full years?
Man is but a fire-stick: once the sparks of flame seize it, it is consumed.
No rebuke could divert his resolve,
nor could the keenest minds fray his rope.
The reins of kingship were placed in his grasp
until he led his enemies without need of a bridle.
Eyes were cast down before him, and hands, in dread of him,
were raised to chins in humble submission.