sword or spear without confiscating it from the people, and through him Allah extinguished the flames of that revolt. Concerning this, one of the poets said ⦗1⦘:

The fires of discord were kindled in Syria—
now is the moment that Syria’s blaze is quenched.
Whenever the waves surge from the house of Barmak,
their shooting stars and embers are snuffed.
The Commander of the Believers hurled Jaʿfar at it;
with him its fracture closed and its rift was healed.
He flung a noble, auspicious chief against it—
one with whom both Qaḥṭān and Nizār were reconciled.

Jaʿfar then turned back and returned to Baghdad after appointing ʿĪsā al-ʿAkkī as his deputy over Syria. When he arrived before al-Rashīd, the caliph honoured him, drew him close, and advanced him in rank. Jaʿfar began recounting how greatly he had missed the caliph while in Syria, praising Allah for the favour of returning to the Commander of the Faithful and beholding his face.

In the same year al-Rashīd appointed Jaʿfar governor of Khurāsān and Sijistān, and Jaʿfar put Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Qaḥṭaba in charge. Twenty nights later al-Rashīd dismissed Jaʿfar from Khurāsān.

That year al-Rashīd ordered the demolition of the wall of Mosul because of the large number of Kharijites. He also placed Jaʿfar over the ḥaras (palace guard). Al-Rashīd took up residence in al-Raqqa and made it his home, appointing his son al-Amīn Muḥammad as his vice-regent in Baghdad and putting the two ʿIraq provinces under his authority. He removed Harthama from Ifrīqiyah, summoned him to Baghdad, and Jaʿfar deputised him over the palace guard.

In that year a severe earthquake struck Egypt, causing the top of the lighthouse of Alexandria to collapse.

During the same year Kharāsha al-Shaybānī rebelled in al-Jazīrah, whereupon Muslim ibn Bakkār ibn Muslim al-ʿUqaylī killed him.

That year a faction called al-Muḥammira appeared in Jurjān. They wore red clothing and followed a man named ʿUmar ibn Muḥad al-ʿAmrakī, who was accused of zandaqa (heresy). Al-Rashīd ordered his execution; he was killed, and Allah extinguished their fire at that time.

That year Zufar ibn ʿĀṣim led the summer expedition (al-ṣāʾifah), and Mūsā ibn ʿĪsā ibn Mūsā ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbās led the people in the pilgrimage.

Among the notable deaths that year were:

Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar ibn Abī Kathīr al-Anṣārī ⦗2⦘, the Qur’an reciter of Madinah and tutor of ʿAlī ibn al-Mahdī.