until he drove them from their positions and won back Harthamah, together with a number of his own men whom they had taken captive.

This stung Muḥammad al-Amīn, who recited:
I have been tried by the stoutest heart of all who walk the earth and all unseen—
when the struggle is prolonged, he never flags or grows routine.
Over every sturdy foe he sets a watchful eye—
one who sees him plainly and knows full well what he may mean.
He is no dullard who neglects a task from stubborn spite
when heedless hands let precious matters slip between. (1)

Al-Amīn’s fortunes then declined sharply. He had no money left to spend on his troops—or even on himself—and most of his followers deserted him, leaving him oppressed and humiliated.

The year came to a close while the people of Baghdad were caught in turmoil, convulsions, shifting winds, fighting, fires, and plundering. “To Allah we belong and to Him we shall return.” Baghdad fell into wretched straits: in the chaos of civil strife no one could shield another.

That year the pilgrimage was led by al-ʿAbbās ibn Mūsā ibn ʿĪsā al-Hāshimī, who invoked blessings for al-Maʾmūn.

Among the notable figures who died that year were:
• Shuʿayb ibn Ḥarb, one of the ascetics;
• ʿAbd Allah ibn Wahb, the leading scholar of Egypt;
• ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mus-hir, the brother of ʿAlī ibn Mus-hir;
• ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd, known as Warsh, one of the celebrated Qurʾān reciters who transmitted from Nāfiʿ ibn Abī Nuʿaym;
• Wakīʿ ibn al-Jarrāḥ al-Ruʾāsī, a towering ḥadīth authority, who died at the age of sixty-six.

[Then the year 198 AH began]

In it, Khuzaymah ibn Khāzim defected from Muḥammad al-Amīn, secured safe-conduct from Ṭāhir, and Harthamah ibn Aʿyan entered from the eastern quarter. On Wednesday, the eighth of Muḥarram, Khuzaymah ibn Khāzim and Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿĪsā seized the bridge of Baghdad, cut it, raised their two banners over it, and called for allegiance to ʿAbd Allah al-Maʾmūn and the deposition of Muḥammad al-Amīn.

On Thursday Ṭāhir crossed into the eastern sector, personally directed the fighting, and proclaimed amnesty for anyone who remained in his home. Engagements took place near the House of the Slaves, in al-Karkh, and elsewhere. They surrounded the City of Abū Jaʿfar, the Palace of Khuld, and Zubaydah’s Palace, set up mangonels around the wall opposite Zubaydah’s Palace, and bombarded it. Al-Amīn then went out with his mother and his son to