the City of Abū Jaʿfar, and on the road the people who had been with him scattered in every direction, each heedless of the other, until he made his way into the Palace of Abū Jaʿfar. Because the Palace of Khuld was being struck incessantly by the mangonels, he left it and ordered everything inside—furnishings, carpets, household goods, and the like—to be burned.
He was then subjected to a most stringent siege. In spite of the ordeal, the confinement, and his clear view of impending ruin, he slipped out one moonlit night to the bank of the Tigris. There he asked for some nabidh (fermented date wine) and a singing-girl. She began to sing, but nothing came from her tongue except songs of parting and reminders of death. He kept saying, “Something else!” Yet she continued in the same vein until, as her final piece, she chanted:
By the Lord of stillness and motion—
death spreads its snares in wide commotion.
Since night and day began to turn
and heaven’s stars in orbit burn,
It has been but to transfer the crown
from one deluded king, earth-bound, (1)
While the Kingdom of the Lord on high
abides forever, will not die. (2)
He cursed her, rose, and sent her away. As she left she stumbled over a crystal goblet, breaking it, and he regarded the mishap as an evil omen.
When the girl had gone, he heard a caller cry out, “The matter about which you inquire has been decided” (Qur’an 12:41). He said to his companion, “Woe to you! Do you not hear that?” The man listened but heard nothing, and then the voice repeated the same words. Only a night or two passed before he was slain—on Sunday, the fourth of Ṣafar. During the siege he had endured unimaginable hardship: no food or drink remained. One night he was so hungry that a single loaf and a chicken reached him only after tremendous difficulty; when he then asked for water none could be found, and he spent the night parched (3). At dawn he was killed before he could quench his thirst.
The Manner of His Death
When the crisis became desperate, the few emirs, servants, and soldiers still with him gathered, and he sought their counsel.
Some said, “Take whoever is left with you to al-Jazīrah or Syria; there you can strengthen yourself with money and recruit men.”
Others advised, “Go out to Ṭāhir, accept a guarantee of safety from him, and pledge allegiance to your brother. If you do that, your brother will order for you and your family whatever worldly provision you require. What you truly desire is ease and rest, and this will secure it completely.”
Yet others said, “It would be better for Harthamah to obtain the amnesty for you. He is your mawla and the one who will show you the most compassion.” He inclined toward this last course. Thus, on the night of Sunday, the fourth of Ṣafar, after the final evening prayer, he arranged to go out to Harthamah. He then donned the robes of the caliphate