—playing, drinking, and praying very little. Ibn Jarīr has preserved a portion of his biography (1): he reports that al-Amīn kept large numbers of black slaves and eunuchs, lavished money and jewels on them, ordered musical instruments and singers to be brought from every land, and commissioned five armoured river-boats (ḥarraqāt) in the shapes of an elephant, a lion, an eagle, a serpent, and a horse, on which he spent colossal sums. Abū Nuwās even praised him in verses whose meaning was more scandalous than al-Amīn’s own deeds. At the beginning he said:
“Allah has pressed into al-Amīn’s service mounts
the worshipper at the miḥrāb was never granted;
When his steeds travel the land,
he rides upon the water a lion of the wild.” (2)
He then described each of those ḥarraqāt in turn. Al-Amīn also devoted himself to constructing enormous buildings for pleasure and other purposes, spending on them vast amounts, so criticism of him grew intense.

Ibn Jarīr further reports (3) that one day al-Amīn sat in a hall within the Khuld Palace upon which he had lavished a fortune. It was carpeted with every kind of silk and lined with vessels of gold and silver. He summoned his drinking companions and ordered the house-stewardess to prepare one hundred beautiful slave-girls, instructing her to send them in to him ten at a time so that they might sing for him.

When the first ten entered, they burst out in one voice:
“It was they who slew him to take his place—
just as Khosrow was once betrayed by his marāzibah (provincial governors).”
He flew into a rage, grew impatient, struck the singer’s head with his goblet, and ordered that the stewardess be thrown to the lions, which devoured her.

He then called for another ten. They began to sing:
“Whoever rejoices at Mālik’s murder
should come to our womenfolk in broad daylight;
He will find the women bare-headed, mourning him,
beating their faces before the break of dawn.”
He drove them away and summoned ten others.

When these arrived, they chanted together:
“By my life, Kulayb had more defenders
and a lighter offence than you, yet he was drenched in blood!”
He dismissed them, rose at once, and ordered that the entire hall be demolished and all it contained set ablaze.

Ibn Jarīr also recounts (4) that al-Amīn was well read and eloquent; he composed poetry and rewarded it handsomely. His court poet was Abū Nuwās, who produced many fine panegyrics in his honour. Al-Amīn found him imprisoned by Hārūn ar-Rashīd together with the zanādiqah (heretics), so he had him brought out, released him, gave him money, and made him one of his intimates. Later, however, he imprisoned him again for drinking wine and kept him confined for a long time.