as well as Ibn Numayr, Ibn Sābūr, ʿAmr al-ʿAnbarī, Abū Muṭīʿ al-Balkhī ⦗1⦘, and Yūnus ibn Bukayr.

Then the year 200 AH began. On its very first day Ḥusayn ibn Ḥasan al-Afṭas sat on a three-sided carpet behind the Maqām, ordered that the Kaʿbah be stripped of the Abbasids’ coverings, and declared, “We are purifying it of their cloth.” He then draped it with two yellow cloaks bearing the name of Abū al-Sarāyā, seized the treasure kept inside the Kaʿbah, and hunted down the Abbasids’ deposits, confiscating them. He even took private fortunes, claiming they belonged to the Black-Clad, so the people fled to the mountains. He melted down the gold that capped the columns—only a small amount trickled down after great effort—and tore the latticed windows from the Sacred Mosque, selling them for a pittance. Their conduct grew exceedingly vile.

When news of Abū al-Sarāyā’s death reached him, he concealed it, appointed an elderly Ṭālibid to act in his place, and carried on in his misconduct. On the sixteenth of Muḥarram he fled—this was after Harthama had overpowered Abū al-Sarāyā, routed his army, and driven him and the Ṭālibids out of Kūfah. Harthama, together with Manṣūr ibn al-Mahdī, entered the city, granted its people amnesty, and harmed no one.

Abū al-Sarāyā marched with his followers to al-Qādisiyyah, but a detachment of al-Maʾmūn’s troops intercepted and routed them again, and Abū al-Sarāyā received a very severe wound. They fled toward al-Jazīrah, aiming for his residence at Raʾs al-ʿAyn, yet another force blocked their path, captured them, and brought them to al-Ḥasan ibn Sahl, who was then at al-Nahrawān after the Harbiyyah had expelled him. He ordered Abū al-Sarāyā beheaded. Abū al-Sarāyā was overcome with intense dread; his head was paraded, and his body was sawn in two and mounted on the two bridges of Baghdad. Only ten months separated his initial rising from his death. Al-Ḥasan ibn Sahl sent Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad to al-Maʾmūn bearing Abū al-Sarāyā’s head.

A poet said:

Have you not seen al-Ḥasan ibn Sahl strike the blow
with your own sword, O Commander of the Faithful?