The latter then sent him on to al-Maʾmun’s deputy (1). At daybreak he was in the Caliphal residence, his face-veil still drawn over his head and the wrap (2) crossed over his chest, so that the people might see him and know how he had been apprehended. Al-Maʾmun ordered that he be kept under strict guard for a time, after which he released him and was reconciled with him (3).

Meanwhile, several of the men who had been jailed on his account attempted to assault the prison guards and escape; four of them were crucified as a result.

They report that when Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi was placed before al-Maʾmun, the Caliph began to rebuke him. Ibrahim—who was the Caliph’s paternal uncle—softened and said, “Commander of the Faithful! If you punish, you do so by right; but if you pardon, it is by your gracious favor.”

Al-Maʾmun replied, “On the contrary, I pardon you, O Ibrahim! Possessing power removes rancor (4); remorse is repentance; and between the two lies Allah’s pardon—glorified is He—which is the greatest thing one may ask for.” Ibrahim thereupon proclaimed “Allahu akbar” and fell in prostration, thanking Allah—glorified is He.

Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi later composed an effusive ode praising his nephew al-Maʾmun. When the Caliph heard it he said, “I will say what Joseph said to his brothers: ‘No blame will there be upon you today. Allah will forgive you, and He is the Most Merciful of the merciful’” (Qur’an 12:92).

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn ʿAsākir (5) relates that after pardoning him, al-Maʾmun ordered Ibrahim to sing something. “I have abandoned that,” he answered. The Caliph insisted, so Ibrahim took the lute onto his lap and sang:

“This is the station of an exile
whose dwellings and abodes lie in ruin;
His enemies slandered him with lies,
so his sovereign punished him.”

He then continued (6):

“I have left the world, and the world has left me;
Time has bent me away from it and turned it from me.
If I weep for myself, I weep for a noble soul;
and if I scorn her, I scorn her upon a raṣn (7).”