—now a single front against the caliph and his supporters. They killed nearly four thousand of them, then charged once more and put the rest to flight. Al-Muhtadī billah fled, a drawn sword in his hand, calling out, “People, help your caliph!”
He entered the house of Aḥmad ibn Jumayl, the superintendent of taxation, laid down his weapons there, donned white garments, and meant to slip away and hide. Aḥmad ibn Khāqān, however, was upon him first; he seized him before he could leave. The caliph was struck by an arrow, stabbed in the flank, mounted on a beast with a groom behind him, wearing only a shirt and trousers, and was conveyed (1) to the residence of Aḥmad ibn Khāqān. There the by-standers slapped him and spat in his face. They forced from him a written bond for six hundred thousand dinars and turned him over to a man who kept trampling on his testicles until he died—may Allah have mercy on him. That was on Thursday, when twelve nights of Rajab remained.
His caliphate lasted less than a full year by five days. He was born in 219 AH—some say 215 AH. Jaʿfar ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid led the funeral prayer over him, and he was buried in the cemetery of al-Muntaṣir ibn al-Mutawakkil.
He was dark-complexioned, slight, with a high forehead (2), a handsome beard streaked with grey (3), fine eyes, a large belly, broad shoulders, short in stature, and wore his beard long. His kunyah was Abū ʿAbd Allāh.
Al-Khaṭīb (4) said: “He was among the finest of caliphs in creed, the most graceful in conduct, the most evident in piety, and the most devoted in worship. Only one hadith is transmitted from him, and this is its chain.”
He said: “ʿAlī ibn Abī Hāshim ibn Ṭibrākh (5) narrated to us, from Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan the jurist, from Ibn Abī Laylā, from Dāwūd ibn ʿAlī, from his father, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said:
Al-ʿAbbās asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, what portion is allotted to us in this matter?’ He replied,
‘Prophethood is mine and the caliphate is yours; through you this affair is opened and through you it is sealed.’
He also said to al-ʿAbbās,
‘Whoever loves you will obtain my intercession, and whoever hates you will not obtain my intercession.’ (6)