In the midst of this grave turmoil, the caliph al-Muʿtaḍid bi-llāh passed away in Rabīʿ al-Awwal of this very year—may Allah grant it a blessed conclusion.

Here follows the biography of al-Muʿtaḍid bi-llāh (1):

He is Aḥmad, son of the prince Abū Aḥmad al-Muwaffaq, whose honorific was Nāṣir Dīn Allāh; Abū Aḥmad’s personal name was Muḥammad. Another report states that he was Ṭalḥah ibn Jaʿfar al-Mutawakkil ibn Muḥammad al-Muʿtaṣim ibn Hārūn al-Rashīd. His kunya was Abū al-ʿAbbās, the Commander of the Faithful, the caliph, al-Muʿtaḍid bi-llāh.

He was born in 242 – others say 243 – AH, and his mother was a concubine.

He was dark-complexioned, slender, and of medium height; grey hair had begun to streak him, the front of his beard was long, and there was a white birth-mark on his head. The pledge of allegiance to him as caliph was given on Monday morning, eleven days before the end of Rajab in 279 AH. He appointed ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Sulaymān ibn Wahb as vizier and installed Ismāʿīl ibn Isḥāq, Yūsuf ibn Yaʿqūb, and Ibn Abī al-Shawārib as judges.

The caliphate had grown weak during the days of his uncle al-Muʿtamid ʿalā Allāh; when al-Muʿtaḍid assumed office he revived its symbols, raised its banner high, and strengthened its pillars, walls, and foundations. He was courageous and virtuous, a man of Quraysh notable for resolve, daring, prowess in battle, dignity, boldness, and prestige—qualities his father had possessed before him.

Ibn al-Jawzī (3) relates with his chain of transmission that al-Muʿtaḍid, while traveling, once passed a village that contained a maqthaʾah (cucumber patch). Its owner stood crying out for justice before the caliph, who summoned him and asked what had happened. The man said, “Some of the army—your pages—took cucumbers of mine.”

“Do you recognize them?” the caliph asked. “Yes,” he replied. The men were paraded before him and he identified three of them. The caliph ordered that they be shackled and imprisoned. The next morning people saw three men crucified on the main road (4). They were astonished, disapproved of the deed, and many reproached the caliph, saying, “He killed three men over a few cucumbers they took?”

A short while later al-Muʿtaḍid instructed one of his close companions who kept him company at night to broach the matter with him gently. The man entered upon him one night, intent on the discussion. The caliph perceived what was on his mind and said, “I sense that you wish to say something; what is it?”

“O Commander of the Faithful,” he replied, “may I speak in safety?”

“Yes.”

I said to him, “Then—”