The Caliphate of al-Muqtadir bi-Llāh, Commander of the Faithful, Abū al-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn al-Muʿtaḍid (1)
The oath of allegiance was renewed for him after his brother’s death, at the pre-dawn hour, fourteen nights having elapsed of Dhu al-Qaʿdah of this year—namely, 295 AH. He was then thirteen years, one month, and eleven (2) days old; no one younger than he had ever before assumed the caliphate.
When he sat upon the caliphal throne he performed four units of prayer (rakʿahs), gave the salām, then raised his voice in supplication and istikhārah (seeking Allah’s guidance). After that the people offered him the public bayʿah, and his name was inscribed on the decrees and other official documents as:
“al-Muqtadir bi-Llāh.”
In the private treasury there were fifteen million dinars, and in the public treasury six-hundred-plus thousand dinars. The precious jewels that had been accumulating since the Umayyad period and the early Abbasid era had reached an enormous quantity, yet he went on distributing them among his favorites and companions until they were completely exhausted (3).
He appointed a great many secretaries to the vizierate; among them was Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Furāt. He appointed him, dismissed him for another, reinstated him, dismissed him again, reinstated him once more, then dismissed him yet again, and finally had him executed. Abū al-Faraj ibn al-Jawzī has recounted their stories in detail (4).
He possessed an exceedingly large number of servants, chamberlains, and attendants. He was extremely generous, and along with all this he was devout in worship, abundant in prayer, and frequent in voluntary fasting.
On the Day of ʿArafah in the first year of his reign he distributed thirty thousand head of sheep and cattle and two thousand camels. He returned stipends, allowances, and food rations to what they had been in the earliest Abbasid times (5); he released from prison all those whose release was permissible, entrusting the matter to the judge Abū ʿUmar Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf.
Buildings had been erected in the public square that brought in a monthly revenue of one thousand dinars (6); he ordered them demolished so as to create more space for the Muslims.