His body was washed by the sharif Abu Jaʿfar ibn Musa al-Hanbali, in accordance with the caliph’s own instructions. The furnishings and monies that were present were offered to Abu Jaʿfar, but he accepted nothing. The funeral prayer was performed over the caliph, he was buried beside his forefathers, and was later transferred to al-Rusafah, where his grave is still visited today. [For his death the markets were closed, sackcloth was hung, the women of the Hashimites and others wailed for him, the vizier Ibn Jahir and his son sat on the ground to receive condolences, the people tore their garments—it was a grievous day, and the mourning lasted three full days.]
He was among the finest of the Abbasids in piety, creed, and statecraft. He was tried with the rebellion of al-Basasiri, which forced him from his home and separated him from his family and children; he stayed in Hadithat ʿAnah for a whole year, after which Allah restored His bounty to him and returned the caliphate to him—
They awoke to find that Allah had renewed His favor upon them:
they are Quraysh, and among mankind none is their equal.
[A sound precedent existed for him in this, as Allah the Exalted says, “And We certainly tried Solomon and placed upon his throne a mere body; then he turned in repentance” (Sad 38:34). We have already summarized the exegetes’ comments on Surah Sad and discussed this Abbasid episode and the Basasiri uprising in the years 450–451 AH.]
Caliphate of al-Muqtadi bi-Amr Allah
He is Abu al-Qasim ʿIddat al-Din ʿAbd Allah, son of the amir Dhakhirat al-Din Muhammad, son of the caliph al-Qaʾim bi-Amr Allah ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Qadir al-ʿAbbasi. His mother was an Armenian named Arjuwan, known as Qurrat al-ʿAyn; she lived to witness the caliphate of her son and, after him, that of his two sons al-Mustazhir and al-Mustarshid. [His father died while she was pregnant with him. When she bore a male child, his grandfather—and the Muslims with him—rejoiced greatly, for Allah had preserved the caliphate for the Muslim community within the Qadiri line. The other descendants mixed freely in the markets and with the common folk, and hearts recoiled at the thought of entrusting the caliphate to any of them. This child therefore grew up in the care of his grandfather al-Qaʾim bi-Amr Allah, who nurtured him as befits one of his rank and trained him in the noblest virtues—praise be to Allah.]
Al-Muqtadi was twenty years old when he assumed the caliphate, remarkable in both appearance and character. His investiture took place on Friday, the thirteenth of Shaʿban that year. He sat in the Dār al-Shajarah wearing a white shirt and a white turban [of fine weave, with a delicate Adri-reed shawl]. The viziers, commanders, notables, and leading citizens came and pledged allegiance. The first to do so was the sharif (1) Abu Jaʿfar ibn Abi Musa al-Hanbali, who recited to him the poet’s words: