On the first day of this year, Ḥusayn b. Ḥasan al-Aftas sat behind the Station of Abraham (Maqām Ibrāhīm) on a mat woven in a triangular shape. He ordered the removal of the Abbasid coverings that were upon the Kaʿba. He said, “We will cleanse the Kaʿba of their coverings,” and placed upon the Kaʿba two yellow coverings on which the name of Abū’s-Sarāyā was inscribed. Then he took the goods that were in the Kaʿba.
He investigated the goods of the Abbasids there and seized them, considering them as spoils of war. He would even take the possessions of some people from their hands, claiming that these belonged to the Abbasids who wore black. Because of him, the people fled to the mountains. He took the gold ornamentations from the tops of the columns and had them melted down. Despite much effort, only a small amount of gold could be obtained from the tops of the columns. They dismantled the lattices in the Sacred Mosque (Masjid al-Ḥarām) and sold them at a cheap price. They exhibited a very deplorable state of affairs.
Meanwhile, when Ḥusayn b. Ḥasan al-Aftas heard that Abū’s-Sarāyā had been killed, he concealed this from those around him. He appointed an old man from among the Ṭālibids as governor of Mecca. He continued his bad administration. Then, on the 16th of Muḥarram, he fled from Mecca. The reason for this was that Ḥarsama had defeated Abū’s-Sarāyā, routed his army, and expelled him and the Ṭālibids with him from Kūfa. Ḥarsama and Manṣūr b. Mahdī entered Kūfa. They granted amnesty to the people and did not harm anyone.
Abū’s-Sarāyā, together with his men, had gone to Qādisiyya. As he departed from there and set out on the road, some of Maʾmūn’s soldiers confronted him. These soldiers routed him and inflicted severe wounds upon him. Then they went to al-Jazīra, to Abū’s-Sarāyā’s residence in Raʾs al-ʿAyn. Again, some soldiers confronted them, and they captured Abū’s-Sarāyā and took him to the city of Nahrawān, where Ḥasan b. Sahl was present. He ordered that Abū’s-Sarāyā be beheaded. He had been extremely afraid of him. His severed head was paraded around the city. He also ordered that his body be cut in two and hung on the bridges of Baghdad.
Ten months had passed between the initiation of Abū’s-Sarāyā’s rebellion and his death.
Ḥasan b. Sahl b. Muḥammad sent the head of Abū’s-Sarāyā to Maʾmūn.
A poet said about this:
“O Commander of the Faithful! Did you not see that Ḥusayn b. Sahl struck him? With your sword, he [was struck].
His, that is, Abū’s-Sarāyā’s, severed head was paraded in the city of Merv, and this became a lasting lesson for all the worlds.”
The city of Basra was in the hands of Zayd b. Mūsā b. Jaʿfar b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī, one of the Ṭālibids. He was called Zayd al-Nār (Zayd of the Fire) because he had burned many houses belonging to the Abbasids. ʿAlī b. Saʿīd captured him and granted him amnesty. He sent him and the commanders with him to Yemen to fight against the Ṭālibids.
In this year, Ibrāhīm b. Mūsā b. Jaʿfar b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī appeared and started a rebellion. Because he killed many of the Yemenis, he was called “al-Jazzār” (the Butcher). He took the possessions of the Yemenis as spoils. As we have recounted on previous pages, Ibrāhīm b. Mūsā had remained in Mecca and committed many evils there. When he heard that Abū’s-Sarāyā had been killed, he fled to Yemen. When the deputy of Yemen learned of his situation, he left Yemen and went to Khurāsān. When passing through Mecca, he took his mother there with him. Ibrāhīm b. Mūsā invaded the land of Yemen, and wars took place there, the narration of which would be lengthy here.
Muḥammad b. Jaʿfar al-ʿAlawī renounced his own views and claims. While he was in Mecca, he had claimed the caliphate. When he renounced his claim, he said: “I thought that Maʾmūn had died, but it has become certain that he is alive. Because I previously claimed the caliphate, I seek forgiveness from Allah and repent (tawba) to Him. I return to obedience to the caliph. I am one of the Muslims.”
When Ḥarsama defeated Abū’s-Sarāyā and Muḥammad b. Muḥammad, one of the caliphal governors with him, some people went to Maʾmūn and slandered Ḥarsama, saying that he was in communication with Abū’s-Sarāyā and that it was he who had ordered him to start the rebellion. Thereupon, Maʾmūn summoned Ḥarsama to the city of Merv. He ordered the officials to beat him in his presence, then had him imprisoned. A few days later, he had him killed. This news was kept completely secret. Thus, his record was closed.
When the news of Ḥarsama’s death reached Baghdad, the common people and the rebels began to mock the governor of Iraq, Ḥasan b. Sahl, saying: “We do not consent to Ḥarsama and his governors remaining in our land.” They appointed Isḥāq b. Mūsā al-Mahdī as governor in his place. Both sides of Baghdad agreed on this matter.
A group composed of notables and soldiers gathered around Ḥasan b. Sahl. He sent commanders whom the people would follow to the populace and incited them to war. Thus, in the month of Shaʿbān of this year, fighting took place for three days. Then, in the month of Ramaḍān, the time came for him to give them rations for three days, but he did not give them, delaying it until the month of Dhū’l-Qaʿda, the harvest season.
In the month of Dhū’l-Qaʿda, Zayd b. Mūsā, called Zayd al-Nār and the brother of Abū’s-Sarāyā, appeared and started a rebellion. He appeared in the region of Anbār. The governor of Baghdad, ʿAlī b. Hishām, sent men against him. He had him captured and brought before him. Thus, Allah extinguished the fire of his rebellion.
In this year, the caliph Maʾmūn began to search for the remaining Abbasids. He determined how many Abbasids there were. Their number, men and women, reached 33,000.
In this year, the Byzantine emperor Ilion was killed. Ilion had ruled the Byzantines as emperor for seven years. After his death, his deputy Michael succeeded to the throne.
In this year, Maʾmūn killed Yaḥyā b. ʿĀmir b. Ismāʿīl because he had addressed Maʾmūn saying: “O commander of the disbelievers (kāfir)!” For this reason, he was killed in Maʾmūn’s presence with his hands and arms bound.
In this year, Muḥammad b. al-Muʿtaṣim, son of al-Rashīd, led the people in the ḥajj.
In this year, Asbaṭ b. Muḥammad, Abū Damra Anas b. Iyāḍ, Muslim b. Qutayba, ʿUmar b. ʿAbd al-Wāḥid, Ibn Abī Fudayk, Mubashshir b. Ismāʿīl, Muḥammad b. Jubayr, and Muʿādh b. Hishām passed away.