On the 3rd of the month of Ṣafar in this year, on a Thursday, Afshīn, accompanied by Bābak, went to al-Muʿtaṣim in Sāmarrāʾ. With Afshīn was also Bābak’s brother. Al-Muʿtaṣim had ordered his son Hārūn al-Wāthiq to go out and receive Afshīn. News of Afshīn’s movements reached al-Muʿtaṣim daily. Al-Muʿtaṣim was paying close attention to the matter of Bābak. Two days before Bābak was brought to him, al-Muʿtaṣim set out, having ordered his messenger, and although he did not know Bābak by sight, he saw him, looked at him, and then returned. On the day Bābak was brought before him, al-Muʿtaṣim made preparations. He arranged the people in two ranks so that all could see, and ordered that Bābak be mounted on an elephant so the people might recognize him well. Bābak wore a silk robe and a cap made of sable fur. The elephant was prepared, its trappings dyed, and Bābak was dressed in valuable garments and silk clothing. A poet composed the following verse about this:
“It was painted in the manner of an elephant. It carries the devil of Khurāsān.
The painting of the elephant’s limbs only occurs in the gravest of circumstances.”
When Bābak was brought into his presence, al-Muʿtaṣim ordered that his hands and feet be cut off, his head severed, and his abdomen split open. Then his severed head was sent to Khurāsān, and his body was hung from a tree in Sāmarrāʾ. On the night he was killed, that is, on the night of Thursday, the 13th of Rabīʿ al-Ākhir of this year, Bābak had drunk wine.
This accursed man, from the time he appeared until the day he was killed, for a period of twenty years, had always been killing Muslims. According to Ibn Jarīr, the number of Muslims he killed reached 255,500. Moreover, Bābak had taken countless people captive. Afshīn rescued 7,600 of those he had enslaved; from among Bābak’s children, he took 17 captive, and from his wives, daughters-in-law, and female relatives, 23 women. Bābak’s mother was a slave woman of truly ugly and contemptible appearance, but fate raised him to this station. Many people and a great multitude from the common folk were subjected to tribulation because of him, but then Allah delivered the Muslims from his evil.
After Bābak was killed, al-Muʿtaṣim crowned Afshīn and fastened two jewel-encrusted belts upon him. He also gave him 20,000,000 dirhams and appointed him governor of Sind.
Al-Muʿtaṣim also ordered the poets to go to Afshīn and praise him for the benefits he had brought to the Muslims. He wanted them to laud him for destroying and laying waste to Bābak’s city of Bazz, reducing it to ruins. The poets composed many fine poems on this subject. Among those who praised Afshīn in verse was Abū Tammām al-Ṭāʾī. In his ode, fully transmitted by Ibn Jarīr, Abū Tammām praised Afshīn as follows:
“The executioner of the city of Bazz is defeated; now he is buried.
In the city of Bazz, only beasts and wild animals remain.
As long as this sword displays such steadfastness in battle, this religion is elevated.
She was once the virgin of lordship; Afshīn, the valiant man of the East, took her virginity with the sword.
He restored it to its former state. Now there are foxes there.
Yet yesterday it was the den of a lion.
Walls and buildings were made from the skulls of its people. Previously, it had an emirate and important affairs.
Before it was turned into a desert, it was like blood giving life to the heart.
But now there is hardship and distress; before, it was like a spring of sweet water.”
In the year 223 of the Hijra, the Byzantine emperor Theophilos ibn Michael attacked the Muslims of Malatya and its surroundings. He killed many Muslims and took countless others captive, including 1,000 Muslim women. He tortured the Muslim captives, cutting off their ears and noses and blinding them. May Allah destroy him. The reason for this was as follows: When Bābak was besieged in the city of Bazz and surrounded by troops, he wrote a letter to the Byzantine emperor with the following meaning:
“The ruler of the Arabs has sent all his troops against me. There are no guards left at the borders of his land. If you wish to gain spoils, quickly attack the lands around you and seize them, for during this campaign you will find no one to oppose you.”
Thereupon, Theophilos set out with 100,000 soldiers. The Khurramites who had taken to the mountains joined him. Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Musʿab fought them but was unable to prevail, for they had fortified themselves in the mountains and established the necessary defenses. When the Byzantine emperor arrived, the Khurramites allied with him against the Muslims.
They reached Malatya, killed most of the Muslims there, and took their women captive.
When the caliph al-Muʿtaṣim heard of this, he was greatly distressed and began to wail and lament in the palace. He immediately took action, ordered the armies to be prepared and dispatched for battle. He summoned the qāḍī (judge) and witnesses to his presence and declared that he had given one third of all his possessions as charity, one third to his son, and one third to his slaves. He set out from Baghdad. On Monday, the 2nd of Jumādā al-Awwal of this year, he established his camp on the west bank of the Tigris. To aid the people of Zibatra, he dispatched Ujayf and several commanders with a large military force, who quickly reached the area. They found that the Byzantine ruler had wrought much evil and returned to his own land. Everywhere was devastated, with no possibility of repair. When these forces returned to report the situation, the caliph asked the commanders, “Which city of Byzantium is the most fortified?” They replied, “Since the advent of Islam, no one has ever attacked the city of Ammūriya. The most fortified place is Ammūriya. In the eyes of the Byzantines, Ammūriya is more precious than Constantinople.”