(1) He is Jaʿfar ibn Muhammad al-Muʿtasim bi'llah Bin Harun Bin Al-Rashid bin Muhammed bin Mansur alabbasiad.

 

(2) He was acknowledged Caliph, in succession to al Wathiq in Wednesday the 24th of Du'l Hijjah in the year 232a.h.(albedia w alnehaia 10/310)(the completed history 6/91-95) .

 

(3) He was killed in Mutawakkilite in Wednesday the 4th of Shawal in the year 247 a.h. .(albedia w alnehaia 10/351) )(The completed history 6/193) See the story of his killing in the footnote of next poem verse.

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• Ahmed bin Mohammed al wathiqi said: when ALWathiq was dead, he was left abandoned and the people set about swearing allegiance to al Mutawakhil and a lizard came and pulled out his eyes and eat it. After the burial of Al-wathiq ,Ahmed bin Abi Du’ad asked me for the eye and when I told him he was amazed. (The completed History 6/91-92) Some of said: the eye and what was around the cheeks (ALbedaia w alnehaia 10/308-310).

 

•  He succeeded for fourteen years, ten months and three days (ALbedaia w alnehaia 10/352). (The completed History 6/139)

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(4) The illness from which Haurn al-Rashid was suffering grew worse during his

Journey to Tus in the year l93 Ali/809 AD. His doctors making light of it, he sent {Or a Persian reputed to have some. knowledge of medicine who lived in that town.

 

Several vials of urine were presented to him, one of which was the Caliph’s. As he examined this last, not knowing where it came from, the Persian said:

 

‘Warn the patient that there is no hope and tell him to make his will, for his

tickles is incurable.’

 

Harun al-Rashid wept bitterly when he heard these fatal words and turning over on his bed, he repeated these lines:

 

The doctor, with his medicine and his remedies

 Cannot avoid the dreadful decree of fate.

 

How can it be that the doctor should die

 Of the very illness he has cured in times gone by?

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(5) A number of our colleagues informed me that the illness from which al-Withiq died was dropsy. He was treated by being seated in a heated oven, where he found relief and comfort. Al-Withiq ordered them the next day to increase the heat of the oven. This was done, and he sat in it longer than on the previous day. But he was overcome with heat, and was then removed from the oven and placed on a litter. Al-Fadl b. lshaq al-Hashimi, ’Umar b. Faraj, and others were present. Then Ibn al-Zayyit and Ibn Abi Du‘id arrived. They were unaware of the caliph’s death until his face struck the litter, at which point they realized that he had died.

 

According to another version, Ahmad b. Abi Du‘ad attended him, and was with him when he lost consciousness and died, whereupon Ahmad approached to close his eyelids and fit him For burial

 

It is reported that when he was stricken with the sickness from which he died—his abdomen had become afflicted with dropsy— he ordered that the astrologers be brought into his presence, and they were. Among those in attendance were aI-Hasan b. Sahl, the brother of al-Fadl b. Sahl, al-Fadl b. Ishaq al-Hashimi; Is-

ma'il b. Nawbakht;'9" Muhammad b. Musa al~Khwarazmi; al-Majusi al-Qutrabbuli;" Sanad, the associate of Muhammad b.al-I-laytham; and all those engaged in astrology. They considered his illness, star, and horoscope, and predicted that he would live a long time, estimating fifty years in the future. But in less

than ten days he died.

 

He one night saw a dreams reflect the state of his soul and his remorse, saw one night in a dream his father al-Mutawakkil whom he had assassinated. His father said to him, “Woe to you, Muhammad, you killed me. You were unjust to me and you have deceived me (by depriving me) of the caliphate. By God, you will enjoy it only a few days. Then you will go to the Fire. . . .” On another night, all” saw himself climbing a ladder. At the twentieth rung a voice said to him, “Behold your reign."

 

When his friends came to congratulate him on such a happy dream, he said to them, “You have not been correctly informed. Actually, when I reached the last of the rungs, I was told, ‘StOp, this is the end of your days.’ " He lived barely a year after that, and died at the age of twenty-five."

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(6) His age when died was forty years (ALbedaia w alnehaia 10/352). (The completed History 6/139)

 

Al-Mutawakkil was murdered by his Turkish guard. Some have speculated that his murder was part of a plot hatched by his son, al-Muntasir, who had grown estranged from his father. Al-Muntasir feared his father was about to move against him and struck first. Mutawakkil's murder began the nine-year period of troubles known as the "Anarchy at Samarra".

 

Mutawakkil's assassination was orchestrated by his son al-Muntasir who was hated by his father. Furthermore, Mutawakkil's constant negative attitude towards his son implied that he would have his own son killed. Thus fearing his own death, Muntasir devised a plot with the help of two Turks: Wasif and Bugha. During the execution of the plot, Turkish soldiers attacked Mutwakkil in the night and cut him and his vizier into pieces to the extent that their flesh could not be distinguished from each other. Al-Masudi records the last moments of Mutawakkil's life as follow:

Meanwhile, Mutawakkil had become very drunk. It was the custom for the eunuchs who were in attendance to sit him up again when his body slumped under the effects of drunkenness. 

At this moment - it was about the third hour of the night - Baghir appeared, accompanies by ten Turks. Their faces were veiled and the swords which they were holding in their hands glittered in the light of the candles. They hurled themselves at us, making straight for the Caliph. Baghir and another Turk having climbed onto the throne, Fath cried to them: 

"Wretched creatures, that is your master!" 

Meanwhile, the pages, courtiers and guests had fled in all haste. Fath remained alone in the room, fighting the assassins and driving them back.

"I heard," adds Buhtari, "the cries given by Mutawakkil when Baghir struck him on the right side with the sword which the Caliph had given him and cut him to the hip. Then he struck him again on the left side and gave him a similar wound. 

. . . The two corpses, rolled in the carpet on which they had been struck down, were pushed into a corner, where they remained that night and for most of the following day. At last, when Muntasir was recognized as Caliph, he gave the order for them to be buried together.[6]

The assassination of Mutawakkil's began the nine-year period of troubles known as the Anarchy at Samarra