Death of al-Mu'tamid

وفاة المعتمد

279 AH

In 279 Tabari records the death of al-Mu'tamid 'ala Allah on the night of Monday, eleven nights before the end of Rajab, after he had drunk heavily on the bank at al-Husna and dined, so it is reported; his caliphate lasted twenty-three years ¹. In al-Suyuti his authority had sharply declined by 279, as Abu'l-Abbas ibn al-Muwaffaq gained power. He held a public session and testified against himself that he had deposed his son al-Mufawwad and given allegiance to Abu'l-Abbas, who took the regnal title al-Mu'tadid. He died suddenly a few months later; it was said he was poisoned, and it was said he fell asleep and was smothered under a carpet, on that Monday night, eleven nights before the end of Rajab, after a caliphate of twenty-three years; he died as one under restraint. Among the scholars who died in his time were al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Maja, al-Muzani, al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar, Abu Zur'a al-Razi, Dawud al-Zahiri, Baqi ibn Makhlad, Ibn Qutayba and Abu Hatim al-Razi ². In al-Mas'udi he sat for lunch and took his morning drink on that Monday, eleven nights before the end of Rajab in 279. Two lambs' heads were brought to him and he ate at the table with Waqf al-Mulaqqim and Khalaf al-Mudhhik; one of the two wasted away in the night and the other died before morning, and by morning al-Mu'tamid was dead, having gone to join them. The cause of his death was said to be a poison in his drink called al-bish, brought from India, the Turkish mountains and Tibet, which comes in three colours and has strange properties. Trustworthy witnesses attested that he died suddenly without any mark; he was washed, carried to Samarra and buried there ³. Ibn al-Jawzi records his death and the oath to al-Mu'tadid under the events of 279 ⁴.