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The Accession of Harun al-Rashid

بيعة هارون الرشيد

c. 14 September 786 CE · 14 Rabi' I 170 AH

Harun al-Rashid acceded by his father's designation on his brother al-Hadi's death — Saturday night, 14 Rabi' I 170; that same night his son Abdallah al-Ma'mun was born. Per al-Suli, in all of time there was never a night in which a caliph died, a caliph rose and a caliph was born but this one 1.

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Era
The Early Abbasid Caliphate
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In time

770780790800 c.
The Early Abbasid Caliphate

Overview

Harun al-Rashid succeeded by his father's appointment when his brother al-Hadi died. It was on the night of Saturday, fourteen nights before the end of Rabi al-Awwal 170 AH. 2

On the same night a son was born to him, Abd Allah al-Ma'mun. Al-Suyuti relates from al-Suli that in no other age was there a night in which a caliph died, another caliph rose, and a caliph's son was born, except this one. 2

Connections

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Had participant
Harun al-Rashid· Abd Allah al-Ma'mun ibn Harun al-Rashid

People and things also explored

Bayt al-Hikma — the House of Wisdom· The Division of the Caliphate among al-Rashid's Sons· Census of the Descendants of al-Abbas in the Year 200· al-Ma'mun's designation of Ali al-Rida as heir· Clash of Tahir ibn al-Husayn with Ali ibn Isa· The Aman of Samalu and its People's Transfer to Baghdad· The Conquest of Crete· Death of Harun al-Rashid at Tus

Sources

  1. Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p. 456
  2. Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p.456
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The Accession of Harun al-Rashid”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/harun-accession/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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Bayt al-Hikma — the House of Wisdom

The House of Wisdom at Baghdad, the greatest library whose report survives from the first Abbasid age: al-Rashid laid its nucleus and al-Ma'mun enlarged and strengthened it. Al-Rashid put Yuhanna ibn Masawayh over the translation of the ancient medical books found in Byzantine lands with skilled scribes writing before him; Abu Sahl al-Fadl ibn Nawbakht rendered Persian wisdom-books into Arabic in its khizana, and Allan al-Shu'ubi copied for al-Rashid, al-Ma'mun and the Barmakids. Al-Ma'mun widened it, sending to the Byzantine emperor for the ancient sciences an embassy of al-Hajjaj ibn Matar, Ibn al-Bitriq and Salm the master of the House, and making Sahl ibn Harun keeper of its treasuries — though its precise organisation and site remain wrapped in obscurity.