Ali ibn Abi Sa'id, also known as Dhu'l-Qalamayn, was an early 9th-century

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

official and military commander in the service of Abbasid caliph

al-Ma'mun Abu al-Abbas Abdallah ibn Harun al-Rashid ( ar, أبو العباس عبد الله بن هارون الرشيد, Abū al-ʿAbbās ʿAbd Allāh ibn Hārūn ar-Rashīd; 14 September 786 – 9 August 833), better known by his regnal name Al-Ma'mu ...

(r. 813–833). According to al-Ya'qubi, he was the maternal cousin of the

Khurasan Greater Khorāsān,Dabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 or Khorāsān ( pal, Xwarāsān; fa, خراسان ), is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plate ...

i brothers

al-Fadl ibn Sahl Abu l-Abbas al-Fadl ibn Sahl ibn Zadhanfarukh al-Sarakhsi ( ar, أبو العباس الفضل بن سهل بن زادانفروخ السرخسي, Abu’l-ʿAbbās al-Faḍl ibn Sahl ibn Zādānfarrūkh as-Sarakhsī; died 818), titled Dhu 'l-Ri'ā ...

and

al-Hasan ibn Sahl Al-Hasan ibn Sahl (; died 850/51) was an Abbasid official and governor of Iraq for Caliph al-Ma'mun (reigned 813–833) during the Fourth Fitna. Hasan's father was an Iranian Zoroastrian convert to Islam. Along with his brother, the future vizier ...

, two of al-Ma'mun's most powerful officials.

Al-Tabari ( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari ...

on the other hand considers him as the son of their sister. He appears in the aftermath of the Siege of Baghdad and al-Ma'mun's victory in the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

with his brother al-Amin. Al-Hasan was appointed by al-Ma'mun as governor and viceroy of an extensive portion of the Abbasid empire, from

Jibal Jibāl ( ar, جبال), also al-Jabal ( ar, الجبل), was the name given by the Arabs to a region and province located in western Iran, under the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates. Its name means "the Mountains", being the plural of ''jabal'' (" ...

and Fars to

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, the

Hejaz The Hejaz (, also ; ar, ٱلْحِجَاز, al-Ḥijāz, lit=the Barrier, ) is a region in the west of Saudi Arabia. It includes the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif, and Baljurashi. It is also known as the "Western Provin ...

, and

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

. Al-Hasan appointed Ali as his deputy for the land tax (

kharaj Kharāj ( ar, خراج) is a type of individual Islamic tax on agricultural land and its produce, developed under Islamic law. With the first Muslim conquests in the 7th century, the ''kharaj'' initially denoted a lump-sum duty levied upon the ...

) collection in Iraq. In 815 he was one of the chief commanders that put down the

Alid The Alids are those who claim descent from the '' rāshidūn'' caliph and Imam ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (656–661)—cousin, son-in-law, and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad—through all his wives. The main branches are the (inc ...

uprising of Abu al-Saraya al-Sari ibn Mansur in Iraq, defeating the rebel forces at

al-Mada'in Al-Mada'in ( ar, المدائن, , ; ) was an ancient metropolis situated on the Tigris River in modern-day Iraq. It was located between the ancient royal centers of Ctesiphon and Seleucia, and was founded by the Sassanid Empire. The city's na ...

in late May, recapturing

Wasit Wasit ( ar, وَاسِط, Wāsiṭ, syr, ‎ܘܐܣܛ) is an ancient city in Wasit Governorate, south east of Kut in eastern Iraq. History The city was built by al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf in c. 702 CE on the west bank of the Tigris across from the hist ...

, and finally capturing

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...

from its cruel Alid governor,

Zayd ibn Musa al-Kadhim Zayd ibn Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (Arabic: زيد بن موسى بن جعفر بن محمد بن علي بن الحسين بن علي بن أبي طالب) was a younger son of the s ...

. In the aftermath, he sent a number of his commanders to suppress the offshoots of the uprising in the Hejaz, under Isa ibn Yazid. He quickly distanced himself from al-Hasan ibn Sahl, and returned to the Caliph in

Merv Merv ( tk, Merw, ', مرو; fa, مرو, ''Marv''), also known as the Merve Oasis, formerly known as Alexandria ( grc-gre, Ἀλεξάνδρεια), Antiochia in Margiana ( grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐν τῇ Μαργιανῇ) and ...

, in the company of al-Hasan's rival, the commander Harthama ibn A'yan. When Baghdad revolted against al-Ma'mun under his uncle

Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mahdī (; 779–839) was an Abbasid prince, singer, composer and poet. He was the son of the third Abbasid caliph, al-Mahdi, and the half-brother of the poet and musician Ulayya. Ibrahim was contemporary of Abbasid caliph al-Ha ...

, the Sahlid brothers were blamed by al-Ma'mun's entourage. Especially al-Fadl was accused of concealing the true state of affairs from the caliph. Ali was one of the commanders who testified against the Sahlids, after al-Ma'mun had personally guaranteed their own safety from reprisals. This prompted al-Ma'mun's decision to leave Merv and return to Baghdad. Nevertheless, the commanders were imprisoned and mistreated by al-Fadl, who suspected their involvement in this decision. When al-Fadl was assassinated in February 818, some the murderers, once apprehended, named Ali as the mastermind of the assassination. Although both Ali and the other imprisoned commanders denied their involvement, al-Ma'mun had them executed, and their severed heads sent to al-Hasan ibn Sahl in Iraq along with news of his brother's fate.

References

Sources

* 78–9,81 * {{cite book , last = Elad , first = Amikan , chapter = Al-Maʾmūn's Military Units and Their Commanders up to the End of the Siege of Baghdad (195/810–198/813) , pages = 245–284 , title = ʿAbbāsid Studies IV. Occasional Papers of the School of ʿAbbāsid Studies, Leuven, July 5–July 9, 2010 , editor-last = Bernards , editor-first = Monique , publisher = Gibb Memorial Trust , year = 2013 , isbn = 978-0-906094-98-3 , chapter-url = {{Gbooks, wcoVBAAAQBAJ, plainurl=yes, page=245 818 deaths 9th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate Prisoners and detainees of the Abbasid Caliphate 9th-century executions by the Abbasid Caliphate People from Khorasan Generals of the Abbasid Caliphate People of the Fourth Fitna Iraq under the Abbasid Caliphate