Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. List of Figures x
4. Note on the Invisible East Collection xii
5. Abbreviations xiii
6. Editors’ and Translators’ Introduction 1
7. Notes on the Translation and Annotations 34
8. Translated text of Akhbār-i Barmakiyān (The Accounts of the Barmakids)
9. Preface 41
10. Story 1 Barmak’s Meeting with ʿAbd al-Malik b. Marwān; His Son Khālid and the Construction of a New Palace in Baghdad 45
11. Story 2 Khālid’s Mentorship of al-Mahdī and the Battle with the Daylamites 57
12. Story 3 Yaḥyā’s Illness and the Christian Doctor from Fars 61
13. Story 4 Yaḥyā and the Petitioners 64
14. Story 5 Faḍl’s Generous Acts towards Ṣāliḥ al-Anṣārī 65
15. Story 6 The Love Affair of Jaʿfar and ʿAbbāsa 69
16. Story 7 Faḍl b. Yaḥyā and the Sindī Visitor 76
17. Story 8 Faḍl’s Squabble with His Secretary, and His Father’s Reaction 78
18. Story 9 The Faultless House of Faḍl 80
19. Story 10 Yaḥyā and Faḍl in Prison without Firewood 81
20. Story 11 Hārūn’s Dilemma: To Destroy the Barmakids or Not 84
21. Story 12 Hārūn’s Remorse and al-Faḍl b. al-Rabīʿ’s Poor Advice 86
22. Story 13 Jaʿfar, the Poet Ṣarīʿ al-Ghawānī and the Courtesan Rayḥāna 90
23. Story 14 Yaḥyā Saves Manṣūr b. Ziyād’s Life 94
24. Story 15 Jaʿfar’s Vitiligo and Yaḥyā’s Confirmation of His Filial Piety 99
25. Story 16 Jaʿfar’s Party and ʿAbd al-Malik al-Hāshimī’s Requests 102
26. Story 17 Yaḥyā and the Petitioner Aḥmad b. Abī Khālid al-Aḥwal 107
27. Story 18 Faḍl Saves the Life of the Secretary Musayyib b. Qāsim 111
28. Story 19 Muʿādh b. Ḥarb’s Forgery Brings Friendship to Yaḥyā and His Rival 114
29. Story 20 Yaḥyā Saves Aḥmad from His Beautiful But Conniving Wife 119
30. Story 21 Faḍl Interrupts His Drinking and Saves the Noble Man Khalīl al-Kindī 124
31. Story 22 Jaʿfar Convinces the Caliph to Restore Saʿīd b. Salām 127
32. Story 23 Yaḥyā Builds a Grand House for Isḥāq b. Ibrāhīm al-Mawṣilī 131
33. Story 24 Jaʿfar’s Skill at Judging People’s Petitions on Behalf of the Caliph 136
34. Story 25 Jaʿfar Resolves an Intractable Legal Case from Basra 137
35. Story 26 ʿAlī b. ʿĪsā b. Māhān’s Ruinous Rule and Hārūn’s Remorse 140
36. Story 27 Faḍl Restores Yaḥyā b. Muʿādh’s Wealth and Prestige 145
37. Story 28 Faḍl Fears the Fires of Hell While Taking a Hot Bath 147
38. Story 29 Faḍl Changes the Life of a Youth on His Wedding Day 148
39. Story 30 Al-Jāḥiẓ’s Endorsement of Jaʿfar’s Erudition 150
40. Story 31 Hārūn’s Acrimony and His Obstinate Suppression of the Barmakids’ Legacy 151
41. Story 32 ʿAlī b. Hishām’s Stinginess towards His Teacher Isḥāq al-Mawṣilī 154
42. Story 33 An Abbasid Family Member Asks Faḍl for a Loan 159
43. Story 34 A Youth Doubts the Truth of the Accounts about the Barmakids’ Generosity 163
44. Story 35 Faḍl Corrects His Error by Reinstating the Commander of Khurasan 165
45. Story 36 The Loyalty of Jaʿfar’s Byzantine Slave in Defiance of Hārūn’s Ban 168
46. Story 37 The Astrologers’ Prediction of Yaḥyā’s Disgrace 174
47. Story 38 Yaḥyā and the Blind Fortune-Teller Abū Yaʿqūb 176
48. Story 39 The Impertinent Poet Who Became Faḍl’s Most Trusted Companion 179
49. Story 40 Hārūn Breaks His Oath to Protect Jaʿfar 182
50. Story 41 Yaḥyā’s Plea for Advice on How to Save His Family 186
51. Story 42 The Barmakids’ Kindness to Others While Mourning Their Own Demise 189
52. Story 43 Yaḥyā’s Last-Ditch Attempt to Save the Barmakids 191
53. Story 44 Hārūn’s Greed and Desire for the Barmakids’ Estate 193
54. Story 45 Jaʿfar Explains His Expenditures on Charity and Beauty 196
55. Story 46 Jaʿfar’s Astrological Predictions of His Misfortune 198
56. Story 47 Jaʿfar and the Eloquent Beggar 199
57. Story 48 Yaḥyā Counsels Jaʿfar on Respecting One’s Neighbours 200
58. Story 49 Faḍl Helps the Poor Doctor Who Treated Him in Prison 203
59. Story 50 Abū al-Ḥasan Recites Accounts about the Barmakids to Faḍl in Prison 207
60. Story 51 The Man Who Called the Barmakids Heretics and Whom Faḍl Forgave 209
61. Story 52 The Barmakid Generosity Extends to Their Knowledge and Wisdom 211
62. Story 53 Hārūn Releases Yaḥyā and His Family on the Way to al-Raqqa 212
63. Story 54 An Arab Commander Mourns Jaʿfar’s Death, and Hārūn Writes to the Barmakid Women 215
64. Story 55 Jaʿfar’s Brothers Mourn His Death, Hārūn Asks the Guards to Be Good to the Barmakids, and an Uncle Disregards Their Plight 220
65. Story 56 Hārūn Aids Some Members of the Barmakid Family and Punishes Others 223
66. Story 57 Hārūn’s Suspicions and the Integrity of Yaḥyā and Faḍl in Prison 225
67. Story 58 A Few Short Anecdotes about Yaḥyā’s Generosity 230
68. Story 59 Yaḥyā and the Ascetic, and His Abandonment of Astrology 232
69. Story 60 Yaḥyā Vows to Abandon His Faith in Omens 234
70. Story 61 Yaḥyā’s Rancid Sweets and the Petitioners Who Had to Wait 236
71. Story 62 The Superiority of Jaʿfar in Debating al-Faḍl b. al-Rabī 238
72. Story 63 Jaʿfar Judges Petitioners’ Requests at the Request of the Caliph 240
73. Story 64 The Caliph and Jaʿfar Trade Places to Teach Ḥārith a Lesson 242
74. Story 65 Jaʿfar Hears a Song about Death When His Executioner Arrives 245
75. Story 66 Hārūn’s and Faḍl’s Identical Horoscopes, Hārūn’s Wish to Reinstate Faḍl as Vizier, and Hārūn’s Death 247
76. Story 67 The Loyalty of Jaʿfar towards Hārūn and of ʿĪsā b. Shāh Fīrūz towards Jaʿfar 249
77. Story 68 The Restoration of the Barmakids by the Caliphs Amīn and al-Maʾmūn 251
78. Story 69 Yaḥyā Helps Faḍl Donate Money to All the Poor People of Baghdad 254
79. Story 70 Al-Maʾmūn Revives the Barmakids’ Glory in a New Generation 255
80. Appendix 1 People and Places Mentioned in the Stories 260
81. Appendix 2 Genealogical Chart of the Abbasid Caliphs 291
82. Appendix 3 Map of the Abbasid Empire at the Time of the Barmakids 292
83. Appendix 4 Some Recensions of Baranī’s Akhbār-i Barmakiyān 293
84. Appendix 5 Premodern Persian Monographs on the Barmakids 294
85. Bibliography 297
86. Acknowledgements 311
87. Photo Credits and Permissions 313
88. Index 318