614 BAG 
dominions. This infolent letter fo exafperated Harunj 
that lie immediately atfembled his forces and advanced to 
Heraclea, laying the country .wade with fire and fvvord. 
For fome time alfo he kept that city draitly befieged; 
which fo terrified the Greek emperor, that he fubmitted 
to pay an annual tribute. Upon this Harun granted him 
a peace, and returned with his army. But a hard froft 
foon after happening, Nicephorus took for granted that 
A 1 Rafliid would not pay him another vifit, and therefore 
broke the treaty he had concluded. Of this the khalif re¬ 
ceiving advice, he inftantly put himfelf in motion; and, 
notwithftanding the inclemency of the weather, forced 
the emperor to fulfil the terms propofed. According to a 
Pcrfian hiftorian, before the hoflilities at this time com¬ 
menced, Nicephorus ntade tlie khalif a prefent of feveral 
finefwords, giving him thereby to underitand, that he was 
more inclinable to Come to blows than to make peace with 
him. All thefe fwords, it is faid, Harun cut afunder with 
his famous fword famfamah, as if they had been fo many 
radifhes, after which fevere proof there did not appear the 
lead flaw in the blade. This fword had fallen into Al 
Radiid’s hands among the fpoils of Ebn Dakikan, one of 
the iad Hamy; r tic princes of Yaman ; but it belonged ori¬ 
ginally to a valiant Arab named Amru Ebn Maadi Cavb, 
i>y whofe name it generally went among the Modems. 
This man is faid to have performed very extraordinary 
feats with this fvvord, which induced a certain prince to 
borrow it from him ; but he not being able to perform 
-any thing remarkable with it, complained to Amru that it 
bad not tire dedred effect: upon which that brave man 
ironically replied, that he had not fent him his arm along 
with his fword. 
In the 188th year of the Hegira, war'was renewed with 
the Greeks, and Nicephorus attacked the khalif’s forces 
with the utmoff fury. He was, however, defeated with 
the lofs of 40,000 men, and received three wounds in the 
aftion ; after which the Modems committed terrible ra¬ 
vages in his territories, and returned home laden with 
/polls. The next year Harun invaded Phrygia; defeated 
an imperial army fent to oppofe him; and, having ravaged 
the country, returned without any confiderable lofs. In 
the 19.0th year of the Hegira, commencing November 
37th, 805, the khalif marched into the imperial territo¬ 
ries with an army of 135,000 men, befides a number of vo¬ 
lunteers and others who were not inrolled among his troops. 
He fird took the city of Heraclea, from whence he is faid 
to have carried 16,000 prisoners ; after which he made 
himfelf mader of feveral other places ; and, in the con- 
elufion of the campaign, he made a defeent on the ifland 
ef Cyprus, which he plundered in a terrible manner. 
This fuccefs fo intimidated Nicephorus, that he imme¬ 
diately fent the tribute due to Harun, and a peace was 
concluded. This perhaps Harun would not have fo rea¬ 
dily granted, had not one Rafe Ebn Al Leith revolted 
again ft him at Samarcand, and allembled a confiderable 
force to fupport him in his defection. 
The next year, being the 191b of the Hegira, the khalif 
removed the governor of Khorafan from his employment, 
becaufe be had not been diffidently attentive to the mo¬ 
tions of the rebel Rafe Ebn Al Leith. As this governor 
had alfo tyrannized over his fubjedts in the mod cruel 
manner, his fuccedbr no fooner arrived than he fent him 
in chains 4 o the khalif : but, notwithftanding all Harun’s 
care, the rebels made great progrefs in the conqued of 
Khorafan. Next year the khalif found it neceffary to 
inarch in perfon againd the rebels, and he advanced 
to the frontiers of Jordan, where he was feizecl with ah 
illnefs, which growing more violent, and being unable to 
purfuq his journey, he refigned tlie command of the army 
to his fon Al Manuin, retiring himfelf to Tus in Kho¬ 
rafan. We are told by Khondemir, that, before the kha¬ 
lif departed from Rakka, he had a dream wherein lie faw 
a hand over his head full of red earth, and at the fame 
time heard a perfon pronouncing thefe words, “ See the 
#&rth where Harun is to be buried,” Upon this lie de. 
DAD, 
manded where he was to be buried ; and was aitTwered, 
“ At Tus.” This dream greatly difcompoling him, he 
communicated it to his chief phyfician, who rallied him 
on the folly of putting confidence in dreams, and adviled 
him to purfue fome favourite diverfion that might draw 
his attention another way. The khalif accordingly pre¬ 
pared a magnificent regale, which lafted feveral" days. 
Alter this, he put himfelf at the head of his army, arid 
advanced to the confines of Jorjan, where he was attack¬ 
ed by the bloody flux. As his diforder increafed, lie 
found himfelf obliged to retire to Tus ; where being arri¬ 
ved, he fent for his phyfician, and faid to him, “ Gabriel, 
do you remember my dream at Rakka} we are now arri¬ 
ved at Tus, the place of my interment. Send one of my 
eunuchs to fetch me a handful of earth in the neighbour¬ 
hood of this city.” Upon this, Mafrur, one of his eu¬ 
nuchs, was difpatched to fetch a little of the foil of the 
place. He foon returned, and brought a handful of red 
earth, which he prefented to the khalif with his arm half 
bare. At tlie fight of this, Harun cried out, “ In truth 
this is the earth, and this tlie very ami, that 1 faw in my 
dream.” His fpirits immediately failing, and his malady 
being.greatly increafed, he died three days after, and was 
buried in the fame place. According to Abul Faraj, Ba- 
ftiir Ebn Al Leith the arch-rebel’s brother was brought 
in chains to tlie khalif, when at the point of death. At 
the fight of whom Harun declared, that if he could fpeak 
only two words he would fay kill him ; and immediately 
ordered him to be cut to pieces in bis prefence. This be¬ 
ing done, the khalif foon after expired, in the year of the 
Hegira 193, having reigned twenty-three years. 
Upon the arrival of a courier from Tus, with the news 
of Al Rafiiid’s death, his fon Al Amin was proclaimed 
khalif; and was no fooner feated on the throne, than lie 
formed a defign of excluding his brother Al Manuin from 
the fucceflion. Accordingly lie deprived him of the fur¬ 
niture of the imperial palace of Khorafan; and in open 
violation of his father’s will, who had bellowed on Al 
Mamun the perpetual government of Khorafan, and of 
all tlie troops in that province, he ordered thofe forces to 
marcli diredtly to Bagdad. Upon the arrival of this order, 
Al Mamun expoflulated with the general Al Fadl Ebn 
Rabi who commanded his troops, and endeavoured to pre¬ 
vent his marching to Bagdad ; but without eftedt, for he 
pundtually obeyed the orders fent by the khalif. Al 
Manuin, however, took care not to be wanting in fidelity 
to his brother. He obliged tlie people of Khorafan to take 
an oath of fidelity to Al Amin, and reduced fome who 
had actually excited a revolt, while the general Al Fadl, 
having ingratiated himfelf with the khalif by his ready 
compliance with his orders', was chofen prime vizir, and 
governed with an abfolute fway ; Al Amin abandoning 
himfelf entirely to inebriety. 
Al Fadl was a very able minifier; though, fearing Al 
Mamun’s refentment if ever he lliould afeend the throne, 
he gave Al Amin fucli advice as proved in the end the 
ruin of them both. He told him that his brother had 
gained the attention of the people of Khorafan by the good 
order and police lie had eftabliihed among them ; that his 
unwearied application to the adminiftration of juflice had 
fo attracted their efteem, that the whole province was en¬ 
tirely at his devotion ; that his own conduit was by no 
means approved by his fubjedts, wdiofe minds were almoft 
totally alienated from him; and therefore he had but one 
part to ait, which was to deprive Al Mamun of the right 
of fucceflion that had been given him by his father, and 
transfer it to his own fon Mu fa, though then but an in¬ 
fant. Agreeable to this advice, the khalif fent for his 
brother Al Kafen from Mefopotamia, and recalled Al 
Mamun from Khorafan, pretending he had occafion for 
him as an aflifiant in his councils. By this treatment AI 
Mamun was fo provoked, that he refolved to come to an 
open rupture with his brother. Inftead therefore of go¬ 
ing to Bagdad, lie cut off all communication between his 
own province and that capital-; pretending, that, as his fa¬ 
ther 
