The Chaliphate - Muir - The Search For Mecca

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A.D. 7S5-809] FALL OF THE BARMEKTS 481
boded evil in the future. It is not often that our annah'sts A.II. 169-
indulge in reflections such as these ;
but here we have the ^^
proverb applied by them to Harun, "Self-conceit makes HfuCm'ssons.
a man both blind and deaf."
We now come to the startling narrative of the fall of the Fall of the
^''me-is.
Barmekls. The course of this distinguished family has been
already traced, from its rise in Balkh, through successive
generations, to the highest posts of honour and influence in
the State. Yahya, son of Khalid, now advanced in years,
had resigned office into the hands of his sons Al-Fadl and
Ja'far. The former, possessed of boundless authority, and
regarded by the people with love and esteem, was virtual ruler
of the empire. The latter, more given to indulgence, was
the constant companion of Harun's hours of pleasure and
amusement yet he also must have inherited the abilitx' of
;
the house, having had charge of the youthful Al-Ma'mun with
the whole government of the East, and though only
thirt\--
seven years of age, had held the office of VVazIr for seventeen
years. Poets were never weary of extolling the Barmekis,
nor historians of narrating their virtues, munificence, and
power. Suddenly Ja'far was put to death, and the family
disappears from the scene. The cause assigned was this
:
Ja'far, as said above, was the boon companion of the Story of
Caliph, who loved to have his sister 'Abbasa also with him i?'*^''
^
^
at '
_
times of recreation and carousal. But Muslim etiquette
forbade their common presence ; and, to allow of this,
Harun had the marriage ceremony performed between
them, on the understanding that it was purely nominal.
But the ban was too weak for 'Abbasa. .\ child given
secret birth was sent by her to Mecca ; while a maid,
quarrelling with her mistress, made known the scandal.
Harun when on pilgrimage ascertained that the tale was
disgrace,
but too true. On his return to Ar-Rakka, shortly after, he ^"J death,
sent a eunuch to slay Ja'far, whose body was despatched to
Bagdad, and there, divided in two, impaled on either side
of the bridge. It continued so for three years, when HarCm,
happening to pass through Bagdad from the East, gave
command for the miserable remains to be taken down and
burned. On the death of Ja'far, his father .and brother were
both cast into prison at Ar-Rakka, and orders passed all
over the empire to confiscate the propert}' of an\' member
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