ABSTRACT
Broadly speaking, the expectations of decisive change were fulfilled by ensuing events. The exemplary fashion in which the new rulers attempted to eradicate every last vestige of the Umayyad house was unprecedented in the experiences of the Faithful. 6 There had been assassinations, random killings, and even executions, but never before had it been the declared policy of an Islamic ruler to exterminate an extended Muslim family, much less one of Meccan origins. The Banii Umayya, leaders among those opposing the Prophet, had been granted pardons when he returned to Mecca in triumph. Similarly, Mu'awiya, the founder of the Umayyad dynasty, guaranteed safety to the family and allies of his rival, the Prophet's son-in-law 'Ali b. Abi Talib-this after six years of extremely bitter civil strife. In both instances blood spilled in rage was not allowed to serve as a cause of further bloodshed. The interests of the larger community demanded cool attitudes and continued forbearance; the need was to heal wounds past and present and set the stage for future accommodation. 7
In contrast, the cAbbasids pursued the last Umayyad ruler, Marwan II, as they would have hunted an animal. And having caught up with Marwan as he fled, they killed him and then mutilated him beyond recognition. 8 When Abu al-'Abbas, the newly proclaimed 'Abbasid caliph, received the severed head of his adversary, he found it emptied of contents and stripped clean. Nothing remained in the cavity except a small snake that undulated its way through sockets where eyes and mouth had been.9 Not content with having made an example of the Umayyad sovereign, the 'Abbasids rounded up the leading notables of the former ruling house and executed the lot. One version of this event indicates that the Umayyads had been invited to Abu al-'Abbas' table to partake of his food and company. Disarmed by this amicable gesture, the invited guests soon learned the caliph's true purpose. A literate prince among them deciphered the cryptic verses of the poet Sudayf, who pronounced their
death sentences as part of the entertainment; the others, spared briefly by their lack of sophistication, discovered Abu al-'Abbas' intentions only with the appearance of the executioners. When the true purpose of the meal was fulfilled, mats were laid over still-warm bodies and the caliph calmly sat down to his dinner, entertained by a chorus of moans from the wounded and maimed who had not yet succumbed. 10
interests, creating thereby a picture of men and events that is at best misleading. Modern scholars may be quite conect in describing the advent of the 'Abbas ids as a revolution, but many of them have tended to misread the broader significance of the dawla.
