مقتل المستعين

The caliph al-Mustain was killed in Shawwal 252 AH after he was moved from Wasit to al-Qatul, and the accounts differ on how he was killed. ^{1 2} In the same place al-Tabari mentions the carrying of a group of Talibiyyun from Baghdad to Samarra. ³

Al-Suyuti says that al-Mu'tazz sent to Ahmad ibn Tulun to kill him, and he refused, saying he does not kill the sons of caliphs. Al-Mu'tazz then appointed Sa'id the chamberlain, who killed him on the third of Shawwal, when he was thirty-one years old. ⁴

Al-Mas'udi says that al-Mu'tazz sent Sa'id ibn Salih the chamberlain, who met him near al-Qatul and killed him and cut off his head, and his body was left on the road until the common people buried it. He dates his death to Wednesday, six nights into Shawwal, at the age of thirty-five. ⁵

The two sources differ on his age and on the day of the killing, and this needs an additional source.