Ismá'íl b. Aḥmad the Sámánid sent Muḥammad b. Hárún with an army (f. 123a) against Ṭabaristán. Sayyid Muḥammad b. Zayd, confident in his power (for he had 20,000 men with him, and his antagonist only 3000), attacked the centre of his enemy’s army with a mere handful of men, and was the first person slain. His head was cut off, his great army scattered, and his son Abu`l-Ḥusayn taken prisoner on Friday, Shawwál 5, A. H 287 (= October 3, A. D. 900). The Sayyid’s headless body was buried at Gurgán in a place still known as Gúr-i-Dá'í (“the Propagandist’s Grave”), and his head was sent to Bukhárá. He reigned in all sixteen years. His son Zayd was for a long while kept a prisoner by Isma'íl b. Aḥmad the Sámánid at Bukhárá, whence he sent these verses to his friends in Ṭabaristán:
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These verses were shewn to Isma'íl b. Aḥmad the Sámánid, who was so much affected by them that he released his captive, saying, “Thou hast thy choice of returning to Ṭabaristán or of remaining here.” He replied, “The affairs of Ṭabaristán have gone beyond the point that there should be any place for me there; it is best for me to remain here.” And so he lived, died and was buried in Bukhárá. Three sons of his are mentioned in the genealogical tree of the House of Abú Ṭálib (<Arabic>), viz. Abú 'Alí Isma'íl b. Zayd b. Muḥammad b. Zayd, who migrated to Bukhárá; Abú 'Abdi`lláh Muḥammad ar-Riḍá (f. 123b), whose descendants are settled at Baghdad; and Abú Muḥammad al-Ḥasan b. Zayd b. Muḥammad b. Zayd.