In February 872 Muflih and the caliph's brother Abu Ahmad ibn al-Mutawakkil decided to undertake a campaign against the Zanj and set out for Basra. On April 1 they engaged the Zanj in the vicinity of the Abu al-Khasib Canal, but Muflih was mortally wounded by an arrow that struck him in the temple, and the government army was routed. Muflih died of his wound on the following morning, after which his body was taken to Samarra and buried there. Following his death, his son Abd al-Rahman seems to have assumed his position as one of Musa's chief officers. Notes References 872 deaths Generals of the Abbasid Caliphate 9th-century Turkic people Deaths by arrow wounds Year of birth unknown