defeated army retreated back to Baghdad, encamping in the city suburbs in the first week of July. Muhammad gave orders that al-Husayn was to be refused entry to Baghdad, and that any of al-Husayn's men that did not promptly leave the city for his camp would be flogged and denied pay. Al-Musta'in also sent a letter to the encamped soldiers, chastising them for their failure and accusing them of disobedience and mutiny. Al-Husayn was told to gather his men and make another effort to retake al-Anbar. By mid-July, al-Husayn's forces were ready, and for the second time they headed to retake the town. Al-Husayn's second campaign was to end as badly as the first. Once again the Turks defending the land between Baghdad and al-Anbar attacked the Baghdadi army. Al-Husayn was able to fight them off for several days, but eventually the Turks were able to outmaneuver him and rout the guards stationed on his flanks. When they attacked al-Husayn's army itself, they quickly defeated his men and overran his camp. Al-Husayn himself managed to escape on a river skiff, but a hundred of his men were killed and 170 had been taken prisoner, including several of the officers. Al-Husayn and the other survivors returned to Baghdad, and there were no further attempts to retake al-Anbar. Qasr ibn Hubayrah, the other western town garrisoned by Muhammad's forces, was taken by the Turks shortly after. Following the conquest of al-Anbar, the Samarran army headed to Qasr ibn Hubayrah and intended to expel the Baghdadis stationed there. Instead, its commander decided to flee the town, giving it up to the Turks without resisting. Al-Mada'in Al-Mada'in, to the south of Baghdad in the direction of Wasit, was a series of settlements lying in the midst of the ancient Persian imperial centers of Ctesiphon and Seleucia. On April 21, on the orders of Muhammad b. 'Abdallah, Abu 'l-Saj Dewdad departed Baghdad for al-Mada'in at the head of three thousand cavalry and infantry units. He arrived in the area and settled his troops there. Later he wrote to Muhammad requesting reinforcements, which were sent to him. Over the course of the summer, the Turks began appearing in the vicinity of al-Mada'in in strength. Abu 'l-Saj responding by advancing further south, to the district of Jarjaraya, where in August he defeated a contingent of Turks and killed their commander. In October he again fought the Turks