He was a son of
al-Musayyab ibn Zuhayr, a participant of the
Abbasid Revolution who later served as a provincial governor and
security chief. In 792 he was appointed as governor (
wali) of Egypt by the caliph
Harun al-Rashid, as a replacement for the deceased
Ibrahim ibn Salih. During his governorship he is reported to have been engaged in hostilities with the people of the
Hawf district, and to have received a request from the
emir of Córdoba Hashim I for reinforcements in support of his raids against the
Franks. After remaining in office for a little under a year, he was dismissed and replaced with
Ishaq ibn Sulayman al-Hashimi. In 795 Abdallah was again put in charge of affairs in Egypt, this time as resident deputy (
khalifah) for the absentee governor
Abd al-Malik ibn Salih, and he stayed in that position until Abd al-Malik's successor
Ubaydallah ibn al-Mahdi arrived to replace him in the middle of that year. According to
Ibn Qutaybah, he was also a governor of
Fars and the
Jazirah. == Notes ==