Or if you knew, then the calamity is greater (“Indeed in their stories there is a lesson”) Capt Mohammed Hassan Al-Tahir

Date: June 24, 2026

The Barmakids were a family of Persian origin who held high positions in the Abbasid Caliphate, the most prominent being Yahya ibn Khalid and his sons Ja‘far and al-Fadl.

They wielded wide influence to the point that the caliph relied on them in running the state But their great power provoked envy and resentment from rivals such as al-Fadl ibn al-Rabi‘, in addition to the hostility of Zubayda, wife of Caliph Harun al-Rashid, which led to their downfall.

Yahya ibn Khalid al-Barmaki wrote a letter from prison to Caliph Harun al-Rashid, pleading with him and reminding him of the Barmakids’ services, saying:

“The Barmakids who were cast before you into calamity

Faces pale, humiliation upon them apparent

,As though they were like hollow trunks of palm trees.

Harun al-Rashid replied with verses showing he was unmoved by the plea:“

O family of Barmak, you were arrogant kings,

You transgressed, tyrannized, and denied my favors,

This is the punishment of one who disobeys his superior and defies me.

He attached to his reply a verse from the Qur’an:

{And Allah sets forth the example of a town which was secure and at ease, its provision coming to it in abundance from every place, but it denied the favors of Allah, so Allah made it taste the garment of hunger and fear} (Qur’an 16:112).

Thus Harun al-Rashid saw their downfall as a natural consequence of their tyranny and ingratitude, making clear that he himself had ordered it, considering that the Barmakids had overstepped their bounds.

On another note, the famous saying:

“If you do not know, that is a calamity,

And if you do know, then the calamity is greater”is originally a line of poetry from Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah’s Mīmiyyah poem.

Its meaning: ignorance is a calamity, but knowing the truth and then ignoring or opposing it is a greater calamity.

Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, as is well known, was a Muslim scholar of the 8th century AH (691–751 AH),

 a student of Ibn Taymiyyah, with many works in jurisprudence, hadith, and Qur’anic exegesis.

However, historical confusion arose because of a popular narrative linking the saying to the Companion Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, the foster son of Imam Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). It is said he uttered it upon discovering a letter from Caliph Uthman ibn ‘Affan to Egypt ordering his killing But this account is inaccurate; the saying is poetic, from Ibn al-Qayyim, not a historical statement of Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr.

Its meaning: if a person commits a mistake or sin without knowing its consequence, that is painful ignorance. But if he knows the truth or the punishment and still ignores it, that is a greater calamity, for it is stubbornness and defiance.

This saying is used as wisdom, warning of the danger of disregarding knowledge or facts once they are known.Or if you knew, then the calamity is greater.