At an unknown date, in the first half of the 3rd/9th century, he found refuge in Syria, where he eventually re-established contact with some of his da'is, and settled in Salamiyah, continuing to pose as a Hashimite merchant.
[7][8] Among the later Isma'ili historians, Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Naysaburi, the author of Istitār al-Imām, compiled under the Fatimid Imam–Caliph al-Aziz Billah (r. 975–995) seems first to have mentioned the names of the three 'hidden' Imams.
[8] Modern historian of the Fatimid period, Shainool Jiwa, explains that during dawr al-satr (765–909 CE) Isma'ili doctrine had spread as far as from Yemen to Ifriqiya (modern-day Tunisia and eastern Algeria), with its most prominent adherents being the Kutama Berbers of North Africa.
[14] In order to escape Abbasid persecution, Abd Allah, sought refuge in different parts of Persia and did not reveal his identity and place of residence except to a few trusted associates; he settled in Askar Mukram near Ahwaz, in the province of Khuzestan, whence he later fled to Basra and then to Salamiyah in central Syria, where he built a house and resided in the cloak of a local merchant.
Abd Allah further on repaired to Daylam with his 32 trusted da'is, where he got married with an Alid in the village of Ashnash, and had a son by her, whom he named Ahmad, who later on became known as Muhammad al-Taqi.
[17] Nothing is virtually known about Ibrahim, save the fact that his posterity was still living at the time of the Fatimid Imam–Caliph Abd Allah al-Mahdi Billah in Salamiyah and were slain by the Qarmatians in 290/902.