In the meantime Sulayman attacked Cordoba, but was defeated and driven back to Mérida where he was captured and executed.

An attempt was made to dethrone Al-Hakam and replace him with his cousin, Mohammed ibn al-Kasim, but the plot was discovered.

On 16 November 806, 72 nobles and their attendants (accounts talk of 5,000) were massacred at a banquet, crucified and displayed along the banks of the river Guadalquivir.

Such displays of cruelty were not unusual during this period, with the heads of rebel leaders or Christian foes killed in expeditions to the north being put on show at the gates of Cordoba.

[4] Al Hakam fathered five children with his wife Halawah: Al-Hakam had a concubine named Ajab.