Although the coup failed and Husayn was forced to flee the capital, he soon secured a pardon and served as governor in Jibal, where he again distinguished himself in military operations in south-central Iran.

[1] Hamdan established himself among the leading tribal leaders during this time, and led the resistance against caliphal attempts to restore direct control, even allying with the Kharijite rebels in the 880s.

In exchange he secured not only a pardon for his father, but also the lifting of a tribute that the Taghlib had been forced to pay, and the right to form a regiment of 500 Taghlibi cavalry at government expense.

[4][6] Husayn then participated as commander of the vanguard in Muhammad's 904–905 campaign that ended the Tulunid dynasty and restored Syria and Egypt to direct caliphal control.

Muhammad ibn Sulayman reportedly offered him the governorship of Egypt, but Husayn refused, preferring to return to Baghdad with the enormous booty he had collected.

As a result, the rebels were able to reach the Lower Euphrates, where they defeated another Abbasid force at al-Qadisiyya and raided the hajj caravan of the Mecca pilgrims (late 906).

[8] Husayn then subdued the remaining Kalbi rebels between the Euphrates and Aleppo, and in 907–908 confronted and drove back into Syria the Banu Tamim who had invaded the Jazira seeking pillage, defeating them near Khunasira.

The Abbasid forces under Mu'nis al-Khadim succeeded in suppressing the rebellion by 910/1, with al-Qattal being captured by Husayn in person, according to a celebratory poem by the later Hamdanid poet Abu Firas.

Ibn al-Furat, who probably still mistrusted his intentions, promptly dispatched him to the governorship of the Diyar Rabi'a, the province encompassing the eastern Jazira, including Mosul.

[4] Despite Husayn's rebellion and execution, the Hamdanid family continued to prosper: his brothers were soon released from captivity, and Abdallah rose to prominence by aligning himself with Mu'nis al-Khadim and sharing in the ups and downs of the court politics in Baghdad.

[10][11] According to Canard, Husayn "stands out more clearly than the supreme commander Mu'nis or any other military leaders" of the period for his ability and valour, as well as for his restive and ambitious spirit.

Canard assesses him as unusually open-minded, and attuned to the ideological turmoil and ferment in the Muslim world of his time, as indicated by his contact with the Sufi mystic al-Hallaj, who dedicated a work on politics to Husayn.

Indeed, according to Canard, Husayn's espousal of Shi'ism, and his participation in the abortive coup of 908, can best be seen in light of a desire—typical of Shi'a sympathisers—for a renewal of the Caliphate and the establishment of an "ideal Muslim government", something which the corrupt and decadent Abbasids were no longer capable of.

[4] Finally, although it fell to his brother to found the actual Hamdanid dynasty, it was Husayn who first gave his family a taste of power and glory, for which he was later celebrated in the poetry of Abu Firas.