Despite the general unpopularity of al Mu’tasim’s Turkish inner-circle, the paradigm he established proved so stable that it endured throughout the reign of his son and successor, Haoon al Watheq. The new caliph wasn’t very keen on administration: he left his father’s loyalists in their positions and expected the bureaucratic machinery to keep ticking away without his input. His light touch meant that he barely left a trace in our histories.