Loyalty and the Black Standard

When Marwan ibn Muhammad (also: Marwan II) was the governor of Azerbaijan, he appointed Abd al-Hamid al-Katib as his official man of letters.  When the pledge of fealty for the caliphate came to Marwan II from the people of Syria, he prostrated out of gratitude, as did those in his court.  Abd al-Hamid did not prostrate.  When Marwan II asked him why he didn't, he said, "Why should I?  You will be flying away", to which Marwan II replied, "Then fly with us."  Abd al-Hamid's role as the official writer of the caliphate was thus secured.

But the Umayyads' days were limited.  The army of Abu Muslim Khorasani marched forward beneath their black standards, securing one success after another, and destroying any futile resistance that the deeply fractured Umayyad state had to offer.  Marwan II knew his end was approaching, so he told Abd al-Hamid it might be best for him to switch sides.  The Abbasids would most definitely be in need of such a great man of letters like himself who could support their causes with the finest of words.  (Men like Abd al-Hamid were the media outlets of their times.)  Abd al-Hamid confirmed that this would be in his best interests, but chose to remain loyal to the Caliph until his end.  Marwan II was eventually killed in Egypt.

The Abbasids felt the need to silence the assassinated Caliph's man of letters, so they tracked him down to his hiding place in Bahrain, where he was staying with Ibn al-Muqaffa'.  When the Abbasid police entered the residence of Ibn al-Muqaffa' and inquired about Abd al-Hamid, each man, in an attempt to protect the other, claimed to be him.  Eventually, the police settled on Ibn al-Muqaffa' and were about to take him away to be assassinated.  Upon seeing this, Abd al-Hamid told them, "Each of us has well known features.  Ask about each party's features and then take the one of us who is truly Abd al-Hamid."  They did so, and he was assassinated.