The Alawites worked in secret against the Umayyads, plotting and sowing discord until the Umayyad state fell. When the Abbasid state came, it began its stance by shedding the blood of both the Alawites and the Umayyads. The Alawites thought and employed the principle of *taqiyya* with them. Thus, the situation remained as it was in the Umayyad era: one Imam dies and another takes his place, an Imam is feared, his call is established, and it is proclaimed that he will emerge to take revenge on the oppressors. Every time a revolution broke out, another revolution took its place. Their success was aided by the fact that the Abbasids were unjust, did not seek justice, and did not value the people. The people were like a smoldering fire waiting for someone to... (The word "Shelley" appears to be a scanning error, likely intended to be a word related to igniting or a catalyst). Even those among them who were characterized by justice had only relative justice. None of them showed compassion to the Alawites, while poets stood at their doors praising them and denigrating the Alawites. The Alawite Imams claimed at every turn that if they were to assume the affairs of the subjects, they would rule them with absolute justice. There is a great difference between claim and reality. Al-Ma'mun complained of this, for he saw that the Imams hid from sight and committed sins without anyone seeing them or knowing their worth. He said that it would be better for the people if these Imams appeared so that their faults could be known.