 Al-Tabari describes al-Mu 'tasim as having a relatively easygoing nature, being kind, agreeable and charitable, while according to the Orientalist C.E. Bosworth, "Not much of [al-Mu'tasim's] character emerges from the sources, though they stress his lack of culture compared with his brother al-Ma'mun, with his questing mind; yet al-Mu 'tasim's qualities as a military commander seem assured, and the Abbasid caliphate remained under him a mighty political and military entity".
