Abu Ayyub al-Muryani († 770) was the first vizier of al-Mansur, second Abbasid caliph in 754-775.
He was originally from a village of Muryan, in Juzistán (in the southwest of the present Iran); the nisba of its Arabic name, al-Muryani, means "de Muryan". During the last years of the Umayyad dynasty he was secretary in the Caliphate administration, and he went to the service of al-Mansur shortly after the revolution of 749-750 that marked the advent of the Abbasid dynasty.
Abu Ayyub participated in the plot devised by al-Mansur to assassinate the powerful Jorasan leader Abu Muslim, whose popularity and power in Persia and surrounding areas threatened the stability of the newly established Abbasid dynasty.
After the founding of Baghdad in 762, Abu Ayyub was in charge of adjudicating a quarter of the lands of the new capital. He and his family accumulated immense wealth, acquiring extensive properties in their native Juzistan and in the Basra region (south of present-day Iraq).
Disgraced in 770, faced with Khalid ibn Barmak, a rival for the position of vizier, who was supported by Chamberlain Rabbi ibn Yunus. Abu Ayyub was accused of corruption and imprisoned next to his brother (also called Khalid); both died in prison. The following year the caliph had the sons of his brother Khalid executed. Notes and
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