Under Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809) he was appointed to several provincial governorships.[2] He was appointed to the Jazira in 796/7,[6] and was governor of Arminiya in 799, during a Khazar raid into Abbasid territory. One account holds that the raid was provoked by Sa'id executing al-Munajjim al-Sulami—probably the local ruler of Derbent—prompting his son to go to the Khazars and ask for their help in obtaining revenge. The Khazars defeated Sa'id, who fled before them.