During his career Abdallah was appointed to several provincial governorships. Either during the caliphate of al-Hadi or al-Mahdi he was made governor of the Yemen,[5] and under Harun al-Rashid he was once or twice governor of Mecca[6] (and possibly Medina).[7] In 805 he was appointed over Egypt, in which position he remained for approximately a year.[8]