Scholars have conventionally interpreted the Iwan Kisra Ode as an anti-imperial ode critical of the Abbasids in a time of decline evinced by the murder of the Caliph al-Mutawakkil and the emerging power of the Turkic guards at Samarra. This arti- cle re-examines al-Buhturi's own motives to demonstrate that an anti-imperial ode would be anathema to his interests and posits an alternative interpretation. The analysis is based on extensive Abbasid lore and a close reading of the ode. It sug- gests that the ode had the effect of redeeming the Abbasids in order to avoid civil strife in a time of dange