—nicknamed al-Mufliq. He was pre-eminent in horsemanship, munificence, and literary brilliance.

The Ṣāḥib Ibn ʿAbbād used to say, “Poetry began with a king—Imruʾ al-Qays—and was sealed with a king—Abū Firās.”

The Byzantines captured him while he was wounded, and he remained in Constantinople for several years. Sayf al-Dawla later ransomed him with a great sum of money and further endowed him with abundant wealth, horses, and slave pages.

He was governor of Manbij, then seized Homs, and was finally killed near Palmyra on a march intended to take Aleppo. His dīwān (collected poems) is well known.

He was slain in 357 AH, having lived only thirty-seven years.

137 – al-Muhallabī, Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh

The great vizier, Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Hārūn al-Azdī, a descendant of al-Muhallab ibn Abī Ṣufra.

He served as vizier to Muʿizz al-Dawla. Noble, open-handed, much praised, and consummate in dignity, he kept scholars close to him. Poverty struck him in his youth, and he travelled far afield; once he merely longed for a dirham’s worth of meat,