and security prevailed under his authority; a number of men served him as viziers.

As for al-Muʾayyad, he was nothing more than an empty figurehead. He was kept behind a curtain, and no governor or notable ever met with him. Instead, Abū ʿĀmir would enter the palace, then emerge to announce, “The Commander of the Faithful has decreed such-and-such,” and no one would oppose him. About once a year, or even later, he would mount the caliph on a horse, drape a hooded cloak over him, and surround him with his female attendants on horseback, so that no one could recognize him. (1)

During his tenure Abū ʿĀmir waged a little over fifty campaigns. Captives became so numerous that a beautiful daughter of a great notable was sold for only twenty dinars. (2) He collected the dust from his expeditions until, it is said, it formed a single brick, which was placed beneath his cheek in the grave—or that dust was scattered over his shroud. (3)

He died on the farthest frontier, at al-Baṭn, in 393 AH. (4) He was generous, widely praised, and open-handed. After him, power passed to his son Abū Marwān ʿAbd al-Malik. (5)

8 – al-Marjī, Abū al-Qāsim Naṣr ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad

The shaykh, the long-lived elder: Abū al-Qāsim Naṣr ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Khalīl