He was bold and self-sufficient, well versed in administration, faultless in his endorsements, and of a radiant face. He corresponded with the kings of the surrounding regions and exchanged gifts with them. On the whole he ruled with justice, and Iraq flourished during his tenure. Among the blessings of his age was that he established a vast bīmāristān (hospital) in Baghdad. His stipends to scholars and devout men were regular, and he lived to the age of fifty-three.
A denunciation against a certain man was once laid before him, and he wrote beneath it: “Tale-bearing is reprehensible, even if it be true. God forbid that we accept the word of a shameless person against one who is respectable. Were it not for the protection your grey hairs afford you, we would treat you in a way commensurate with your statement and that would restrain others like you. Conceal this fault, and fear the One who knows the unseen.” (1)
The jurists of the schools copied this ruling and taught it to their pupils.
He also built in Baghdad a splendid mansion (2), and his lavish gifts and benefactions became proverbial.
- Al-Mustaʿīn Sulaymān ibn al-Ḥakam ibn Sulaymān* (previously mentioned)
The ruler of al-Andalus, known by the honorific al-Mustaʿīn, Abū al-Rabīʿ Sulaymān ibn al-Ḥakam ibn Sulaymān, son of al-Nāṣir li-Dīn Allāh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān of the Umayyad, Marwānid line of al-Andalus.
At the beginning of the year 400 AH he rose against his cousin, the caliph al-Muʾayyad bi-Allāh Hishām. The Berbers of al-Andalus gathered around him, seized the fortress of Rabah, installed him as ruler, and amassed for him