—al-Dawlah (1) they sought his permission to march on Mosul, and he granted it. The city’s governor set out to oppose them, but the people of Mosul inclined to the two brothers; the governor and his troops fled, and the brothers entered Mosul.

The emir Bādh, lord of Diyar Bakr, then set his sights on them and came out to meet them. It is related that, in 380 AH, Bādh’s nephew through his sister—the emir Abū ʿAlī ibn Marwān the Kurd—hurried to Hisn Kayfa (2), where Bādh’s wife was staying. He said to her, “My uncle has been killed, and I shall marry you.” She handed over the fortress and its dependencies to him, whereupon he seized all his uncle’s territories. He fought the two sons of Nāṣir al-Dawlah on several occasions, travelled to Egypt, and from al-ʿAzīz received the governorship of Aleppo and other districts. On his return, however, the ruffians of Āmid (3) attacked him with knives and killed him. Power in Āmid passed to Ibn Damnah, while Abū ʿAlī’s brother, Mumahhid al-Dawlah, rose up and took possession of Mayyāfāriqīn. The emir Sharwa invited him to a banquet and killed him there, and in 402 AH Sharwa took control of the Marwānid dominions.

Mumahhid al-Dawlah had earlier imprisoned his brother—Aḥmad ibn Marwān, the subject of this notice—because of a dream: he had seen the sun lying in his lap, whereupon Aḥmad snatched it from him. Sharwa released Aḥmad from prison and assigned him Arzan (4).

Throughout all this their father Marwān, blind, was still alive, residing in Arzan. Aḥmad consolidated his position, the provinces slipped out of Sharwa’s obedience, and Aḥmad gained control of the cities of Diyar Bakr; his rule endured for many years.

As for Mosul, the emir Abū Dhawwād Muḥammad ibn al-Musayyib al-ʿUqaylī marched against it, fought, and captured its lord Abū al-Ṭāhir Ibrāhīm ibn Nāṣir al-Dawlah together with his sons and a number of his commanders; he executed them and held the city for a time (5).