“If you would learn their true condition with certainty,
then meet them when they are dispensing generosity or waging battle.
You will find their repute spotless white(1), the dust they stir up jet-black,
their encampments verdant green, their spearheads crimson red(2).”

His poetry, as you can hear, is refined and unrivalled.

210 – Alp Arslan Muḥammad ibn Chaghri Beg Dāwud al-Turkmeni *

The great sultan, the just king, ʿAḍud al-Dawlah, Abū Shujāʿ Alp Arslan(3) Muḥammad, son of the sultan Chaghri Beg Dāwud ibn Mīkāʾīl ibn Saljūq ibn Tuqāq ibn Saljūq, the Turkmen, of the Oghuz tribe.

He was one of the illustrious kings and champions of Islam.

When his uncle Ṭughril Beg died, he entrusted the throne to Sulaymān, Alp Arslan’s brother. Alp Arslan, together with his uncle Qutulmish, fought Sulaymān; Sulaymān’s position collapsed and Alp Arslan assumed the sultanate(4).

Another version states that Qutulmish too disputed the throne. He advanced with ninety thousand men, while Alp Arslan had only twelve thousand; nevertheless, Alp Arslan routed him, and after the defeat there was found