So the governor of Alexandria—this very Ibn al-Sallār—came forward seeking the vizierate. When Najm al-Dīn Ibn Miṣāl heard of Ibn al-Sallār’s approach, he crossed over toward Giza in the year 544 AH. Ibn al-Sallār entered the capital, his stature rose, and he seized the reins of the realm without a single blow or thrust. He was granted the honorific al-Malik al-ʿĀdil, Commander of the Armies.

Ibn Miṣāl, for his part, assembled troops and advanced, but Ibn al-Sallār sent amirs out to meet him. They clashed, and Ibn Miṣāl was routed at Dalās (1), slain, and his head was borne into the city on the point of a lance in Dhū al-Qaʿdah of that same year. The throne was now firmly secured for al-ʿĀdil (2).

He was a valiant champion—bold, awe-inspiring, a Shāfiʿī Sunni, untouched by the creed of the ʿUbayidids. He showed great respect to al-Salafī and built a madrasa for him, yet he was also oppressive, high-handed, and tyrannical.

Ibn Khallikān (3) relates: “He had once been a mere soldier. He entered the presence of al-Muwafaq al-Tinnīsī and complained to him about a fine, whereupon the latter said, ‘Your words do not enter my ear.’ When Ibn al-Sallār became vizier, al-Muwafaq went into hiding and a proclamation rang through the city: ‘Whoever conceals him, his blood is forfeit.’ He tried to escape disguised as a woman, but was captured. Al-ʿĀdil ordered a plank and a nail, and had the man’s ear nailed to the board. When he screamed, al-ʿĀdil asked, ‘Do my words enter your ear now, or not?’”

Abbas ibn Abī al-Futūḥ, son of the amir Yaḥyā ibn Bādis, had come from Ifrīqiyah as a boy with his mother. Al-ʿĀdil married the mother before he rose to the vizierate. Later Abbas himself married and fathered a son, whom he named Naṣr; al-ʿĀdil grew attached to the child. He then equipped Abbas for jihad in Syria, but the latter disliked the journey,