The vizier of Iraq, Ẓahīr al-Din ibn al-ʿAttār (1), perished, and when the rabble learned of his funeral they pelted the cortege with stones. The pallbearers scattered, the corpse was pulled out of its coffin and dragged along; the shroud was ripped away and they paraded him about—may Allah protect us from such exposure. He had been a harsh and obstinate tyrant.
ʿIzz al-Din ibn al-Buzūrī related to me—in his History (2)—that al-Taymī said: “I was in the presence of Ibn al-ʿAttār when an elderly shaykh entered, admonished him with gentle words and forbade him from wrongdoing. Ibn al-ʿAttār shouted, ‘Drag this dog out!’ and repeated it several times.” It was also said that he was the one who set the Bāṭiniyya (Ismaʿili assassins) upon the vizier ʿAḍud al-Din ibn Raʾīs al-Ruʾasāʾ, so they killed him (3), while al-Nāṣir went on riding and hunting.
In 578 AH (4) the Sultan (5) marched against Mosul and laid it under siege; the caliph sent him a letter of reproach.
That same year the ruler of Rūm captured a city belonging to the Christians, while Saladin seized Harran, Saruj, Nisibin, Raqqa, and al-Bīrah (6).