Al-Marwazī said: “Aḥmad was ill for nine days. From time to time he would allow the people in, and they would enter in waves, greet him with salām, and he would return it with a motion of his hand. News spread and the crowds swelled.

“When the ruler heard of the masses, he posted guards at Aḥmad’s door and at the entrance to the alley—the soldiers of the ribāṭ and the court informers—and then closed the alley gate. The streets and mosques filled with people, to the point that some shopkeepers had to suspend their trade.

“If someone wished to visit him, he might slip in through a neighboring house and the weavers’ workshops (1), or even climb over a wall. The news-scribes also came and sat at the doors.

“The chamberlain of Ibn Ṭāhir arrived and said, ‘The amīr conveys his greetings and longs to see you.’

“He replied, ‘That is one of the things I dislike, and the Commander of the Believers has excused me from what I dislike.’

“The reporters were sending word of his condition to the military camp, and dispatches were coming and going every day.

“The Banū Hāshim came in to him and wept over him. A group of judges and others arrived, but they were not admitted.

“An elderly man entered and said, ‘Remember your standing before Allah.’ Abū ʿAbd Allāh sobbed, and tears streamed from his eyes.

“A day or two before his death he said, his tongue heavy, ‘Call the children to me.’ They clustered around him; he smelled them and stroked their heads while tears ran from his eyes. I placed a basin beneath him and saw that his urine was pure blood. I told the physician, and he said, ‘Sorrow and grief have shattered this man’s insides.’”