Then a conspirator forced his way in, the foundations of his throne gave way, and Muʾnis the Eunuch quarreled with him, left for Mosul, took control of it, and routed its garrison in Safar of 320 AH (1).

The Qarmatians reached Kūfa, and its people fled. Daylamite forces also entered; they plundered Dinawar, and its inhabitants escaped (2). They raised Qurʾāns aloft on reeds and clamored on the Day of Eid al-Aḍḥā in 319 AH (3). At the same time, Byzantine armies advanced, ravaging the countryside and taking captives.

Nasīm the Eunuch then set out with ten-thousand horse and ten-thousand foot. When they reached Amorium, they killed and carried off prisoners. A great plague and famine gripped Baghdad, until the nobles blackened their faces in grief and cried, “Hunger! Hunger!” (4). Muʾnis and the Qarmatians had already cut off the city’s supplies.

No one performed the pilgrimage that year. The army slipped away to Muʾnis, who prepared to march against al-Muqtadir. Al-Muqtadir himself came out, but his troops deserted him. He mounted, staff in hand, wearing the Prophetic mantle, with Qurʾāns and reciters encircling him. Behind him rode the vizier al-Faḍl ibn al-Furāt, and battle was joined.

Al-Muqtadir stood at the center, but his lines collapsed. A Berber spearman struck him from behind; he fell, his head was cut off and hoisted on a lance. His body was stripped and buried on the spot, the grave erased as though he had never been—three days before the end of Shawwāl in 320 AH (5).

He had been liberal, extravagant with money, squandering sums beyond reckoning. Ṣāfī died (6), and Muʾnis remained alone to shoulder the affairs of state.