In 316 AH Abū Ṭāhir the Qarmaṭian entered al-Raḥba with the sword; from there he headed for al-Raqqa, where he propagated heresy and committed grave outrages. In the same year ʿAlī ibn ʿĪsā (1) asked to be relieved of the vizierate, and Abū ʿAlī ibn Muqlah (2) was appointed in his stead. The Qarmaṭian built a headquarters which he named the “House of Emigration” (3); his followers multiplied, and the Mahdī in the Maghrib corresponded with him, so he began to summon people to the Mahdī. The trial intensified (4).

About the same time the domestikos advanced with three hundred thousand Byzantines, marched on Armenia (5), slaughtered and captured many people, and took possession of Khilāṭ (6).

In 317 AH turmoil erupted in Baghdad. The army fought among itself and indescribable horrors occurred. Plans were laid to depose al-Muqtadir, and Muʾnis, Abū al-Hayjāʾ, and Nāzūk agreed to carry them out. They proceeded to the Palace; the chamberlain fled, as did the vizier Ibn Muqlah. Al-Muqtadir, together with his mother, his maternal aunt, and the women of his household, was taken to Muʾnis’s residence. They then brought out Muḥammad ibn al-Muʿtaḍid from the harem—he had been imprisoned—took the oath of allegiance to him, and gave him the honorific al-Qāhir.

Al-Muqtadir attested with his own hand to his abdication, and al-Qāhir sat upon the caliphal throne. Letters were sent to the provinces, after which the army demanded the customary installation gratuity and a full year’s pay. An uproar ensued; the soldiers burst in and killed Nāzūk and the eunuch ʿAjīb, shouting, “Al-Muqtadir, O victorious one!” (7)

The vizier and the chamberlains fled. The soldiers then went to Muʾnis’s house, demanding that al-Muqtadir be restored. Abū