and fined him 300,000 dinars. (1)

He next restored Abū Jaʿfar ibn Shīrzād (2) to the vizierate. A severe drought gripped Iraq and people died of hunger. The commander-of-commanders Tuzun passed away at the very beginning of 334 AH, whereupon Ibn Shīrzād coveted his office: he bound the troops by oath, camped outside Baghdad, and al-Mustakfī sent him robes of honour and letters of appointment. Ibn Shīrzād then confiscated the wealth of merchants and secretaries and let his soldiers loose upon the commoners. People fled, supplies stopped reaching the city, and security in Baghdad collapsed. (3)

Meanwhile Aḥmad ibn Būyah marched on Baghdad and halted at Bājisrāy (4); the Turkish troops fled to Mosul, while al-Mustakfī and Ibn Shīrzād went into hiding. Aḥmad encamped in al-Shammāsiyya, and the caliph sent him gifts and robes of honour. He came, offered his allegiance, and the caliph granted him the title Muʿizz al-Dawla, his brother ʿAlī the title ʿImād al-Dawla, and another brother al-Ḥasan the title Rukn al-Dawla.

Their names were then struck on the coinage. Ibn Shīrzād reappeared and settled several matters with Muʿizz al-Dawla, among them that the caliph would receive only 150,000 dirhams a month, no more. (5)

ʿAlam the qahramāna, greatly honoured by al-Mustakfī and accustomed to command and forbid, gave a banquet for the amirs, and Muʿizz al-Dawla grew suspicious of her. (6) As for Asfābadh (7), he had earlier interceded with the caliph on behalf of a wronged Shiʿi, but the caliph rejected the plea, and Asfābadh bore a grudge. He said to Muʿizz al-Dawla, “The caliph is corresponding with me about you,” so he imagined