Shi‘ism then waned in Baghdad, and the amirs pressed hard upon Bahāʾ al-Dawla, overpowering him until he handed over to them Abū al-Ḥasan Ibn al-Muʿallim al-Kawkabī, who was thereupon strangled (1). At the same time the famine in Baghdad grew extreme.
In 383 AH al-Qādir billāh married Sukayna, the daughter of King Bahāʾ al-Dawla (2). The scourge of the ʿayyārūn—those lawless gangs—became rampant in Baghdad, and no one from Iraq set out for the Hajj that year (3).
In 387 AH Fakhr al-Dawla ʿAlī ibn Rukn al-Dawla ibn Būyah died in Rayy; Ibn ʿAbbād served as his vizier (4). He was a resolute and courageous prince, and the caliph al-Ṭāʾiʿ had honored him with the title “King of the Ummah.” He lived forty-six years.
His reign lasted fourteen years, and he left two million eight hundred thousand dinars, jewels valued at three million, gold vessels weighing one million, silver vessels weighing three million, and three thousand loads of sumptuous garments.
His treasuries required three thousand five hundred camels to transport them (5).
In 388 AH nine rulers died: the ruler of Egypt al-ʿAzīz, the ruler of Khurasan, the aforementioned Fakhr al-Dawla, the ruler of Khwarazm Maʾmūn ibn Muḥammad, the ruler of Bust (6) Subuktigin, and others besides (7).