In the year 370, ʿAḍud al-Dawlah returned from Hamadhān, whereupon al-Ṭāʾiʿ went out to greet him—under compulsion—and no caliph had ever done the like (1).

In 371, a massive fire broke out in Baghdad, consuming vast stores of wealth (2).

In 372 the sultan ʿAḍud al-Dawlah died, as did the veiled lady Sārah, sister of al-Muqtadir, who was nearly ninety years old. People beat their faces in the markets for days in mourning over ʿAḍud, and his son Ṣamṣām al-Dawlah (3) took power.

In 377, al-ʿAzīz prepared to campaign against the Byzantines, but his fleet was burned. Enraged, he put to death two hundred people whom he held responsible. Soon afterward envoys from the Byzantine emperor arrived with gifts seeking a truce. He agreed on the condition that no Muslim captive remain in their realm and that the Friday sermon in Constantinople’s principal mosque be delivered in al-ʿAzīz’s name. The truce was concluded for seven years (4).

The governor of Ifrīqiyah, Yūsuf Buluggīn (5), died; his son al-Manṣūr succeeded him and sent offerings to al-ʿAzīz valued at one million dinars (6).

Famine intensified in Baghdad, and a kārah (7) of flour sold for 260 dirhams (8).