Ilyas⦗1⦘; his conduct thereafter became commendable, and he manumitted most of his slaves.

Around that same time a great battle was fought between the Turkic king Tughān, fighting alongside the Muslims, and the armies of China. The war lasted for several days, and roughly one hundred thousand Chinese unbelievers were killed⦗2⦘.

In 405 AH al-Ḥākim seized a group of women caught in immorality and had them drowned. After that, a female washer would not go out to any woman unless accompanied by two reliable witnesses.

The judge Mālik ibn Saʿīd al-Fāriqī once passed by, and a young girl from Rawzana⦗3⦘ called to him, “I adjure you by al-Ḥākim to stop!” He stopped; she burst into tears and said, “I have a brother who is dying. For God’s sake, carry me to him so I may see him.” He was moved and sent her off with two witnesses. She came to a house, entered it, and the house belonged to her lover.

Her husband arrived, asked the neighbours, and they told him what had happened. He went to the judge, shouting, “She has no brother, and I will not leave you until you bring her back to me!⦗4⦘” The judge was bewildered, so he took the man to al-Ḥākim and cried out for pardon. Al-Ḥākim ordered him to ride with the two witnesses. They found the woman and the young man wrapped in a single waist-cloth, with only a veil over them⦗5⦘, and they were brought in just as they were found.

Al-Ḥākim questioned her; she referred him to the youth, who said, “She burst in on me and claimed she had no husband.” She was wrapped in a reed mat⦗6⦘ and burned, while the youth was flogged one thousand lashes⦗7⦘.

As for Damascus, several governors held office there for al-Ḥākim, but he never allowed a deputy to remain long before dismissing him.