the people understood that as well and sent word to him, saying:
“We too are heading for Cairo.”
He therefore ordered the slave-soldiers to hold back—but only after they had already burned a third of Miṣr, plundered and taken half of its inhabitants captive. The townsfolk then had to buy back their women from the slaves after the latter had raped them.
Some ignorant riff-raff, whenever they caught sight of al-Ḥākim, would chant:
“O One, O Unique, O Giver of life, O Bringer of death!”
He next estranged his sister Sitt al-Mulk by sending her vile letters accusing her of adultery. Enraged, she began corresponding with the amir Ibn Dawwās, who lived in fear of al-Ḥākim. She then went to him secretly; he kissed her foot, and she said,
“I have come on a matter that will safeguard both my life and yours.”
He replied, “I am your servant.”
She said, “You and we alike are in danger from this man. He has torn up the code our forefathers established, his madness has only grown, and he is doing things no Muslim can endure. I fear that if he is killed, we shall be killed with him and this dynasty will come to the worst possible end.”
He said, “You speak the truth—what do you propose?”
She answered, “Swear to me, and I will swear to you, that we keep this hidden.”
They therefore agreed to assassinate him, install his son, and make Ibn Dawwās his atabeg⦗1⦘. “Choose two slaves,” she said, “whom you can trust with your secret.”
He brought two brave, trustworthy slaves; she made them swear an oath and gave each of them a thousand dinars and an estate.
She continued, “Lie in wait for him on the mountain. Tomorrow he will ride up there with only a groom and a servant. He will then separate from the two of them—at that point, he is yours.”
Al-Ḥākim, who consulted the stars, had been assured that if he survived the present danger he would live past eighty.
He informed his mother, handed her the key to a treasury containing three hundred thousand dinars, and said, “Transfer it to your palace.” She wept and said, “If you are convinced of this, then do not ride out tonight.”
He replied, “Very well.”
He used to patrol⦗2⦘ with a number of men; he did so that evening and then slept. But in the last third of the night he awoke and said, “If I do not mount and take a look around, I shall die of frustration.”
Dressed in dark clothes, he mounted, ascended the mountain with a young boy, and the two slaves charged at him…

⦗1⦘ Atabeg: the military guardian and tutor of a minor ruler.
⦗2⦘ Used to make the night rounds as a watchman.