Ṭalāʾiʿ ibn Ruzzīk (1) installed al-ʿĀḍid after al-Fāʾiz; the youth remained entirely under his guardian’s control, with no power to loose or bind.

Al-ʿĀḍid himself was abusive, vile, and dull-witted. Qadi Shams al-Din Ibn Khallikan relates: “Whenever he set eyes on a Sunni, he deemed the man’s blood lawful to spill. His vizier, al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Ṭalāʾiʿ, governed in a reprehensible manner: he hoarded grain, executed a number of commanders, weakened the state by killing men of insight and courage, confiscated property, and ruled with tyranny (2).”

During al-ʿĀḍid’s reign Ḥusayn ibn Nizār ibn al-Mustanṣir ibn al-Ẓāhir, an ʿUbaydid claimant, advanced from the Maghrib with a large force. As he neared Egypt, his own confidants betrayed him, arrested him, and delivered him to al-ʿĀḍid, who slaughtered him in 557 AH (3).

Al-ʿĀḍid then married Ṭalāʾiʿ’s daughter. Soon after, Ṭalāʾiʿ began withholding the stipends of the army and the emirs, so they— with al-ʿĀḍid’s consent— conspired to kill him. A group lay in wait for him inside the palace and wounded him; his mamluks burst in, slew the attackers, and carried Ṭalāʾiʾ away, but he did not live till nightfall. That occurred in Ramadan 556 AH (4).

His son, al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Ruzzīk (5), succeeded him. Ruzzīk was a polished poet, staunch in his Rafidite creed, generous and courageous. He engaged in debates on the imamate and on predestination, and three nights before his death (6) he composed the following lines: