dinars, which he ordered to be distributed among them in proportion to their respective shares. He then directed that a large sum be disbursed to the poor of Damascus and its Ghūṭah, and the smallest amount any needy person received was one dinar (1). May Allah have mercy on him.

He next set out for Antioch, besieged its ruler Sīma until he killed him, and then took possession of the city, as we have mentioned earlier.

His death occurred in Egypt at the beginning of Dhū al-Qaʿdah of this same year. The illness was brought on by drinking buffalo milk, which caused him dysentery (2). The physicians treated him and advised him to abstain from it (3), but he refused, continuing to drink it in secret until he died—may Allah have mercy on him.

He left behind an immense quantity of wealth, furnishings, and livestock, including ten million dinars. He had thirty-three children, seventeen of whom were sons. His son Khumārawayh assumed authority after him, and we shall relate (4) what befell him in its proper place.

He owned twenty-four thousand slave boys, seven thousand retainers, and a vast number of mules, horses, and camels.

Ibn Khallikān (5) said: “He only seized control of the provinces because al-Muwaffaq Ṭalḥah ibn al-Mutawakkil was preoccupied with the war against the leader of the Zanj. Al-Muwaffaq was the deputy of his brother al-Muʿtamid (6) ʿalā Allah and the father of al-Muʿtaḍid—may Allah be pleased with them.”

Among those who died this year were Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Sahl the secretary, author of the book al-Kharāj, as recorded by Ibn Khallikān (7); Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Barqī (8); and Usayd ibn ʿĀṣim al-Jammāl (9).