Al-Maʾmūn contracted the marriage with her at Fam al-Ṣulḥ in 202 AH, when she was ten years old. On that day her father scattered among the people pellets of musk; inside every pellet was a slip of paper bearing the name of a village, an estate, a female slave, a male slave, or a horse—whoever picked one up became its owner. He also showered the general public with gold dinars, lumps of musk (1) and egg-shaped pieces of ambergris. During the days of al-Maʾmūn’s stay he spent on the caliph and his army fifty million dirhams. When al-Maʾmūn (2) departed, he presented him with ten million dirhams and granted him Fam al-Ṣulḥ as a fief.
The marriage was consummated in 210 AH (3). When al-Maʾmūn took his seat, they spread before him a mat woven of gold and scattered at his feet a thousand pearls. Nearby stood a large golden basin (4) containing a candle of ambergris that weighed forty mann. He exclaimed, “This is extravagance!” Then, noticing how the pearls shone upon the mat, he added, “May Allah fight Abū Nuwās for saying in his description of wine (5):
As though the small and the large of its bubbles
Were pearls strewn upon a ground of gold.”
He ordered the pearls to be gathered and placed in her lap, saying, “This is a bridal gift (6) from me to you. Ask for whatever you wish.” Her grandmother urged her, “Ask your master, for he has invited you to speak.” She replied, “I ask the Commander of the Faithful to be pleased with Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mahdī,” and he granted her request.
He then wished to join her but found that she was menstruating; this was in the month of Ramadan. Al-Maʾmūn died in 218 AH, and she survived him until her own death this year, at the age of eighty.
[Then the year 272 AH began]
In Jumādā al-Ūlā of that year, the deputy of Qazwīn, Adhkutakīn, marched with four thousand fighters against Muḥammad ibn Zayd the ʿAlid, who had succeeded his brother al-Ḥasan ibn Zayd as ruler of Ṭabaristān. Muḥammad was in al-Rayy with a vast army of Daylamites and others. A fierce battle took place; Adhkutakīn (7) routed him, captured his camp, and killed six—