In short, that faction went into motion during this very year; their power then swelled and the situation grew ever more serious, as we shall relate, until matters reached the point that they forced their way into the Sacred Mosque, shed the blood of pilgrims in its very courtyard around the noble Kaʿbah, smashed the Black Stone, wrenched it from its setting, and carried it off to their own land in 317 AH. It remained with them until 339 AH, so that it was absent from its place for twenty-two years. To Allah we belong and to Him we return (1).

Two major events therefore coincided in this year: first, the emergence of those people; and second, the death of Ḥusām al-Islām, Naṣr al-Dīn Abū Aḥmad al-Muwaffaq—may Allah envelop him in mercy and lodge him in the spaciousness of His Garden through His bounty and grace. Yet Allah left the Muslims his son Abū’l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Abī Aḥmad al-Muwaffaq, known as al-Muʿtaḍid. Al-Muwaffaq Abū Aḥmad (2) was a resolute, courageous, formidable, generous, and widely praised leader.

Here follows the biographical notice of Abū Aḥmad al-Muwaffaq (3), may Allah have mercy on him:

He was the prince Nāṣir li-Dīn Allāh, al-Muwaffaq bi-Llāh, Abū Aḥmad Muḥammad—some say Ṭalḥa—son of al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allāh Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad al-Muʿtaṣim ibn Hārūn al-Rashīd. He was born on Wednesday, the 2nd of Rabīʿ al-Awwal 229 AH. When the caliphate devolved upon his brother al-Muʿtamid, the latter stipulated that succession should be his after his own son Jaʿfar, conferring on him the title al-Muwaffaq bi-Llāh. After the slaying of the Zanj leader and the rout of his army, he adopted the honorific Nāṣir li-Dīn Allāh. Thenceforth the power of binding and releasing, of appointment and dismissal, lay in his hands; the taxes were collected for him, and his name was pronounced from the pulpits: “O Allah, set aright the prince Nāṣir li-Dīn Allāh, Abū Aḥmad al-Muwaffaq bi-Llāh, the heir-apparent of the Muslims, brother of the Commander of the Faithful.”

He died six months before his brother al-Muʿtamid—may Allah show him mercy. He possessed penetrating intelligence and sound judgment, [was munificent, open-handed, extolled, brave, daring, eminent, delightful in conversation and company, equitable, and of commendable conduct] (4). He would hold open courts for grievances with the judges beside him, granting the wronged their due from the wrong-doer. He was versed in literature, genealogy, jurisprudence, the governance of kings, and much else besides; his virtues and exploits are far too numerous to list.

The cause of his death was that gout struck him while on campaign. He then returned to Baghdad in that condition and settled in his residence.