His power continued to mount in Shawwāl, so the vizier dispatched an army against him. They engaged him, routed him, killed a great many of his followers, and scattered the rest. This pretender was in fact the head of the Ismāʿīlīs and their very first leader.

Nāzūk, the deputy (1) of the police, captured three of al-Ḥallāj’s adherents—Ḥaydarah, al-Shaʿrānī, and Ibn Manṣūr. He ordered them to renounce [their belief in him] (2), but they refused; he therefore struck off their heads and crucified them on the eastern side of the city.

That year no one from Iraq performed the ḥajj, so great was the people’s fear of the Qarmaṭians—may Allah curse them.

Among the notable deaths this year was that of Ibrāhīm ibn Khams (3), Abū Isḥāq al-Zāhid of Nīshāpūr. He used to admonish the people, and among his fine sayings were:
“Destiny laughs at caution; the appointed term laughs at hope; pre-ordainment laughs at human planning; and the allotted share laughs at toil and hardship.”

ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Furāt (4), Abū al-Ḥasan the vizier: al-Muqtadir appointed him, dismissed him, reinstated him, dismissed him again, reinstated him a third time, and finally killed him in this very year [together with his son] (5). He possessed an immense fortune: ten million dinars, with an annual income of one million from his estates. Each month he provided stipends for five thousand scholars and worshipers—may Allah reward him. He was capable, energetic, and well-versed in the duties of the vizierate and in accounting. It is said that on one day he reviewed a thousand documents and endorsed a thousand petitions, to the astonishment of all present. He was noted for dignity, generosity, and good conduct in his periods of office—save the third, during which he oppressed people, acted tyrannically, and confiscated their wealth (6); whereupon Allah seized him with the punishment of the Almighty, the All-Powerful (7). Still, he was open-handed and lavish in expenditure: on one evening the discussion turned to hadith scholars, Sufis, men of letters, poets, and the poor, and he at once disbursed twenty thousand dinars to each group from his own funds.

A man forged a letter in his name to the governor of Egypt, recommending the bearer. When the addressee read it he became suspicious, saying, “This is not his handwriting.” He forwarded it to the vizier, and when the vizier examined it he recognized the fabrication and forgery, so he consulted