Ibn al-Jawzī relates:

“On that very night a multitude of stars fell over Baghdad and Kūfah in a fashion the like of which had never been witnessed, nor anything even approaching it.

He adds: “Prices that year became so exorbitant that a kur of wheat was sold for one hundred and twenty dinars (1).”

In the same year—according to the soundest report—Mardāwīj ibn Ziyyār the Daylamī was killed. May Allah disgrace him; he was vile in both conduct and creed. He claimed that the spirit of Solomon son of David had descended into him—he even sat upon a throne of gold—and that the Turks who stood before him were the very jinn subjected to Solomon. Thus he treated them harshly and despised them utterly, continuing in that manner until Allah enabled them to seize him. They slew him in the worst possible way, ambushing him in a bathhouse. The one who abetted his killing was his Turkish slave Bujkum—may Allah reward him with good for what he did on behalf of Islam and its people.

At that time Rukn al-Dawlah ibn Būyah was being held by Mardāwīj as a hostage. When the latter was killed, he was released from his fetters and prison. He went to his brother ʿImād al-Dawlah, and a group of Turks accompanied him. Another contingent of Turks rallied to Bujkum; with the caliph’s permission he led them to Baghdad, after which they were transferred to Basra, where they remained.

As for the Daylam, they sent for Mardāwīj’s brother Washmkīr. When he arrived they met him part-way along the road, barefoot and on foot, and set him over them so that their sovereignty would not be lost. Al-Saʿīd Naṣr ibn Aḥmad al-Sāmānī, ruler of Khurāsān and the surrounding regions, then set out against him and wrested from him a number of great cities.

In the same year the Fāṭimid caliph al-Qāʾim bi-Amr Allāh dispatched a fleet from Ifrīqiyah toward the lands of the Franks. They captured the city of Genoa, seized abundant spoils and wealth, and returned safely, laden with booty.

That year as well, ʿImād al-Dawlah ibn Būyah sent his brother Rukn al-Dawlah to Isfahān. He took possession of the city and of the Jabal district, whereby ʿImād al-Dawlah’s dominion expanded, his power grew firmer, and his prestige became great.

During the same year Khurāsān suffered severe famine and widespread mortality, to the point that people were preoccupied with how to bury the dead.

Also in this year Nāṣir al-Dawlah Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥamdān, governor of Mosul, killed his uncle Abū al-ʿAlāʾ Saʿīd ibn Ḥamdān because the latter had sought to wrest the city from him. The caliph therefore dispatched his vizier Abū ʿAlī ibn Muqla at the head of troops against him, whereupon Nāṣir al-Dawlah fled. Ibn Muqla remained for a long time in Mosul [yet was unable to seize Nāṣir al-Dawlah] (2) and finally returned to Baghdad. Nāṣir al-Dawlah thus retained control of Mosul. He then wrote to the caliph requesting the tax-farm of that province; his request was granted, and affairs accordingly remained as they were.

The pilgrims set out, but the Qarmaṭī confronted them at al-Qādisiyyah. They fought him, yet he defeated them. They then sought safe-conduct; he granted it on condition that they turn back to Baghdad. They did so, and the pilgrimage for that year was once again suspended (3).