He heard ḥadith from al-Ḥasan ibn ʿArafah, al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār, Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj, and others, while al-Dāraqutnī and a group of leading ḥuffāẓ narrated from him. He was reliable, quick-witted, possessed an extensive collection of reports, praised for his religious commitment, and famous for his devotion. He passed away in Jumādā al-Ākhirah of this very year, having completed ninety-seven (1) years, eight months, and twenty-one days.
al-Majnūn al-Baghdādī (2). Ibn al-Jawzī reports, through Abū Bakr al-Shiblī, that he said: “I saw a madman at the Rusāfah Mosque, completely unclothed, crying out, ‘I am Allah’s madman! I am Allah’s madman!’ I said to him, ‘What is the matter with you? Why do you not cover yourself, go into the mosque, and pray?’ Whereupon he recited:
‘They say, “Come visit us and pay the debt our right imposes—
yet my condition has relieved me of their claims upon me.
If they behold my state and feel no shame because of it,
shall I then be ashamed of them on their account?’ (3)
[Then the year 332 AH began.]
In that year al-Muttaqī left Baghdad for Mosul in anger at the amīr al-umarāʾ Tuzūn, who was then in Wāsiṭ and had married his daughter to Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Buraydī; the two thus stood united against the caliph. Tuzūn dispatched Ibn Shīrzād with three hundred mamlūks to Baghdad, where he sowed disorder, severed and forged alliances at will, and assumed sole control of affairs without consulting al-Muttaqī li-llāh. The caliph therefore grew wrathful and departed the city, furious with him (4), accompanied by his household, children, vizier, and the commanders and notables of Baghdad who followed him, heading toward the two Ḥamdānid brothers. Sayf al-Dawlah met him at Tikrīt, and soon afterward Nāṣir al-Dawlah joined him there as well.
Once the caliph had gone, Ibn Shīrzād intensified his corruption in Baghdad, oppressed its inhabitants, and confiscated their wealth. He sent word to Tuzūn, who hastened toward Tikrīt. Battle was joined between him and Sayf al-Dawlah ibn Ḥamdān, and Sayf al-Dawlah was defeated; his camp and that of his brother Nāṣir al-Dawlah were captured. Sayf al-Dawlah rallied and attacked again, but Tuzūn defeated him a second time. Al-Muttaqī, Nāṣir al-Dawlah, and Sayf al-Dawlah then retreated from Mosul to Nisibis.
Tuzūn entered Mosul and sent to the caliph seeking his favor. The caliph replied, “There is no path to that unless you make peace with Banū Ḥamdān.” Peace was therefore concluded, and Nāṣir al-Dawlah undertook to pay three million six hundred thousand for the lands of Mosul. Tuzūn returned to Baghdad, while the caliph remained with Banū Ḥamdān.