, with many people dying beneath the rubble. Numerous bathhouses and mosques fell out of use because so few patrons remained, and real-estate prices plummeted until something that had once been worth a dinar was sold for a single dirham. Most houses stood empty; their owners would actually pay anyone who would live in them, so that he might guard them against intruders bent on vandalism. Night-time raids by thieves became rampant, to the point that people kept watch with horns and drums. Turmoil spread from every direction. To Allah we belong and to Him we return; we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our own souls and from the consequences of our misdeeds.

In Ramadan of this year the following death occurred (1):

Abū Tāhir Sulaymān ibn Abī Saʿīd al-Ḥasan al-Jannābī (2), of Hajar (3), the Qarmaṭī—leader of the Qarmaṭians—may Allah curse him. He is the one who massacred the pilgrims in and around the Kaʿbah, stripped it of its covering (4), its door, and its ornaments, tore the Black Stone from its corner, and carried it off to his home city of Hajar. It has remained in his possession ever since the year 317 AH, as we have noted (5), and those wretches did not return it until 339 AH, as will be mentioned (6).

When this Abū Tāhir died, leadership of the Qarmaṭians passed to his three brothers—Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Faḍl, Abū al-Qāsim Saʿīd, and Abū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf, the sons of Abī Saʿīd al-Jannābī—may Allah curse them. Abū al-ʿAbbās was physically weak and devoted himself to reading books, whereas Abū Yaʿqūb was given over to amusement and play. Yet (7) the three spoke with a single voice and differed over nothing. They also had seven ministers who were likewise of one mind—may Allah disgrace them all.

In Shawwāl of the same year Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Buraydī died, as we have mentioned, and the Muslims were rid of both him and the other.

[Among the notable figures who also died that year] was Abū al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿUqda the ḥāfiẓ (8), Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, Abū al-ʿAbbās, of Kūfah,