who had borne him two sons; he intended to castrate them and shut them up in a church so that they would never be fit to reign. When their mother understood what he meant to do, she plotted against him and secretly won over the emirs (1); they killed him while he was asleep and placed her elder son upon the throne.

In Rabiʿ al-Awwal (2) Abu Bakr Aḥmad ibn Sayyār was dismissed from the judiciary and Abu Muḥammad ibn Maʿrūf was restored to the post.

Ibn al-Jawzī said: In this same year the Tigris fell so low that even the wells dried up, and the pilgrimage was led by the noble al-Sharīf Abu Aḥmad al-Naqīb (3).

He added: In Dhu al-Ḥijjah a star shot across the sky, so bright that the whole earth was illuminated as though by the sun; afterwards a sound like thunder was heard (4).

Ibn al-Athīr said: In Muḥarram of this year the khuṭbah in Damascus was delivered for al-Muʿizz the Fatimid by order of Jaʿfar ibn Falaḥ, whom Jawhar the Commander had sent from Egypt to Syria. Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṭughj met him at Ramla, but Ibn Falaḥ defeated him, took him captive, and sent him to Jawhar, who forwarded him to al-Muʿizz in Ifrīqiyah. Thus the Fatimids also secured control of Damascus after a series of campaigns too lengthy to recount, the affair dragging on until the end of the year (5).

In the same year strife broke out between Nāṣir al-Dawlah ibn Ḥamdān and his son Abū Taghlib. When Muʿizz al-Dawlah ibn Būyah died, Abū Taghlib and those of his house who sided with him resolved to march on Baghdad and seize the kingdom of Iraq. Their father said to them, “Muʿizz al-Dawlah (6) has left his son a vast fortune; so long as it is in his hands you will not be able to overcome him. Be patient until he squanders it, for he is prodigal; once he is bankrupt, rise against him and you are sure to prevail.” Abū Taghlib resented his father for this counsel and hounded him until he confined him in the citadel. The brothers then quarreled among themselves, formed rival factions, and proved too weak to hold what they possessed. Abū Taghlib therefore wrote to ʿIzz al-Dawlah and leased from him the lands of Mosul for one million dirhams annually. The death of his father Nāṣir al-Dawlah occurred in this same year, and Abū Taghlib settled in Mosul as its ruler; but they remained divided and at war, and so they perished—had they been united, they would have gained dominion (7).

During this year the Byzantine king entered Tripoli, burned much of it, seized the fortress of ʿArafah, plundered it, and carried off its inhabitants as captives. The ruler of Tripoli himself was inside the fortress, having taken refuge there after the townspeople expelled him on account of his harsh tyranny.