and his wealth multiplied, to the point that he purchased a slave-girl for one thousand dinars. Once she was in his possession he sought intimacy with her, but she refused. He asked her(1), “What is it that you dislike about me?”(2) She answered, “I dislike you(3) entirely.”

“So what would you like?” he said. “Sell me,” she replied. “Shall I not do something better?” he responded. He therefore took her to the qadi, emancipated her, gave her a thousand dinars, and let her go. People were astonished at his forbearance and generosity despite his immorality and defiance(4).

Ibn al-Jawzi adds: News arrived in Muḥarram that during the pilgrimage season the khuṭbah in Mecca and Medina had been delivered in the name of al-Muʿizz the Fatimid, while al-Ṭāʿiʿ was not mentioned(5).

In Rajab of that same year prices in Baghdad rose so sharply that a kar(6) of fine white flour sold for one hundred and more than seventy dinars(7).

That year also witnessed the collapse of the authority of ʿAḍud al-Dawla ibn Rukn al-Dawla ibn Būyah. His troops dispersed until only Baghdad remained with him. He wrote to his father complaining about this(8). His father replied, reproaching him for his betrayal of his cousin ʿIzz al-Dawla. When the message reached him, he left Baghdad for Fars after releasing his cousin Bakhtiyār from prison, bestowing robes of honor upon him, and restoring him to his former post on condition that he act as his deputy in Iraq and that the khuṭbah there be pronounced in ʿAḍud al-Dawla’s name. He also placed his brother Abū Isḥāq, the commander of the armies, at Bakhtiyār’s side, judging ʿIzz al-Dawla too weak to manage affairs alone. ʿAḍud al-Dawla then proceeded to the lands of Fars—all in obedience to his father’s orders and because of his father’s anger at him for mistreating his cousin, a matter his father had repeatedly written to him about(9).

When ʿAḍud al-Dawla set out, he left behind his father’s vizier, Abū ʾl-Fatḥ ibn al-ʿAmīd, telling him to follow three days later. Ibn al-ʿAmīd, however, became absorbed in revelry, games, and amusement with ʿIzz al-Dawla. This created estrangement between ʿAḍud al-Dawla and Ibn al-ʿAmīd and ultimately led to Ibn al-ʿAmīd’s undoing.

Once ʿIzz al-Dawla had consolidated his rule in Baghdad and taken control of Iraq, he kept none of the promises he had made to his cousin ʿAḍud al-Dawla—neither those sworn openly nor those pledged in private. Instead, he persisted in his former waywardness and continued along the same course(10).