we have already mentioned (1), a sumptuous banquet was held in the house of Ibn al-ʿAmīd in Isfahan, attended by Rukn al-Dawlah, his sons, and the leading figures of his government. On that occasion Rukn al-Dawlah (2) entrusted authority to his son ʿAḍud al-Dawlah, and ʿAḍud al-Dawlah bestowed upon his two brothers (3) and upon all the emirs the customary Daylamite cloaks and capes, while sprigs of basil were offered in greeting, as was also their custom (4). It was a memorable day.

Shortly thereafter, within this same year, Rukn al-Dawlah died (5). He had been a prudent and patient statesman—dignified, abundantly charitable, a lover of scholars—marked by self-denial and generosity (6), pleasant companionship and sound leadership, and compassionate toward his relatives, his household, and his subjects.

When ʿAḍud al-Dawlah had consolidated his power, he set out for Iraq to wrest it from his cousin ʿIzz al-Dawlah Bakhtiyār because of the latter’s misrule and corrupt character. They met that year in the province of Ahwaz, where ʿAḍud al-Dawlah defeated him, seized his baggage and wealth, dispatched troops to Basra, captured the city, and reconciled its two long-feuding clans, Rabiʿah and Muḍar, whose dispute had lasted about one hundred and twenty years. Muḍar inclined toward him, while Rabiʿah were opposed to him; yet the two clans ultimately agreed and united under his authority. Thus the strength of ʿAḍud al-Dawlah increased, he deposed ʿIzz al-Dawlah, and arrested his vizier Ibn Bakiya for having monopolized affairs and funneled revenues into his own coffers. ʿAḍud al-Dawlah (7) made good use of the considerable stores (8) he found among Ibn Bakiya’s possessions, leaving him nothing of them.

ʿAḍud al-Dawlah likewise (9) ordered the arrest of his father’s vizier, Abūʾl-Fath ibn al-ʿAmīd, because of a previous grievance against him—mentioned earlier (10)—so that the family of al-ʿAmīd, too, disappeared from the land. The grandees had once stood in awe of them, for Ibn al-ʿAmīd (11) had occupied a foremost place in immorality and defiance; but fate betrayed him, the ruler’s wrath overtook him swiftly (12), and we seek refuge in Allah from the wrath of the Most Merciful.

In mid-Shawwāl of this year the amir Manṣūr ibn Nūḥ al-Sāmānī, ruler of Khurasan with Bukhara as his capital, passed away after reigning for fifteen years. His son Abūʾl-Qāsim Nuh succeeded him (13) at the age of thirteen, assuming the honorific title al-Manṣūr (14).