Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū ʿUmar Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr composed a work on his merits, may Allah Most High have mercy on him.

Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad (1) ibn al-Marzubān al-Baghdādī, the Shāfiʿī jurist, studied under Abū al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Qaṭṭān, and from him Shaykh Abū Ḥāmid al-Isfarāʾīnī took his learning. Ibn Khallikān said: “He was devout and ascetic; no one ever had a grievance against him. He enjoyed recognised standing within the school, held a teaching circle in Baghdad, and died in Rajab of this year (2).”

[Then entered the year 367 AH]

In this year ʿAḍud al-Dawlah entered Baghdad, while ʿIzz al-Dawlah Bakhtiyār ibn Muʿizz al-Dawlah left it. ʿAḍud al-Dawlah pursued him to fight him, taking with him the caliph al-Ṭāʾiʿ; the caliph asked to be excused from the expedition, so he excused him. ʿAḍud al-Dawlah went after Bakhtiyār, captured him, and soon had him killed, thus bringing his rule to an end. ʿAḍud al-Dawlah’s authority in Baghdad was now firmly established. The caliph invested him with splendid robes of honour, placed bracelets on his arms and a collar around his neck, and presented him with two standards—one silver, the other gold, the latter being granted only to heirs apparent. The caliph also sent him distinguished gifts, and ʿAḍud al-Dawlah forwarded to the caliph (3) large sums of gold and silver; his grip on Baghdad and the surrounding regions was thereby secured.

The earth quaked (4) repeatedly during this year. The Tigris rose to extraordinary levels, many houses in the city collapsed, and a vast multitude of people drowned.

It was said to ʿAḍud al-Dawlah, “The people of Baghdad have been greatly reduced by the plague, by the strife that has broken out between the Rāfiḍah and the Sunnah, and they have also been struck by a [great] (5) fire and flooding.” He replied, “What kindles [evil] (5) among the people over the issues of the Sunnah and the Rāfiḍah are these storytellers and preachers.” He therefore decreed that no one in all of Baghdad should tell stories or preach, and that no beggar should ask in the name of any of the Companions; rather, the beggar should recite Qur’an, and whoever wished to give him something might do so. The order was implemented in the city, and then word reached him