It is a long elegy, large portions of which Ibn al-Athīr reproduced in his al-Kāmil (1).

Account of the killing of ʿIzz al-Dawlah Bakhtiyār ibn Muʿizz al-Dawlah and of ʿAḍud al-Dawlah’s seizure of Mosul and its districts

When ʿAḍud al-Dawlah entered Baghdad, took it from ʿIzz al-Dawlah, and drove him out in humiliation and exile with only a handful of men, Bakhtiyār resolved to march on Syria and occupy it. Before letting him depart, however, ʿAḍud al-Dawlah had made him swear that he would not molest Abū Taghlib, the ruler of Mosul, because there was friendship and correspondence between the two; Bakhtiyār duly swore to that.

As he left Baghdad he was accompanied by Ḥamdān ibn Nāṣir al-Dawlah ibn Ḥamdān, who urged ʿIzz al-Dawlah to seize the lands of Mosul [from Abū Taghlib] (2), saying that they were more fertile, richer in revenue [than Syria] (2), and nearer to him [at present] (2). Now ʿIzz al-Dawlah was feeble-minded and lacking in religion. When Abū Taghlib learned of the scheme he sent word to ʿIzz al-Dawlah, saying: “If you send me my brother (3) Ḥamdān ibn Nāṣir al-Dawlah, I will aid you with my army and in person until I restore you to the throne of Baghdad and fight at your side against ʿAḍud al-Dawlah.”

Accordingly, ʿIzz al-Dawlah seized Ḥamdān and dispatched him to his brother (4) Abū Taghlib, who imprisoned him in one of his fortresses. News of this reached ʿAḍud al-Dawlah, and he realized that the two had joined forces to wage war on him. He therefore set out against them with his army. He wanted the Caliph al-Ṭāʾiʿ to accompany him, but the Caliph excused himself and was excused.

ʿAḍud al-Dawlah continued his advance until he met them in battle, shattered their forces, and routed them. He captured ʿIzz al-Dawlah alive; when the prisoner was brought before him he refused him an audience and instead sent someone to kill him on the spot. He then marched straight on, captured Mosul and its dependencies—having brought with him ample supplies—and Abū Taghlib scattered through the countryside. ʿAḍud al-Dawlah dispatched detachments in every direction after him.

He remained in Mosul, tightening the noose on Abū Taghlib throughout the region and taking over most of that territory by virtue of his harshness, courage, high ambition, and firm resolve. He stayed in Mosul until the end of the year sixty-eight (5), during which time he conquered Mayyāfāriqīn, Āmid, and other towns in the lands of Bakr and Rabīʿah. He likewise took possession of the regions of Muḍar from the deputies of Abū Taghlib: from them he seized al-Raḥbah and returned the remainder to the ruler of Aleppo (6), Saʿd al-Dawlah ibn Sayf al-Dawlah ibn Ḥamdān.

Saʿd al-Dawlah then asserted control over his uncle Abū Taghlib’s domains, accepting them town by town, and when he returned