In Dhu al-Hijjah of that same year the Chief Judge, Abu Muhammad ibn Maʿruf, accepted the testimony of the ḥāfiẓ Abu al-Hasan al-Daraqutni and of Abu Muhammad ibn ʿUqbah. It was later related that al-Daraqutni regretted this, saying, “My word about the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to be accepted on its own, whereas now my word about a mere bundle of greens is not accepted unless someone else corroborates it. There is no power and no strength (1) except through Allah, the Most High, the Almighty.”

[Then came the year 377 AH]

In Safar of that year a council was convened in the caliph’s presence, attended by the judges and the leading figures of state. The oath of allegiance between al-Taʾiʿ li-Allah and Sharaf al-Dawla ibn ʿAḍud al-Dawla was renewed; it was a memorable day.

Then, in Rabiʿ al-Awwal, Sharaf al-Dawla rode from his residence in the quarter of Ṭayyar to the caliphal palace. The city was adorned, and the trumpets [buqāt] and (2) the drums and great kettledrums were sounded. The caliph invested him with robes of honor, placed a collar and a belt upon him, granted him two standards, assigned him authority over the territory beyond his residence, and appointed him his deputy there. Among those who accompanied Sharaf al-Dawla was the judge Abu Muhammad ʿUbayd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Maʿruf.

When the caliph saw him he recited:
“Welcome, O beloved ones who have arrived;
How long you left us lonely who once delighted us!”

The judge kissed the ground before the caliph. When the oath was concluded, Sharaf al-Dawla entered to see his sister, the caliph’s wife, and remained with her until the ʿAsr prayer while the people awaited him. He then emerged, returned to his residence to receive congratulations, and both elite and commoners came to felicitate him.

During that year prices soared to an extreme degree, followed by widespread mortality.

That same year the mother of Sharaf al-Dawla—a Turkish concubine—died, and the caliph came in person to offer his condolences.

In that year as well Sharaf al-Dawla was blessed with twin sons, and he was congratulated on both of them (3). Allah knows best.

Among the notable deaths of that year was Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, Abu Ḥāmid al-Marwazi, known as Ibn al-Ṭabarī. He was a ḥāfiẓ of hadith, devoted in worship, proficient and insightful in the traditions, versatile, and a Hanafi jurist. He had studied under Abu al-Hasan al-Karkhi (4), authored works on jurisprudence and history, and served as Chief Judge in Khurasan. Later, having reached advanced age, he came to Baghdad, taught there, and people wrote down his narrations based on selections approved by al-Daraqutni.