himself al-Rāshid bi-Allāh. The people of Mecca sided with him, and he received a sizeable legacy from a man who had made a bequest in his favor; with that money his affairs took shape. He strapped on a sword that he claimed was Dhū al-Faqār, and in his hand he carried a staff which, he alleged, had belonged to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. He then set out for the territory of al-Ramla to enlist the support of the Arabs of Syria. They welcomed him warmly, kissed the ground before him, and greeted him as Commander of the Believers. He openly enjoined what is right, forbade what is wrong, and enforced the legal penalties.
Meanwhile, al-Ḥākim⦗1⦘, the ruler of Egypt—who that very year⦗2⦘ had succeeded his father al-ʿAzīz—sent courteous letters to the Arabs of Syria, promising them thousands in gold and sumptuous garments⦗3⦘; he did the same with the Arabs of the Ḥijāz. He appointed a governor over Mecca and dispatched to him a slave-girl together with fifty-thousand dinars. Thus al-Ḥākim’s⦗4⦘ position was consolidated, while the cause of al-Rāshid bi-Allāh fell apart. He slunk back to his homeland just as he had set out, returning in precisely the state in which he had departed; his fortunes waned, his bonds unraveled, and his men scattered. Allah does whatever He wills and chooses.
Among the notable deaths in this year were:
Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn⦗5⦘ ibn Mihrān⦗6⦘, Abū Bakr the Qurʾān-reciter. He died in Shawwāl at the age of eighty-six, and it so happened that on the very day he passed away, Abū al-Ḥasan al-ʿĀmirī, the philosopher, also died. One of the righteous saw Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn in a dream and asked him, “Master, what has Allah done with you?” He replied, “He placed Abū al-Ḥasan al-ʿĀmirī beside me and said, ‘This is your ransom from the Fire.’”
ʿUbayd Allāh⦗7⦘ ibn Aḥmad ibn Maʿrūf⦗8⦘, Abū Muḥammad, Chief Judge of Baghdad. He transmitted hadith from Ibn Ṣāʿid, and from him were transmitted by al-Khallāl, al-Azharī, and others. A trustworthy scholar, intelligent, astute, handsome in appearance, well dressed, and scrupulously disinterested in wealth, he was⦗9⦘ seventy-five years old when he died. Abū Aḥmad al-Mūsawī led the first funeral prayer over him, pronouncing the takbīr five times; then his son led a second prayer in the Manṣūr Mosque, pronouncing the takbīr four times. He was subsequently buried in his own house. May Allah have mercy on him.