reciting to himself the sound ḥadith:
“No one is wounded in the cause of Allah—and Allah knows best who is wounded in His cause—but that he will come on the Day of Resurrection with his wound still bleeding; its color will be the color of blood while its fragrance will be the fragrance of musk.” (1)
He had once implored Allah, clinging to the curtains of the Kaʿbah, to grant him martyrdom, and Allah answered his plea.
Among his poetry are the following lines:
A captive of sins stands waiting at Your door,
trembling, for You know well what he conceals.
He dreads offences whose secrets are not hidden from You,
yet hopes in You concerning them—at once hopeful and afraid.
Who is there to be hoped in but You, to be feared but You,
when none can oppose Your final decree?
So, my Master, do not disgrace me through my record
when the scrolls are unrolled on the Day of Reckoning.
Be my companion in the darkness of the grave
when kinsfolk turn away and friends grow cold.
If Your boundless pardon, on which I rely
despite my excesses, should be withheld, I am undone.
[Then the year 404 AH began.]
On Thursday, the first day of Rabīʿ al-Awwal that year, the caliph al-Qādir bi-Allah sat in the splendor of the caliphate. Sultan al-Dawla, son of Bahāʾ al-Dawla, was ushered before him while the chamberlains stood in attendance. In keeping with custom, the caliph bestowed upon him seven robes of honor, turbaned him with a black turban, invested him with a sword, a jeweled crown, a bracelet, a torque, and two banners which the caliph tied with his own hand. He then handed a sword to a servant and said, “Gird him with it; it is a distinction for him and his posterity, with which he shall open the East and West of the earth.” It was a memorable day, witnessed by judges, commanders, ministers, notables, and dignitaries in the court of the caliphate.
In this year, Maḥmūd ibn Subuktigīn campaigned in the lands of India, conquering, killing, taking captives, seizing spoils, and returning safely. He wrote to the caliph al-Qādir requesting investiture over Khurāsān and the other territories in his possession, and the caliph granted it.
During the same year, the Banū Khafāja ravaged the region of Kūfah. Its deputy, Abū al-Ḥasan ibn Mazīd (2), marched out against them, inflicted heavy casualties, captured Muḥammad ibn Thimāl (3) along with a number of their chiefs, and put the rest to flight. Allah then sent upon them a scorching wind that destroyed five hundred of them. The leader of the pilgrimage that year was Abū al-Ḥasan Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Aqsasī.