years; yet all the same, move my belongings over to you, for the one I most fear for your sake is my sister—indeed, she is the one I most fear for myself as well.”
He therefore transferred his possessions to his mother. In his chests there were nearly 300,000 dinars in cash together with jewels.
His mother said to him, “My lord, if matters are as you say, then have mercy on me and do not go anywhere on this night.” It was, however, his custom to circle the palace every evening, so he made his round and then returned, sleeping until nearly the final third of the night. On waking he said, “If I do not ride out tonight, my very soul will suffocate.” He mounted a horse, accompanied only by a youth [and his groom], and ascended Mount al-Muqaṭṭam. There the two slave-assassins confronted him, pulled him from his mount, cut off his hands and feet, slit open his belly, and carried him away. They brought him to their master Ibn Dawwās, who in turn conveyed the corpse to al-Ḥākim’s sister; she buried him in the reception hall of her residence.
She then summoned the emirs, prominent leaders, and the vizier, having already informed him of the full story. They pledged allegiance to al-Ḥākim’s son, Abū’l-Ḥasan ʿAlī, bestowing on him the honorific “al-ẓāhir li-iʿzāz Dīn Allāh.” He was in Damascus, so she sent for him while telling the people, “Al-Ḥākim told me he would disappear for seven days and then pass away.” The populace took comfort in this.
At the same time she [kept] dispatching mounted couriers who would climb the mountain and return, saying, “We left him at such-and-such a spot,” while those who followed would say to [his mother], “We left him in another place,” until the people felt entirely reassured.
Her nephew eventually arrived from Damascus bringing 1,000,000 dinars and 2,000,000 dirhams. When he reached Cairo she placed on his head the diadem of al-Muʿizz, his great-grandfather, dressed him in a splendid robe, seated him on the throne, and the emirs and notables swore fealty to him. He distributed lavish sums to them, presented Ibn Dawwās with an imposing and ornate robe of honor, and observed a three-day mourning for her brother al-Ḥākim.
Afterward she sent to Ibn Dawwās a detachment of soldiers to stand before him in service with swords drawn. She later ordered them on a certain day to say to him, “You are the slayer of our master,” whereupon they struck him down with their swords—and so it was done. She then killed everyone privy to her secret in her brother’s murder, and thus her authority grew, her prestige was enhanced, and her power was firmly secured.
Al-Ḥākim was thirty-seven years old when he was killed, of which he had ruled for twenty-five years—may Allah curse him (1).
[Then came the year 412 AH.]
Among its events:
• The judge Abū Jaʿfar [Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad] al-Samnānī assumed oversight of the ḥisba and inheritance courts in Baghdad and was invested with a black robe.
• In the same year a group of [scholars and] Muslims said to the great king Yamīn al-Dawla Maḥmūd ibn Subuktakīn, “You are [the greatest] of the world’s kings. Each year you conquer a portion of the lands of unbelief and enmity, yet the route for the Ḥajj has been closed for many years. Opening it is more obligatory upon you than any other campaign.” He therefore instructed the Chief Judge, with the assistance of Abū Muḥammad al-Nāṣiḥī, to act as amīr al-ḥajj that year, and he sent with him 30,000 dinars for the Bedouin, in addition to the alms and provisions he supplied.