and the witnesses were in attendance to renew the oath of allegiance to Sharaf al-Dawla. When the Caliph learned of this, he imagined that the pledge concealed a wrongful intention against him, so he sent word to the judge and the leading dignitaries, prohibiting them from attending. A dispute thus arose between the Caliph and Sharaf al-Dawla, but they subsequently reconciled and cleared the air, each renewing his pledge to the other.

In this year no pilgrim set out from either Iraq or Khurasan. It so happened, however, that one of the commanders in the service of Maḥmūd ibn Subuktakīn attended the pilgrimage that year. The ruler of Egypt sent with him sumptuous robes of honor to be delivered to Maḥmūd ibn Subuktakīn. When the commander returned with them to his master, King Maḥmūd forwarded the robes to Baghdad, where they were burned at the Nubian Gate in deference to the Abbasid Caliph al-Qādir—may Allah have mercy on him and reward him handsomely for his intention and his virtuous conduct.

Among the notable deaths that occurred this year was that of Aḥmad ibn Maḥmūd ibn ʿUmar (1) ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿUbayd ibn ʿAmr ibn Khālid (2), Abū al-Faraj al-Muʿaddil, known as Ibn al-Muslima. Born in 337 AH, he heard ḥadith from his father, Aḥmad ibn Kāmil, al-Nakhād, al-Khaṭṭābī (3), Daʿlaj ibn Aḥmad, and others. He was reliable, lived in the eastern quarter of Baghdad, and at the beginning of every year would dictate a session in Muḥarram. Intelligent, virtuous, and generous, his house was a favorite gathering place for scholars. He had studied jurisprudence under Abū Bakr al-Rāzī, fasted perpetually, and each day recited one-seventh of the Quran, repeating that very portion during his night vigil. He died in Dhū al-Qaʿda of this year—may Allah, Exalted is He, have mercy upon him.

Also among them was Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad (5) ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Qāsim ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Saʿīd ibn Abān al-Ḍabbī, Abū al-Ḥasan al-Maḥāmilī—so called because he dealt in mahāmil (the litters on which travelers are carried).