In that same year
Jalal al-Dawlah seized Basra and dispatched his son al-ʿAzīz to govern it. There he had the Friday sermon delivered in his father’s name, and Abu Kālījār’s name was struck from the khutbah for that year and the one that followed. Basra was later wrested from Jalal al-Dawlah’s control, his son was expelled, and the sermon once again bore the name of Abu Kālījār.
In this year as well, the Turks rebelled against King Jalal al-Dawlah because their stipends were overdue. They forced him out of his residence, placed him under guard in his own mosque, and expelled his womenfolk. Under cover of night he made his way to the house of al-Sharīf al-Murtaḍā and stayed there. The Turks then reconciled with him, swore obedience and loyalty, and he returned to his home. Meanwhile the ʿayyārūn multiplied in Baghdad and tyrannized the people day and night, in secret and in public.
No one from Iraq or Khurasan performed the pilgrimage that year because the roads were unsafe.
Among the notable deaths that year
• Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Aḥmad (1), Abū l-Ḥusayn the preacher, popularly known as Ibn al-Sammāk. Born in 330 AH, he heard hadith from Jaʿfar al-Khuldī and others, preached in the Manṣūr and Mahdī mosques, and spoke in the Sufi idiom. Some leading scholars criticized him and accused him of fabrication. He died this year at the age of ninety-four and was buried at Bāb Ḥarb—and Allah, exalted is He, knows best.
Then the year 425 AH began.
In it
the Sultan Masʿūd ibn Maḥmūd ibn Subuktigīn campaigned in India, capturing many forts. During the siege of a particularly strong citadel, an aged sorceress emerged from the walls holding a broom, wetted it, and sprinkled water toward the Muslim camp. That very night Sultan Masʿūd fell gravely ill, so he withdrew from the fortress; once he had moved some distance away he recovered completely and returned safely to Ghazna.
In the same year
al-Basāsīrī assumed responsibility for guarding the western quarter of Baghdad after the ʿayyārūn grew ever more violent and corrupt.
Also that year
Sinān ibn Sayf al-Dawlah ʿArīb ibn Muḥammad ibn Maʿān succeeded to authority after his father’s death. He sought out his uncle Qirwāsh, who confirmed him and helped set his affairs in order.
And in that year
the Byzantine emperor Armanus died, and after him the throne passed to a man who was not of their royal line—for he had