In the course of that same month the people of the Suwad—the rural districts of lower Iraq—fled in all directions because of the severity of the plague and the sharp decline in the waters of the Tigris.

The pilgrimage was led by the noble sharif Abū Ṭālib al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad al-Zaynabī, who in the Two Holy Sanctuaries took the oath of allegiance for the caliph al-Muqtadī.

[Among the notable figures who died this year]

• The caliph al-Qāʾim bi-Amr Allāh (1); we gave some account of his life at the time of his death.

• Al-Dāʾūdī (2), the transmitter of Sahih al-Bukhari: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Muẓaffar ibn Muḥammad ibn Dāwūd, Abū al-Ḥasan (3) ibn Abī Ṭalḥah al-Dāʾūdī.
Born in 374 AH, he heard a vast body of hadith, studied jurisprudence under Shaykh Abū Ḥāmid al-Isfarāyinī and Abū Bakr al-Qaffāl, kept company with Abū ʿAlī al-Qāq and Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī, copied many books, taught, issued legal opinions, authored works, and preached to the people. He excelled in both verse and prose, and was at the same time constant in remembrance of Allah—his tongue rarely paused from dhikr. The vizier Niẓām al-Mulk once visited him and sat before him, whereupon the shaykh said, “Allah has given you authority over His servants, so consider well what answer you will give Him when He asks you about them.” He died this year in Būshanj (4), having passed the age of ninety.
Of his fine poetry are the lines:
Fellowship once glimmered with light,
but the light has gone and the darkness grown deep.
Both men and the age have become corrupt—
so peace be upon men and the age alike.

• Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī al-Ṭayyib al-Bākharzī (5), the celebrated poet. He first pursued learning under Abū Muḥammad al-Jūwaynī, then turned to chancery work and poetry, outshining his contemporaries. He left a dīwān of verse noted for its high quality and craftsmanship. Among his poetry are the following lines: