of the Qur’an. He handed me what was left and said, “Drink it with that intention.” I did so, and Allah granted me mastery of the Qur’an. (1)

He was known for his abundant acts of worship and rigorous spiritual discipline. Later, he voiced a legal opinion on the sale of clipped silver for full-weight coin; because of this he was banned from preaching and expelled from the city.

In this year: Tutush ibn Alp Arslan, the ruler of Damascus, had the Friday sermon delivered in his own name, claiming the sultanate. He asked the caliph to have the khuṭbah proclaimed for him in Iraq, but the matter was delayed on account of his nephew Barkiyāruq ibn Malikshāh. Tutush therefore marched on al-Raḥbah, accompanied in obedience by Aq-Sunqur, lord of Aleppo, and Būrān, lord of Edessa, and he captured the town. [He next advanced to Mosul, seized it from its ruler Ibrāhīm ibn Quraysh ibn Badrān, and routed the Banū ʿUqayl forces.] (2) He then executed many amirs [systematically]. He went on to take Diyār Bakr [appointing al-Kāfī ibn Fakhr al-Dawlah ibn Jahīr as vizier], (3) captured Hamadhān and Khilāṭ, conquered Azerbaijan, and his power became formidable. The two amirs Aq-Sunqur and Būrān subsequently deserted him and joined King Barkiyāruq. [Left alone, Tutush became the target of his brother; he retreated, and Qasīm al-Dawlah Aq-Sunqur and Būrān caught up with him at the gates of Aleppo, where he defeated them.] (4) He took Būrān and Aq-Sunqur prisoner and crucified them, [sending Būrān’s head to be paraded in Ḥarrān and Edessa, which he then annexed.] (5)

During the same year civil strife broke out between the Rāfiḍah and the Sunnis, unleashing much turmoil.

On the [second] of Shaʿbān the caliph was blessed with a son, al-Mustarshid billāh—Abū Manṣūr al-Faḍl ibn Abī al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad al-Mustaẓhir billāh ibn al-Muqtadī. The caliph rejoiced and named the fortunate child his heir.

In Dhū al-Qaʿdah Sultan Barkiyāruq entered Baghdad, [where Vizier Abū Manṣūr ibn Jahīr came out to greet him and convey the caliph’s congratulations on his arrival]. (6)

Also this year al-Mustanṣir al-ʿUbaydī captured the city of Tyre in greater Syria, and no one from Iraq performed the pilgrimage.

Among the notable deaths of the year was Jaʿfar, son of the Caliph al-Muqtadī billāh by al-Khātūn, daughter of Sultan Malikshāh. (7) He died in Jumādā al-Ūlā, and the vizier held a three-day condolence reception.