At first he had been one of Sultan Malik Shah ibn Alp Arslān, the Seljuq’s, closest confidants. His rank continued to rise until, on the recommendation of the vizier Niẓām al-Mulk, the sultan granted him Aleppo and its dependencies. He was counted among the very best of kings in conduct and sincerity; under his rule the populace enjoyed safety, low prices, and justice. He was eventually killed by Sultan Tāj al-Dawla Tutush, lord of Damascus.
The circumstances were these: Tutush sought his help, together with that of the rulers of Ḥarrān and al-Ruha (Edessa), in fighting his nephew Barkiyāruq ibn Malik Shah. They both abandoned him and fled, so he withdrew to Damascus. Once he had regained the upper hand, he marched out and engaged them at the Gate of Aleppo, slew them, and seized their territories—Aleppo excepted, for it later became the possession of Āqsunqur’s son Zangī. This took place in 523 AH, as will be detailed later.
Ibn Khallikān reports that he and Buzān (1), lord of al-Ruha, had both been mamluks of Sultan Malik Shah. When Tutush captured Aleppo he appointed Āqsunqur as his deputy there, but Āqsunqur rebelled. Tutush therefore advanced against him—having already taken Damascus—fought him, and killed him in that same year, in Jumādā al-Ūlā (2). After his death, his son ʿImād al-Dīn Zangī brought his body into Aleppo over the city wall and buried him in the Zujājiyya Madrasa.
Badr al-Jamālī (3), commander of the armies in Egypt and administrator of the Fatimid domains, was intelligent, magnanimous, and fond of scholars, providing them with an unbroken stipend. During the reign of al-Mustanṣir he wielded immense power: the reins of state revolved around his counsel, he conquered many lands, lived a long life, became widely renowned, and was praised by the poets. He died that year, in Dhū al-Qiʿdah, and after him his son al-Afḍal assumed control of affairs.
The caliph al-Muqtadī bi-Amr Allāh (4)—ʿAbd Allāh, son of the heir-apparent, Dakhīrat al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad, son of the Commander of the Faithful, the caliph al-Qāʾim bi-Amr Allāh ibn al-Qādir—has already had part of his biography mentioned when we recorded the death of the caliph (5).
The Fatimid caliph al-Mustanṣir (6), Maʿadd Abū Tamīm ibn Abī al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥākim, ruled for sixty years—an unprecedented tenure for any caliph before or after him. He had designated his son Nizār as successor, but al-Afḍal ibn Badr al-Jamālī deposed him after his father’s death and ordered the people to pledge allegiance to Abū al-Qāsim Aḥmad ibn al-Mustanṣir.