and that will bring no benefit to his companion—whoever that companion may be.

Then the year 499 AH began.

In Muharram of that year a man in the environs of Nahāwand claimed prophethood. He named four of his followers after the four Rightly Guided Caliphs—Abu Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, and ʿAlī. A crowd of ignorant rabble followed him in this misguidance, sold their properties, and delivered the proceeds to him. He was open-handed, giving whatever he possessed to anyone who came to him. In the end he was killed in that region—may Allah curse him.

At the same time, a descendant of Alp Arslān there sought to seize the throne; his bid never succeeded, and he was captured in less than two months. People therefore said, “A man claimed prophethood and another claimed kingship, and their realms disappeared with unparalleled speed.” (1)

In Rajab of that year the Tigris rose to an extraordinary height, destroying a large amount of produce and flooding many houses in Baghdad. (2)

In the same year, Ṭughtakīn, atabeg of the armies in Damascus, routed the Franks. He returned to Damascus aided by Allah and victorious, and the city was adorned with remarkable and pleasing decorations in celebration of his defeat of the Franks. (3)

In Ramadan King Riḍwān ibn Tutush, ruler of Aleppo, laid siege to the city of Nisibis.

That year as well, one of the kings of the Mulaththamūn (Veiled Ones) arrived in Baghdad, accompanied by a man known as “the Jurist.” The latter preached to the people in the Palace Mosque while still veiled, after which they returned to Egypt. He fought many battles against the Franks and was martyred in some of them.

The pilgrims from Iraq were led by a man related to Sayf al-Dawlah, named Ṣadaqa.

Among the notable deaths that year was Sahl ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī al-Arghiyānī (4), Abū al-Fath al-Ḥākim. He heard hadith from al-Bayhaqī and others, adopted the methodology of Qāḍī Ḥusayn—who praised him for that—and he had