• In the same year, the caliph’s brother (1) died; the kettledrums were silenced for several days, and the vizier sat at Bāb al-Firdaws to receive condolences. Such is this world—a loan that must be repaid (2), joy mingled with sorrow, and sorrow followed by joy.

• In Ramadan, the vizier Aḥmad ibn al-Niẓām (3) was dismissed from office; his vizierate had lasted four years and eleven months (4).

• That year, the Franks besieged the city of Tyre. It was in Egyptian hands under the command of al-Aʿazz ibn Jahdham (5), who fought them fiercely and defended the city well until his supply of crossbow bolts and equipment was exhausted. The ruler of Damascus, Ṭughtakīn, reinforced him and sent him (6) arms and engines, whereupon the Franks withdrew in Shawwāl of that same year.

• The Commander of the Armies, Naẓar (7) the eunuch, led the people on the pilgrimage.
It was a year of plentiful harvests.

[Among the notable figures who died in that year]
Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī (8)—Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad, Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī—was born in 450 AH. He studied jurisprudence under Imām al-Ḥaramayn (9), excelled in many sciences, and produced works that are widespread across numerous disciplines. He was one of the keenest minds of his age in every field he addressed and attained eminence while still young: in 484 AH, at the age of thirty-four, he taught at the Niẓāmiyya in Baghdad. The leading scholars of that time (10) attended his lectures, and among those who sat with him were: