He regulated the affairs of the caliphate with precision, consolidated its administration, and knew its every detail; he possessed vast learning and outstanding merit. He also composed graceful poetry, some of which we cited earlier when discussing his accession (1) after his father. His body was washed by the imam Ibn ʿAqīl (2) together with Ibn al-Sayyib (3). The funeral prayer was led by his son, Abū Manṣūr al-Faḍl, who uttered the four takbīrs, and he was interred in the chamber where he had resided.
It is noteworthy that when Sultan Alp Arslān died, the Caliph al-Qāʾim bi-Amr Allāh died after him; when Sultan Malikshāh died, the Caliph al-Muqtadī bi-Amr Allāh died after him; and when Sultan Muḥammad died, the Caliph al-Mustazhir [bi-llāh—may Allah be pleased with them all] likewise died after him (4). Al-Mustazhir bi-llāh passed away on the sixteenth of Rabīʿ al-Ākhir (5) of this same year, at the age of forty-one years, three months, and eleven days.
The Caliphate of al-Mustarshid (6) bi-llāh
He is the Commander of the Faithful, Abū Manṣūr al-Faḍl ibn al-Mustazhir. When his father died, as we have mentioned, the oath of allegiance was sworn to him, and the khuṭbah was delivered in his name from the pulpits. He had been heir-apparent for twenty-three years, and it was the Chief Judge, Abū al-Ḥasan al-Dāmghānī (7), who received the bayʿah for him.
Once the allegiance to al-Mustarshid (8) was firmly established, his brother Abū al-Ḥasan fled by boat with three companions and headed for Dubays ibn Ṣadaqah ibn Manṣūr ibn Dubays ibn ʿAlī ibn Mazīd al-Asadī in al-Ḥillah. Dubays honored him and treated him well, which alarmed his brother, the Caliph al-Mustarshid bi-llāh (9). [Concerning this, he corresponded with Dubays] (10) through the naqīb al-nuqabāʾ al-Zaynabī. The Caliph’s brother then escaped from Dubays; Dubays sent a force after him, driving him into the desert where he suffered extreme thirst. Two Bedouins encountered him, gave him water to drink, and carried him to Baghdad. His brother brought him into his presence; they embraced, wept together, and the Caliph lodged him in the house he himself had occupied before his accession,