—apologizing to them for what had been done on his part. (1) Yet they would not accept his apology, and the sultan dispatched (2) an army against him; they besieged and harried him for nearly a year, while he remained within the impregnable reaches of his territory, places the army could not penetrate. (3)

In the same year: a mighty battle took place between the Georgians and the Muslims near Tbilisi, the Georgians being accompanied by the infidel Kipchaks (4). They killed a great multitude of Muslims, seized enormous booty, and carried off nearly four thousand prisoners—indeed, we belong to Allah and to Him we shall return. (5) The Georgians then ravaged those districts, committed atrocious deeds, and laid siege to Tbilisi for a time until they captured it by storm. They burned the qadi and the preacher who had come out from the town (6) to seek a guarantee of safety, massacred most of its inhabitants, enslaved the women and children, and appropriated the wealth—there is no power and no might except with Allah, the Most High, the All-Great, the Almighty, the All-Wise.

In the same year: Count Joscelin (7), the Frankish lord of Edessa, raided a number of Arabs and Turkmans, killed them, and plundered (8) their property.

In the same year: the ʿayyārūn (9) in Baghdad mutinied, seizing houses openly by night and by day—Allah is sufficient for us, and He is the best Trustee.

[In this very year] (10) the reign of Muḥammad ibn Tūmart in the Maghrib began.

The opening of this man’s affair was that, while still young, he came from the Maghrib to Baghdad, took up residence in the Niẓāmiyya College in Baghdad (11), and devoted himself to study. He acquired a considerable share of both the practical and theoretical sciences under al-Ghazālī and others. He displayed devotion, asceticism, and scrupulousness, [and he would sometimes censure] (12) al-Ghazālī for the fineness of his clothing, especially when