Thereafter the caliph dispatched ʿAlī ibn Ṭarād al-Zaynabī, the Niqīb al-Nuqabāʾ, to Sultan Sanjar, requesting that he remove Dubaīs from his court, and he sent with him robes of honor and banners (1). Sultan Sanjar treated the envoy with marked respect, (2) ordering the kettledrums to be beaten at his gate three times a day, thereby displaying notable obedience (3).

Sultan Maḥmūd subsequently fell ill in Baghdad. His physician advised him to relocate to Hamadhān, so he set out in Rabīʿ al-Ākhir, appointing Imād al-Dīn Zangī as military governor of Baghdad in his stead. When the sultan reached Hamadhān he transferred the military governorship of Baghdad to Mujāhid al-Dīn Bihrūz, [adding to his charge al-Ḥillah] (4), and sent Imād al-Dīn Zangī to Mosul and the lands attached to it.

In the same year, al-Ḥasan (5) ibn Salmān (6) took up a teaching post at the Niẓāmiyya College in Baghdad.

That year as well, Abū al-Futūḥ al-Isfarāʾīnī arrived and preached in Baghdad. He cited a large number of extremely spurious hadiths, was made to repent of them, and was ordered to leave the city. A band of leading figures stood by him and restored him to his former position, whereupon many disturbances arose among the populace; some of the commoners even stoned him [in the markets]. This occurred because he would utter expressions that did not need to be voiced, so the hearts of the common folk recoiled from him (7) and they came to hate him.

Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlī then took his seat to address the people; they were impressed by him (8), loved him, and abandoned the other preacher.

In this year Sultan Sanjar put to death from among the bāṭinīs [about twelve] thousand individuals (9).

That year’s pilgrimage was led by Naẓar al-Khādim.

Among the notable persons who died this year were Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Aḥmad, Abū al-Ḥasan (10) ibn Abī al-Faḍl al-Hamadhānī (11) al-Farḍī, the historian.