—from his father. He began hearing ḥadith at a very early age, for he was born in 432 AH; his father hastened to take him, together with his brother ʿAbd al-Wāḥid, to sit before a number of the leading shaykhs. Ibn al-Jawzī and many others later related from him. He was trustworthy, firmly grounded, and his auditions were sound. He died between noon and the late-afternoon prayer on Wednesday, the 4th of Shawwāl of this year (1), at the age of ninety-three. May Allah Most High have mercy on him (2).

Then the year 526 AH began.

In that year: Masʿūd ibn Muḥammad [ibn Malikshāh] (3) arrived, and Qaraja the Cup-bearer also entered the region, bringing with him (4) Saljūq-Shāh ibn Muḥammad; each of them was claiming the kingship for himself. ʿImād al-Dīn Zankī ibn Āq-Sunqur likewise set out to join them, but Qaraja the Cup-bearer went out to meet him and routed him. Zankī fled to Tikrīt, where the deputy governor of its fortress, Najm al-Dīn Ayyūb—the father of Sultan Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf (5), who would later conquer Jerusalem; and this was the very cause that led Najm al-Dīn (6) Ayyūb to enter Zankī’s service while he was in Aleppo—took care of him. The subsequent events that Allah ordained will be set forth in due course (7).

Afterwards King (8) Masʿūd and Saljūq-Shāh met, made peace, and marched against King Sanjar. They fought him (9): Sanjar’s army numbered one hundred and sixty thousand, whereas theirs was about thirty thousand, and the total number of those killed on both sides reached forty thousand (10). Sanjar’s forces captured Qaraja the Cup-bearer and executed him in front of the king. He then seated (11) Ṭughril ibn Muḥammad on the royal throne and had the Friday sermon delivered in his name. Sanjar returned to his own lands, and Ṭughril wrote to Dubays and Zankī, instructing them to proceed to Baghdad and seize it (12). They advanced with a large host, but the caliph marched out against them, routed them, killed many of their followers, and Allah removed their evil from him. All praise belongs to Allah.