He had been a mamluk of Kamal al-Sumayrimi (1), vizier to Sultan Mahmud. When Mahmud killed the vizier, this Ildegiz won the Sultan’s favor; his rank kept rising until he came to rule Azerbaijan, the Jibal region, and other territories. He was a just, equitable, and courageous ruler, benevolent toward his subjects—may Allah have mercy on him. He died this year in Hamadhan.

Another notable figure was the Emir Najm al-Din Abū al-Shukr Ayyub ibn Shadhi (2), father of the Ayyubid kings. He belonged to the Kurdish Duzdari clan (3), one of the finest among the Kurds, and was called al-Duwini after the town of Duwin (4) north of Azerbaijan, near Karaj.

Some assert that he was Ayyub ibn Shadhi ibn Marwan, and a few add after Marwan “ibn Yaʿqub.” The opinion held by the majority (5) is that no ancestor beyond Shadhi is known in their genealogy. One writer even claimed that they descend from Marwan ibn Muhammad al-Jaʿdi, the last Umayyad caliph, but this is incorrect. The person to whom (6) this claim (7) is attributed is King Abū al-Fidāʾ Ismaʿil ibn Tughtakin ibn Ayyub ibn Shadhi, known as Ibn Sayf (8) al-Islam. After succeeding his father in Yemen, self-importance swelled within him and he laid claim to the caliphate, styling himself “al-Imam al-Hadi bi-Nur (9) Allah [al-Muʿizz li-Din Allah, Commander of the Faithful],” and alleging Umayyad descent. Poets praised and flattered him lavishly (10) and kept repeating the claim (11).

He himself also said (12):

[in the metre al-ṭawīl]
Indeed, I am al-Hadi, the Caliph, and the one (13)
Who tramples the necks of the mighty (14) with lean, bare-back steeds (15);
And Baghdad—of a certainty I shall fold its quarters
And spread them out as cloth-dealers (16) unroll their bolts.