as though the Pleiades were suspended upon his brow, while on his cheek shone Sirius and in his face the moon.
In his noble pedigree there were fifteen caliphs, five of his forefathers having held the office in uninterrupted succession, and he received the caliphate from them as an inheritance, heir after heir. Such a distinction had fallen to no caliph before him. Among the people he conducted himself after the manner of his father al-Ẓāhir—open-handed, of pleasing character, and kind to the subjects. He built the great Mustanṣiriyyah School, the like of which no school on earth had ever been erected; its full description will appear in its proper place, God willing. All the officials who had served in his father’s time remained in their posts.
On the following Friday the khuṭbah for the Imām al-Mustanṣir biʾLlāh was proclaimed from the pulpits, and gold and silver were scattered when his name was mentioned (1). It was a memorable day: poets declaimed panegyrics and dirges, and robes of honor together with gifts were bestowed upon them. On the first of Shaʿbān an envoy arrived from the ruler of Mosul—the vizier Ḍiyāʾ ad-Dīn Abūʾl-Fath (2) Naṣr Allah ibn al-Athīr—bearing a letter (3) of congratulations and condolences phrased in eloquent and polished language.
Thereafter al-Mustanṣir biʾLlāh made a habit of attending the Friday prayer, riding openly among the populace with no escort save two servants and a stable-hand (4). On one occasion, while mounted, he heard a great uproar. “What is that?” he asked. “The call to prayer,” they replied. He immediately dismounted (5) and hastened on foot, and from then on he walked to the Friday prayer, seeking humility and devotion, sitting close to the imam and listening attentively to the sermon. When the covered passageway (al-Muṭbaq) was repaired for him, he would walk through it to the mosque. On the twenty-second (6) of Shaʿbān he again rode out publicly for all to see.
On the eve of the first night of Ramadan he distributed abundant charity—flour, sheep, and funds—to the scholars, the poor, and the destitute, to aid them in fasting and strengthen them for the night prayer. On the twenty-seventh day of Ramadan the coffin of al-Ẓāhir (7) was moved from the Caliphal Residence to the mausoleum (8) in al-Rusāfah, another day long remembered. On Yawm al-Jid the Caliph al-Mustanṣir sent copious alms and generous largesse to the jurists, the Sufis, and the imams of the mosques, through the hand of Muḥyī ad-Dīn Ibn al-Jawzī.
Ibn al-Athīr (9) records that in this same year a mighty earthquake destroyed many villages and fortresses (10) in their lands.