He was handsome in appearance, pure-hearted, and of exemplary conduct(1), lavish in almsgiving, benevolence, and charitable gifts, ever kind to his subjects to the fullest extent of his ability.

His grandfather al-Nāṣir had amassed whatever gold he could obtain in a basin within the Palace of the Caliphate(2). Standing upon its edge he would say, “Do you think I shall live long enough to fill it?” Al-Mustanṣir would in turn stand on the same rim and ask, “Do you think I shall live long enough to spend it all?”

He would(3) build ribāṭs, caravanserais, and bridges along roads in every direction, and in each quarter of Baghdad he established a guest-house for the poor, especially during the month of Ramadan. He deliberately sought out female slaves who had reached forty years of age; they would be purchased for him, whereupon he would emancipate them, outfit them, and arrange their marriages.

On every occasion he would dispense gifts amounting to many thousands of gold dinars, distributed throughout the quarters of Baghdad to the needy, widows, orphans, and others—may Allah accept it from him and reward him with goodness.

In Baghdad he founded the Mustanṣiriyyah School for the four legal madhhabs, incorporating within it a ḥadīth college, a bīmāristān, a bathhouse, and a medical dispensary. He allotted to its beneficiaries stipends, food, sweets, and fruit(4) sufficient for their needs at the appointed times, and he endowed(5) it with vast waqf properties—so much so that it was said the price of the chaff(6) from the yield of its revenues sufficed for the school and its residents(7). He likewise endowed(8) it with priceless books such as had no equal(9) anywhere in the world, so that this school became an adornment for Baghdad—indeed, for all(10) lands.

At the beginning of this year the shrine in Sāmarrāʾ ascribed to ʿAlī al-Hādī and al-Ḥasan al-ʿAskarī was destroyed by fire. It had been built by Arslān al-Basāsīrī(11) during the period of his dominance over those regions, around the year