Then they sent to Hisám-Addoulat-Tásh, at Nishapúr, a commission for the rank of Com­mander-in-Chief and General of the Army, and they committed unto his faithful and brave hand the reins of loosing and binding, of letting go and holding fast, of urgency and deficiency, and they attached unto him, for the sake of assistance and support, Faík-Khás. And a company of the chiefs and nobles and eminent men of the State were dispatched to follow his standard, and they abun­dantly furnished him with money, and horses, and arms, and stores, and military necessaries. And when he arrived at Nishapúr he spread open the carpet of justice, equity, and kindness, and placed upon the thread of good order the affairs of the Treasury and of the Custom-houses, and impressed the footsteps of liberality, and lessened from the poor subjects the want of food, and, by the security of his armies, before and behind, settled, confirmed, and fixed the marks of government, and the laws of authority and power, in the most distant places.

And, at this period, Sháms-Almwáli-Kabús-Ibn-Wasamgír and Fakhr-Addoulat-Ali-bn-Búyah arrived at Kharasán, on account of the opposition which existed between them and Muwid-Addoulat. And the cause of this state of things was that Rukn-Addoulat had three sons, who each possessed a fitness for government, Azd-Addoulat-Abu-Shujaa, and Muwid-Addoulat-Buwayyah, and Fakhr-Addoulat-Alí. And he divided into three parts some territories of Irák and some part of Khurasán, and Fars, and Karmán, and other terri­tories which were on his Treasury list, and he assigned to each of them his portion.

At this period Wathíkí wrote upon this subject, in the part relating to the Sabæans (apos­tates ) given in his published work, the Kitáb-Attágí. And when Rukn-Addoulat died Azd-Addoulat coveted and contended for that territory which had been assigned unto Fakhr-Addoulat, and hindered him from obtaining it, and defeated his army. He (therefore) betook himself to recover his country and transfer it unto himself, and he fixed himself at Hamadán, the capital of the kingdom. And when the two princes drew near to engage one another, the chiefs of the army of Fakhr-Addoulat became treacherous and went to Azd Addoulat, and joined themselves to the body of his troops, and he, in this condition, began to dread and to think upon the severe disposition, and the bad temper, and the depth of deceit of Azd-Addoulat. For, not long previously, he, by the hands of his soldiers, had murdered Bakhtiár, his uncle’s son. Therefore Fakhr-Addoulat began to fear and proceeded from the midst of the army, with some of his own private attendants, to the country of Dilam and went towards Jurjan, and attached himself to Shams-al-Muálí-Kabús-Ibn-Washamgír, and took refuge under his care and protection.

And Shams-Al-Muáli made his rank exalted, his state respected, and his condition happy, in the utmost degree; nay he exchanged his own power for his safety and prosperity, so that, through his care and generous disposition, he played away his ancient kingdom, which was the most noble of his jewels and the most precious object of his affection. The explanation of this remark is as follows: Azd-Addoulat and Muwid-Addoulat sent a mes­senger to Shams-Al-Muálí, and entreated him to give up Fakhr-Addoulat into their hands, and they promised much in return for that: they promised treasure in money, and gifts in revenue, and that part of the territories of the (fugitive prince) which they had left to him, and they made repre­sentations to him respecting alliances and treaties for union, and for the preservation of independance, and respecting his becoming involved and implicated in cares and troubles. Shams-Al-Muálí gave answer: “In the law of manliness and in the rules of preserving honour it is forbidden to diminish promises, or to infringe truth and generosity, and what crime can be baser than this, that when such a prince has taken refuge in a place, and in this place expects to receive generosity and protection, to make him see trouble to betray him, and to sell him for some small worldly goods, and not rather to strive, at the expense of his own life, to preserve his dignity and to keep his life safe; and, for my part, I think that when in the midst of a troop of cavalry and at the time when men exposed their lives in the heat of battle, and when they grieve not to strike with the sword, then (only) may this proposal be carried out. For if this thought passed over the mind it would have no effect except this, that Kabús will be renowned, and that, with the flaming voice of victory, the men of Gilán, with their bright sharp spears, will bring him upon the place of honour.”

And when this answer came to Azd-Addoulat he was angry, and entertained an intention of opposing and subduing Kabús, and he wrote to Muwid-Addoulat that it was necessary to make preparations and to set forward to try the strength of Kabús. And he sent unto him the men whom he required as soldiers, and all necessaries and provisions, and whatsoever was requisite to expe­dite the affair. And he marched from the city Ray* and set forward to Dilám, in the direction of Jurján,* with a great army of Turks and Ara­bians, and wherever he came he devastated the territory of Kabús, and sent in his own Treasury collectors, and took possession of everything, until he marched upon the city of Asterabad.* And Shams-Al-Muálí made haste, in order that he might preserve the city of Karkán, which was his capital city, from their attack, and when Muway­yad-Addoulat had arranged their troops in order of battle on the road, then blood began to flow from the sword like rain from the clouds, and from the blood of the slain the field of battle became like a bed of tulips (Verse)

Defeat, however, befell his cavalry (i. e., that of Kabús) and the enemy drove him into the midst of the forests, and, having thus put him to flight, gained a great booty. And Kabús went to one of his castles and there was maintained upon his treasures and concealed property for a time, but he made a removal in alarm and went to Nishapúr. And Fakhr-Addoulat joined him, by the road of Istawa,* and their separated armies fell in with them. And they wrote a letter to His Highness, at Bukhárá, and intimated to him what had befallen them, and they represented unto him that they were well acquainted with the excellent goodness and compassion of His Highness, in assisting the oppressed and in succouring the wretched. And they informed him of the injustice that had happened to each of them, through the violence of their enemies, and of their struggle for their hereditary kingdom and their ancient house, and that they would conjecture no hope of restora­tion or happiness except by his help and assistance, for that to remedy and rectify their losses would be impossible, unless by the concurrence and coun­tenance of His Majesty.

Núh-Ibn-Mansúr gave an answer full of all kinds of generosity and professions of service, befitting the principles of generosity, and agreeable to the rules of attention and respect, and he sent a royal order to Hisám-Addoulat-Tásh, that he should hold both of them in honour, and see that they were treated with the utmost dignity and respect, and that he should restore them to their hereditary kingdom, and that he should exert himself to oppose their enemies and to repulse those who disturbed them. Hisám-Addoulat-Tásh fully obeyed the royal order and took the way which had been commanded, and rendered them becoming service, and assembled the dis­persed army, and marched forth from Nishapúr, to the district of Jurjan, in order that he might first recover Jurjan, where was the capital city of Kabús, and might deliver his mind from any anxiety respecting himself, and then might attend to the affairs of Fakhr-Addoulat.

And he commanded Fáík that he should set off by the road of Koms, in the direction of Ray, and that he should intercept the assisting forces and auxiliaries of Muwayyad-Addoulat, in order that, when he should see an army before him and behind him, and when his heart should be occupied on both sides, his weakness of spirits and feeble­ness of condition might become increased. But when Fáík had gone two or three marches on that road he began to repent and to consider the divi­sion of his army, and the diminution of the total number of the body of his troops, which would result from the constant attention, the restraint, and the harassing vigilance of a distant expedition. And he thought it expedient to recall Fáík, and the two other princes came back with him. And Muwayyad-Addoulat went into the city and entrenched himself strongly, by means of gates, and walls, and moats, and in this fortress he waited patiently for nearly two months. And the army of Dilám, when this news arrived, halted and set forward on their return to the city; and in these skirmishes they never turned away from striking with the sword, and they ran hither and thither, like the breathing (that flutters) before death, and split upon the point of an arrow and the edge of a hair,* and in these contests their battles were like sword-cutting destiny and like life-devouring time. And when the period of the stay of the army at Karkan had become extended a scarcity arose and the means of strength, which is the support of life, became cut off, and the matter came to that point that they kneaded their grains of corn with clay, for leaven, and, by this expedient, just preserved themselves from starva­tion. And Utbi relates: “I have seen the soldiers’ bread made of this leaven.” He says this in the middle of his volume, for the purpose of pointing out their condition and the scantiness of their means of subsistance. And when the delay had become injurious and unfortunate, and when they could be patient no longer, they came out from the fortress and arranged in order of battle, and Fakhr-Addoulat, with the best part of the army of Khurasán, opposed Ali-Ramah, who was the general of the army of Muwayyad-Addoulat, and, at one attack, drove him from the field and, putting him to flight, proceeded unto Astarábád; and if the army of Khurasán had given sufficient support to Fakhr-Addoulat, all that army would have been broken up and that hand cut off. However they displayed slothfulness, in order to (indulge) their covetousness and their evil disposi­tion, and (the enemy, therefore) returned back again and, detaching themselves from the main body of the army of the soldiers of Dilam, they made an attack upon the followers and the rear of the army of Khurasán, which was occupied with plunder, and made them all the food of the sword. And in the midst of the army with Abu-Al-Abas-Tásh, Abu-Sayad was distinguished, and a com­pany of the troops of Kh’arazm, whose arrows, like the destiny of slaughter, never missed the mark, and many companies of the army of Dilam were swept away by their hand.