2019-02-13 Wed

Today, on this in 1021The sixth Fatimid Caliph and 16th Ismaili Imam, Al-Hakim Bi Amr Allah died.

He was born as Abu Ali Mansur in 985to Caliph Abu Mansur al-Aziz Bil Lah in Caro, Egypt. The first Fatimid Imam to born on Egyptian Soil, Al Hakim had been proclaimed as heir-apparent (wali al-‘ahd) in 993 CE and succeeded his father at the age of eleven on 14 October 996.

During the reign, he issued various coins. Depicted here is a gold Dinar issued during his reign from al-Qahira (Cairo) mint.

The obverse of the coin has Persian legend ‘la ilah illa allah / wahdahu la sharik lahu / muhammad rasul allah / ‘ali wali allah’ in field and ‘muhammad rasul allah arsalahu bi’l-huda wa din al-haqq li-yuzhirahu ‘ala al-din kullihi wa law kariha al-mushrikun’ in the margin. While the reverse of a coin showed legend abd allah wa waliyuhu / al-imam al-hakim bi-amr allah / amir al-mu’minin wa ‘abd al-rahim / wali ‘ahd al-muslimin’ within field and ‘bism allah duriba hadha’l-dinar bi-misr sana tis‘ wa arba‘mi’a’ in the margin area.

On the night of12/13 February 1021, Hakim left for one of his night journeys to the Mokattam hills outside of Cairo, and never returned.

Image Source: Google Images