In the year 409 Hakim was riding in the streets and saw what he supposed to be a woman standing in the street, a plain breach of the regulations in force. At once Hakim rode over to her and found that she was holding out a petition in her hand. He ordered one of his attendants to take the paper and arrest the woman. When they laid hands on her it turned out that it was only a guy of paper, and the document she held out was full of charges against the chastity of the Princess Hakim’s sister. Hakim went home in a towering rage. He abused his sister for giving ground for such reflections to be made on her honour, and spoke to her many harsh words. More than once before this he had treated her harshly when she had ventured to remonstrate with him on his various cruelties, but this was an attack graver than he had ever made previously. Next day Hakim turned loose his mercenaries, Arabs, Berbers, Greeks, and negroes, upon the city. For three days they broke open houses, pillaged, slew those who resisted them, violated women, and carried off maidens of the best families, and burned a great part of Fustat. Each day Hakim rode out to the cemetery of Karafa and looked down on the suffering city. Many of the citizens came around him to implore mercy, but he remained unmoved and gave no sign of hearing them. On the fourth day the Sherifs assembled in the mosques lifting Qurʾans to heaven and implored divine assistance. So piteous was the condition of the people that many of the Turkish guards were moved and took their part, and in this they were soon joined by the Berbers, both doing their best to restrain the bestial ferocity of the negroes, until the whole place was raging in civil war. At length some of the Turks went to Hakim, and in no measured terms called on him to interfere and stop this terrible state of affairs. Hakim replied quite coolly deploring the excesses of the soldiery, and agreeing with the Turks that it ought to be stopped. He then rode down into the city on his ass and stopped the conflict. After that he called the Turks and Berbers round him, expressed the greatest regret for the suffering which the city had had to undergo, protested that he did not at all desire such an unhappy event, and that it could not be avoided, and published a general amnesty. As soon as things settled down it was found that about a third of the city had been burned, and about a half pillaged. The citizens had much trouble in recovering their ravished wives, daughters, and sisters, most of whom had been dishonoured by the negro soldiers. Some of the women had committed suicide to avoid this shame. Many of the citizens went to Hakim and asked him to get back their women for them. Hakim told them to ransom them from their captors and promised to reimburse any sums which were laid out in this manner. One of the townsmen reproached him very harshly for this great disgrace to a Muslim community, and