[235] Weil, _op. cit._ ii. p. 485, hints at this duplicity, basing his statement on the fact that the Caliph praised and rewarded Isma`īl when he heard of his victory over `Amr. Khwāndamīr, in his _Habīb-us-Siyar_, leaves the question open, and expressly says that Isma`īl acted “either on the Khalif’s orders or on his own initiative.” [236] Nizām ul-Mulk, in his _Siyāset Namé_, tells an amusing anecdote in this connection. After `Amr had been taken prisoner, towards nightfall one of his fellows, having procured some meat and borrowed a saucepan, was preparing a meal for his master: while he for a moment left his cooking to fetch some salt, a dog came and poked his head into the saucepan. In trying to pull out a bone the handle of the pot fell round his neck, and he scampered off, carrying the scalding pot with him. On seeing this, `Amr remarked: “This morning 300 camels bore my kitchen, and to-night a dog has carried it off.” [237] Narshakhi, ed. Schefer, p. 90. The editor was here (as in only too many places in this uncritical edition) guilty of allowing an absurd date to be printed in his text; for the date of `Amr’s death is given as 280! [238] Narshakhi, _loc. cit._ Vambéry points out (_op. cit._ note to p. 66) that Sind and Hind are “a random boast” of the author. [239] The governor before him had made Bokhārā his residence. [240] A very striking description of the literary talent gathered there is given by _ath-Tha`labi_, in the _Yatīmatu ´d-Dahr_, vol. iv. p. 30 (Damascus ed.). [241] Vambéry (_Bokhara_, p. 67) adds to this list Kazwīn, Shīrāz, and Isfahān, which were towns in the dominion of the Būyides. The Būyides and the Sāmānides practically shared the whole of Persia and Central Asia as follows:-- _Sāmānides_--Khorāsān, Sīstān, Balkh, Bokhārā, and Samarkand. _Būyides_--The two `Irāks, Fars, Kirmān, Khuzistān, and Luristān. Tabaristān and Jurjān were continually changing hands. [242] He died of some malady at a place called Zarmān, whither the doctors had sent him for change of air. [243] Dawlat Shāh, in his _Lives of the Poets_ (see Browne’s edition, p. 44), quotes from `Unsuri the following quatrain in which the rulers of the house of Sāmān are enumerated-- _Nūh kas būdand zi āl-i-Sāmān mazkūr Dā´īm bi imārat-i-Khorāsān mashhūr Ismā`īl ast u Ahmadī u Nasrī Dū Nūh u dū `Abd-ul-Malik u dū Mansūr._ _Translation._--Nine members of the house of Sāmān were famous in the government of Khorāsān, namely, Ismā`īl, one Ahmad, one Nasr, two Nūh’s, two `Abd el-Melik’s, and two Mansūr’s.