Abu 'l-Ma'ali Sharif, more commonly known by hishonorific title,Sa'd al-Dawla (Arabic:سعد الدولة), was the second ruler of theHamdanidEmirate of Aleppo, encompassing most of northernSyria. The son of the emirate's founder,Sayf al-Dawla, he inherited the throne at a young age and in the midst of a major offensive by theByzantine emperorNikephoros II Phokas that within two years conquered the western portions of his realm and turned Aleppo into atributary state. Facing a multitude of rebellions and desertions until 977, Sa'd was unable even to enter his own capital, which was in the hands of his father's chief minister,Qarquya. By maintaining close relations with theBuyids, he managed to re-establish his authority in parts of theJazira, but his rule was soon challenged by the rebellion of his governorBakjur, who was supported by theFatimids ofEgypt. In turn, Sa'd came to rely increasingly on Byzantine assistance, although he continued to fluctuate in his allegiance between Byzantium, the Buyids, and the Fatimids.

Sa'd al-Dawla was the son ofSayf al-Dawla, the first Emir ofAleppo, and Sakhinah, the sister of Sayf al-Dawla's cousin and court poet,Abu Firas. At the time of his father's death, in February 967, he was only fifteen, and resided at the emirate'sJaziran capital,Mayyafariqin.^[1][2] His succession to the emirate was unopposed, but the state his father had left him was crumbling: theByzantine emperorNikephoros II had justconqueredCilicia and was raiding its northern and western provinces, while rebellions of his closest lieutenants had plagued Sayf al-Dawla's last years.^[1][3]

Sa'd al-Dawla reached Aleppo, which for years had been governed by Sayf al-Dawla's chief minister and chamberlain (hajib),Qarquya, in June/July 967. Almost immediately he was confronted by a rebellion of his uncle, Abu Firas, at the time governor ofHoms, which lasted until the latter's death in battle in April 968.^[1][2] At the same time, Aleppo itself was threatened by the Byzantines, and Sa'd al-Dawla, on the advice of Qarquya, left the city. The Byzantines did not attack the city, but Qarquya and his fellowghilman (military slaves) seized the moment to claim the city for themselves. Accompanied by 300 faithful followers, Sa'd al-Dawla was thus reduced to wandering from city to city across the lands that were nominally his, hoping to gain entry:Saruj,Manbij andHarran refused to support him, while at Mayyafariqin his own mother refused to let him in. Finally, he found refuge at Homs.^[1][4] In the meantime, many of his father's old supporters left to join his cousinAbu Taghlib,Emir of Mosul, who used the opportunity to expand his own territory. Immediately after Sayf al-Dawla's death, he capturedRaqqa, and by 971 extended his control over the provinces ofDiyar Bakr andDiyar Mudar. Sa'd al-Dawla, unable to offer any resistance, tacitly accepted these losses as well as his cousin's suzerainty.^[4][5]

The year 969 was a crucial one in Syrian history, as it marked the climax of the Byzantine advance. In October, the generalsMichael Bourtzes andPeter capturedAntioch, securing their control over the north Syrian littoral. Soon after, the Byzantines marched against Aleppo itself and forced Qarquya to sign atreaty (December 969 or January 970) making Aleppo a tributary Byzantineprotectorate with Qarquya as emir and his deputy,Bakjur, as his designated successor.^[1][4] At the same time, inEgypt, theFatimids defeated theIkhshidids and gained control of the country, from where they advanced into southern Syria. The competition between these two powers, Byzantium and the Fatimids, would shape the history of Syria and of Aleppo for the next fifty years.^[4]

It was not until 977 that Sa'd al-Dawla managed to regain his capital, which by now was under the control of Bakjur, who in 975 had deposed and imprisoned Qarquya. Aided by some of his father'sghilman, and, crucially, the powerfulBanu Kilab tribe living around Aleppo, Sa'd al-Dawla besieged Aleppo and captured it. Qarquya was set free and again entrusted with the affairs of state until his death a few years later, while Bakjur was given the governorship of Homs.^[1][6][7]

Soon after, in 979, he was able to capitalize upon Abu Taghlib's conflict with theBuyids ofIraq to recover some of his father's domains in the Jazira: after acknowledging Buyid suzerainty, he received governorship of theDiyar Mudar, except for Raqqa andRahba. At the same time, he also received from theAbbasid caliph—who was a puppet of the Buyids—the honorificlaqab of Sa'd al-Dawla (lit. 'The Fortune of the Rule/State'), by which he is known.[8]

Bakjur, in the meantime, had used his new post at Homs to open contacts with the Fatimids, who intended to use him as a pawn to subdue Aleppo and complete their conquest of the entirety of Syria.^[8] Sa'd al-Dawla himself oscillated between the Fatimids and Byzantium: on the one hand he resented Byzantine overlordship and was willing to acknowledge the Fatimid Caliph, but on the other hand he did not want to see his domain become merely another Fatimid province like southern Syria.^[7]

His first attempt to free himself of the Byzantine protectorate, in 981, ended in failure due to lack of outside support, when a Byzantine army appeared before Aleppo's walls to enforce compliance.^[7][8] The Fatimids then induced Bakjur to act: in September 983, Bakjur launched an attack on Aleppo with the support of Fatimid troops. Sa'd al-Dawla was forced to appeal to the Byzantine emperorBasil II for help, and the siege was raised by a Byzantine army underBardas Phokas the Younger. The Byzantines then proceeded to sack Homs in October. The city was returned to Hamdanid control, while Bakjur fled to Fatimid territory, where he assumed the governorship ofDamascus.^{[7][8][9][10]} It is an indication of the strained relations between Sa'd al-Dawla and his "saviours" that after Bakjur's flight, there were clashes between Byzantine and Hamdanid troops, which were settled only when the Hamdanid emir agreed to pay twice the usual yearly amount of tribute of 20,000gold dinars.^[7]

Hamdanid relations with Byzantium collapsed completely in 985–986, after the Fatimids took the Byzantine fortress ofBalanyas. Sa'd al-Dawla refused to continue paying tribute. As a result, Bardas Phokas invaded his territory and sackedKillis before retracing his steps and marching south to an unsuccessful siege of Apamea (Qalaat al-Madiq). In retaliation, Sa'd al-Dawla sent his troops to raze the famous monastery ofQal'at Sim'an.^[7][8][11] However, soon after that, in May 986, the prospect of an imminent conclusion of a peace between Byzantium and Egypt forced Sa'd al-Dawla to return to his earlier allegiance, and he re-affirmed his tributary status on the same terms as before.^[7][8] This did not prevent Sa'd al-Dawla from supporting the Byzantine generalBardas Skleros in his second rebellion against Basil II, once he was released from Buyid captivity in December 986, nor of recognizing Fatimid suzerainty in the same month,^[8] especially as Byzantium now descended into a civil war that lasted until 989.^[12]

Warfare with the Fatimids once again threatened in 991, again because of Bakjur. He had governed Damascus until 988, when he was deposed, and then fled to Raqqa. From there, though with little support from the Fatimids, he tried to attack Aleppo. With Byzantine assistance in the form of troops under thedoux of Antioch, Michael Bourtzes, Sa'd al-Dawla was able to defeat and capture Bakjur at Na'ura, east of Aleppo, in April 991, and later had him executed.^[8][13][14] Nevertheless, relations with the Fatimids soured over Sa'd al-Dawla's arrest of Bakjur's children, and it was only his death fromhemiplegia in December 991 that stopped him from attacking Fatimid possessions.^[8]

Sa'd al-Dawla was succeeded by his son,Sa'id Abu 'l-Fada'il Sa'id al-Dawla, but real power rested in the hands of Sa'd al-Dawla's former chamberlain,Lu'lu'. Several of the Hamdanidghilman, resenting the influence of Lu'lu', went over to the Fatimids, who now launched a sustained offensive against Aleppo under the Turkish generalManjutakin. Only the personal intervention of Basil II in 995 and again in 999 would save the emirate from Fatimid conquest. Warfare lasted until 1000, when a peace treaty was concluded guaranteeing Aleppo's continued existence as abuffer state between the two powers. Finally, in 1002, Lu'lu' assassinated Sa'id al-Dawla and assumed control of Aleppo in his own name.^{[8][9][15][16]}

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