**15**

**The Fatimids**

**And 'Ubayd Allah, known as the Expected Mahdi, appeared, and then he dealt with the Da'i,**

**who was Abu 'Abd Allah al-Shi'i, just as al-Mansur dealt with Abu Muslim al-Khurasani,**

**and as al-Rashid dealt with the Barmakids.**

**Then the Mahdi founded a town called Mahdia, named after him, and he and**

**his sons claimed to be the rightful Caliphs, not the Abbasids. And their poet said:**

**This is the Commander of the Faithful; at his arrival, the pillars of every prince have weakened.**

**This is the Fatimid Imam, and through him, the west has believed in destiny.**

**O you who chose from the best of prayers, the most hopeful for hardship and ease.**

***

**And from the lineage of this Mahdi was al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah, who conquered Egypt**

**at the hands of Jawhar al-Siqilli and founded Cairo and named it al-Mu'izziyya.**

**These Fatimids established a great civilization in Egypt and spread**

**Shi'ism within it, and they remained for centuries until their rule was removed by Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi.**