It appears that Al-Zahir was preoccupied with pleasures and amusements, with good things and women, and left the affairs of state to his ministers and commanders. They would meet him once every twenty days. Then he instructed them that he was an infallible Imam, devoted to worship. This happened with Al-Zahir during a time when the people in Egypt were suffering from a great famine, unable to find essential bread.

The Fatimid state in Egypt began with extravagance and luxury, and it ended with it. This indicates the extreme of extravagance and luxury. It began with the servants presented by Jawhar to Al-Mu'izz, and ended with Salah al-Din selling what he found in the palace of Al-Mustansir. All this luxury and comfort was at the expense of the people themselves.

When Al-Mu'izz arrived, he briefly indicated his method of rule: his sword and his gold, to the point that "Al-Mu'izz's sword and gold" became a proverb. Ruling the land by means of the sword and gold is not the just rule that the awaited Mahdi, who will fill the earth with justice, demands. We read their biographies and their celebrations, and we marvel at their extravagance, grandeur, and wealth, alongside the poverty of the people that is recounted. Al-Mu'izz was an example of this on the day of Hajj, when a golden umbrella was erected for him, adorned with emeralds.