In this excerpt from his mirror for princes, the fifth/eleventh-century Seljuq vizier Niẓām al-Mulk records that. Ismāʿīl b. Aḥmad would ride his horse to the main square of Bukhārā to hold court even “when the cold was severe and snow was falling heavily.” In her analysis of Islamic mirrors-for-princes literature on judging in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Louise Marlow uses this source to argue that in addition to their dedication to religious knowledge, the Sāmānid amīrs were well known for their commitment to the redress of grievances (maẓālim).
This source is part of the Online Companion to the book Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, ed. Intisar A. Rabb and Abigail Krasner Balbale(ILSP/HUP 2017)—a collection of primary sources and other material used in and related to the book.