The murderer, vizier Ibn al-Maraghi tried to poison Ahmad too, only to be prevented by shah's mother who fed the food to cat before.
[1] His uncle Abul Badr died sometime later too, leaving Ahmad as undisputed leader of Shirvan.
While Ahmad managed to pacify Sallarids with submission and tribute, Haytham - who was supposed to return to Barda with Ibrahim - escaped to al-Masqat (modern Müşkür, Azerbaijan).
While emir tried to negotiate a division of Shirvan on behalf of Haytham, Ahmad chose to march on Derbent instead.
[2] According to Ibn Hawqal, following the sack of Samandar by Sviatoslav, the Rus' leader did not bother to occupy the Khazar heartlands north of the Caucasus Mountains permanently.