Whilst the internal administration was left increasingly to vizir Al-Mushafi,[2] general Ghālib ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān was gradually gaining influence as leader of the army in North Africa.

His status as a patron of knowledge brought him fame across the Muslim world to the point that even books written in Persia, which was under Arab Abbasid control, were dedicated to him.

This expansion added several of the building's most architecturally significant features that have survived to the present day, including a richly-decorated mihrab, intersecting multifoil arches, and four ornate ribbed domes.

[18][19][20] The fact that he did not produce a suitable heir before the age of 46 has been ascribed either to him being more attracted to men,[21]—although this is only reported euphemistically in the sources,[17]—or because he was too absorbed with his books to care for sensual pleasures.

[13] Subh may have dressed as a ghulam or a young man to make herself more attractive to al-Hakam (adopting a short haircut and wearing trousers), although it is also possible she did this in order to gain better access to the male-dominated royal court.

[23] Modern scholars have speculated that, based on the historical descriptions of his death, it was another cerebrovascular stroke, possibly brought on by the cold weather, that claimed his life in October 976.

[24] He was succeeded by his son, Hisham II al-Mu'ayad, who was 11 years old at the time and during his minority under regency by General Ghalib al-Nasiri, al-Mushafi, chief administrator of the late caliph, and Subh, his mother, assisted by her secretary Almanzor.