Abu Muhammad Lu'lu', surnamed al-Kabir ("the Elder") and al-Jarrahi al-Sayfi ("[servant] of the Jarrahids and Sayf al-Dawla"), was a military slave (ghulam) of the Hamdanid Emirate of Aleppo.
Although not recorded in any historical source, his nisbas of "al-Jarrahi al-Sayfi" suggest that Lu'lu' was initially a servant of the Jarrahids of Palestine, before coming to serve the Hamdanid ruler of Aleppo, Sayf al-Dawla (r. 945–967), under whom he is attested in an expedition against Mopsuestia in 965.
[1] Lu'lu' indeed secured the succession of Abu'l-Fada'il, better known as Sa'id al-Dawla, and helped save his life soon after his accession, when the adventurer Bakjur tried to seize Aleppo.
[4][5] As Canard writes, "the history of [Sa'id al-Dawla's] reign is almost exclusively that of the attempts of Fatimid Egypt to gain the emirate of Aleppo, which were opposed by the Byzantine emperor".
He failed to pursue the siege with vigour, however, and the city was easily able to resist until, in the spring of 993, after thirteen months of campaigning, Manjutakin was forced to return to Damascus due to lack of supplies.
[3][4][6] In spring 994, Manjutakin launched another invasion, again defeated Bourtzes at the Battle of the Orontes, took Homs, Apamea and Shayzar and besieged Aleppo for eleven months.
Basil, who had been campaigning in Bulgaria, had responded to the Hamdanids' plea for aid, and crossed Asia Minor in only sixteen days at the head of an army 13,000 strong.
[1][3][4][7] Sa'id al-Dawla and Lu'lu' prostrated themselves before the emperor in person as a sign of gratitude and submission, and he in turn released the emirate from its obligation to pay an annual tribute.
[1] Dalassenos' defeat and death in a battle with Bedouins shortly after caused another intervention by Basil in the next year, which stabilized the situation and strengthened Aleppo's security from Fatimid attack by placing a Byzantine garrison at Shayzar.