[1] His sister became a favourite concubine of the Fatimid caliph al-Aziz Billah (r. 975–996), and mother of the celebrated princess Sitt al-Mulk.
Through her influence he was appointed metropolitan bishop of Fustat and Cairo in January 986, and patriarch of Alexandria in June 1000.
[5] His brother left for Constantinople in 1000 to negotiate a treaty between the Fatimid Caliphate and the Byzantine Empire, and remained there until his death in 1006.
[7] During his ascendancy, Arsenius used his influence at court to strengthen the Melkites against the Coptic Church.
[7] When al-Hakim began to persecute Christians, however, starting with the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 1009, Arsenius and his monastery too were not spared: on 18 April 1010, the monastery was destroyed, and even the cemeteries outside its walls were reportedly dug up.