Sa'd al-Dawla

Abu 'l-Ma'ali Sharif, more commonly known by his honorific title, Sa'd al-Dawla (Arabic: سعد الدولة), was the second ruler of the Hamdanid Emirate of Aleppo, encompassing most of northern Syria.

The son of the emirate's founder, Sayf al-Dawla, he inherited the throne at a young age and in the midst of a major offensive by the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros II Phokas that within two years conquered the western portions of his realm and turned Aleppo into a tributary state.

Facing a multitude of rebellions and desertions until 977, Sa'd was unable even to enter his own capital, which was in the hands of his father's chief minister, Qarquya.

By maintaining close relations with the Buyids, he managed to re-establish his authority in parts of the Jazira, but his rule was soon challenged by the rebellion of his governor Bakjur, who was supported by the Fatimids of Egypt.

[1][2] His succession to the emirate was unopposed, but the state his father had left him was crumbling: the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros II had just conquered Cilicia and was raiding its northern and western provinces, while rebellions of his closest lieutenants had plagued Sayf al-Dawla's last years.

[8] Bakjur, in the meantime, had used his new post at Homs to open contacts with the Fatimids, who intended to use him as a pawn to subdue Aleppo and complete their conquest of the entirety of Syria.

As a result, Bardas Phokas invaded his territory and sacked Killis before retracing his steps and marching south to an unsuccessful siege of Apamea (Qalaat al-Madiq).

[7][8][11] However, soon after that, in May 986, the prospect of an imminent conclusion of a peace between Byzantium and Egypt forced Sa'd al-Dawla to return to his earlier allegiance, and he re-affirmed his tributary status on the same terms as before.

[7][8] This did not prevent Sa'd al-Dawla from supporting the Byzantine general Bardas Skleros in his second rebellion against Basil II, once he was released from Buyid captivity in December 986, nor of recognizing Fatimid suzerainty in the same month,[8] especially as Byzantium now descended into a civil war that lasted until 989.

With Byzantine assistance in the form of troops under the doux of Antioch, Michael Bourtzes, Sa'd al-Dawla was able to defeat and capture Bakjur at Na'ura, east of Aleppo, in April 991, and later had him executed.