om his generals fought in Syria with varying fortune. Before his death
he was acknowledged as caliph in Mecca and Medina, as well as Syria,
Egypt and North Africa as far as Tangier.

In the reign of the second Egyptian Fatimite 'Aziz billah, Jauhar, who
appears to have been cashiered by Mo'izz, was again employed at the
instance of Jacob b. Killis, who had been raised to the rank of vizier,
to deal with the situation in Syria, where a Turkish general Aftakin had
gained possession of Damascus, and was raiding the whole country; on the
arrival of Jauhar in Syria the Turks called the Carmathians to their
aid, and after a campaign of many vicissitudes Jauhar had to return to
Egypt to implore the caliph himself to take the field. In August 977
'Aziz met the united forces of Aftakin and his Carmathian ally outside
Ramleh in Palestine and inflicted a crushing defeat on them, which was
followed by the capture of Aftakin; this able officer was taken to
Egypt, and honourably treated by the caliph, thereby incurring the
jealousy of Jacob b. Killis, who caused him, it is said, to be poisoned.
This vizier had the astuteness to see the necessity of codifying the
doctrines of the Fatimites, and himself undertook this task; in the
newly-established mosque of el-Azhar he got his master to make provision
for a perpetual series of teachers and students of his manual. It would
appear, however, that a large amount of toleration was conceded by the
first two Egyptian Fatimites to the other sects of Islam, and to other
communities. Indeed at one time in 'Aziz's reign the vizierate of Egypt
was held by a Christian, Jesus, son of Nestorius, who appointed as his
deputy in Syria a Jew, Manasseh b. Abraham. These persons were charged
by the Moslems with unduly favouring their co-religionists, and the
belief that the Christians of Egypt were in league with the Byzantine
emperor, and even burned a fleet which was being built for the Byzantine
war, led to some persecution. Aziz attempted without success to enter
into friendly relations with the Buyid ruler of Bagdad, 'Adod addaula,
who was disposed to favour the 'Alids, but caused the claim of the
Fatimites to descend from 'Ali to be publicly refuted. He then tried to
gain possession of Aleppo, as the key to 'Irak, but this was prevented
by the intervention of the Byzantines. His North African possessions
were maintained and extended by 'Ali, son of Bulukkin, whom Mo'izz had
left as his deputy; but th