al-ʿAzīz

al-ʿAzīz (born May 10, 955—died Oct. 14, 996, Bilbays, Egypt) was a caliph under whom the Fāṭimid empire attained its greatest extent.

The first of the Fāṭimids to begin his reign in Egypt, where the caliphate was later centred, al-ʿAzīz succeeded his father, al-Muʿizz, in 975. He was ambitious to expand his domains at the expense of the Byzantine Empire and of the rival ʿAbbāsid caliphate, and for most of his reign he was involved in military and political ventures in northern Syria, where he and the Byzantine emperor Basil II at length reached a stalemate. Al-ʿAzīz, who had a Christian wife, was known for his favourable attitude toward Christians and Jews, and he began the practice of employing Turkish mercenaries, who later came to dominate Egypt. He died as he was preparing to lead a great expedition against the Byzantines.