Himself of Alid descent, Akhu Mahsin lived in Damascus,[1] and was one of the first writers interested in Alid genealogy.[2] Based to a large degree on the previous anti-Isma'ili tract of Ibn Rizam, which now survives only in fragmentary form, he composed his own treatise against the Fatimid Caliphate and their Isma'ili adherents c. 980.[1][3] It too does not survive but in fragments, incorporated in the works of the later historians al-Nuwayri, Ibn al-Dawadari, and al-Maqrizi.[1][2]