Shibl al-Daula Nasr was the Mirdasid

Mirdasids

The Mirdasid dynasty was a dynasty that controlled the Amirate of Aleppo more or less continuously from 1024 until 1080.-General Description:...

 amir of Aleppo

Aleppo

Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...

 from 1029 until his death. He was the son of Salih ibn Mirdas

Salih ibn Mirdas

Asad al-Daula Salih ibn Mirdas was the first Mirdasid amir of Aleppo, from 1024 until his death. He established a dynasty that would more or less continuously rule Aleppo for more than five decades.-Life:...

.

Life

After their father was killed in battle against the Fatimid

Fatimid

The Fatimid Islamic Caliphate or al-Fāṭimiyyūn was a Berber Shia Muslim caliphate first centered in Tunisia and later in Egypt that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Sudan, Sicily, the Levant, and Hijaz from 5 January 909 to 1171.The caliphate was ruled by the Fatimids, who established the...

 governor of Damascus

Damascus

Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

, al-Duzbari, Nasr and his brother Mu'izz al-Daula Thimal

Mu'izz al-Daula Thimal

Mu'izz al-Daula Thimal was the Mirdasid amir of Aleppo from 1042 until 1057, and again from 1061 until his death. He was the son of Salih ibn Mirdas.-First Reign:...

 shared power. They collected their forces in northern Syria, abandoning Homs

Homs

Homs , previously known as Emesa , is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is above sea level and is located north of Damascus...

. The Byzantine

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 governor of Antioch

Antioch

Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...

, hoping to take advantage of the brothers' youth, sent an army to establish control over the Mirdasids, but the Kilab defeated it at Kaybar in July 1029. The following year, the Byzantine Emperor Romanos III

Romanos III

Romanos III Argyros was Byzantine emperor from 15 November 1028 until his death.-Biography:...

 personally led an army against the Mirdasids to avenge the defeat at Kaybar. In July 1030, the Arabs managed to gain victory over the imperial army near 'Azaz.

Nasr b. Salih had meanwhile taken advantage of his brother Thimal's absence to seize sole control of Aleppo. Fearing an attack from his brother, in spring 1031 he made peace with the Byzantines, agreeing to pay an annual tribute. He became a virtual vassal of the Emperor, allowing the Byzantines to move against his allies.

The governor of Damascus, al-Duzbari, found the Mirdasid alliance with the Byzantines to be unacceptable and called for a jihad

Jihad

Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...

. The Byzantines announced their desire for a truce with al-Duzbari, causing Nasr to worry that he would be sacrificed by the Greeks to the Fatimids. He, along with the Numayrids, Marwanids, and the Banu 'l-Djarrah and Kalb Arabs, sent envoys to Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

 to determine the fate of the Muslims situated between the Fatimids and Byzantines. Nasr declared his submission to Romanos III, who claimed Aleppo as under his protection. The Fatimids refused to accept this, however, and after Romanos III died in 1034 his successor Michael IV recommended to Nasr that he accept Fatimid suzerainty.

Nasr eventually decided to establish friendly ties with the Fatimids, so he sent the plunder gained at the battle of 'Azaz to Cairo

Cairo

Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...

. In return, he was given permission to take control of Homs and his laqab was expanded. He also married the sister of the Numayrid Shabib b. Waththab. These developments did not please al-Duzbari, who together with the Fatimid governor of Homs launched a campaign against the Mirdasids. The two sides met near Latmin in May 1038; in the ensuing battle Nasr was killed and Thimal retreated to Aleppo with the Numayrid Shabib b. Wathab.