He is first mentioned in the sources in 1153, as part of an expedition to relieve the city of Ascalon, which was being besieged by the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. The expedition was led by Abbas, the stepson of the vizier al-Adil ibn al-Sallar; Abbas abandoned the campaign and returned to Cairo where he killed his stepfather and took over the vizierate until himself overthrown by Tala'i ibn Ruzzik in 1154. Abandoned to its fate, Ascalon, the last Fatimid stronghold in the Levant, fell on 22 August 1153.