 Thus, in 952, he defeated the Byzantines under Bardas Phokas the Younger or his son Constantine Phokas, when the latter tried to interfere with Sayf al-Dawla's refortification of the towns of Ra'ban and Mar'ash in the frontier zone.His captivity by the Byzantines is variously dated by the Arabic sources.According to Ibn Khallikan, he was first captured by the Byzantines in 959, but escaped captivity at the fortress of Kharshana by jumping into the Euphrates; this tale is however dismissed by some modern commentators.