and Ghassān ibn al-Rabīʿ (1), and Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā al-Tamīmī, the teacher of Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj (2).

Abū Dulaf al-ʿIjlī (3)—Qāsim ibn ʿĪsā ibn Idrīs ibn Maʿqil ibn ʿUmayr ibn Shaykh ibn Muʿāwiya ibn Khuzāʿī ibn ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā (4) ibn Dulaf ibn Jashm ibn Qays ibn Saʿd ibn ʿIjl ibn Lujaym—was an amir, better known as Abū Dulaf al-ʿIjlī. He served as one of the commanders under al-Maʾmūn and al-Muʿtaṣim, and the amir Abū Naṣr ibn Mākūlā, author of the book “al-Ikmāl,” traces his lineage back to him.

Qāḍī Jalāl al-Dīn al-Qazwīnī, the preacher of Damascus (5), likewise claimed descent from him and would cite his pedigree accordingly.

Abū Dulaf was celebrated for his munificence and largesse; poets from every land traveled to him, and among those who frequented his court and sought his generosity was Abū Tammām al-Ṭāʾī. He possessed refined taste in literature and music and authored several works, including “Siyāsat al-Mulūk” (Royal Governance), as well as treatises on hunting and falconry, on weaponry, and other subjects.

How apt are the verses composed in his praise by the poet Yakr ibn al-Naṭṭāḥ (6):

O seeker of alchemy and all its lore,
To praise Ibn ʿĪsā is the noblest alchemy;
Were but a single dirham left upon the earth,
Your praise of him would bring you that very dirham.

It is said that he rewarded the poet with ten thousand dirhams for these lines.

He was courageous and formidable, unflagging in his generosity; he would even borrow on his own credit in order to give. His father had begun building the city of al-Karaj (7) but died before completing it; Abū Dulaf brought the project to completion.

He inclined toward Shiʿism and used to say, “Whoever is not extreme in his Shiʿism is of illegitimate birth.” Whereupon his son Dulaf said to him: