Born in 245 AH, he heard a vast amount of ḥadīth, and among those who transmitted from him were al-Ṭabarānī and others. He was trustworthy, firmly grounded, and virtuous, marked by chastity, abundant recitation of the Qur’an, prayer, and fasting. He loved the scholars and spent much time in their company. Of Persian origin, he was also one of the foremost officials who took a stand against al-Ḥallāj.
It is related that he said: “I once possessed seven hundred thousand dinars; of these I spent six hundred and eighty thousand in avenues of good.”
When he came to Mecca after being banished from Baghdad, he circumambulated the Ka‘bah and performed the sa‘i between al-Ṣafā and al-Marwah. The heat was fierce. On reaching his lodging he collapsed as though dead and said, “I long, by Allah’s leave, for a drink of ice.” One of his companions replied, “That is impossible to obtain here.” He said, “I know, but I found comfort in the wish.”
In the middle of the day a cloud arrived, rain fell, and heavy hail came down. That companion gathered a large quantity of the hail and put it aside for him. The vizier was fasting; when evening came he went to the mosque, and his companion followed with various drinks, all cooled with ice, distributing them to the Sufis and the residents of the sanctuary while the vizier himself drank nothing. When he returned home I brought him some of that drink which we had saved and insisted that he drink it. After some reluctance he did so and said, “I wish I had wished for forgiveness instead.” (1) May Allah have mercy on him and pardon him.
Among the poetry of the vizier Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn ʿĪsā are these lines:
Whoever, out of spite, asks about what has happened to me,
or gloats over my troubles without even asking,
Let him know that calamities have produced from me
a freeborn son who endures the terrors of those earthquakes. (2)
Abū al-Qāsim ʿAlī ibn al-Muḥassin al-Tanūkhī (3) relates—on the authority of his father and of a group of others—that a perfumer from the Karkh quarter, renowned for his adherence to the Sunnah, fell into debt to the amount of six hundred dinars. He closed his shop, lost his livelihood, and stayed at home, devoting many nights to supplication, humble entreaty, and prayer.
One night he saw the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in a dream, saying to him: “Go to ʿAlī ibn ʿĪsā the vizier, for I have ordered him to give you four hundred dinars.” When morning came, the man went to the vizier’s gate, but no one recognized him. He sat there, hoping someone would secure him an audience, until the wait grew long and he thought of leaving. Then he said to one of the doorkeepers, “Tell the vizier that I am a man who saw the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in a dream, and I wish to relate the vision to him.”
The doorkeeper exclaimed, “So you are the dreamer! The vizier has dispatched several messengers to look for you.” He went inside, and no sooner had he done so than