He is the author of the work titled "al-ʿAmālī." His lineage is as follows: Ismāʿīl ibn Qāsim ibn ʿAbdūn ibn Hārūn ibn ʿĪsā ibn Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān.
His kunyah (teknonym) is Abū Alī. He served as a qāḍī (judge). He was a lexicographer. He was a freedman of the Umayyads. Specifically, he was a freedman of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān. The term al-Kālī indicates his affiliation with Kula. He was born in Silvān, a district affiliated with Diyarbakır. He learned ḥadīth from Abū Yaʿlā al-Mūsilī and others. He studied grammar (naḥw) and lexicography from Ibn Duraid, Abū Bakr al-Anbārī, Nafṭawayh, and others. He compiled the famous work al-ʿAmālī. He also authored other historical and lexicographical works written on five thousand folios arranged alphabetically. He traveled to Baghdad where he attended lessons. Afterwards, he emigrated to Córdoba. He composed many books there until his death at the age of sixty-eight in that year. Ibn Khallikān stated this.
Among the notable figures who died in this year was Abū Alī Muḥammad ibn Ilyās. This person was the governor of the city of Kirman and its dependent districts. ʿAdud al-Dawla ibn Rukn al-Dawla took the city of Kirman from Muḥammad ibn Ilyās’ three sons named al-Yasāʿ, Ilyās, and Sulaymān. The great ruler—whom we mentioned in earlier sections—was Vashmgīr.
In this year, Hasan ibn Fīrūzān also died among the rulers. Indeed, this year became known as the year of the deaths of rulers, because in this year Muʿizz al-Dawla, Kāfūr, and Sayf al-Dawla also passed away.
Ibn al-ʿAsīr said: "In this year, the ruler of Armenia, Nikōphōros, and the Byzantine emperor Domestikos also died." This matter was also discussed in earlier pages.