ʿĪsā b. Idrīs b. Maqīl b. Umayr b. Shaykh b. Muʿāwiya b. Khuzāʿī b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. Dulaf b. Jusham b. Qays b. Saʿd b. ʿIjl b. Luhaym. Emir Abū Dulaf al-ʿIjlī. He was one of the commanders of al-Maʾmūn and al-Muʿtaṣim. Emir Abū Naṣr b. Maqūla is attributed to him. He is the author of the book "al-Ikmāl." The preacher and judge of Damascus, Jalāl al-Dīn al-Qazwīnī, stated that he was from his lineage, that he descended from him. Abū Dulaf was a generous, praiseworthy, and noble person. Poets came to him from all directions and turned towards him. Abū Tammām al-Ṭāʾī was among the poets who gathered around him and awaited his gifts. He excelled in music and literature. He compiled a book entitled "Siyāsat al-Mulūk." He was also knowledgeable about hunting, falcons, weaponry, and other subjects.
The poet Bakr b. al-Nattāḥ composed the following fine poem about him:
"O seeker of alchemy and the science of alchemy! Praising Abū Dulaf is the greatest alchemy.
If there existed only a single dirham on the face of the earth;
And you praised Abū Dulaf, surely that dirham would come to you."
It is reported that, because of this poem, Abū Dulaf gave Bakr al-Nattāḥ 10,000 dirhams.
Abū Dulaf was a courageous and bold person. He would borrow and lend money. His father had begun the construction of the city of Karh, but passed away before it was completed. Abū Dulaf completed the construction of the city. He had some inclination toward Shiʿism and used to say: "Whoever does not advance to higher degrees in Shiʿism is illegitimate."
His son Dulaf once said to him: "Father, I am not of your madhhab (school of thought)." Thereupon, Abū Dulaf said to him: "By Allah, I had intercourse with your mother before I purchased her; it is for this reason that you speak in this way!"
According to what Ibn Khallikān narrated, Abū Dulaf's son saw the following dream some time after his father's death:
"A man came to him and said: 'Respond to the Emir's summons.' So he got up and went with the man. The son describes what happened next:
'He led me into a desolate, frightening house, its walls black, its ceiling and doors covered. Then he took me up by an interior staircase to the upper floor and into a room. There were traces of fire on its walls and remnants of ash on its floor. My father was there, naked, with his head between his knees. He asked me: "Are you Dulaf?" I replied: "Yes, I am." He began to recite this poem:
"Convey to our family, do not conceal from them the situation we have encountered in this narrow, suffocating place.
We have been questioned about everything we did in the world; have pity on my loneliness and the state I am in."
Then he asked me: "Do you understand?" I replied: "I understand." Then he began to recite this poem:
"Previously, we used to say: if we died and were left to ourselves, death would be a rest for every living being.
But when we died, we were resurrected, and after that we were questioned about everything we had done in the world."
Then he asked me: "Do you understand?" I said that I understood, and then I woke up from sleep.'"