He was the Hajj commander and the leader of the land of Khuzistan. He was a pious scholar with a virtuous life and abundant worship. He was extremely Shīʿī. He died in the city of Tustar on the second of Jumādā al-Ākhirah in this year. According to his will, his coffin was taken to Kūfah and buried in the martyrdom of ʿAlī. Ibn al-Sāʿī describes his biography as follows.
According to Abū Shāmah, as related in the work titled Zayl, this person’s real name was Taştekin b. ʿAbdullāh al-Muqtafavī. He served as the Hajj commander. For twenty-six years, he facilitated the performance of the Hajj pilgrimage for people. In the Hijāz, he was treated like kings. When the vizier Ibn Yūnus reported to the caliph that he was corresponding with Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ayyūbī, the caliph imprisoned him. However, when it was later understood that this was baseless, the caliph released him and granted him Khuzistan as an iqṭāʿ (land grant). He was also reinstated as Hajj commander. The region of Ḥulalatuʾsh-Shīʿah was his iqṭāʿ lands. He was a courageous, generous, tolerant, and very taciturn person. There were times when a whole week passed without him uttering a single word. He was gentle and patient. One man complained about his deputies and asked for his help. But when he did not respond even with a single word, the man asked him, “Are you a donkey?!” He replied, “No.”
Ibn Tawīzī recited the following poem about him:
“Such an emir has been appointed to the land.
He responds to complainants with nothing but silence.
As his rank increases, Allah humbles us.
With his weakening intellect, we fall into darkness.”
One of his chamberlains had stolen his bed. The officials wanted to interrogate the chamberlain. Emir Taştekin had seen the chamberlain while committing the theft. He told the officials: “Do not punish anyone. The one who will not return the bed has taken it away. While stealing the bed, someone who did not fall asleep and whose eyes did not close saw him.”
Emir Taştekin had reached the age of ninety. He had leased a piece of land belonging to the waqfs for 300 years. One of those who laughed at this said: “This man does not believe in death. He has reached ninety years old but leases a land for 300 years!” Upon this remark, those present laughed. The truth is better known by the Exalted Allah, free from deficiencies.