Amīr Abū Naṣr ʿAlī ibn Wazīr Abūʾl-Qāsim Hibatullāh ibn ʿAlī ibn Jaʿfar ibn Alqān ibn Muḥammad ibn Dulaf ibn Abī Dulaf al-Tamūnī al-Amīr Saʿd al-Mulk Abū Naṣr Ibn Makūla. He was among the imams of hadith and the leading amirs. He traveled to various places to collect hadith. He journeyed to many lands and listened to a great number of hadiths. He compiled the work al-Ikmāl fīʾl-Mushtabih min Asmāʾ al-Rijāl. This is a precious book, the like of which had not previously been written, nor had its value been attained. However, Ibn Nuqṭa wrote a book to supplement it, covering some sections that had been omitted. Ibn Makūla was killed this year in the city of Kirmān by one of his slaves, who struck him with a horse. He was born in the year 420 of the Hijra and lived for fifty-five years. Ibn Khallikān said: There are various weak reports regarding whether Ibn Makūla died in the year 479 or 487 of the Hijra. His father was the vizier of the caliph al-Qāʾim bi-Amrillāh.
His uncle, ʿAbdullāh ibn Ḥusayn, served as the judge (qāḍī) of Baghdad. I do not know why Ibn Makūla was given the title 'amīr'; it is possible that it was given to him due to his affiliation with his grandfather, Amīr Abū Dulaf. His origin is from the city of Jarbāzkān. He was born in the month of Shaʿbān in the year 421 of the Hijra in Akbara. Al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī compiled a book called al-Muʾtanaf. In this book, he brought together the works of al-Dāraquṭnī and ʿAbd al-Ghanī ibn Saʿīd, namely al-Muʾtanaf waʾl-Mukhtalaf. Ibn Makūla came, made additions to al-Khaṭīb’s work, and named his book al-Ikmāl. The expressions he used in this book were extremely clear and explicit. He eliminated ambiguities and doubts regarding the pronunciation of the initial and middle parts of words. No such work had been written before. Amīr Ibn Makūla needs no other virtue or superiority than having produced this work.
In this work, it is demonstrated that he possessed extensive knowledge, had a firm grasp (of transmission), beautiful orthography, and was proficient in his craft. The following poem is attributed to him:
"From a place where you are despised, dismantle your tent and depart.
Keep away from humiliation, for humiliation is something from which one must keep distant.
If you are belittled in your homeland, migrate to another place, for fresh aloe wood is considered mere firewood in its own land."