Abà « Dulaf al-QÃÂsim ibn âÂÂêsàibn MaâÂÂqil ibn Idrës al-âÂÂIjlë () was an Arab military commander under the Abbasid caliphs al-MaâÂÂmà «n and al-MuâÂÂtaá¹£im. His father had commenced construction of the city of Karaj in Jibal, the tribal residence of the Banà « Ijlë; as governor, Abà « Dulaf completed its construction. He was an illustrious man of letters and science, a brilliant poet, a musical composer, a talented vocalist, and an expert on the Bedouin dialect. His generosity was proverbial. He died at Baghdad in 226 or 225 AH [840âÂÂ2 AD].
IsḥÃÂq al-Nadëm gives the quote from Abà « Dulaf: "Handwriting is the garden of the sciences."
His full (genealogical) name was Abà « Dulaf al-QÃÂsim ibn êsàibn Idrës ibn MaâÂÂqil ibn âÂÂUmayr ibn Sheikh ibn Muawia ibn KhosÃÂi ibn âÂÂAbd al-Uzza ibn Dulaf ibn Jushm ibn Kais ibn SaâÂÂad ibn âÂÂIjl ibn Lujaym ibn SaâÂÂab ibn âÂÂAlë ibn Bakr ibn WÃÂâÂÂil ibn Qasit ibn Hinb ibn Afsa ibn Dumë ibn Jadila ibn Asad ibn Rabia ibn Nizar ibn MaâÂÂad ibn AdnÃÂn al-Ijlë.
He was a lord and emir of his people. His grand-uncle, âÂÂêsàibn MaâÂÂqil, who adopted Abà « Muslim al-KhurÃÂsÃÂnë was his grandfather Idrës's brother. The emir Abà « Naá¹£r âÂÂAlë ibn MÃÂqà «la, author of KitÃÂb al-IkmÃÂl ('Book of Completion'), was his descendant. Quá¹Ârub the Grammarian of the Baá¹£rah school tutored his sons, as did Quá¹Ârub's son, al-Ḥasan.
From an early age Abà « Dulaf's poetic talents won him favour with the AbbÃÂsid caliph Harun al-Rashid, who appointed him governor of Jabal. He suppressed raids by nomadic Kurds and Bedouin Arabs against the city of Karaj, and captured the famous qarqur brigand that operated in the area. When HÃÂrà «n died in 809 AD and civil war broke out between the caliph's sons, Al-Amin and Al-Ma'mà «n, Abu-Dülaf supported al-Amin. However Al-Amin's general Alë ibn âÂÂêsàibn Mahan was killed by the forces of Al-Mamà «n led by Tahir ibn Ḥusayn, and Abà «-Dulaf retreated to Karaj, where he pledged to remain neutral yet refused to swear allegiance to Al-Mamà «n while al-Amën was alive. On al-Amin's death in 813 Al-Ma'mà «n forgave him and he was reappointed governor of Jabal. As governor during the successive reigns of al-MaâÂÂmà «n, Al-Mu'tasim and the emir Al-WÃÂthiq, he expanded the territory to include Isfahan and Qazvin, and repelled Daylamite attacks. He served in the campaign against Babak Khorramdin in Azerbaijan (836/837), under Khaydhar ibn Kawus al-Afshin. As governor in Damascus he narrowly escaped a plot against him by Al-Afshin, receiving a warning from the qÃÂá¸Âë Ibn Abë DÃÂâÂÂà «d. He then made the pilgrimage to Mecca and died in Baghdad on 839/840. KhallikÃÂn relates an account that speaks to his Shiite and Mutazilite sympathies. When ten sharëf travel from KhurÃÂsÃÂn to visit Abà « Dulaf on his deathbed, he rewards them in return for a written statement of the genealogy of each; "the son of such a one, etc., the son of Alë ibn Abë ṬÃÂlib by FÃÂá¹Âima the daughter of the Apostle of God," and a declaration that read: "âÂÂApostle of GodâÂÂ, that, in relief of my distress and misery in my native town, Abà « Dulaf al-Ijlë gave two thousand pieces of gold for thy favour and intercession.âÂÂâ In a further account about a dream of Abà « Dulaf's son's, the son meets his father in some afterlife world called the Barzakh, and his father says:
Among his books were:
Several accounts tell of the lavish beneficence Abà « Dulaf bestowed on poets, who recompensed him in eulogy, or qaṣëdah, celebrating his military prowess. Among these poets were:
His excessive generosity, gullibility and inevitable debt, satirised in stories of his life, have echoes of ShakespeareâÂÂs Timon of Athens. One example is expressed in the verse by the Khalidite Abà « Bakr Muḥammad ibn HishÃÂm:
Another example is found in the saying spoken by the reluctant mawla, ibn Abë Fatn SÃÂlih, to his wife who would send him to war:
His descendants, known as the Dulafids, played a political role in the Jabal region for about fifty years.