At a glance
- Roles
- Vizier
- Era
- The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
Life in time
Overview
Abu Ghalib Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Khalaf, styled Fakhr al-Mulk; vizier to Baha' al-Dawla then to his son Sultan al-Dawla the Buyid, counted among the greatest Buyid viziers after Ibn al-'Amid and al-Sahib ibn 'Abbad. From Wasit, son of a money-changer, he was of vast fortune, gathered virtues and generous gifts; leading poets sought him, among them Ibn Nabata with his nuniyya "every youth has a peer — Fakhr al-Mulk has none." 1
Works and killing
He repaired the Sawad of Kufa, rebuilt Baghdad's bridge with railings after it had failed, restored the 'Adudi hospital and his residence in the Tahiri quarter, and instituted the mid-Ramadan distribution of sweets; Sultan al-Dawla turned against him, imprisoned then killed him near al-Ahwaz in 408 — it is said that when seized he declared "the widow's answer has surely come," recalling the widow whose petitions he had ignored and who told him she now addressed God instead. 2
Connections
People and things also explored
Baghdad· Adud al-Dawla Fanakhusraw ibn Rukn al-Dawla· al-Sharif al-Radi· Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Mazyad al-Asadi· بهاء الدولة أبو نصر بن عضد الدولة· شباشي الحاجب أبو طاهر المشطب· The 'Adudi Bimaristan· The investiture of al-Sharif al-Radi in black with the headship of the nuqaba'
Sources
- Wafayat al-A'yan wa-Anba' Abna' al-Zaman — Ibn Khallikan
- al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.7 p.286
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Fakhr al-Mulk”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/fakhr-al-mulk-ibn-khalaf/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-21.