[1][3] His works included a history of the governors and judges of Egypt, which continued the similar work of the 9th-century polymath al-Kindi; a history of the al-Madhara'i family of viziers; and books on the founder of the Ikhshidid dynasty, Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid and the Ikhshidid strongman Abu'l-Misk Kafur.
Along with the numerous details that indicate inside knowledge, this shows that Ibn Zulaq was closely associated with the ruling circles of Egypt at the time.
[2] Ali richly rewarded Ibn Zulaq for his work, and it appears that he earned further commissions by other high-ranking members of the Ikhshidid elites for writing panegyrics for them.
According to the historian Yaacov Lev, it was aimed not only at "extolling Egypt, their new possession", but also "simultaneously belittling the importance of Iraq", seat of the rival Abbasid Caliphate and its Buyid overlords.
[4] As an eyewitness with access to the ruling circles, Ibn Zulaq is the "most authoritative source" (Lev) on the Ikhshidids, the Fatimid conquest of Egypt and the early period of Fatimid rule there, but this very proximity to the same circles who sponsored his work, opens its veracity to doubt.