Ibn Muqla was born in Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, in 885/886.
His career in public service had begun in Fars, where he had served as tax collector.
His rise to power in the central government had come in 908, under the patronage of the powerful vizier Abu 'l-Hasan Ali ibn al-Furat, who had given him charge of official dispatches.
It is at this time, under the ineffectual rule of Caliph al-Muqtadir, that the civil bureaucracy reaches its apex of power in the Abbasid court, but at the same time the achievements of previous reigns in restoring the Caliphate's fortunes collapse due to chronic financial shortages.
Throughout the period, the political scene in Baghdad is dominated by Ibn al-Furat and his faction (the Banu 'l-Furat), his rival Ali ibn Isa al-Jarrah and the faction gathered around him (the Banu 'l-Jarrah), and the powerful chief of the military, Mu'nis al-Khadim.
Despite his close ties to Ibn al-Furat, which had been reaffirmed during the latter's second tenure in 917–918, Ibn Muqlahad had eventually turned against him.
His next promotion had come during the de facto 918–928 vizierate of Ali ibn Isa, when he assumed the important department (diwan) of the public estates.
By cultivating the friendship of the powerful chamberlain (hadjib) Nasr, Ibn Muqla had managed to secure the post of vizier for himself after Ali's disgrace in 928.
His vizierate, however, is marked by extreme internal instability, including a short-lived coup in 929, instigated by Mu'nis, which had deposed al-Muqtadir in favor of his brother al-Qahir.
Despite the coup's failure, Mu'nis and his close ally Ali ibn Isa now dominate the government, which leads to Ibn Muqla's dismissal in 930.
