He was an ocean when it came to transmitting the treasures of Arabic letters.

He heard ḥadith and literary lore from Muṭayyan, Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar al-Qattāt, ʿAlī ibn al-ʿAbbās al-Bajalī, Abū al-Ḥusayn ibn Abī al-Aḥwaṣ, Abū Bakr ibn Durayd, Jaḥẓah, Nifṭawayh, and a host of others.

His forefather was Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Haytham ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Marwān ibn ʿAbd Allāh, son of the caliph Marwān al-Ḥimār.

Those who narrated from him include al-Dāraqutnī, Ibrāhīm ibn Aḥmad al-Ṭabarī, Abū al-Fatḥ ibn Abī al-Fawāris, ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn Dāwūd al-Razzāz, and many others.

He was thoroughly versed in genealogy and the famous battle-days of the Arabs, and he was a capable poet.

Abū ʿAlī al-Tanūkhī said: “Abū al-Faraj had memorised of poetry, chronicles, songs, musnad collections, and genealogies what I have never seen anyone else retain, and he likewise knew by heart lexicography, grammar, and the accounts of the Prophet’s campaigns.”

He produced numerous works, which he sent secretly to the Umayyad ruler of al-Andalus and for which he received generous rewards.

Among his writings are (Nasab ʿAbd Shams) – the genealogy of ʿAbd Shams; (Nasab Banī Shaybān) – the genealogy of the Banū Shaybān; and (Nasab Āl al-Muhallab) – the genealogy of the family of al-Muhallab, prepared for the vizier al-Muhallabī, whose company he kept. He also authored (Maqātil al-Ṭālibiyyīn) and (Ayyām al-ʿArab) in five volumes.

What is astonishing is that, though an Umayyad by lineage, he inclined toward Shiʿism.

Ibn Abī al-Fawāris said: “His mind became muddled shortly before his death.”

I say: there is no harm in him.

He was unkempt and shabby, and people were wary of his satirical invective.

There is an anecdote involving him and the market-inspector al-Juhanī. The man was prone to exaggeration; on one occasion he said in the city—