155 – al-Nāshiʾ al-Ṣaghīr, ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Waṣīf al-Hallāʾ *
A poet of the first rank and a leading Shiʿi notable, Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Waṣīf—nicknamed al-Hallāʾ—studied speculative theology under Ismāʿīl ibn Nūbakht and others. He composed a number of works; al-hallāʾ (1) denotes a craftsman who fashions copper ornaments.

He is the one who wrote (2):
When I reproach the kings, I do no more
Than trace with my pens letters upon water.
And grant that he reform after the rebuke—was not
His friendship once instinctive, only to turn affected?

His Dīwān was transmitted in Kūfa, and al-Mutanabbī learned poetry from him. He lived to a great age, praised Sayf al-Dawlah and other grandees, and surpassed ninety years of age.

Death: Ṣafar, 365 AH.

156 – al-Shīrāzī, Abū al-Faḍl al-ʿAbbās ibn al-Ḥusayn **
The vizier Abū al-Faḍl al-ʿAbbās ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Shīrāzī served as secretary to Muʿizz al-Dawlah. He acted as deputy for al-Muhallabī in the vizierate and married his daughter. He subsequently wrote for ʿIzz al-Dawlah, became his vizier in 357 AH, and afterward held the vizierate for the caliph al-Muṭīʿ.

Thus he remained in office for both of them—