He possessed a deep mastery of the various sciences; he denied the validity of lexical derivation and ruled it impossible (1).
Among the pieces he had committed to memory were the naqāʾiḍ (mutual lampoons) of Jarīr and al-Farazdaq, and the poetry of Dhū al-Rumma (2).
He combined the Kufan and Basran schools of grammar and became a leading authority in the Ẓāhirī creed.
He was a man of Sunnah and devotion, chivalry and noble character, pleasant manners and keen intelligence.
He wrote in both verse and prose (3).
His works include: Gharīb al-Qurʾān; al-Muqniʿ on grammar (4); al-Bāriʿ; Tārīkh al-Khulafāʾ in two volumes; and other titles.
He died in Ṣafar, 323 AH.
Muḥammad ibn Zayd (5) al-Wāsiṭī, the dialectician, used to harass and lampoon him, saying:
‘Whoever would rejoice at never beholding a reprobate,
let him be sure never to behold Niṭfawayh!’ (6)
‘May Allah burn him with half of his name
and turn what remains into a shriek against him!’ (7)
He also said: ‘Whoever wishes to reach the utmost limit of ignorance should study kalām according to the doctrine of al-Nāshiʾ (8), fiqh according to the school of Dāwūd, and grammar according to—’