He also studied with Abū Jaʿfar ibn Rustum al-Ṭabarī, known as Ghulām al-Māzinī.
He received hadith and philology from Ibn Durayd, Nifṭawayh, Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn al-Sarī al-Sarrāj, Abū al-Ḥasan al-Akhfash, and others, and later presided as a teacher in Damascus.
Among those who transmitted from him were: Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī al-Ḥabbāl, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿUmar ibn Naṣr, al-ʿAfīf ibn Abī Naṣr, Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Sharrām (1) the grammarian, and al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Siqillī.
It is said that he was expelled from Damascus because of his Shiʿite leanings. He was dignified in bearing and handsome in appearance, yet among the Damascenes there still lingered traces of anti-ʿAlid sentiment (2).
His works include al-Īḍāḥ (3), a Commentary on the Preface of Adab al-Kātib, a large book entitled al-Lāmāt (4), al-Mukhtaraʿ fī al-Qawāfī, and other writings.
It was reported that he never copied a single passage of al-Jumal into fair script unless he was in a state of ablution; for that reason his work was blessed.
Al-Kattānī said: al-Zajjājī died in Ṭabariyyah in Ramadan of the year 340 AH (5).