He was a man of outstanding virtue and devotion, sound in creed, and the author of fine works, among them the book “Maʿānī al-Qurʾān,” together with many other beneficial compilations. At the very start of his career he fashioned glassware, but his heart became attached to the science of grammar. He therefore went to al-Mubarrad, giving him one dirham every day; later al-Zajjāj grew wealthy, yet he never withheld that daily dirham from al-Mubarrad until the latter died.

Al-Zajjāj also served as tutor to al-Qāsim ibn ʿUbayd Allah (1). When al-Qāsim attained the vizierate, people brought their petitions to al-Zajjāj so that he might present them to the vizier, and through this he amassed more than forty thousand dinars.

He died in Jumada al-Ūlā of that same year.

Among those who studied under him were Abū ʿAlī al-Fārisī the grammarian and Abū al-Qāsim (2) ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Isḥāq al-Zajjājī—so styled (3) because of his association with him—who is the author of the grammatical work “al-Jumal.”

Badr, the client of al-Muʿtaḍid (4), namely Badr al-Ḥamāmī (5), also called Badr the Elder, was in his last days governor-delegate of Fārs; after him the post was assigned to his son Muḥammad.

Ḥāmid ibn al-ʿAbbās (6): al-Muqtadir (8) appointed him vizier in the year 306 (9). He possessed vast wealth and numerous slaves, spent freely, was generous and open-handed, and excelled in noble conduct. Stories abound that testify to his lavish disbursements and the great sums he bestowed; yet even so he accumulated an enormous fortune. In one of his privies (10) thousands of gold dinars were found: each day, upon entering, he would cast a thousand dinars into it, and when it was full he sealed it over. When he was subjected to confiscation, he revealed its location, and from it an immense treasure was extracted.

Among his most notable deeds was that he was one of the principal instigators against al-Ḥusayn ibn Manṣūr al-Ḥallāj, so that al-Ḥallāj was put to death, as we mentioned earlier (11).