You never ceased to labour over history with tireless zeal
until I beheld you yourself recorded upon its pages.

He also composed maqāmas and formal sermons.

Among his writings are al-Aḥādīth al-Mawḍūʿa (Fabricated Ḥadiths) and al-ʿIlal al-Mutanāhiya fī al-Aḥādīth al-Wāhiya (The Ultimate Flaws in Weak Ḥadiths), together with many other works.

He was born in 510 AH. His father died when the boy was three, and his family were dealers in copper. Once he had grown, his aunt escorted him to the mosque of Muḥammad ibn Nāṣir the ḥāfiẓ (1). He attached himself to the shaykh, read to him (2), listened to ḥadith from him, and studied jurisprudence with Ibn al-Zāghūnī (3). He memorised exhortations and was preaching before he had reached (4) twenty years of age. He studied the Arabic language with Abū Manṣūr al-Jawālīqī (5). Even as a child (6) he was devout and self-contained: he kept to himself, ate nothing of doubtful provenance, left his house only for the Friday prayer, and never played with other boys.

Caliphs, viziers, kings, princes, scholars, paupers—indeed every class of mankind—attended his preaching sessions. The smallest audience for [one of his sermons] (7) was ten thousand, while at times one hundred thousand or more would assemble. On occasion he would improvise, speaking extemporaneously in both verse and prose—may Allah have mercy on him. In sum, he was a peerless master of exhortation and beyond, with fine contributions to the remaining sciences (8).

He possessed a dignified presence, a proud bearing, and an aspiration (9) that soared beyond his official station; this is plainly evident (10) in both his prose and his poetry. Of his verses are these:

[from al-Kāmil]
I ever strive for what is precious—nay, for what is exalted (11),
and I contend with the arduous, lengthening path.
My hopes race with me around its courses
like the dash (12) of the fortunate one, as far as he can aspire.