He was from Basra. He was among Allah's righteous servants, a person who greatly feared Allah and possessed taqwa (God-consciousness). He would withdraw into seclusion in his home and would not mix with people. He wept much, to the point that he lost his eyesight from weeping. He has many accounts of saintly wonders (karāma). He died in this year, in Basra, in the seventy-eighth year of the Hijra.
I say: The weeping of Alā b. Ziyād increased after a man from Syria saw in a dream that he (Alā) was among the people of Paradise, and related this dream to him. Alā said to the man who saw him among the people of Paradise in his dream and told him of it:
"O my brother, may Allah grant you goodness and reward for having seen a good dream for me. As for me, this dream of yours will bring me to such a state that I will no longer have comfort by night or by day."
After this dream was related to him, he would go days without eating anything, would weep, and would nearly reach the point of departing from this world. He would perform prayer (ṣalāh) and would not interrupt his prayer. Eventually, his brother went to Ḥasan al-Baṣrī and said: "Help my brother, for he is going to kill himself. He fasts but does not break his fast. He prays at night and does not sleep. He weeps night and day. He is acting this way because someone saw him among the people of Paradise in a dream and told him of it."
Ḥasan al-Baṣrī got up and went to Alā's house. He knocked on the door. Alā did not open the door. Ḥasan al-Baṣrī said to him: "Open the door. I am Ḥasan." When Alā heard his voice, he opened the door. Ḥasan said to him: "O my brother, you speak of Paradise. What is Paradise to the believer? For the believer, there are things with Allah greater than Paradise. Are you going to kill yourself?" Ḥasan al-Baṣrī gave him counsel. Eventually, he began to eat and drink and softened his state somewhat.
It is narrated from Ibn Abī al-Dunyā that a certain person went to where Alā b. Ziyād was. He took hold of Alā's forelock and said to him: "O young man, rise and remember Allah (dhikr), so that Allah may remember you." Upon this, the hairs of Alā's forelock stood upright until his death.
It is related that every day, a great number of righteous deeds, according to the deeds of people, would be presented to Allah from Alā b. Ziyād. Indeed, some of his companions saw this state in their dreams.
Alā said: "We are such people that we have cast our souls into the Fire. If Allah wills to bring us out from there, He will bring us out."
Alā said: "There was a man who acted with ostentation in his deeds. When he recited the Qur'an, he would raise his voice, lift his garment, and roll up his trousers. Whoever he encountered, he would certainly insult him. Then Allah, the Exalted, granted him ikhlas (sincerity) and yaqīn (certainty). Thereupon, he lowered his voice, concealed his righteous deeds between himself and his Lord, began to perform these righteous deeds secretly, and whoever he encountered, he would pray good for him."
Surāqa b. Mirdās al-Azdī
He was a poet whose fame spread everywhere. He satirized Ḥajjāj. As a result, Ḥajjāj exiled him to Syria, where he died.