His kunyah was Abū'l-Futūḥ. He served as a ḥājib (chamberlain). He was among the respected and select men close to al-Mustarshid and al-Muqtafī. He had a madrasa built next to his own house. He performed the ḥajj. Upon his return, he began to live an ascetic life. For more than twenty years, he secluded himself in his home. Poets praised him. One of the poets composed the following eulogy about him:
“O arm of Islām, O honorable one, O one whose zeal reached its peak. You possessed the world, but you did not give it importance and preferred the eternal Hereafter.”