Editing Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani (section)

==Biography==
Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani was born in [[Isfahan (city)|Isfahan]], Persia (present-day [[Iran]]) but spent his youth and undertook his early studies in [[Baghdad]] (present-day [[Iraq]]). He was a direct descendant of the last of the [[Umayyad]] [[caliph]]s, [[Marwan II]],{{efn|Al-Isfahani traced his descent to Marwan II as follows: Abu al-Faraj Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn al-Haytham ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Marwan ibn Abd Allah ibn Marwan II ibn [[Muhammad ibn Marwan|Muhammad]] ibn [[Marwan I]].<ref>{{cite book |last=De Slane |first=Mac Guckin |author-link=  William McGuckin de Slane |title=Ibn Khallikan's Biographical Dictionary, Volume 3 |date=1842 |publisher=Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland |location=Paris |page=300 |url={{Google Books|XccfAAAAMAAJ|plainurl=y}}}}</ref>}} and was thus connected with the Umayyad rulers in [[al-Andalus]], and seems to have kept up a correspondence with them and to have sent them some of his works. He became famous for his knowledge of early Arabian antiquities.<ref name="eb">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Abulfaraj|volume=1|page=79}}</ref>

His later life was spent in various parts of the Islamic world, including in [[Aleppo]] with its [[Hamdanid]] governor [[Sayf ad-Dawlah]] (to whom he dedicated the ''Book of Songs''), and in [[Ray, Iran|Ray]] with the [[Buwayhid]] [[vizier]] Ibn 'Abbad.

=== Family ===
The epithet, al-Isfahani,{{Efn|Another spelling, al-Isbahani, is also used in secondary literature. Although al-Isbahani is found in the oldest biographical sources and manuscripts, al-Isfahani will be used in this article.{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=vii}}}} refers to the city, [[Isfahan (city)|Isfahan]], on the [[Iranian plateau]]. Instead of indicating al-Isfahani's birthplace,{{sfn|al-Ziriklī|2002|loc=vol. 4, p. 278}}{{sfn|Rotter|1977|p=7}}{{sfn|Amīn|2009|p=248–249}}{{sfn|Sallūm|1969|p=9}}{{efn|This misconception, according to Azarnoosh,{{sfn|Azarnoosh|1992|p=719}} was first disseminated by Ṭāshkubrīzādah (d. 968/1560) and was thereafter followed by modern scholars.}} this epithet seems to be common to al-Isfahani's family. Every reference al-Isfahani makes to his paternal relatives includes the attributive, al-Isfahani.{{sfn|Khalafallāh|1962|p=23–25}}{{sfn|Azarnoosh|1992|p=720}} According to [[Ibn Hazm]] (994–1064), some descendants of the last [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad caliph]], [[Marwan II|Marwan b. Muhammad]] (691–750), al-Isfahani's ancestor,{{Efn|While most of the sources agree that al-Isfahani was amongst the offspring of the last Umayyad caliph, Marwan b. Muhammad, Ibn al-Nadīm alone claimed that he was a descendant of Hishām b. ʿAbd al-Malik (72–125/691–743).{{sfn|ref=al-Fihrist|Ibn al-Nadīm, ''al-Fihrist''|p=127}} The majority opinion:{{sfn|ref=Tārīkh Madīnat al-Salām|al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī, ''Tārīkh Madīnat al-Salām''|loc=vol. 13, p. 337}}{{sfn|ref=Siyar|al-Dhahabī, ''Siyar''|p=2774}}{{sfn|ref=Inbāh|al-Qifṭī, ''Inbāh''|loc=vol. 2, p. 251}}}} settled in Isfahan.{{sfn|Ibn Ḥazm, ''Jamharat ansāb al-ʿarab''|ref=Jamharat|p=107}} However, it has to be borne in mind that the earliest information available regarding al-Isfahani's family history only dates to the generation of his great-grandfather, Ahmad b. al-Ḥaytham, who settled in [[Samarra]] sometime between 835–6 and 847.{{sfn|Su|2018a|p=421–422}}

Based on al-Isfahani's references in the ''Kitab al-Aghani'' (hereafter, the ''Aghani''), Ahmad b. al-Haytham seems to have led a privileged life in Sāmarrāʾ, while his sons were well-connected with the elite of the [[Abbasid]] capital at that time.{{Efn|A report in the ''Aghani'' mentions Ahmad b. al-Ḥaytham's possession of slaves, which may indicate his being wealthy.{{sfn|Su|2018a|p=422–423}}}} His son, Abd al-Aziz b. Ahmad, was "one of the high ranking scribes in the days of [[al-Mutawakkil]] (r. 847–861) (''min kibār al-kuttāb fī ayyām al-Mutawakkil'')".{{sfn|Ibn Ḥazm, ''Jamharat ansāb al-ʿarab''|ref=Jamharat|p=107}} Another son, Muhammad b. Ahmad (''viz''. al-Isfahani's grandfather), was associated with Abbasid officials, the vizier [[Muhammad ibn al-Zayyat|Ibn al-Zayyāt]] (d. 847), the scribe Ibrahim b. al-Abbas al-Ṣūlī (792–857), and the vizier Ubaydallah b. Sulayman (d. 901), along with the [[Ṭālibid]] notables,{{sfn|Su|2018a|p=424–426}} including al-Husayn b. al-Husayn b. Zayd, who was the leader of the [[Banu Hashim]].{{sfn|al-Iṣfahānī, ''Maqātil''|ref=Maqātil|p=547}} The close ties with the Abbasid court continued with Muhammad's sons, al-Hasan and al-Husayn (al-Isfahani's father).{{sfn|Su|2018a|p=426–430}}

In various places in the ''Aghani'', al-Isfahani refers to Yahya b. Muhammad b. Thawaba (from the Al Thawaba) as his grandfather on his mother's side.{{sfn|al-Iṣfahānī, ''Kitāb al-Aghānī''|ref=al-Aghānī|loc=vol. 12, p. 29; vol. 14, p. 113, 157; vol. 16, p. 317–318; vol. 19, p. 35, 49; vol. 20, p. 116}}{{Efn|For the identity of Yahya b. Muhammad b. Thawaba and other members of the Al Thawaba, see: {{sfn|Khalafallāh|1962|p=52–58}}{{sfn|ref=al-Fihrist|Ibn al-Nadīm, ''al-Fihrist''|p=143–144}}}} It is often suggested that the family of Thawaba, being [[Shi'i]],{{Efn|The term, Shi'i, is used in its broadest sense in this article and comprises various still evolving groups, including Imami Shi'is, Zaydīs, Ghulāt, and mild or soft Shi'is (as per van Ess and Crone), as well as those who straddle several sectarian alignments. Such inclusiveness is necessitated by the lack of clear-cut sectarian delineation (as in the case of the Al Thawaba, discussed here) in the early period.{{sfn|van Ess|2017|loc=vol. 1, p. 236}}{{sfn|Crone|2005|p=72, 99}}}} bequeathed their sectarian inclination to al-Isfahani.{{sfn|Khalafallāh|1962|p=58}}{{Efn|Both Kilpatrick and Azarnoosh follow Khalafallāh's argument as to the Al Thawaba's impact upon al-Isfahani's Shi'i conviction.{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=15}}{{sfn|Azarnoosh|1992|p=728}}}} However, the identification of the Thawaba family as Shi'is is only found in a late source, [[Yaqut al-Hamawi|Yaqut's]] (1178–1225) work.{{sfn|al-Hamawī, ''Muʿjam al-udabāʾ''|ref=Muʿjam al-udabāʾ|loc=vol. 4, p. 147–149}} While many elite families working under the Abbasid caliphate were Shi'i-inclined, indeed allied with Alids or their partisans,{{sfn|Su|2018a|p=433–441}} there is no evidence that members of the Thawaba family embraced an extreme form of Shi'ism.{{sfn|Su|2018a|p=431–432}}

In summary, al-Isfahani came from a family well-entrenched in the networks of the Abbasid elite, which included the officials and the [[Alids]]. Despite the epithet, al-Isfahani, it does not seem that the Isfahani family had a strong connection with the city of Isfahan. Rather, the family was mainly based in Sāmarrāʾ, from the generation of Ahmad b. al-Ḥaytham, and then Baghdad.{{sfn|al-Iṣfahānī, ''Kitāb al-Aghānī''|ref=al-Aghānī|loc=vol. 23, p. 21}}

In the seats of the caliphate, a few members of the al-Isfahani family worked as scribes, while maintaining friendship or alliance with other scribes, viziers and notables.{{sfn|Su|2018a|p=421–432}} Like many of the court elite, al-Isfahani's family maintained an amicable relationship with the offspring of Ali and allied with families, such as the Thawaba family,{{Efn|Besides the Al Thawaba, one may count among the pro-Alid or Shi'i families the Banū Furāt and Banū Nawbakht.{{sfn|Su|2018a|p=429–430}}}} sharing their veneration of Ali and Alids. However, it is hard to pinpoint such a reverential attitude towards Alids in terms of sectarian alignment, given the scanty information about al-Isfahani's family and the fluidity of sectarian identities at the time.

=== Education and career ===
The Isfahani family's extensive network of contacts is reflected in al-Isfahani's sources. Among the direct informants whom al-Isfahani cites in his works, are members of his own family, who were further connected to other notable families,{{sfn|Khalafallāh|1962|p=41–51}} the Al Thawaba,{{Efn|Al-Isfahani's sources are al-Abbas b. Ahmad b. Thawaba and Yahya b. Muhammad b. Thawaba, al-Isfahani's grandfather from the maternal side, who is cited indirectly.{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=29, 133}}|name=fn19}} the Banū Munajjim,{{Efn|Al-Isfahani has three informants from the Banū Munajjim, whose members were associated with the Abbasid court as boon companions, scholars, or astrologists: Ahmad b. Yahya b. Ali (262–327/876–940); Ali b. Harun b. Ali (277–352/890–963); and Yahya b. Ali b. Yahya (241–300/855–912).{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=38, 40, 68–69}} About the Banu Munajjim; see:{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2012|p=}}|name=fn20}} the Yazīdīs,{{Efn|The Yazīdīs were famed for its members’ mastery of poetry, the Qurʾānic readings, the [[w:Hadith|''ḥadīth'']], and philology. Muhammad b. al-Abbas al-Yazīdī (d. ''c''. 228–310/842–922) was the tutor of the children of the caliph, al-Muqtadir (r. 295–320/908–932), and transmitted Abu Ubayda's ''Naqa'id'', Thaalab's ''Majalis'', and the works of his family; many of his narrations are preserved in the ''Aghani''.{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=54–56}}{{sfn|Sellheim|2012|p=}}|name=fn21}} the Ṣūlīs,{{Efn|The association with the Ṣūlīs likely began in the generation of al-Isfahani's grandfather, Muhammad b. Ahmad, who was close to Ibrahim b. al-Abbas al-Ṣūlī; see the [[#Family|section on Family]]. Al-Isfahani's direct sources from this family are the famous al-Ṣūlī, Muhammad b. Yahya (d. 335/946 or 336/947), who was the boon companion of a number of the caliphs and a phenomenal chess player; his son, Yahya b. Muhammad al-Ṣūlī; and al-Abbas b. Ali, known as Ibn Burd al-Khiyār. See:{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=32, 64–65}}{{sfn|ref=al-Aghānī|al-Iṣfahānī, ''Kitāb al-Aghānī''|loc=vol. 9, p. 229}} See also:{{sfn|ref=al-Fihrist|Ibn al-Nadīm, ''al-Fihrist''|p=167}}{{sfn|Leder|2012|p=}}|name=fn22}} the Banū Ḥamdūn,{{Efn|The Banu Hamdun were known for their boon companionship at the Abbasid court in the ninth century; al-Isfahani's informant is Abdallāh b. Ahmad b. Ḥamdūn;{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=30}} about the Banū Ḥamdūn; see:{{sfn|ref=al-Fihrist|Ibn al-Nadīm, ''al-Fihrist''|p=161}}{{sfn|Vadet|2012|p=}}|name=fn23}} the Ṭāhirids,{{Efn|Yahya b. Muhammad b. ʿAbdallāh b. Ṭāhir, identified by al-Isfahani as the nephew of ʿUbaydallāh b. ʿAbdallāh b. Ṭāhir (d. 300/913), is the son of Muhammad b. ʿAbdallāh b. Ṭāhir (d. 296/908–9), the governor of Khurāsān.{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=69}}{{sfn|ref=al-Aghānī|al-Iṣfahānī, ''Kitāb al-Aghānī''|loc=vol. 21, p. 48}} See also:{{sfn|Zetterstéen|2012|p=}}{{sfn|Bosworth|Marín|Smith|2012|p=}}|name=fn24}} the Banū al-Marzubān{{Efn|Al-Isfahani mentions a conversation between his father and Muhammad b. Khalaf b. al-Marzubānī and notes the long-term friendship and marital tie between the two families; see:{{sfn|ref=al-Aghānī|al-Iṣfahānī, ''Kitāb al-Aghānī''|loc=vol. 24, p. 37}} I owe this reference to: {{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=17}} Muhammad b. Khalaf b. al-Marzubān is a ubiquitous informant in the ''Aghānī''; see:{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=58–59}}|name=fn25}} and the Ṭālibids.{{Efn|The Ṭālibid informants of al-Isfahani comprise: Ali b. al-Husayn b. Ali b. Hamza; Ali b. Ibrahim b. Muhammad; Ali b. Muhammad b. Ja'far; Ja'far b. Muhammad b. Ja'far; Muhammad b. Ali b. Hamza; see: {{sfn|Günther|1991|p=140–141; 141–144; 150; 161–162; 190–191}}|name=fn26}}

Given that al-Isfahani and his family very likely settled in Baghdad around the beginning of the tenth century,{{Efn|al-Isfahani's uncle, al-Hasan b. Muhammad, mentioned in the ''Tarikh Madinat al-Salam'', either settled in Baghdad with him or at least active for some time there; see:{{sfn|ref=al-Aghānī|al-Iṣfahānī, ''Kitāb al-Aghānī''|loc=vol. 23, p. 21}}{{sfn|ref=Tārīkh Madīnat al-Salām|al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī, ''Tārīkh Madīnat al-Salām''|loc=vol. 8, p. 440}}}} he interacted with a considerable number of the inhabitants of or visitors to that city, including: Jaḥẓa (d. 936),{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=34–35}} al-Khaffāf,{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=46–47}} Ali b. Sulaymān al-Akhfash (d. 927/8),{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=41–42}} and Muhammad b. Jarir al-Ṭabari (d. 922).{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=58}} Like other scholars of his time, al-Isfahani travelled in pursuit of knowledge. Although the details are insufficient to establish the dates of his journeys, based on the chains of transmission (''asānīd'', sing. ''isnād'') al-Isfahani cites consistently and meticulously in every report, it is certain that he transmitted from ʿAbd al-Malik b. Maslama and ʿĀṣim b. Muhammad in Antakya;{{sfn|al-Iṣfahānī, ''Kitāb al-Aghānī''|ref=al-Aghānī|loc=vol. 13, p. 25; vol. 14, p. 46–50}} ʿAbdallāh b. Muhammad b. Ishaq in [[Ahvaz|Ahwaz]];{{sfn|al-Iṣfahānī, ''Kitāb al-Aghānī''|ref=al-Aghānī|loc=vol. 17, p. 157}} and Yahya b. Aḥmad b. al-Jawn in [[Raqqa]].{{sfn|al-Iṣfahānī, ''Kitāb al-Aghānī''|ref=al-Aghānī|loc=vol. 24, p. 67}} If we accept the attribution of the ''Kitab Adab al-ghuraba'' to al-Isfahani, he once visited [[Baṣra]] as well as Ḥiṣn Mahdī, Mattūth, and Bājistrā.{{sfn|Azarnoosh|1992|p=721}}{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=18}} Yet, none of these cities seems to have left as much of an impact on al-Isfahani as [[Kūfa]] and Baghdad did. While al-Isfahani's Baghdadi informants were wide-ranging in their expertise as well as sectarian and theological tendencies, his Kūfan sources can be characterised as either Shi'i or keen on preserving and disseminating memories that favoured Ali and his family. For example, Ibn ʿUqda (d. 944), mentioned in both the ''Aghānī'' and the ''Maqātil,'' was invariably cited for the reports about the [[Alids]] and their merits.{{sfn|Günther|1991|p=127–131}}{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=36–37}}{{sfn|Su|2016|p=204–209}}{{efn|About Ibn ʿUqd, see also:{{sfn|Brown|2008|p=55–58}}}}

The journey in search for knowledge taken by al-Isfahani may not be particularly outstanding by the standard of his time,{{Efn|Compare, for instance, his teacher, al-Ṭabarī.{{sfn|Bosworth|2012|p=}}}} but the diversity of his sources' occupations and expertise is impressive. His informants can be assigned into one or more of the following categories:{{Efn|It has to be kept in mind that the categorisation is based on the attributives given by al-Isfahani. Just as al-Isfahani was not a local Isfahani, the subjects discussed here do not necessarily engage with the professions their ''nisbas'' indicate.}} philologists and grammarians;{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=41–42 (al-Akhfash); 60–61 (Ibn Durayd); 32 (Ibn Rustam); 30 (ʿAbd al-Malik al-Ḍarīr)}} singers and musicians;{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=42 (Dhukāʾ Wajh al-Ruzza); 34 (Jaḥẓa)}} booksellers and copyists (''sahhafun'' or ''warraqun'', sing. ''sahhaf'' or ''[[Warraq]]'');{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=52–53 (ʿĪsā b. al-Ḥusayn al-Warrāq); 40 (ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn al-Warrāq); 37 (Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-Ṣaḥḥāf); 31 (ʿAbd al-Wahhāb b. ʿUbayd al-Ṣaḥḥāf); 65 (Muḥammad b. Zakariyyā al-Ṣaḥḥāf)}} friends;{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=32 (Abū al-Qāsim al-Shīrbābakī)}}{{Efn|See also the footnotes above: {{Efn|name=fn20}}{{Efn|name=fn22}}{{Efn|name=fn23}}}} tutors (''muʾaddibūn'', sing. ''muʾaddib'');{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=32 (Aḥmad b. al-ʿAbbās al-Muʾaddib); 35 (Aḥmad b. ʿImrān al-Muʾaddib); 61–62 (Muḥammad b. al-Ḥusayn al-Muʾaddib); 62 (Muḥammad b. ʿImrān al-Muʾaddib)}} scribes (''kuttāb'', sing. [[Katib|''kātib'']]);{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=43–44 (Jaʿfar b. Qudāma al-Kātib); 50–51 (al-Ḥusayn b. al-Qāsim al-Kawkabī al-Kātib); 53 (Isḥāq b. al-Ḍaḥḥāk al-Kātib); 41 (ʿAlī b. Ṣāliḥ al-Kātib); 39 (ʿAlī b. al-ʿAbbās al-Ṭalḥī al-Kātib); 39–40 (ʿAlī b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Kātib); 49 (al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad al-Kātib); 57 (Muḥammad b. Baḥr al-Iṣfahānī al-Kātib)}} imams or preachers (''khuṭabāʾ'', sing. [[Khatib|''khaṭīb'']]); {{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=61 (Muḥammad b. Ḥusayn al-Kindī was al-Iṣfahānī’s tutor and the preacher at the congregational mosque in Qādisiyya); 40–41 (ʿAlī b. Muḥammad, an imam of a Kūfan mosque)}}{{sfn|al-Iṣfahānī, ''Kitāb al-Aghānī''|ref=al-Aghānī|loc=vol. 15, p. 255; vol. 19, p. 38; vol. 20, p. 163; vol. 21, p. 158}} religious scholars (of the ''ḥadīth'', the Qurʾānic recitations and exegeses, or jurisprudence) and judges;{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=30 (ʿAbdallāh b. Abī Dāwūd al-Sijistānī); 36–37 (Ibn ʿUqda); 58 (Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī); 59–60 (Muḥammad b. Khalaf Wakīʿ)}} poets;{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=42 (ʿĀṣim b. Muḥammad al-Shāʿir); 49 (al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad al-Shāʿir)}} and ''akhbārīs'' (transmitters of reports of all sorts, including genealogical, historical, and anecdotal reports).{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=37 (Aḥmad b. Sulaymān al-Ṭūsī); 37–38 (Ibn ʿAmmār); 42–43 (Abū Khalīfa al-Jumaḥī); 45–46 (al-Ḥaramī b. Abī al-ʿAlāʾ)}} The variety of the narrators and their narrations enriched al-Iṣfahānī's literary output, which covers a wide range of topics from amusing tales to the accounts of the Alids' martyrdom.{{Efn|See [[#Legacy|Legacy]], below}} His erudition is best illustrated by Abu Ali al-Muhassin al-Tanukhi's (941–994) comment: "With his encyclopaedic knowledge of music, musicians, poetry, poets, genealogy, history, and other subjects, al-Iṣfahānī established himself as a learned scholar and teacher."{{sfn|al-Hamawī, ''Muʿjam al-udabāʾ''|ref=Muʿjam al-udabāʾ|loc=vol. 13, p. 129–130}}{{sfn|Khalafallāh|1962|p=168–169}}{{sfn|al-Aṣmaʿī|1951|p=73–85}}{{sfn|ʿĀṣī|1993|p=24–30}}

He was also a scribe and this is not surprising, given his families’ scribal connections, but the details of his ''kātib'' activities are rather opaque.{{Efn|For the few references by al-Isfahani to his administrative tasks, see:{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=18}}}} Although both al-Tanūkhī and al-Baghdādī refer to al-Isfahani with the attribute, ''kātib'', they mention nothing of where he worked or for whom.{{sfn|al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī, ''Tārīkh Madīnat al-Salām''|ref=Tārīkh Madīnat al-Salām|loc=vol. 13, p. 337}}{{sfn|al-Tanūkhī, ''al-Faraj''|ref=al-Faraj|loc=vol. 2, p. 334}}{{sfn|al-Tanūkhī, ''Nishwār''|ref=Nishwār|loc=vol. 1, p. 18}} The details of his occupation as a scribe only came later, with Yaqut, many of whose reports about al-Isfahani prove problematic. For instance, a report from Yaqut claims that al-Isfahani was the scribe of Rukn al-Dawla (d. 976) and mentions his resentment towards Abū al-Faḍl b. al-ʿAmīd (d. 970).{{sfn|al-Hamawī, ''Muʿjam al-udabāʾ''|ref=Muʿjam al-udabāʾ|loc=vol. 13, p. 110–111}} However, the very same report was mentioned by Abū Ḥayyān al-Tawḥīdī (active tenth century{{sfn|Stern|2012|p=}}) in his ''Akhlāq al-wazīrayn'', where the scribe of Rukn al-Dawla is identified as Abū al-Faraj Ḥamd b. Muhammad, not Abū al-Faraj al-Isfahani.{{sfn|Azarnoosh|1992|p=726–727}}{{sfn|al-Tawḥīdī, ''Akhlāq al‑wazīrayn''|ref=Akhlāq al‑wazīrayn|p=421–422}}{{Blockquote|Amongst the Shīʿī narrators whom we have seen, none has memorised poems, melodies, reports, traditions (''al-āthār''), ''al-aḥādīth al-musnada'' (narrations with chains of transmission, including the Prophetic ''ḥadīth''), and genealogy by heart like Abū al-Faraj al-Isfahani. Very proficient in these matters, he is also knowledgeable in the military campaigns and the biography of the Prophet (''al-maghāzī'' and ''al-sīra''), lexicography, grammar, legendary tales (''al-khurāfāt''), and the accomplishments required of courtiers (''ālat al-munādama''), like falconry (''al-jawāriḥ''), veterinary science (''al-bayṭara''), some notions of medicine (''nutafan min al-ṭibb''), astrology, drinks (''al-ashriba''), and other things.|author=Al-Khaṭīb{{sfn|ref=Wafayāt|Ibn Khallikān, ''Wafayāt''|loc=vol. 3, p. 307}}{{sfn|ref=Siyar|al-Dhahabī, ''Siyar''|p=2774}}{{sfn|ref=Inbāh|al-Qifṭī, ''Inbāh''|loc=vol. 2, p. 251}}{{efn|It is noteworthy that the first sentence of this quote is written differently from the works given here in al-Khaṭīb's ''Tārīkh''.{{sfn|ref=Tārīkh Madīnat al-Salām|al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī, ''Tārīkh Madīnat al-Salām''|loc=vol. 13, p. 339}}}}}} Thus, it is hard to know with certainty how and where al-Isfahani was engaged in his capacity as a ''kātib''. Nevertheless, al-Isfahani's association with the vizier, [[Abū Muḥammad al-Muhallabī]] (903–963), is well-documented. The friendship between the two began before al-Muhallabī's became vizier in 950.{{sfn|al-Hamawī, ''Muʿjam al-udabāʾ''|ref=Muʿjam al-udabāʾ|loc=vol. 13, p. 105}}{{Efn|Among the frequently cited sources in the ''Aghānī'' is Ḥabīb b. Naṣr al-Muhallabī (d. 307/919), presumably from the Muhallabid family, but it is not clear how this informant relates to Abū Muhammad al-Muhallabī; see:{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=44}}}} The firm relationship between them is supported by al-Isfahani's poetry collected by al-Thaʿālibī (961–1038): half of the fourteen poems are panegyrics dedicated to al-Muhallabī.{{sfn|al-Thaʿālibī, ''Yatīmat''|ref=Yatīmat|loc=vol. 3, p. 127–131}} In addition, al-Isfahani's own work, ''al-Imāʾ al-shawāʿir'' (“Enslaved Women Who Composed Poetry”), is dedicated to the vizier, presumably, al-Muhallabī.{{sfn|al-Iṣfahānī, ''al-Imāʿ al-shawāʿir''|ref=al-shawāʿir|p=23}} His no longer surviving ''Manājīb al-khiṣyān'' (“The Noble Eunuchs”), which addresses two castrated male singers owned by al-Muhallabī, was composed for him.{{sfn|al-Hamawī, ''Muʿjam al-udabāʾ''|ref=Muʿjam al-udabāʾ|loc=vol. 13, p. 100}} His ''magnum opus'', the ''Aghānī'', was very likely intended for al-Muhallabī, as well.{{Efn|See [[#Legacy|section on Legacy]]}} In return for his literary efforts, according to al-Tanūkhī, al-Isfahani frequently received rewards from the vizier.{{sfn|al-Tanūkhī, ''Nishwār''|ref=Nishwār|loc=vol. 1, p. 74}} Furthermore, for the sake of their long-term friendship and out of his respect for al-Isfahani's genius, al-Muhallabī exceptionally tolerated al-Isfahani's uncouth manners and poor personal hygiene.{{sfn|al-Hamawī, ''Muʿjam al-udabāʾ''|ref=Muʿjam al-udabāʾ|loc=vol. 13, p. 101–103}} The sources say nothing about al-Isfahani's fate after al-Muhallabī's death. In his last years, according to his student, Muhammad b. Abī al-Fawāris, he suffered from senility (''khallaṭa'').{{sfn|al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī, ''Tārīkh Madīnat al-Salām''|ref=Tārīkh Madīnat al-Salām|loc=vol. 13, p. 340}}{{efn|See also: {{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=19}}}}

=== Personality, preferences, and beliefs ===
As a friend, al-Isfahani was unconventional in the sense that he did not seem to have been bothered to observe the social decorum of his time, as noted by a late biographical source: with his uncleanliness and gluttony, he presented a counterexample to elegance (''ẓarf''), as defined by one of his teachers, Abu al-Ṭayyib al-Washshāʾ (d. 937).{{Efn|Al-Washshāʾ says: “It is not permissible for the people of elegance and etiquette to wear dirty clothes with clean ones, or clean ones with new ones,” and they should eat with small morsels, while avoiding gluttony. Al-Isfahani never washed his clothes and shoes and only replaced them when they became too shabby to put on.{{sfn|ref=Muʿjam al-udabāʾ|al-Hamawī, ''Muʿjam al-udabāʾ''|loc=vol. 13, p. 101–102, 107–108}} <ref>al-Washshāʾ, ''al-Muwashshā'', p. 161 (quotation), 167.</ref>}} His unconformity to the social norms did not hinder him from being part of al-Muhallabī's entourage or participation in the literary assemblies, but, inevitably, it resulted in frictions with other scholars and detraction by his enemies.{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=17–18}}{{sfn|Azarnoosh|1992|p=730–731}} Although al-Isfahani appeared eccentric to his human associates, he was a caring owner of his cat, named Yaqaq (white): he treated Yaqaq's [[colic]] (''qulanj'') with an [[enema]] (''al-ḥuqna'').{{sfn|al-Hamawī, ''Muʿjam al-udabāʾ''|ref=Muʿjam al-udabāʾ|loc=vol. 13, p. 104–105}}{{Efn|For the discussion of colic and its treatment by enema; see:{{sfn|Nezhad et al|2015|pp=29–40}}}}

In contrast to his personal habits, al-Isfahani's prose style is lucid, “in clear and simple language, with unusual sincerity and frankness”.{{sfn|Azarnoosh|1992|p=731}}{{efn|See also:{{sfn|Jabrī|1965|p=27–29}}{{sfn|Sallūm|1969|p=56–69}}}} Al-Isfahani's capacity as a writer is well illustrated by Abu Deeb, who depicts al-Isfahani as "one of the finest writers of Arabic prose in his time, with a remarkable ability to relate widely different types of ''aḵbār'' in a rich, lucid, rhythmic, and precise style, only occasionally exploiting such formal effects as ''saǰʿ'' (rhyming prose). He was also a fine poet with an opulent imagination. His poetry displays preoccupations similar to those of other urban poets of his time".{{sfn|Abū Deeb}} His pinpoint documentation of ''asānīd''{{efn|Al-Isfahani specifies not only his sources (the identities of his informants, or the titles of the written material used by him) but also the methods by which he acquired the reports. Now and then, he mentions the occasions on which he received the given information; see:{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=94–104}}}} and meticulous verification of information,{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=40–46, 60–63, 115–119}}{{sfn|Sallūm|1969|p=38–55, 101–118}} provided in all his works, embody a truly scholarly character. Usually, in his treatment of a subject or an event, al-Isfahani lets his sources speak, but, occasionally, he voices his evaluation of poems and songs, as well as their creators.{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=46–47,66–69}} When dealing with conflicting reports, al-Isfahani either leaves his readers to decide or issues his judgement as to the most credible account.{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=111–119}} Yet, he frankly condemns sources whom he holds to be unreliable, for instance, Ibn Khurdādhbih on musicological information and Ibn al-Kalbī on genealogy.{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=112–113}}{{sfn|Sallūm|1969|p=85–89}} Indeed, al-Isfahani assesses his source material with a critical eye, while striving to present a more balanced view on his biographies, by focusing on their merits instead of elaborating on their flaws.{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=46–47, 68–69, 114–115}}{{sfn|Jabrī|1965|p=19–20, 25–26}}

That said, al-Isfahani's personal preferences and sectarian partisanship are not absent from his works. In terms of music and songs, al-Isfahani favours [[Ishaq al-Mawsili|Ishaq b. Ibrahim al-Mawsili]] (772–850). In al-Isfahani's view, Ishaq b. Ibrahim was a multi-talented man, who excelled in a number of subjects, but, most importantly, music.{{sfn|al-Iṣfahānī, ''Kitāb al-Aghānī''|ref=al-Aghānī|loc=vol. 5, p. 190}} Ishaq b. Ibrahim, as a collector of the reports about poets and singers, is an important source in his ''Aghānī''.{{sfn|Fleischhammer|2004|p=89–91}} Besides being a mine of information, Ishaq b. Ibrahim's terminology for the description of the melodic modes is preferred over that of his opponent, [[Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi]] (779–839), and adopted by al-Isfahani in his ''Aghani''.{{sfn|al-Iṣfahānī, ''Kitāb al-Aghānī''|ref=al-Aghānī|loc=vol. 1, p. 15–16}}{{efn|See also:{{sfn|Sawa|2002|p=384–385}}}} Furthermore, al-Isfahani embarked on the compilation of the ''Aghānī'' because he was commissioned by his patron to reconstruct the list of the exquisite songs selected by Ishaq.{{sfn|al-Iṣfahānī, ''Kitāb al-Aghānī''|ref=al-Aghānī|loc=vol. 1, p. 16}}{{efn|See the [[#Works|section on al-Iṣfahānī’s works]].}} In other words, the ''raison d’etre'' of the ''Aghānī''  is partly related to al-Isfahani's idol, Ishaq b. Ibrahim, and its information about singers, songs and performance owes a tremendous amount to him.{{sfn|Su|2018b|p=275–289}} Al-Isfahani's admiration for scholars or men of letters can be detected from time to time, usually in the passing comments in the chains of transmission.{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=111–112}}{{sfn|Khalafallāh|1962|p=66–84}} Yet al-Isfahani outspokenly expresses his admiration, in some cases, such as that of Ibn al-Muʿtazz (862–909).{{sfn|Su|2016|p=175–179}}{{sfn|al-Iṣfahānī, ''Kitāb al-Aghānī''|ref=al-Aghānī|loc=vol. 10, p. 228–229}}{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=83–84}}

As an Umayyad by ancestry, al-Isfahani's later biographers mention his Shi'i affiliation with surprise.{{efn|The earliest mention of the Umayyad-Shi'i combination in the biographical sources is perhaps:{{sfn|ref=Tārīkh Madīnat al-Salām|al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī, ''Tārīkh Madīnat al-Salām''|loc=vol. 13, p. 340}}{{sfn|ref=Inbāh|al-Qifṭī, ''Inbāh''|loc=vol. 2, p. 253}} This is then repeated in later sources; see {{sfn|ref=Siyar|al-Dhahabī, ''Siyar''|p=2774}}{{sfn|ref=Mīzān|al-Dhahabī, ''Mīzān''|loc=vol. 5, p. 151}}
{{sfn|ref=Lisān al-mīzān|Ibn Ḥajar, ''Lisān al-mīzān''|loc=vol. 5, p. 526}}{{sfn|Ibn al-ʿImād|1986|loc=vol. 4, p. 292}}{{sfn|ref=al‑Kāmil|Ibn Al‑Athīr, ''al‑Kāmil''|1987|loc=vol. 7, p. 302}}}} Yet, in the light of the history of the family's connections with the Abbasid elite of Shi'i inclination and the Ṭālibids, and of his learning experience in Kūfa, his Shi'i conviction is understandable. Al-Tusi (995–1067) is the only early source specifying the exact sect to which al-Isfahani belonged in the fluid Shi'i world: he was a [[Zaidiyyah|Zaydī]].{{sfn|al-Ṭūsī|1991|p=192}} Although al-Ṭūsī's view is widely accepted, its veracity is not beyond doubt.{{sfn|Kilpatrick|2003|p=14–16}}{{sfn|Günther|2007|p=}}{{sfn|Haider|2011|p=197}}{{sfn|Haider|2008|loc=p. 459–475}}{{sfn|Crone|2005|p=100|loc=footnote 4}} Al-Isfahani does not seem to have been informed of the latest Zaydī movements in Yemen and Ṭabaristān during his life, while his association with the Kūfan Zaydī community, which to some degree became less distinguishable from the [[Sunnī]]s, is yet to be studied in depth.{{sfn|Madelung|1965|p=223–228}}{{sfn|Su|2016|p=72–90}} It is clear, based on examination of how al-Isfahani amended the reports at his disposal, that he honoured Ali, who played a far more prominent role in his works than the first three caliphs, and some of his descendants, including Zaydi Shi'ism's eponym, [[Zayd ibn Ali]] (694–740), by presenting them positively, while, in some cases, leaving their enemies’ rectitude in question.{{sfn|Su|2016|p=183–265}} In spite of that, al-Isfahani is neither keen to identify the imams in the past, nor discuss the qualities of an imam.{{sfn|Su|2016|p=253–260}}{{efn|The Zaydī writings in the late ninth and early tenth centuries more or less devote discussion to the role and qualities of imam; see, for example:
{{sfn|ref=Majmūʿ kutub|al-Qāsim, ''Majmūʿ kutub''|loc=vol. 2, p. 169–193}}{{sfn|ref=Majmūʿ Rasāʾil|Yaḥyā, ''Majmūʿ Rasāʾil|p=431–432}} al-Ḥādī ilā al-Ḥaqq also singled out a line of the Zaydi imams up till his time in his ''Kitab al-Ahkam''; see:{{sfn|Strothmann|1990|p=360}}}} As a matter of fact, he hardly uses the word, not even applying it to Zayd b. Ali.{{sfn|Su|2016|p=253}} Furthermore, he does not unconditionally approve any Alid revolt and seems lukewarm towards the group he refers to as Zaydis.{{sfn|Su|2016|p=87–89}} Taken together, al-Isfahani's Shi'i conviction is better characterised as moderate love for [[Ali]] without impugning the dignity of the caliphs before him.