Among contemporaries, he was also known as a scholar and poet. He related hadiths, and was a patron of artists like the singer Ahmad ibn Yahya al-Makki, called Zunayn, who wrote his Kitab mujarrad fi'l-aghani ("Book of Choice Songs") for him. He also had a "lively interest in grammar and philology" (Bosworth), with the prominent grammarians al-Mubarrad and Tha'lab frequenting his circle and engaging in disputations in his presence.[1][10]