he was probably from isfarain in northwest khurasan. not much is known about his early life; he began his career as a samanid secretary ("dabir") under the turkic slave-general fa'iq. during this period the samanid dynasty was in heavy decline and was struggling for holding control over khurasan and transoxiana from several ambitious military leaders who had rebelled against their authority, the most dangerous ones being fa'iq and the simjurid abu 'ali simjuri.