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). 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). 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. 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). In contrast to his personal habits, al-Isfahani's prose style is lucid, “in clear and simple language, with unusual sincerity and frankness”. 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". His pinpoint documentation of asānīd and meticulous verification of information, 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. When dealing with conflicting reports, al-Isfahani either leaves his readers to decide or issues his judgement as to the most credible account. Yet, he frankly condemns sources whom he holds to be unreliable, for instance, Ibn Khurdādhbih on musicological information and Ibn al-Kalbī on genealogy. 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. 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