ABSTRACT
Al-ib was a very powerful vizier and enjoyed a high level of autonomy. The commonly used terminology for literary patronage is the one also found in the realms of Byid administration and the military. Ab Muammad al-Khzin was a talented Esfahani poet and prose writer, whom al-ib had patronized and made his librarian. It is the bond of patronage the cornerstone of the court institution that should be now discussed in greater detail. Material benefits were commonly gifts of money, often combined with garments. In the case of the Byid military and civil administration, the gratitude of those receiving benefits usually amounted to allegiance and co-operation with the processes of government. An important characteristic of the court as a social configuration is that poetry and prose were not judged abstractly by the patron, but rather along the profiles of their creators. This instance demonstrates that often different expectations and interpretations stood as a cause for the termination of a nima-based relation.
