Ibn Yazdad's family originally came from the city of Marw in Khurasan;[1] his great-grandfather was a Zoroastrian convert to Islam.
[3] Ibn Yazdad likewise chose a career in the civil service and became a government secretary (katib), working under the caliphs in Samarra.
In 859 he is mentioned as being in charge of the Department of Control of Estates (diwan zimam al-diya),[4] which oversaw the administration of state lands.
[5] In 862, at the beginning of al-Musta'in's caliphate, he was posted in Fars, but was soon after recalled back to the capital to serve under the secretary Ahmad ibn al-Khasib.
During his vizierate, Ibn Yazdad attempted to improve the fiscal health of the government, and enacted harsh policies against the commanders of the army, as their salaries constituted a major drain on the state treasury.