[7][15] Within Spain, he traveled to Málaga, Almería before moving on through Ceuta, Tunis, Alexandria, Cairo, Damietta, Minya, Kush and ‘Aydhab in Africa.
[17] Abu Hayyan left Andalusia and briefly visited Morocco before spending time in other regions of North Africa, including Ceuta and Bougie.
After that, he spent some time in Tunisia's hadith scientific circles and received instruction in fiqh from the region's recognised authorities.
In terms of sources, in addition to al-Nahhas, his initial qira'at experts were 'Ali ibn Yahya al-Hamadani al-Marbuti (680/1281) and Abu Tahir al-Maliji (681AH/1282AD).
Later, while working for the Mamluks, he taught morphology (sarf), syntax (nahv), qiraat, hadith, and tafsir in a few large madrasahs.
[7][16] Abu Hayyan won favor at the court of an-Nasir Muhammad; the scholar Fatḥ al-Din Ibn Sayyid al-Nās and he, often judged the poetry contests held during al-Nasir's reign.
This phenomenon can be attributed to the fact that he taught at Cairo's largest mosque and lived long enough to impart knowledge to benefit his society.
In addition, Abu Hayyan requested permission from Sayf al-Din Arghun al-Nasir, the Mamluk Sultan, to bury his late daughter Nudar in his mansion's garden.
Abu Hayyan was deeply affected by his daughter's death and he composed an elegy in praise of her standing among intellectual circles.
Al-Safadi, one of his students, explained this attitude by pointing to Abu Hayyan's discomfort on his scientific expedition and the fact that he had visited numerous places.
[15] Instead of adopting the schools of the Mu'tazilah and Mujassimah (Anthropomorphists), Abu Hayyan followed the Sunni creed of Islam which is known as Ahl al-Sunnah Wal-jama'ah.
Muhammad bin {Abd al-Rahman al-Maghrawi noted that the Imam adhered to the Ash'ari school of thought when reading Quranic passages about the Names and Attributes of Allah in Al-Bahr al-Muhit.
"[24] In reference to this verse, Abu Hayyan stated that there are still disagreements among Muslim scholars on the possibility of seeing Allah even in the Hereafter, whereas al-Zamakhshari claimed that this outright was impossible.
Additionally, Abu Hayyan highlighted that al-Zamakhshari's fanaticism of his school of thought caused him to utilise religious passages out of context.
Al-Kamal Ja'far was one of them, stating that Imam Abu Hayyan is dependable, strong, and trustworthy, and his doctrine is free of all philosophical heresies, including Mu'tazilah and Mujassimah.
Abu Hayyan was hailed by Kamal al-Din al-Adfuwi as a learnt and reliable man whose credo was free of all philosophical heresies, including Mu'tazilah and Mujassimah.
Regarding the Quranic commentary, Imam Abu Hayyan appeared to favour the literal interpretation of the text, occasionally citing Ibn Hazm's view in cases where there was disagreement over the legal provisions.
[16] Abu Hayyan, the so-called 'king of grammar', was celebrated as the unrivalled linguistic scholar and religious expert of hadith, historiography and Sharia.
Indeed, it is known that the author was considered as one of the major heads of Arabic philology; as such, he was given the prestigious titles “Amir al-Mu'minin fī al-Nahw” ("Leader of the Believers in Grammar"), “Sibawayh of the century”, and “Lisan al-Arab”.
Furthermore, it was evident that Abu Hayyan was proficient in Turkish, Persian, and Ethiopian; although he was well-known for his knowledge of Arabic, the author had also written in these languages to demonstrate his competence in related fields.
[9] Abu Hayyan's studies of grammar were governed by overarching principles he laid out such as "one must base rules of Arabic on frequency of occurrence" and "analogous formations that contradict genuine data found in good speech are not permitted.
"[16] His approach to grammar has been described by Brill's Encyclopaedia of Islam as remarkably modern, and Abu Hayyan's respect for facts and unusual objectivity have also been noted.
[16] Abu Hayyan began writing books at an early age and produced significant works that established their reputation for generations, particularly in the fields of commentary, qiraat, and Arabic language science.