Except for the fact he was a Kharusi hailing from the Yahmad branch of Azd, little is known about al-Salt bin Malik's life prior to his election as imam.
During his reign, he dispatched an armada of over one-hundred ships, supposedly at the request of the female poet Fatima al-Suqutriyya, to successfully retake Socotra, which had been occupied by the Ethiopians.
[1] A proclamation to the Omani army attributed to al-Salt ibn Malik details Ibadi military jurisprudence and the treatment of Muslims and non-Muslims.
Too weak to resist, al-Salt bin Malik left for his son's house on 3 Dhu al-Hijjah 271 AH (22 April 885 AD).
[1] The deposition of al-Salt bin Malik sparked conflict between the Qahtanite and Adnanite tribes of Oman, culminating in a civil war which ended with an invasion led by Muhammad ibn Nur reestablishing Abbasid rule over the region and the dissolution of the first Ibadi imamate.