He was a close associate of the prominent vizier and historian Rashid al-Din Hamadani, who inspired him to write historical and geographical works.

Mustawfi is the author of three works; Tarikh-i guzida ("Excerpt History"), Zafarnamah ("Book of Victory") and Nuzhat al-Qulub ("Hearts' Bliss").

Mustawfi was born in 1281 in the town of Qazvin, located in Persian Iraq (Irāq-i Ajam), a region corresponding to the western part of Iran.

His family was descended from Arabs that had occupied the governorship of the town in the 9th and 10th-centuries, later to serve as mustawfis (high-ranking financial accountants) at the advent of the Ghaznavids.

[5][6] Mustawfi followed in the footsteps of his family, being in 1311 appointed as the financial accountant of his native Qazvin, as well as other neighbouring districts, including Abhar, Zanjan and Tarumayn.

[1] He eventually choose to leave for the southern Iranian city of Shiraz to seek better fortunes, but was let down by the reception he received at the court of the Injuid ruler Amir Mas'ud Shah (r. 1338–1342).

[1][2] Albeit the early part depends heavily on the work of Rashid al-Din (which Mustawfi also mentions), it is less noticeable compared to his Tarikh-i guzida.

Regardless, the Zafarnamah is a unique primary source for the reign of the Ilkhanate monarch Öljaitü (r. 1304–1316) and that of his successor, Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan (r. 1316–1335).

This is supported by the fact he later composed a prose continuation of the Zafarnamah, which mentions Abu Sai'd Bahar Khan's death and the turmoil that followed in Iran.

[1] Mustawfi's most prominent work is the Nuzhat al-Qulub ("Hearts' Bliss"), which is virtually the only source to describe the geography and affairs of the Ilkhanate era.

[10] According to the modern historian Peter Jackson (2017), the reason behind this resurgence was the fall of the Abbasid Caliphate in 1258 and the "relative disenfranchisement of political Islam.

"[12] Mustawfi describes the borders of Iran extending from the Indus River to Khwarazm and Transoxiana in the east to Byzantium and Syria in the west, corresponding to the territory of the Sasanian Empire.