[6] Saif lived during the time of the persecution of Christians by the Jewish zealot Dhu Nuwas as well as the subsequent conquest of Himyar by the Aksumite Empire.

Kisra asked, “What tie of kinship do you claim with me?” He answered, “O king, it is my white skin as opposed to the black, for I am closer to you than they are.”The latter agreed to Saif's request, on condition that Yemen be a vassal state of the Sasanian Empire.

[5] Both men had a conversation, and Saif informed Abdul Muttalib that his grandson, the future prophet Muhammad, would receive prophecy someday and break all the idols in Mecca.

[9] However, Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri disagrees and stated that after Saif had died, the Yemenis were completely deprived from ruling by the Persians until the rise of Islam in Yemen.

[3] An extremely legendary biographical book titled Sīrat Sayf ibn Dhī-Yazan has been attributed to him, and it features Saif going on extraordinary conquests including the realm of the jinn.

[12][13] Al-Nu'man III ibn al-Mundhir, the king whom introduces Saif to the Sasanians, begins his reign around 580–583 CE, more than ten years after the death of Khosrow I.

The Yemeni revolutionary, Muhammad Mahmoud Al-Zubairi, saw Saif as an inspiration and mentioned him a few times to lift the spirits of his followers.