The Exilarchs, the nominal heads of the whole of the Babylonian Jews, were often unworthy of their position, and it was not long before Saadiah came into conflict with the Exilarch.

The struggle ended in the Gaon's exile from Sura.

During his years of banishment, he produced his greatest works.

He arranged a prayer-book, wrote Talmudical essays, compiled rules for the calendar, examined the Massoretic works of various authors, and, indeed, produced a vast array of books, all of them influential and meritorious.

But his most memorable writings were his "Commentary on the Book of Creation" (_Sefer Yetsirah_) and his masterpiece, "Faith and Philosophy" (_Emunoth ve-Deoth_).
This treatise, finished in the year 934, was the first systematic attempt to bring revealed religion into harmony with Greek philosophy.
Saadiah was thus the forerunner, not only of Maimonides, but also of the Christian school-men.