Né à Mahdia en 337 H / 949 EC, il grandit à al-Manṣūriyyah, cité princière construite par Al-Manṣūr non loin de Kairouan en 337 H. A l’âge de 25 ans, il quitte l’Ifriqiya avec sa famille pour l’Egypte. Dans son livre al-Ḥulla as-Siyarāʾ [La parure à rayures dorées], Ibn Al-Abbar (m. 658 H / 1260 EC), dit de lui : « Il est le poète des Obeydites [Fatimides], incontesté et irrécusé. Son statut parmi eux était similaire à celui d’Ibn al-Muʿtazz parmi les Abbasides : il avait un savoir immense, une expérience littéraire raffinée, la métaphore heureuse et l’imagination créatrice. » Malgré son aînesse, son père l’exclut de la succession au califat. Il est probablement mort en 374 H / 985 EC, à l’âge de 38 ans.

He was born in Mahdia in 337 H /949 CE and grew up in al-Manṣūriyyah, the princely city built by Al-Manṣūr near Kairouan in 337 H. He left Ifriqiya for Egypt with his family when he was 25 years old. In his al-Ḥulla as-Siyarāʾ [The Golden-Striped Robe], Ibn Al-Abbar (d. 658 H / 1260 CE), said this about him: “He is the poet of the Ubaydis [Fatimids], undisputed and unchallenged. His standing among them was like that of Ibn al-Muʿtazz among the Abbasids: he had vast learning, a refined literary experience, a felicitous use of metaphor, and a creative imagination.” Although he was the eldest of his siblings, his father al-Muʿizz excluded him from the line of succession to the caliphate. He probably died in 374 H / 985 CE, at the age of 38.