Al-Akhtal was introduced to Yazid I by Ka'b ibn Ju'ayl and became a close friend of the heir apparent to Caliph Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680).
He lauded in his panegyrics Yazid, Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan and al-Walid I and in his satires attacked all the opponents of the caliphs.
[3] In the literary strife between his contemporaries Jarir ibn Atiyah and al-Farazdaq, Akhtal was induced to support the latter poet.
Al-Akhtal, Jarir and al-Farazdaq form a trio celebrated among the Arabs, but as to superiority there is dispute.
A full account of the poet and his times is given in H. Lammens’ Le chantre des Omiades (Paris, 1895) (a reprint from the Journal Asiatique for 1894).