[1] Ibn Abī ʿAwn's father, grandfather and great-grandfather (Muḥammad, Aḥmad and Hilāl) were all poets.
According to the Fihrist and the Farq, he became a disciple of the heretic al-Shalmaghānī, who claimed to be God incarnate.
[1] When ordered by the caliph al-Rāḍī to strike al-Shalmaghānī, he instead kissed his beard and declared him to be his god.
[1][2] As there is no hint of heresy in his writings, it is possible that he was a victim of political intrigue.
[1] Ibn Abī ʿAwn is the author of six or seven known works.