He was born during the reign of Rashidun caliph Uthman ibn Affan, and was a member of the tribe Kulaib, a part of the Banu Tamim.
[1] He was a native of al-Yamamah, but also spent time in Damascus at the court of the Umayyad caliphs.
Little is known of his early life, but he succeeded in winning the favor of Al-Hajjaj bin Yousef, the governor of Iraq.
[1] A long series of verses by Farazdaq cover in satire his feud with Jarir and his tribe, the Bani Kulaib.
[2] It is said that the feud between them lasted 40 years, and that Jarir supposedly enjoyed it so much that when he received the news of Farazdaq's passing, he lost the will to live and spontaneously died thereafter.