A court poet under the Samanids, he reportedly composed more than 180,000 verses, yet only a small portion of his work has survived, most notably parts of his versification of the Kalila wa-Dimna, a collection of Indian fables.

Born in the village of Banoj (located in the present-day Rudak area), the most important part of Rudaki's career was spent at the court of the Samanids.

While biographical information connects him to the Samanid amir (ruler) Nasr II (r. 914–943), he may have already joined the court under the latter's predecessor, Ahmad Samani (r. 907–914).

Rudaki's success was largely due to the support of his primary patron, the vizier Abu'l-Fadl al-Bal'ami (died 940), who played an important role in the blooming of New Persian literature in the 10th-century.

[10] However, it is not descended from the literary form of Middle Persian (known as pārsīk, commonly called Pahlavi), which was spoken by the people of Fars and used in Zoroastrian religious writings.

[12] Surviving biographical information connects Rudaki with the Samanid amir (ruler) Nasr II (r. 914–943) or with his vizier Abu'l-Fadl al-Bal'ami (died 940).

[1] However, according to literary scholar Sassan Tabatabai, Rudaki had apparently already joined the Samanid court under Nasr II's father and predecessor Ahmad Samani (r. 907–914).

Besides applauding the suzerain and his domain, a poet was also expected to give advice and moral guidance, which meant that Rudaki was most likely experienced in that field as well.

[15] Nasr II had ordered Bal'ami to translate the book from Arabic to Persian, and then appointed "interpreters" to read it out loud, so that Rudaki, who was blind, could versify it.

[16] Rudaki's surviving poetry is generally easy for literate native Persian readers to understand despite variations in terminology, word forms, and phrase and sentence patterns.

[21] Some of Rudaki's poems were written in the pre-Islamic andarz style, i.e., ethical teachings, friendly criticism and advice for correct behavior in both private and public.

In Iran, Rudaki is acknowledged as the "founder of New Persian poetry" and in Tajikistan as the "father of Tajik literature",[a] both claims which according to the Iranologist Richard Foltz are not contradictory.

The Soviet archaeologist and anthropologist Mikhail Mikhaylovich Gerasimov (died 1970) dug out and analyzed Rudaki's remains, which he used to recreate the latter's face on a sculpture.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Rudaki started to become a stronger representation of Tajik identity and also reinforced their ties to the rest of the Persian-speaking world.