His full name is Abul-Hassan Ali ibn Juluq Sistani. One of the major poets of his time, Farrukhi was born in the province of Sistan in eastern Iran, a place that he repeatedly mentions in his poems. There are reports that his father was the slave of a high ranking Saffarid official, Amir Khalaf Banu. Nevertheless, as is the case with many other poets of his time, there is precious little information about his early days. We know one important point about him: he was a very good musician and an accomplished singer.

During his youth, in his native Sistan, Farrukhi worked for a dihqan (landlord) who paid him in cash as well as in kind. When he came of age, Farrukhi married one of the dehqan's daughters. After some time, when he could no longer manage his family's expenses, he asked the dehqan for a raise. The dehqan told him that he could not afford a raise. Farrukhi then looked elsewhere for support even if it meant leaving his beloved Sistan.

His search finally brought Farrukhi to the court of the Amir of the Chaghanian. (Chaghanian, it should be mentioned, is near the city of Dushanbe, the capital of the present-day Republic of Tajikistan.) At the time of Farrukhi's arrival at the court, Abu al-Muzaffar Ahmad ibn Muhammad, the Amir of the Chaghanian, was not at the capital. He was at the branding grounds. His vice-regent, Amid As'ad, listened to the poet instead. Although he liked Farrukhi's poetry, he doubted that the Sagzi (Sistani) could actually have composed the poems. In Jerome W. Clinton's translation, here is a description of Amid As'ad's reaction to Farrukhi's appearance:

"Now 'Amid As'ad was a man of parts and a patron of poets, and in Farrukhi's verse he recognized poetry at once fresh, sweet, pleasing and masterly, while seeing the man himself to be an ill-proportioned Sagzi [Sistani], clothed in a torn jubba worn anyhow, with a huge turban on his head after the manner of the Sagzis, with the most unpleasing feet and shoes; and this poetry, withal, in the seventh heaven. He could not believe that it had been composed by this Sagzi and to prove him, said, "The Amir is at the branding-grounds, whither I go to wait upon him; and thither I will take thee also, for it is a mighty pleasant spot..."

To test Farrukhi's ability as a poet and to have something worthy to present to the Amir at the branding-grounds, Amid As'ad asked Farrukhi to compose an ode with the following specification:

"World within world of verdure wilt thou see, full of tents and lamps like stars, and from each tent come the strains of the lute, and friends sit together, drinking wine and making merry, while before the Amir's pavilion a great fire is kindled, in size like unto several mountains, whereat they brand the colts. And the Amir, with the goblet in one hand and lasso in the other, drinks wine and gives away horses."

That night Farrukhi composed the following ode and, in the morning, presented it to 'Amid As'ad. The ode begins with:

Since the meadow hides its face in satin shot with greens and blues,
And the mountains wrap their brows in silken veils of seven hues,
Earth is teaming like a musk-pod with aromas rich and rare,
Foliage bright as parrot's plumage doth the graceful willow wear...

Upon hearing Farrukhi's ode, 'Amid As'ad, who could not believe his ears, as it were, abandoned all the affairs of the state and, accompanied by Farrukhi, set out for the Amir's branding-grounds.

The Amir, himself a poet, was impressed with both Farrukhi's poetic and musical talent. He gave Farrukhi several slaves, colts, tents, mules, and other necessities for starting a new life at the court. Most importantly, he included Farrukhi among his court poets.

After the fall of the Samanids, Farrukhi joined the Court of Mahmud at Ghazna and became one of the most wealthy and famous poets of his time. His wealth, however, did not last long. In the end, he was expelled from the court, lost his wealth and died in poverty. In this he shared the fate of many of the poets of the time who worked for the courts and who died at court away from kith and kin.

Although he was very good in almost all the genres of Persian poetry, it was in the composition of the qasidah (ode) that he excelled. His compositions are simple and easy to read. In fact, he could describe a most complex scene using a few choice words. His favorite scenes are those of nature, men engaged in life and death struggles, and men striving to carry out the wishes of their sovereign.