The real name of this person is as follows: Ismāʿīl b. Qāsim b. Suwayd b. Kaysān. He was originally from the Ḥijāz. He fell in love with a concubine of Mahdī named ʿUtba, and he asked Mahdī for her hand several times. When Mahdī finally agreed to give the concubine to him, the concubine refused to go to him and said to the caliph: "Are you giving me to an ugly man who sells pottery?" Abū l-ʿAtāhiya had fallen in love with this concubine named ʿUtba. His love became legendary. Mahdī also understood his situation.
At one time, Mahdī invited poets to his gathering. Among the poets who came were Abū l-ʿAtāhiya and Bashshār b. Burd, who was blind. When Bashshār heard the voice of Abū l-ʿAtāhiya, he asked his companion sitting next to him, "Is Abū l-ʿAtāhiya here?" His companion replied, "Yes." Thereupon, Abū l-ʿAtāhiya began to recite his qasida, which started with the following couplet: