He is renowned for his famous poetry dīwān (collected poems). His brother Sayf al-Dawla appointed him as deputy over Harran and Manbij. On one occasion, he fought against the Byzantines (Rum). The Byzantines captured him, but later Sayf al-Dawla rescued him from captivity. He passed away in this year at the age of forty-eight. He composed poems containing beautiful meanings. After his death, his brother Sayf al-Dawla composed the following elegy for him:
"A person is subject to afflictions. Calamities do not end until the body is buried in the grave.
One who lives long loses value among his family. As for one who dies quickly, he finds the hardships within his own nafs (the lower self)."
While he was reciting this poem, there was an Arab present with him. He said to the Arab, "You too, recite a poem with this meaning, but composed of different words." Thereupon, the aʿrābī (Bedouin Arab) recited the following poem:
"Whoever wishes for a long life, let him be patient in losing his friends. Whoever lives on, will see in his own nafs what he wished for his enemies."
Ibn al-Sāʿī stated that these verses were composed by Sayf al-Dawla for his brother Abū Firās. Ibn al-Jawzī, on the other hand, stated that they belonged to Abū Firās himself, and that the aʿrābī recited these latter verses after both had passed away.
The following poems of Abū Firās are also particularly noteworthy:
"When their zeal reached its peak, my people would have lost me— The full moon disappears in the dark night. Alongside nature, the gentle-natured eagle can also act. If only someone else had done what I did, so that my people would have been content with him instead."
"Because we are in a place where the dogs have authority over the lions, I complain of our state to Allah (God).
O my Lord, if only You would treat me kindly, let life be bitter if it must.
If only You would be pleased with me, let all the people be my enemies if they wish.
If only the relationship between You and me would be sound, let the relationship between me and the worlds be as it may."