 His maternal descent later was a source of scorn and taunts from his Hamdanid relatives, a fact reflected in his poems.His father was killed in 935, during a dispute over possession of Mosul with his nephew, Nasir al-Dawla, and Abu Firas' mother fled to the protection of Nasir al-Dawla's brother, Sayf al-Dawla, and when the latter occupied Aleppo and northern Syria in 944/5, Abu Firas was welcomed at his cousin's court.There he was raised under the supervision of Sayf al-Dawla, who also married his sister.