Fayḍī Fayyāḍī (1547–1595), the poet laureate of the Mughal emperor Akbar, was a celebrity of his time. In addition to having prompted praises and criticism from his contemporaries throughout the Persianate world, he left a substantial body of writings on his life (prefaces in Arabic and Persian, letters, qaṣīdas) and comments about himself scattered in his poetry (rubāʿīs, ghazals, and mathnawīs). In this presentation, I will discuss the generic background of these autobiographical writings, how they can help us shed light on the history of the compiling of his dīwān, and what they teach us about the way Fayḍī fashioned his persona, envisioned his oeuvre, and composed his poetry.