Al-Mutanabbi, in full Abu al-Ṭayyib Aḥmad ibn Ḥusayn al-Mutanabbi, (b. 915 CC, Kufah, Abbasid Caliphate [Iraq] — d. September 23, 965 CC, An Numaniyah, Abbasid Caliphate [near Dayr al-ʿAqul, Iraq]), was a poet who is regarded by many as the greatest poet of the Arabic language. He primarily wrote panegyrics in a flowery, bombastic, and highly influential style marked by improbable metaphors.
Al-Mutanabbi was a famous Abbasid-era Arab poet at the court of the Hamdanid emir Sayf al-Dawla in Aleppo, and for whom he composed 300 folios of poetry. His poetic style earned him great popularity in his time and many of his poems are not only still widely read in today's Arab world but are considered to be proverbial.
He started writing poetry when he was nine years old. He is well known for his sharp intelligence and wittiness. Among the topics he discussed were courage, the philosophy of life, and the description of battles. As one of the greatest, most prominent and influential poets in the Arabic language, much of his work has been translated into over 20 languages worldwide.
His great talent brought him very close to many leaders of his time, whom he extolled in return for money and gifts. His political ambitions, however, ultimately soured his relations with his patrons and his egomania may have cost him his life when the subjects of some of his verse attacked him.
Al-Mutanabbi was the son of a water carrier who claimed noble and ancient southern Arabian descent. Because of his poetic talent, al-Mutanabbi received an education. When Shiʿite Qarmatians sacked Kufah in 924, he joined them and lived among the Bedouin, learning their doctrines and Arabic. Claiming to be a prophet—hence the name al-Mutanabbi (“The Would-Be Prophet”) — he led a Qarmatian revolt in Syria in 932. After its suppression and two years’ imprisonment, he recanted in 935 and became a wandering poet.
Al-Mutannabi began to write panegyrics in the tradition established by the poets Abu Tammam and al-Buhturi. A panegyric on the military victories of Sayf al-Dawlah, the Hamdanid poet-prince of northern Syria, resulted in al-Mutanabbi's attaching himself to the ruler’s court in 948. During his time there, al-Mutanabbi lauded his patron in panegyrics that rank as masterpieces of Arabic poetry. Among his lines of praise for Sayf al-Dawlah are ones written after the prince’s recovery from illness:
Light is now returned to the sun; previously it was extinguished,
As though the lack of it in a body were a kind of disease.
The latter part of this period was clouded with intrigues and jealousies that culminated in al-Mutanabbi’s leaving Syria in 957 for Egypt, then ruled in name by the Ikhshidids. Al-Mutanabbi attached himself to the regent, the Ethiopian eunuch Abu al-Misk Kafur, who had been born a slave. However, al-Mutanabbi offended Kafur by lampooning him in scurrilous satirical poems and fled Egypt about 960. After further travels—including to Baghdad, where he was unable to secure patronage, and to Kufah, where he again defended the city from attack by the Qarmatians—al-Mutanabbi came to live in Shīrāz, Iran, under the protection of the emir 'Adud al-Dawlah of the Buyid dynasty until 965. In 965, al-Mutanabbi returned to Iraq and was killed by bandits near Baghdad.
Al-Mutanabbi was killed because one of his poems contained a great insult to a man called "Ḍabbah al-Asadi". Dabbah, along with his uncle Fatik al-Asadi, managed to intercept al-Mutanabbi, his son Muḥassad, and his servant near Baghdad in 965. Ibn Rachik reported that when al-Mutanabbi had the chance to flee, the attackers recited some of the bold verses he wrote relating to courage, and he was forced to live up to them. He stayed and fought, and died along with his companions.
Al-Mutanabbi’s pride and arrogance set the tone for much of his verse, which is ornately rhetorical yet crafted with consummate skill and artistry. Al-Mutanabbi gave to the traditional qasidah, or ode, a freer and more personal development, writing in what can be called a neoclassical style that combined some elements of Iraqi and Syrian stylistics with classical features.
Al-Mutanabbi's arrogant nature seems to have got him in trouble several times and might be why he was killed. This can be seen in his poetry, which is often conceited. In a famous poem, al-Mutanabbi speaks to the power of identity and the freedom that comes with knowing oneself.
| I am the one whose literature can be seen (even) by the blind And whose words are heard (even) by the deaf. | ||
| The steed, the night and the desert all know me As do the sword, the spear, the scripture and the pen. |
| If you see the lion's canines Do not think that the lion is smiling. |
| Not all one hopes one achieves Winds blow counter to what ships desire. |
and, finally, most aspirationally,
| If you ventured in pursuit of glory Don't be satisfied with less than the stars. |
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Arberry, A. J. (trans.), Poems of al-Mutanabbi: A Selection with Introduction, Translations and Notes (London: Cambridge University Press, 1967).
Esposito, John L. (editor) (1999). The Oxford History of Islam; London, England; Oxford University Press.
Lapidus, Ira M. (2014). A History of Islamic Societies; New York City, New York, Cambridge University Press.
Loimeier, Roman (2011). Islamic Reform and Political Change in Northern Nigeria, Northwestern University Press.
Nadim (al-), Abu al-Faraj Muhammad ibn Ishaq Abu Ya'qub al-Warraq (1970). Dodge, Bayard (ed.). The Fihrist of al-Nadim; a tenth-century survey of Muslim culture. New York & London: Columbia University Press.
Owles, Eric (18 December 2008). "Then and Now: A New Chapter for Baghdad Book Market". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
Wormhoudt, Arthur (trans.), The Diwan of Abu Tayyib Ahmad Ibn Al-Husayn Al-Mutanabbi (Kazi 2002)
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