Al-Mutanabbi

Abou-t-Tayyib Ahmad ibn al-Husayn al-Mutanabbi (Arabic: أبو الطيب احمد بن الحسين المتنبّي ) ‎ (915–965) was an Arab (Iraqi-born) poet. He is regarded as one of the greatest poets in the Arabic language.

History

Al-Mutanabbi was born in Kufah, Iraq. He was the son of a water-carrier but claimed to have noble ancestors. When the Qarmatians attacked Kufah in 924 he left with the raiders and lived in the desert with them, learning their dialect of Arabic which was closer to classical Arabic.

He led the Qarmatians in revolt in 932 claiming to be a prophet but the revolt was put down and he was imprisoned by the governor of Emesa. For this action he gained the nickname which he is usually known by al-Mutanabbi or 'he who claims to be a prophet'. He was released in 935 and travelled about with only his poetry to support him. In 948 joined the court of Saif ad-Daula, Hamdanid prince of Aleppo, and it is under his patronage that many of his best works are written.

After intrigues at court and an argument with a grammarian called Khalawaih in which Khalawaih closed a philological dispute by striking Mutanabbi, in the very presence of the prince and without rebuke from him, the poet left the court. He joined another court, that of the Ikshids of Egypt in 957, and wrote for Abu al-Misk Kafur. After failing to be appointed governor of Sidon in reward for his poetry, Mutanabbi upset Kafur with insulting satirical poems and was forced once more to flee in 961. He next went to Shiraz, Iran with 'Adud ad-Dawlah of the Buyid Dynasty as his patron. When travelling to Kufah in September 965 he was killed, supposedly by the chief of a tribe he had insulted.

Mutanabbi's egomaniac nature seems to have got him in trouble several times and maybe why he was killed. This can be seen in his poetry, which is often bombastic. In a famous poem he boasts that his poetry is so powerful that even blind men can read it, and his words are so meaningful that even the deaf can hear them. أنا الذي نظر الأعمى إلى أدبـي * وأسـمعت كلماتي من به صممُ He also boasts his chevaleresque qualities of marrying scholarship with courage, fighting abilities: "I am the friend of the sword". الخيل والليل والبيـداء تعرفني * والسيف والرمح والقرطاس والقلمُ His works are extremely popular; more than forty commentaries have been written on his diwan. Arabs can be very enthusiastic about his poetry, which its so embedded in the language itself that no translation can do him justice --reminding many of Pushkin.