Al-Mutanabbi: Difference between revisions

| era = [[Islamic Golden Age]] <br /> ([[Abbasid Caliphate|Middle Abbasid era]])

| name = Al-Mutanabbi <br /> ({{lang|ar|المتنبي}})

| image = Al-Mutanabbi Statueby inKahlil Baghdad(Cropped)Gibran.jpgpng

| caption = Al1917 drawing of al-Mutanabbi Statue inby [[BaghdadKhalil Gibran]]

'''Abū al-Ṭayyib Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Mutanabbī al-Kindī''' ({{lang-langx|ar|أبو الطيب أحمد بن الحسين المتنبّي الكندي}}; {{circa|915}} – 23 September 965 [[Anno Domini|AD]]) from [[Kufa]], [[Abbasid Caliphate]], was a famous [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid-era]] ArabArabian poet at the court of the [[Hamdanid]] emir [[Sayf al-Dawla]] in [[Aleppo]], and for whom he composed 300 folios of poetry.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ayyildiz|first=Esat|date=28 October 2020|title=el-Mutenebbî'nin Seyfüddevle'ye Methiyeleri (Seyfiyyât)|journal=BEÜ İlahi̇yat Fakültesi̇ Dergi̇si̇|url=https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/doi/10.33460/beuifd.810283|doi=10.33460/beuifd.810283|issn=2148-3728|doi-access=free}}</ref>{{sfn|Nadīm (al-)|1970|p=373}}{{sfn|Nadīm (al-)|1970|p=1066}}{{sfn|Khallikān (Ibn)|1843|loc=I |pp=102-110}} 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.

Al-Mutanabbi was born in the [[Iraq]]i city of [[Kufa]]h in 915. His father claimed descent from the South Arabian tribe of [[Banu Ju'fa]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hámori|first=András P.|title=al-Mutanabbī|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/al-mutanabbi-COM_40652|journal=Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE|language=en}}</ref> His last name, '''Al-Kindī''', was attributed to the district he was born.<ref>{{Cite book|last=al-Mutanabī.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/225423623|title=Diwān al-Mutanabī.|date=2005|publisher=Dār al-Jīl|isbn=9953-78-127-3|location=Bayrūt|oclc=225423623}}</ref>

Owing to his poetic talent, and claiming predecession of prophet [[Salih|Saleh]], al-Mutanabbi received an education in [[Damascus]], [[Syria (region)|Syria]]. When Shi'itethe [[Qarmatians]] sacked Kufah in 924, he joined them and lived among the [[Banu Kalb]] and other Bedouin tribes. Learning their doctrines and dialect, he had many followers, and even claimed to be a ''Nabinabi'' ({{lang|ar|نَـبِي}}, [[Prophet]])"prophet"—hence the [[Arabic name#Laqab|laqab]] ''Alal-Mutanabbi'' ("The Would-be Prophet").

He led a Qarmatian revolt in Syria in 932. After its suppression and two years of imprisonment by the [[Ikhshidid Dynastydynasty|Ikhshid]] governor of [[Emessa|HimsHoms]],{{sfn|Khallikān (Ibn)|1843|loc=I|p=104}} he recanted in 935 and became a wandering poet. During this period, he began writing his first known poems. Political ambition to be a [[ValiWali (governoradministrative title)|Waliwali]] led al-Mutanabbi to the courts of [[Sayf al-Daula|Sayf al-Dawla]] and [[Abu al-Misk Kafur]] but in this ambition he failed.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

He began to write panegyrics in the tradition established by the poets [[Abu Tammam]] and [[Buhturi|al-Buhturi]]. In 948 he joined the court of [[Sayf al-Dawla]], the Hamdanid poet-prince of northern Syria. Sayf al-Dawla was greatly concerned with fighting the [[Byzantine Empire]] in [[Asia minor]], where Al-Mutanabbi fought alongside him. During his nine years stay at Sayf al-Dawla's court, Al-Mutanabbi wrote his greatest and most famous poems, panegyrics in praise of his patron that rank as masterpieces of [[Arabic poetry]].

=== Al-Mutanabbi in Egypt ===

Al-Mutanabbi joined the court of [[Abu al-Misk Kafur]] after parting ways with SaifSayf al -Dawla. Kafur mistrusted Al-Mutanabbi's intentions, claiming them to be a threat to his position. Al-Mutanabbi realized that his hopes of becoming a [[politician|statesman]] were not going to bear fruit and he left [[Egypt]] in c. 960. After he left, he heavily criticized Abu al-Misk Kafur with satirical odes.

| ʾAnā all-ladhī naẓarnaẓara all-ʾaʿmā ʾilā ʾadabīʾadab-ī|| || Wa-ʾasmaʿat kalimātīkalimāt-ī man bihbi-hī ṣamamṣamamu

| Al-ḫaylḫaylu walwa-layll-laylu walwa-l-baydāʾbaydāʾu taʿrifnītaʿrifu-nī || || WasWa-sayfs-saifu warwa-rumḥr-rumḥu walwa-qirṭāsl-qirṭāsu walwa-l-qalamqalamu.

[[File:Al-Mutanabbi StatueStreet in BaghdadGate.jpgpng|thumb|right|200px|StatueGate of Al-Mutanabbi Street in [[Mutanabbi Street]], [[Baghdad]] by the Iraqi sculptor, Mohammed Ghani Hikmat (1960s).]]

[[Ibn Jinni]] the grammarian (c. 941/2—1001/2) wrote a commentary on al-Mutanabbi's poetry titled ''Al-Fasr'' ('The Explanation').{{refn|group=n|Only in the MS of ''[[Ibn al-Nadim|Al-Fihrist]]'' in the [[Chester Beatty Library]].}}{{sfn|Nadīm (al-)|1970|p=189}} The poet philosopher Abu Al Alaa al-Marri has also written a book of exegesis on Al-Mutanabbi's poetry.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alaraby.co.uk/%22%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%AC%D8%B2-%D8%A3%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF%22-%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%81-%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D8%A5%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%A8%D9%8A|title="معجز أحمد": كيف نظر المعري إلى المتنبي|website=alaraby.co.uk}}</ref> Al Marri, himself an accomplished poet, would usually refer to al-Mutanabbi affectionately as "our poet". Encyclopædia Britannica states: "He gave to the traditional qaṣīdah, 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."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/al-Mutanabbi | title=Al-Mutanabbī &#124; Muslim poet &#124; Britannica }}</ref>

[[Category:10th-century Arabic-language poets]]

[[Category:Poets offrom the Abbasid Caliphate]]

[[Category:People offrom the Hamdanid emirate of Aleppo]]