Al-Farazdaq

Hammam ibn Ghalib al-Tamimi (Arabic: همام بن غالب; born 641 AD/20 AH died 728–730 AD/110-112 AH), more commonly known as al-Farazdaq (الفرزدق) or Abu Firas (ابو فراس), was a 7th-century Arab poet and orator who was born during the caliphate of Umar and flourished during the Umayyad Caliphate. He had a great impact on the Arabic language and it is said that “If it were not for al-Farazdaq’s poetry, a third of the Arab language would not have been.” Born in Kazma to nobility, he was a member of Darim, one of the most respected tribes of the Bani Tamim; his mother was from the tribe of Dabba. His grandfather Saasa was a North Arabian Bedouin of great reputation – his father Ghalib followed the same nomadic lifestyle until the founding of Basra (636 AD/15 AH), and was famous for his generosity and hospitality. Al-Farazdaq is considered to be one of the greatest classical poets of the Arabs. At the age of 15, Farazdaq was well known as a poet, and though for a short time on the advice of the Caliph Ali to devote his time to the study of the Qur'an, he later returned to making verse. He devoted his talent largely to satire and attacked the Bani Nahshal and the Bani Fuqaim. When Ziyad, a member of the latter tribe, became governor of Basra in 669, the poet was forced into exile, first to Kufa, and then, as he was still too close to Ziyad, to Medina, where he was well received by the city's Emir, Sa'id ibn al-'As. Here he remained about ten years, writing satire about tribes, but avoiding city politics. But he lived a lavish and prodigal life, his amorous verses led to his expulsion by the Caliph Marwan. Around that time he learned...