Part of Ramadan events and lessons (series completed)
· Lesson 24 of 31
Ramadan events and lessons | Episode (24) | The death of the great poet Ahmed bin Al-Hussein (Al-Mutanabbi)
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Transcript
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
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Summary of the Book:
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*Ramadan: Events and Lessons*
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The Death of the Great Poet,
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Ahmad ibn al-Husayn al-Mutanabbi.
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Time:
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The month of Ramadan,
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In the year 354 AH.
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Poetry is a human art form
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to which souls naturally incline;
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they find solace when it is recited,
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delight in the shelter of its reading and study,
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fall in love with its finest verses,
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and savor its repetition and recitation.
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Through its meters and the rhythm of its words,
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emotions dance,
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and hearts respond
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far more than to prose, even when refined.
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Fluent classical Arabic poetry
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is the finest type of poetry,
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the most profoundly impactful, the most elevated in expression,
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and the sweetest in utterance.
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No souls turn away from it except those
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whose share of the Arabic language is meager,
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whose natural dispositions have altered,
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tilting toward foreign languages,
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or who have spent too long speaking or listening to
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colloquial dialects—
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causing fluent poetry to become foreign to them
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and distant from their culture.
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Poetry in Islam
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is such that the good of it is like good speech,
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and the bad of it is like bad speech.
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Thus, there is good poetry,
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and there is bad poetry.
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The good poetry is that which encourages virtues,
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clothes itself in wisdom and sound purpose,
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and grants the recipient a beneficial portion
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of Arabic sciences—
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through vocabulary, meanings,
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structures, sentences, imagery,
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and moving metaphors.
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Bad poetry is that which incites to vice,
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praises deviation from the truth,
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slanders honor,
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attacks protected personages,
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and relies on falsehood, defamation, and base desires,
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until its author uses it to achieve personal gain
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or cause harm to others.
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Truly, poetry on the scales of justice
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is judged by its form and content together,
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not by one to the exclusion of the other.
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A poem or a single verse
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may come adorned in a splendid, glittering garb
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of fine words
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and pleasing structures,
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while beneath those expressions lie
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sublime meanings
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and noble aims.
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This is beautiful poetry,
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as it combines two virtues
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and encompasses dual excellence:
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the excellence of form and the excellence of meaning.
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However, if its form is beautiful but its meaning is vile,
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its standing with a lover of wholesome poetry
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stops at the senses of hearing and sight,
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never progressing beyond that to leave a lasting impact
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or gain genuine acceptance in the soul.
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Regarding good poetry,
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masters of the word—in both prose and verse—have competed
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in calling toward it and encouraging its use.
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Al-Raghib al-Isfahani cited
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that 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
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"Through poetry, anger is placated,
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feuds are extinguished,
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people reach their destination,
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and the petitioner is given."
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And he said:
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"What a wonderful gift for an honorable man
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are lines of verse he presents prior to his need,
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gaining thereby the favor of the generous
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and eliciting generosity from the miserly!"
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'Abd al-Malik said:
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"Learn poetry,
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for in it are noble qualities to be sought."
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It was also said:
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To proceed:
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Literature has ever been beloved throughout antiquity,
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and its possessor—despite changing circumstances—remains drawn near and sought after.
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Among the greatest literary arts of the Arabs was
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poetry,
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which was the compendium of their eloquence,
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the collection of their virtues,
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the record of their historic days and lineages,
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and the preserver of their origins, noble deeds,
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alliances, and ancestral honor.
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They perfumed their intimate gatherings with its fragrance,
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and through it, recognized the distinction of their present over their past.
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It is not hidden from those versed in Arabic
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that it is a language teeming with great poets
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who immortalized it, and so it immortalized them;
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they elevated its stature through their verse,
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and so it elevated their standing.
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At the forefront of these poets
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was their claimant to prophecy, Abu al-Tayyib al-Mutanabbi,
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for whom the month of Ramadan
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in the year 354 AH
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was the appointed time of his departure from this life.
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His Name, Lineage, and Birth:
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He is the famous poet, sage,
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and one of the prides of Arabic literature:
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Ahmad ibn al-Husayn ibn al-Hasan ibn 'Abd al-Samad
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al-Ju'fi al-Kufi al-Kindi,
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Abu al-Tayyib al-Mutanabbi,
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who filled the world and captivated people's minds.
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He was born in the year 303 AH
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in Kufa, in a quarter called Kindah,
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to which he was attributed—
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though he was not actually from Kindah
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as a tribe,
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but rather belonged to the tribe of Ju'f;
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he was Ju'fi ibn Sa'd al-'Ashirah ibn Madhhij.
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The Reason for His Title "Al-Mutanabbi":
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The epithet "Al-Mutanabbi" (the Pretender to Prophecy) stuck to Abu al-Tayyib
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even more than his name and agnomen,
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and by it he became known among both the elite and the common folk.
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His being described with this title has a story behind it.
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'Ali ibn Mansur mentioned in his letter to Al-Ma'arri
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that Al-Mutanabbi was arrested during the vizierate of
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'Ali ibn 'Isa and imprisoned.
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He was then brought forth and questioned,
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whereupon he confessed to claiming prophecy.
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So he ordered that he be slapped,
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and he was struck fifty times
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and returned to prison.
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After these events transpired,
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he used to attribute what had occurred from him
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to youthful recklessness.
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His Panegyric Journeys:
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Al-Mutanabbi's soul was not one
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that liked to reside in contentment
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and live in its shadow;
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rather, his soul
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constantly aspired toward boundless horizons.
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Moreover, the abundance of royal gifts
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served as a Qiblah for him,
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toward which he turned wherever it might be.
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Therefore, he traveled among kings
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and never settled permanently with anyone,
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even though he prolonged his stay with Sayf al-Dawlah,
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who was the most beloved of those he praised,
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and through whose praise he achieved fame and renown.
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Kings sought his favor,
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yet he adhered closely to Sayf al-Dawlah
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ever since he joined him
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around the year 337 AH,
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praising him in immortal odes.
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Ibn Hamdan extended his hand to him with generous bounties.
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Because he held such a high station with him,
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many poets envied him,
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as did the courtiers of Sayf al-Dawlah.
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Consequently, a rift occurred between them,
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followed by their ultimate separation.
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Among the reasons for his departure from Aleppo was that Ibn Khalawayh
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said to him in the court of Sayf al-Dawlah:
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"Were it not for your ignorance,
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you would not be content to be called Al-Mutanabbi!
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For the meaning of Al-Mutanabbi
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is a liar,
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and a rational person does not accept being called a liar."
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He replied: "I am not pleased with this,
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but I have no power to prevent those who address me by it."
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The argument between them continued
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until Ibn Khalawayh grew enraged
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and struck his face with a key he had with him,
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wounding his head.
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He left with blood flowing onto his clothes;
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angered, he departed Aleppo for Egypt
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in the year 346 AH.
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He set out toward Kafur al-Ikhshidi
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and praised him in several odes.
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However, when Kafur failed to satisfy him,
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he satirized him and abandoned him on the night of 'Eid al-Adha
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in the year 350 AH.
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Kafur dispatched riding mounts after him
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in various directions,
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but he could not be overtaken.
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Kafur had previously promised him
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governorship over some of his domains;
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but when he observed his arrogance in his poetry
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and his lofty self-regard, he grew fearful.
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When censured regarding Al-Mutanabbi,
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he said:
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"O people!
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One who claimed prophecy after Muhammad,
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peace and blessings of Allah be upon him—
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would he not claim kingship alongside Kafur?"
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That explanation sufficed them.
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After Egypt, he headed to Baghdad.
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Thus, He praised some of its people.
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He then arrived in Kufa.
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And Ibn al-'Amid praised it
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Thus, 30,000 dinars reached him from his side.
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He then marched toward Persia.
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So 'Adud al-Dawlah praised him with a line of poetry.
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He granted him abundant wealth.
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It is nearly 200,000 dirhams.
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And it was said:
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In fact, he acquired approximately thirty thousand dinars from it.
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Then he sent someone secretly to ask him.
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How wonderful that is!
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Gifts from 'Adud al-Dawlah Buwayh
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or the gifts of Sayf al-Dawlah Ibn Hamdan.
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So he said,
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This is more generous.
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And within it, there is affectation.
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And that is the minimum.
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Rather, it is given willingly by the one who provides it.
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Because it concerns the nature of
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This is a matter of affectation.
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Poetry
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The poetry of Abu al-Tayyib was indeed
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Among the highest tier of the modern poets.
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And his poetry attained widespread renown.
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And it was passed down by the tongues of all the people.
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From among the kings, the scholars, and the common people.
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Even those living in the remote desert regions.
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Due to the grandeur and eloquence that characterized it.
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Which is never devoid of tenderness and beautiful imagery.
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And the breadth of imagination and the depth of thought.
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And the ability to adapt words and sentence structures.
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According to what He wills.
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Ibn Kathir said
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He is among the modern poets.
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Like Imru' al-Qays among the poets of the early era.
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Ibn Khallikan said
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As for his hair, it was of the utmost beauty.
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Al-Mutanabbi had many adversaries and detractors.
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And they are even more loving and reverent.
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For this reason, some people praised him until they elevated him above his true station.
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Others disparaged him until they lowered his status below what he truly deserves.
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Ibn Khallikan said
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People vary in their appreciation of his poetry according to their different levels of understanding.
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Some of them prefer him over Abu Tammam and those who came after him.
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Among them are those who prefer Abu Tammam over him.
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And Abu al-'Abbas said
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Ahmad Ibn Muhammad al-Nami, the poet.
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There remained but a single corner of poetry.
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Al-Mutanabbi entered it.
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And I had longed to have preceded him in two meanings.
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He was the first to attain both of these qualities, preceding all others in them.
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One of them is his statement:
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Time has pelted us with calamities until
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My heart is shrouded in the arrows of my own making.
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So, whenever the arrows of affliction struck me, I became...
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The arrowheads shattered against other arrowheads.
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The second is his statement:
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In that vast army, your eyes shall behold the dust it stirs up.
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It is as if they were seeing with their ears.
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And who could be better than the One who judges both for him and against him?
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Ibn al-Athir, in his work *al-Mathal al-Sa'ir*.
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Where he said
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When I contemplated his poetry with an eye of fairness, far removed from personal bias,
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And the very essence of knowledge, whose possessor neither goes astray nor errs.
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I found it to be divided into five categories.
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There are five ultimate qualities in which he was unique, unlike any other.
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And five lines of excellent poetry in which others are his equal.
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And five [dirhams] from the average weight of silver.
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And five [are] less than that.
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And five [matters] regarding the ultimate retreat.
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Which is of no consequence.
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And its absence is better than its presence.
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Even if Abu al-Tayyib had not said it.
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Allah would protect him from its evil.
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For it is that which clothed him in the garment of blame.
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And you made his honor a target for the arrows of the people.
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The account of his martyrdom.
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Abu al-Tayyib did not live for very long.
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His arrogance and the slips of his tongue.
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And his reliance upon self-admiration.
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All of these were factors that dug his grave.
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And you hasten toward your own destruction with relentless speed.
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His escape from Kafur in Egypt
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He did not protect him from the plotting of Ibn Buwayh.
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For when he directed his mounts from Iraq toward the lands of Persia
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He reached 'Adud al-Dawla Ibn Buwayh al-Daylami.
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He then praised him.
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'Adud al-Dawla bestowed upon him a generous reward.
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And since he was aware of Ibn Buwayh’s situation with Sayf al-Dawlah
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From the length of companionship and the abundance of prayer.
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And the profound love that existed between them.
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For he secretly sent someone to question him.
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How excellent were the gifts of 'Adud al-Dawla ibn Buwayh.
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Or the gifts of Sayf al-Dawla Ibn Hamdan.
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He then said
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This is the most generous interpretation, yet it involves a degree of forced reasoning.
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And that is the minimum.
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However, it must be given willingly by the one who is paying it.
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This is because the former stems from natural disposition, whereas the latter is a product of affectation.
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He mentioned that to 'Adud al-Dawla.
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Then he becomes enraged by it.
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And a group of the Bedouins conspired against him.
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They intercepted him on the road while he was returning to Baghdad.
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It is also said
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He had previously satirized their leader, Ibn Fatik al-Asadi.
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They used to commit highway robbery.
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For this reason, 'Adud al-Dawla instructed them to waylay him and kill him.
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And they should take for themselves whatever wealth he has with him.
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Then sixty riders arrived to meet him on Wednesday.
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There remain three days of Ramadan.
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It has been said
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Rather, he was killed on Wednesday, with five days remaining in the month of Ramadan.
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It has also been said
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Rather, that occurred in the month of Sha'ban.
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He then alighted near a spring beneath a pear tree.
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His dining mat had been laid out so that he might have lunch.
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And with him was his son, Muhassid.
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And fifteen young servants of his.
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When he saw them, he said:
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Will you come, O leaders of the Arabs, to have lunch?
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When they did not speak to him, he sensed that something was wrong.
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He then rose to take up his arms and mount his horse.
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They paused for a moment.
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He was accompanied by his son, Muhsin, and some of his servants.
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And he intended to retreat.
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Then a freedman of his said to him
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Where are you going, when you are the one who says:
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The horses, the night, and the desert sands all know me.
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And the sword, the spear, the parchment, and the pen.
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So he said to him
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Woe to you, you have killed me.
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Then he turned back and returned.
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Then the leader of the people stabbed him.
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With a spear to his neck, he killed him.
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Then they gathered around him.
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They pierced him with spears.
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until they killed him and took everything he had with him.
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This was in the vicinity of al-Nu'maniyyah.
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He was returning to Baghdad.
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And he was buried there.
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There is another narration regarding his killing.
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Those who wrote his biography mentioned it.
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Among the verses of his poetry that are considered excellent.
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Abu al-Tayyib has many excellent lines of poetry.
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Among these is his statement
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If life were to remain for any living being,
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We would have counted the brave among us as those who led us astray.
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And since there is no escaping death,
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It is a sign of incapacity to be a coward.
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And his statement
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And the most unjust among the unjust is the one who spends the night harboring envy.
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For the one who spends his night immersed in His blessings.
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And His saying:
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I have not seen anything among the faults of people
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Like the deficiency of those who are unable to reach perfection.
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And his statement
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The person of intellect suffers in the midst of comfort because of his intellect.
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And the brother of ignorance, in his wretchedness, lives in comfort.
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And His saying:
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The most noble place in the world is upon the back of a galloping steed.
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The best companion in any age is a book.
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And his statement
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It is among the miseries of this world for a free person to see
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Prepare for him whatever is necessary for his friendship.
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And his statement
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If you venture to pursue a noble goal,
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Do not be content with anything less than the stars.
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For the taste of death is a trivial matter.
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Like the taste of death in a matter of great consequence.
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And His saying:
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I have looked toward You, O One to whom I am in need.
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You have humiliated me and cast me down from a great height.
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I am not the one to be blamed; rather, I am the one who is blamed because I...
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I have placed my hopes in none other than the Creator.
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Ramadan: Events and Lessons