Abu-l-'Atahiya

Abū al-ʻAtāhiyya (; 748–828), full name Abu Ishaq Isma'il ibn al-Qasim ibn Suwayd Al-Anzi , was one of the principal Arab poets of the early Islamic era, a prolific muwallad poet of ascetics who ranked with Bashshār and Abū Nuwās, both of whom he met. He renounced poetry for a time on religious grounds.

Life Abū l-ʻAtāhiyya was born in Ayn al-Tamr in Karbala. There are two views regarding his lineage: the first is that he was from the Anazzah tribe, while the other is that his family were mawali of the tribe of ʻAnaza. His youth was spent in Kufa, where he sold pottery. While he was selling pottery, he saw poets assemble for a competition and participated in it. Later, he composed eulogia to the governor of Tabaristan, emir Umar Ibn al-Alā (783-4/ 167AH).

With his reputation growing, Abū l-ʻAtāhiyya was drawn to Baghdad, the seat of the Abbāsid court where he soon became famous for his verses, especially for those addressed to ‘Utbah, a concubine of the Abbasid Caliph al-Mahdi. His love was unrequited, although Caliph al-Mahdi, and after him Caliph ar-Rashīd, interceded for him. At one point he offended the caliph, and was imprisoned for a short time.

Abū l-ʻAtāhiyya died in 828 during the reign of Caliph al-Ma'mūn. Al-Nadīm cites the qāḍī of al-Kūfah Ibn Kāmil (d.961) that he died on the same day as the grammarian ‘Amr ibn Abī ‘Amr al-Shaybānī and the court musician Ibrāhīm al-Mawṣilī in 828-9 / 213 AH. His tomb was on the banks of the Īsā canal opposite the Kantarat al-Zaiyātīn ('Oilmen Bridge')

Legacy

The poetry of Abū l-ʻAtāhiyya is notable for its avoidance of the artificiality almost universal during his lifetime. The older poetry of the desert had been constantly imitated up until this time, although it was not natural to town life. Abū l-ʻAtāhiyya was one of the first to drop the old qasīda (elegy) form. He was very fluent and used many metres. He is also regarded as one of the earliest philosophical poets of the Arabs. Much of his poetry was concerned with the observation of common life and morality, and at times was pessimistic. Thus he was strongly suspected of heresy.

Ibn Abī Ṭāhir Ṭayfūr (819/20 —893/94) published an anthology of Abū al-‘Atāhiyah’s poetry. He was also included in Hārūn ibn ‘Alī al-Munajjim’s unfinished anthology “Traditions of the Poets,” along with contemporary poets Abū Nuwās and Bashshār. The vizier Ibn ‘Ammār al-Thaqafī (d. 931/ 319 AH) wrote Traditions about Abū al-‘Atāhiyah.

The Family of Abū al-‘Atāhiyah

Abū al-‘Atāhiyah produced poets among his children and grandchildren:

Muḥammad ibn Abī al-‘Atāhiyah, surnamed Abū ‘Abd Allāh, was a hermit nicknamed al-‘Atāhiyah (the Foolish One); ‘Abd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī al-‘Atāhiyah; and Abū Suwayd ‘Abd al-Qāwī ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī al-‘Atāhiyah. Of the many anecdotes told of al-‘Atāhiyah, al-Nadīm relates one attributed to the Abbāsid court musician, Isḥāq al-Mawṣilī, that whenever he, al-Mawṣilī, saw three men, three others appeared: "Wherever al-Haytham ibn 'Adi was seen, Hishām al-Kalbī was there; if ‘Allawīyah was there then Mukhāriq turned up; Abū Nuwās was on hand if Abū al-‘Atāhiyah appeared.".