Abu-l-'Atahiya

Abū l-ˤAtāhiyya (أبو العتاهية, full name Abu Isħaq Ismā'īl ibn Qāsim al-ˤAnazī إسماعيل بن القاسم العنزي، بن سويد العيني)

(748 - 828) was an Arab poet born at 'Aynu t-Tamar in the Iraqi desert, near al-Anbar. His ancestors were of the tribe of ˤAnaza. His youth was spent in Kufa, where he was engaged for some time in selling pottery. Moving to Baghdad, he continued his business there, but became famous for his verses, especially for those addressed to ˤUtba, a concubine of the Abbasid Caliph al-Mahdi. His love was unrequited, although al-Mahdi, and after him Caliph ar-Rashīd, interceded for him. Having offended the caliph, he was imprisoned for a short time.

The latter part of his life was more ascetic. He died in 828 in the reign of Caliph al-Ma'mūn.

The poetry of Abū l-ˤAtāhiyya is notable for its avoidance of the artificiality almost universal in his days. The older poetry of the desert had been constantly imitated up to this time, although it was not natural to town life. Abū l-ˤAtāhiyya 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 is concerned with the observation of common life and morality, and at times is pessimistic. Naturally, in the circumstances, he was strongly suspected of heresy.

Bibliography

Primary

*"Diwan" (1887, Beirut: Jesuit Press; 2nd ed. 1888)
**translated and published by Arthur Wormhoudt as "Diwan Abu'l Atahiya" (1981) ISBN 0-916358-05-4

econdary

*Wilhelm Ahlwardt, "Diwan des Abu Nowas" (1861, Greifswald), pp 21 ff
*Alfred von Kremer, "Culturgeschichte des Orients" (1877, Vienna) vol. II, pp 372 ff
*Stefan Sperl, "Mannerism in Arabic Poetry: A Structural Analysis of Selected Texts (3rd Century AH/9th Century AD–5th Century AH/11th Century AD)" (2005, Cambridge University Press) ISBN 0-521-52292-7

References

*1911|article=Abu-l-'Atahiya|url=http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Abu-l-'Atahiya