by al-Mutanabbi

Al-Mutanabbi is one of the most celebrated poets in the Arabic literary tradition. He was born Ahmad ibn al-Husayn in the city of Kufah, Iraq, in 915, then traveled around the Muslim world for most of his life. As a young boy, al-Mutanabbi spent time with the Bedouins of Samawa, a region between Kufah in Iraq and Palmyra in Syria. The Bedouins were believed to have spoken the purest form of Arabic, and al- Mutanabbi’s sojourn with them helped him develop a firm command of the language, a skill that later in life filled him with great pride. At the end of 928, al-Mutanabbi moved to Baghdad, then to Syria in hopes of pursuing a career as a panegyrist, or writer who creates praise poetry for a patron. After spending some time wandering...