Diwan al-Farazdaq

Author's name: Al-Farazdaq

The poet Al-Farazdaq is Hammam bin Ghalib bin Sa'sa'ah bin Darm, from Tamim, his kunya is Abu Firas, and his nickname is Al-Farazdaq, he was given this nickname because of his coarse face, he was born in Basra and raised in its desert, so he grew up as every Bedouin: rough in nature and strong in character, and he had from the glories and prides of his people what filled his soul with wonder and arrogance, and opened up for him the scope of pride: his father Ghalib was one of the most generous of the Arabs, and his grandfather Sa'sa'ah is the one who "prevented the female infants and revived the female infants", it was said that he bought three hundred and sixty ones prepared for burying alive, each one of them with two she-camels and a male camel; Al-Farazdaq's mother was Lina, and it was said that Layla adopted Habis, the sister of the companion Al-Aqra' bin Habis, and thus honor surrounded him from both his father and mother, it was said that he composed poetry when he was young, so his father, Imam Ali bin Abi Talib, brought him and said to him: This son of mine is one of the poets of Mudar, so listen to him! The Imam replied: Teach him the Qur’an. When Al-Farazdaq reached puberty, he learned it while chained so that he would not be distracted from it. Al-Farazdaq was afflicted with pleurisy, which was the cause of his death.

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Al-Farazdaq was a fanatic about the family of the Prophet, and a strong Shiite, openly declaring his love for them. When he praised them, we did not see any affectation or inclination toward self-interest, unlike his praise of the Umayyads. The best evidence of his love for the family of the Prophet is his poem, the Mimeyyah, in which he praised Zayn al-Abidin Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib. It contained sincere emotion and emotional outpouring that supported what was said about his Shiite allegiance to them.

Al-Farazdaq’s poetry is rich and luxurious, but its words are coarse and harsh. Al-Mufaddal Al-Dabbi used to prefer him over all other poets. Abu Ubaidah said about him: “Had it not been for Al-Farazdaq’s poetry, a third of the Arabic language would have been lost.” His poetry is also a historical document of many of the events that occurred in his time… To the reader is his collection… Let him go with it, entertained and singing… Enjoying the most wonderful things that have been said in all poetic purposes, in terms of richness and words… meanings… and music.