Diwan al-Naqā'id: The Contradictions of Jarir and al-Farazdaq

Author's name: Abu Ubaidah al-Taymi al-Basri

Satire is a poetic purpose whose roots extend deep into the soil of poetry, even reaching pre-Islamic poetry. It had its poets who became famous, the most famous of whom was Al-Mukhbal Al-Qura’i, as he was the most famous satirist of the Arabs. After him came Hassan ibn Thabit, then Al-Hutay’ah, Al-Farazdaq, Jarir, and Al-Akhtal. These six were the ultimate in satire and in other things, and there was no equal for them in pre-Islamic poetry or in Islam.
Jarir was the most generous of them all. He never praised someone and then satirized them, nor did he ever satirize anyone and then praise them. Al-Farazdaq would praise a man and then satirize him. The poems of Jarir and Al-Farazdaq on this subject became famous, as each of them satirized the other in a series of poems that the two poets devoted to and are on the lips to this day. They were among the most famous and poetic of what was said on this subject. Abu Ubaidah Muammar ibn Al-Muthanna Al-Basri, the grammarian and scholar, compiled a collection of poems in this book called The Contradictions of Jarir and Al-Farazdaq, which included those poems with their occasions, in addition to events that occurred in the context of the occasions on which the poems were composed.