Sulayman Ibn Hassan al-Ghazzi (also Solomon of Gaza or Samunas, ca. 940 - 1027) was an Arab Christian poet and
bishop of Gaza in
Fatimid Palestine.
His work provides insights into the life of
Melkite Christians in the Holy Land during the persecutions of caliph
al-Hakim and his
diwan is the earliest known collection of
Arabic poetry
Arabic poetry ( ar, الشعر العربي ''ash-shi‘ru al-‘Arabīyyu'') is the earliest form of Arabic literature. Present knowledge of poetry in Arabic dates from the 6th century, but oral poetry is believed to predate that.
Arabic poetry ...
dealing specifically with Christian religious themes.
Life
Though there are no outside sources about Sulayman's life, his life has been reconstructed from his highly personal verses by
Néophytos Edelby. It seems that Sulayman entered a monastery as a youth after his father (called Hasan, Basila or possibly both) abandoned his mother. However, shortly after
taking his vows he left the monastery to lead a secular life (possibly working as a
Katib), got wealthy and married. In his old age he lost not only his wife, but also his son and then only grandson (named Ibrahim) as well as his wealth.
Sulayman finally returned to the monastic life and was eventually
ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...
bishop around the age of eighty, not least due to his great learning which becomes evident from his writing. He died some time after 1027.
Work
Though there have been other important Christian Arab poets such as the pre-Islamic
al-Nabigah al-Dubyani or the court poet
al-Akthal al-Taghlibi, Sulayman al-Ghazzi is the first to compose poetry on specific Christian themes and speaking about his Christian faith.
His writings provide insights into the lives of Christian Arabs during the
Fatimid Caliphate
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Isma'ilism, Ismaili Shia Islam, Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the ea ...
and protest the persecutions under caliph
al-Hakim as well as the
discrimination endured by the Christian population and the destruction of Christian sides such as the
Holy Sepulchre
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, hy, Սուրբ Հարության տաճար, la, Ecclesia Sancti Sepulchri, am, የቅዱስ መቃብር ቤተክርስቲያን, he, כנסיית הקבר, ar, كنيسة القيامة is a church i ...
in Jerusalem or the
church of Saint George in Lydda.
Sulayman also mentions the Palestinian monasteries he visited and wrote apologetic treatise of a
Chalcedonian creed against various heresis.
Nevertheless, Sulayman's most important literary achievement is his Diwan.
It consists of 97
qasidas amounting to over 3,000 lines encompassing various religious topics, dating to the last third of the 10th century to the first third of the 11th century. The poems deal with various topics the sins of his youth and personal tragedies, the defence of orthodoxy, the persecution and humiliation endured by the Christians during his time.
The dominant themes are the interconnectedness of his personal tragedy, his Palestinian environment and his highly developed theology of Incarnation. Central are two
Christological ideas: first, that Christ is God, present as well in the
New
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
as the
Old Testament
The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
and second, that Christ is fully united to humankind. This unity is achieved in that when Christ died, humankind died, and when he ascended into Heaven, he brought humankind with him.
The oldest manuscript that record his work dates to the year 1116.
The poems of Sulayman were frequently sung or set to music.
References
External links
Translated treatise of Sulayman al-Ghazzi on the Cross
{{Authority control
Arab Christians
People from Gaza City
10th-century births
1027 deaths
10th-century Arabic-language poets
11th-century Arabic-language poets
11th-century bishops
Melkites in the Fatimid Caliphate