Abū al-Ḥasan Alī ibn al-Abbās ibn Jūrayj (), also known as Ibn al-Rūmī (born

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

in 836; died 896), was the grandson of George the Greek (Jūraij or Jūrjis i.e. Georgius) and a popular Arab poet of Baghdād in the Abbāsid-era. By the age of twenty he earned a living from his poetry. His many political patrons included the

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Ubaydallah ibn Abdallah ibn Tahir,

Abbasid caliph The Abbasid caliphs were the holders of the Islamic title of caliph who were members of the Abbasid dynasty, a branch of the Quraysh tribe descended from the uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib. The family came ...

Al-Mu'tamid Abu’l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Al-Mutawakkil, Jaʿfar ibn al-Mu'tasim, Muḥammad ibn Harun al-Rashid, Hārūn al-Muʿtamid ʿalā’Llāh (; – 14 October 892), better known by his regnal name al-Muʿtamid ʿalā 'llāh (, 'Dependent on God'), ...

's minister the Persian

Isma'il ibn Bulbul Abuʾl-Ṣaqr Ismāʿīl ibn Bulbul () (844/5–891) was an official of the Abbasid Caliphate during the reign of al-Mu'tamid (r. 870–892), serving as vizier of the Caliphate from 878 to 892. Although he claimed membership of the Arab Banu Shayb ...

, and the politically influential

Nestorian Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian ...

family Banū Wahb. In the tenth century his Dīwān (collected poetry), which had been transmitted orally by al-Mutanabbī, was arranged and edited by Abū Bakr ibn Yaḥyā al-Ṣūlī, and included in the section of his book ''Kitāb Al-Awrāq'' () on ''muḥadathūn'' (modern poets).

Early life

Ibn al-Rumi was born in Baghdad, then the capital of the

Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes ...

, in 836. Originally named Ali bin Al-Abbas bin George, he was given the

epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...

"Ibn al-Rumi" (lit. "Son of the Roman), referring to his father's Greek ancestry. He was raised a Muslim.

Death

Ibn al-Rumi died in Baghdad in the year 896, at the age of 59. His early biographer Ibn Khallikān relates an account that he was given poisoned biscuits in the presence of the caliph Al-Mu'tadid on the orders of his vizier, Al-Qasim ibn Ubayd Allah, whom Ibn al-Rumī had satirised viciously. In another account his death is attributed to suicide.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * El-Huni, Ali A.,
The poetry of Ibn al-Rùmī
(unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Glasgow, 1996) * bn al-Rumi 'Diwan al-Rumi'' 3 vols (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʻIlmīyah, 2009), , https://archive.org/details/waq74354 * Ibn al-Rūmī,
Selections from the Diwan of Ibn Al Rumi
' (William Penn College, 1977) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibn Al-Rumi 836 births 896 deaths Poets from the Abbasid Caliphate Courtiers from the Abbasid Caliphate 9th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate 9th-century Arabic-language poets Writers from Baghdad