THE HAMASA OF ABU TAMM�M

Part I1

PREFACE
Arabic literary criticism was long regarded as being one of the
least important fields of all eastern study. Compared with other
urgent tasks, such, for instance, as the preparation of reliable texts,
the question of how the Arabs judged their own literature was of
secondary importance. Individual works, such as Mehren's Die
Rhetorik der Araber (1853), stimulated no general interest in the subject.
However, since the appearance of the works of Ritter and von
Grunebaum, some light has been shed on the hitherto obscure
material. Since present-day appreciation of style is markedly different
from that of old-time Arabs, it is essential, in order to understand
their poetry, to pay some attention to contemporary criticism.
This work is an attempt to find an answer to the question of what
moved Abu Tammam to compose the Hamasa and what was his
purpose in producing this collection of poems. In considering the
anthology, therefore, primary regard must be paid to critical opinions
of Abu Tammam and his poetry. In order to avoid making this
essay too cumbersome, various problems that do not directly affect
the theme have either been disregarded or touched upon only lightly.
Further, the genuineness of the poems in the Hamasa, apart from
a few exceptions, has not been subjected to research. How many
of the poems are not the work of the writers to whom they are
attributed could not be decided even by the original commen-
tators on the Hamasa. Ham 273, attributed by Abu Tammam to
Ta'abbata Sarran, was generally regarded, and rightly so, as being
by Halaf al-Ahmar: at least, this is the view of al-Marzuqi. Moreover,
the remaining poems attributed to Ta"abbata Sarran (Ham 11, 13
and 165) were written by urban poets for an urban audience. For
Abu Tammam himself any question as to the genuineness of the
poems in his anthology was unimportant. More than this: some of
the poems suggest that Abu Tammam was himself guilty of some
falsifying and had proceeded arbitrarily both as regards the selection
and editing of the verses.
1 Part II will
appear in the third issue of the Jorarnalof Arabic Literature.
14

As already stated, the research undertaken for the following

pages cannot be claimed to be complete. However, I hope that I
have succeeded in giving a new aspect to the former picture of Abu
Tammam, and in particular, the Hamasa, and in suggesting a new
pathway to be followed by those who will be examining the Hamasa
in the future.

I. LIFE

a. Chronological data
The biography of the poet Habib b. Aus, who according to his
son was usually called Abu Tammam, is full of gaps and, in a number
of details, contradictory. The biographical sources that give more
information about Abu Tammam are not contemporary writers.
This is all the more surprising because Abu Tammam was one of
the principal literary characters of his own time. However, since
writers and philologists were split into partisan groups and cliques
the sporadic contemporary information available always lacks
objectivity. Statement opposes statement. It was only long after his
death that detailed critical studies of Abu Tammam's work first
appeared.
The oldest and most detailed sources are the "Ahbar Abi Tammam"
of Abu Bakr Muhammad b. Yahya as-Sall.' Since he shared Abu
Tammam's aesthetic views on poetry, aj-$fli made efforts to try
and produce a clear picture of the poet from the muddled material
available to him and to provide, by detailed descriptions, sufficient
information about everything that could protect Abu Tammam from
the disparaging judgments of his opponents.
But even as-Suli was unable to determine accurately the biographical
data of Abu Tammam. As is usual in doubtful cases, he set down
contradictory statements side by side without suggesting any explana-
tion. According to himself Abu Tammam was born in the year
190/806.2 His son, Tammam, however, gives the year 188/804 as
that in which his father was born and the year 231/845 as that of his
death,3 and at-Tabari (224-5-310/839-923) gives the latter date as
being 228/842.4 This view was accepted also by al-Mas"Qdi (died

1 Died 335/946 or 336. GAI, I, 143.

2 Ahbar, p. 272.
3 Ibid., p. 273.
4 Tabari VII, 318.
 15

345/946).1 According to this, Abu Tammam had died one year after
al-Wdtiq had become the ninth 'Abbdsid Caliph.2 This date, however,
is too early. Abu Tammam had composed a number of Qasidas for
al- Wätiq and these could not have been produced in so short a time.
Ibn-Hallikan (608-681/1211-1282) adds to these data, partly by
monthly details, and provides further indications according to which
the year of Abu Tammam's birth was 192/808 and the date of his
death the year 229/844, or the month of al-Muharram 231/846.

b. Descent
All sources agree that Abu Tammam was born in Gasim and died
in Mosul (al-Mausil). Gasim was a village (qarya) in Gaulän 3 in the
4
province of Damascus between the city of Damascus and Tiberias.4
His father lived in Gasim, was a Christian and according to some
authors dealt in wine and to others in spices.5 His name was Tadus
(Thaddeus or Theodosius).s 6 Abu Tammam preferred to change
the name Tadus to Aus.' Nowhere, however, is there any suggestion
that he embraced Islam. Is his Christian father an invention of his
enemies ? If this was not the case, he had invented the ancestors that
allegedly connected him with the Tayyi>. Ritter, in his article on Abu
Tammam in the Encyclopaedia of Islam, states 8 that this pedigree
appears later to have found acceptance.

c. Youth-education and training

In his youth Abu Tammam was employed by a weaver in Da-
mascus.9 But he soon left and travelled to Cairo. He served here as
a water seller in the Great Mosque.1° Since we know nothing of any
philologists in Cairo at this time, though it need not be assumed that
1
Murug VII, 151.
2 On 18. Rabic I.
227/5. Jan. 842.
3 To be read thus instead of Haulan.
4 Cf. Bibelatlas in 21
Haupt- und 30 Nebenkarten, by Hermann Guthe, Leipzig
1926.
5 Hall I, 339.
6 That there were Christian
Tayyi' in Syria is certainly the case. From a report
by Baladuri (Liber expugnationis regionum, ed. M. J. de Goeje, Lugduni Bat.,
1866, p. 145) we know that during the reign of the Caliph al-Mahdi (158-168/
775-785), that is during the lifetime of Abu Tammam's father, there were Christian
Tayyi' in Syria.
7
Ahbar, p. 246.
8
Ritter/EI, p. 153.
9 Hall II, 339; Ibn al-'Asakir
IV, 19.
10 Hall II, 339.
16

there were none, it is not possible to discover how Abu Tammam

acquired his literary education. He could have acquired a knowledge
of classical Arabic from the Koran readers and Traditionists of the
Great Mosque. At any rate, he wrote his first known poem during
this time in Egypt. It was in honour of (Ayyäš b. Lahl'a.1 How the
offering was received is not known. Further works had small
success.
From this early creative period, we know of works that were
recorded by al-Kindi (283-350/895-961).2 These are concerned with
events in Egypt during the years 211-214/826-829. Shortly thereafter
Abu Tammam returned to Syria.

d. Political circumstances
Here we will interrupt the biography to give a short description
of the state of the caliphate. The ruler was al-Ma'mun (198-218/
813-833). Quarrels between him and his brother al-Amin (193-198/
809-813) regarding the succession had resulted in violent civil wars.
In the east the Hurramites rose under their leader Babek; 3 in Egypt
there was a revolt. Wars against the Byzantines, which had lapsed
since the time of Harun ar-Rashid, were resumed. Al-Ma'mun himself
led the summer campaign. During this, which lasted from 215/830
until 218/833, the Caliph often stayed, if only for a short time, in
Damascus and other Syrian towns.4 Since at this time success had to
be attained with the aid of a patron, who was to be found only close
to the government, Abu Tammam made a bold attempt to be intro-
duced to the Caliph, from whom he requested an audience. When
this took place is not known. The Qaslda, however, which Abu
Tammam composed for the Caliph is still extant and appears in his
Diwan5. From this it seems that the encounter took place after a
"bitter battle" (waq'a šan(ii» 6 with the Byzantines.?

1 Ritter/EI p. 153; Ahbar p. 121.

2 Guest pp. 181, 183, 186 and 187.
3 Murug VII, 123-133.
4 Tabari VII, 190-192.
5 Diw. No. 133.
6 Ibid., verse 38.
7 I.e. in the years 215-218/830-833. When Abu Tammam was introduced in
the year 233/838 to al-Ma'mun's brother and successor, the latter remembered
him from a former occasion in al-Massisa (Mopsueste, now Missis) when he heard
the poet reciting. This occasion may have been in the year 215/830 when al-
Ma'm�n was staying in al-Massisa. cf. Ahbar p. 144.
 17

e. Audience zvith a/-Mu>wfin

As regards this meeting, which was the first and also the last that
Abu Tammam had with the Caliph al-Ma?m3n, the following anecdote
is related : 1 "Abu Tammam appeared before al-Ma?m3n attired in
Bedouin clothing and recited Dimaniun alamma biha fa-qdla saliimu.2 Al-
Ma?m3n was surprised at the unusual subjects that were thus presen-
ted, and said: 'These are not the poetical topics of the Bedouins'.
And, as Abu Tammam came to the verse: Hunna >1-pamiimu,3 etc.,
he said: 'Man (ya hadd)! You have greatly puzzled me. I assumed
you were a Bedouin; but when I consider your themes, they are
those of the towndwellers; so you are one of them! This reduced
the poet in the eyes of the Caliph, as al- (Askari adds' ".4

f. Successes-Patrons
This failure before the Caliph al-Ma'man in no way discouraged
Abu Tammam. During the years that followed he travelled over
the eastern districts of the realm. A large number of the poems in
his Diwan date from this period. He praised the governors of a
number of provinces, for example the Governor of Armenia, Halid
b. Yazid b. Mazyad b. Za'ida a5-Saibani (died 230/844); 5 the Gover-
nor of Gabal, Muhammad b. al-Haitam; 6 important state officials,
such as al-Hasan b. Wahb,? secretary of the Wazir Muhammad b.
(Abdalmalik az-Zayyat 8 who was himself a great admirer of Abu
Tammdm; Ishaq b. Ibrahim al-Mus'abi,9 who was the police chief
(¡iibib al-gisr)lO of Bagdad during the years 207-235/822-849; the
generals Abu Dulafal-'Igli,? Abu Sa `id Muhammad b.Yusuf at-Taerl, 12
and al-Ma'mun's minister al-Hasan b. Sah1.13 In this way Abu Tammam
gained alike admirers of his poetry and noble patrons. Halid b. Yazid

1 Asrar, p. 22-23.
2 Diwan: beginning of Qasida No. 133.
3 Diwan : verse 13.
4 'Askari 2, 120.
6 Diwan 1; 14; 40; Ahbar, p. 158; Ag XV, 104; XX, 186 f.
6 Diwan 22; 23; Ahbar p. 188.
7 Diwan 6; 9; Ahbar p. 108; Ag XX, 54 f.
8 Diwan 18; Ahbar p. 43; Ag XX, 46-56.
9 Ahbar p. 221; Šadafat 2.84 (GAL S II, 403).
10
Ritter/EI (p. 153 b. 1.5).
11 Ahbar,
p. 121.
12 Ahbar, p. 105.
13 Ahbar,
p. 163.
18

as-Saibani was accustomed to give him 10,000 dirhams on each

occasion and also gave him money to enable him to travel.' Abu
Dulaf once paid him 50,000 dirhams.2 2

g. Audience with a/-Mzt'ta jiw

Five years had passed since the death of al-Ma'mun before Abu
Tammam attempted to obtain an audience with the Caliph al-Mu'ta-
sim. Abu Tammam was no longer a homo novus. He had by now gained
many friends and patrons among important politicians and statesmen
upon whose good offices with the Caliph he could rely. When al-
Mu (ta?im returned from his victorious campaign against the Byzan-
tines (223/838) 3 and remained for a time in Samarra, Abu Tammam
arranged that Ibn Abi Du'ad 4 should introduce him.5 The Caliph
thereupon asked: 'Is this not the man with the hoarse voice (agašš
af-fai,it), who recited poetry to us in at-Massisa ?1 6 Ibn Abi Du'ad,
however, assured him that Abu Tammam had brought with him a
first class riwi (reciter). Abu Tammam was therefore given permission
to present before the Caliph examples of his poetic talent, which,
nevertheless, had to be declaimed by his reciter? From then onwards
Abu Tammam continuously enjoyed the approval of the Caliph
al-Mu`tasim. Moreover, his son and successor al- Wätiq g greatly
admired the poet.
Nothing suggests that Abu Tammam paid another visit to Egypt;
but he certainly travelled widely in the east, al-"Irdq and Hurasan,
where he found friends and admirers. From several anecdotes of
aj-$31i we learn, for example, that Abu Tammam, in the course of
his journeys, visited Basra,9 Nisapur 1° and Ahwdz.11
Abu Tammam spent the last year of his life in Mosul.l2 It seems

1 Ahbar, pp. 158, 159, 162.

2 Ahbar, p. 124.
3 Amorium p. 143.
4 160-240/777-854 was a famous Qadi
(Šagarat 2.93) ; Abbar, p. 89, n. 4.
5Ahbar, p. 143.
6 Cf. above, p. 16, n. 7.
7 as-Suli states explicitly (Ahbar p. 144) that the Rawi did not recite Abu
Tammam's famous Qasida regarding the conquest of the Byzantine city Amorium
('Ammuriyya) (Diwan 3).
8 Period of reign 227-232/842-846.
9 Ahbar,
p. 272.
10 Ibid., p. 241.
11 Ibid., 213.
p.
12 Ahbar,
p. 272-Ibn Hallikan is of the opinion that Ab� Tammam lived in
Mosul for at least two years before his death (cf. Hall II, 337).
 19

that he was not very happy in this town. Once he remarked ironically:
'If he (Muhallad b. Bakkar al-Mausili) had been a poet, he would not
have come from Mosul'.' What, therefore, had led Abu Tammam
to Mosul? It appears that his residence there was not a matter of
free choice but that an important commission was his reason for
going there. As-Suli mentions Abu Tammam's nomination as chief
Postmaster of Mosul by al-Hasan b. Wahb 2 and this was an important
appointment, the holder of which was responsible for the transmission
of State secrets. The truth of this statement seems credible. Yet the
Qasidas that Abu Tammam sent from Mosul to al-Hasan b. Wahb
in Baghdad 3 and all the other Qasidas make no mention of this
appointment. For this reason Ibn Hallikan considers it to be probably
out of the question that Abu Tammam held such an ofhce.
As can be seen, Abu Tammdm's biography is totally inadequate.
From his own works, it might be concluded that he lived for some
time in Kufa and Basra. But of this there is no direct indication.

h. Abu Tammdm's religious attitude

Abu Tammam was a libertine. His neglect of the performance of
duties aroused that he was a Manichee.4 4
religious frequently suspicion
Behind this neglect of the outward observances of religion, however,
stood 'his frivolous attitude, not merely lack of religious conviction';
thus wrote al-11as(udi.5 To this may be added a story told by al-
6
Hasan b.
'Aba Tammam once visited me for a considerable time when
I was in Persia. Since the rumour had reached my ears that he did
not perform his obligatory prayers, I ordered a reliable man to watch
him and discover whether the rumour was true. It was proved to
be entirely so. But when I tried to arouse Abu Tammam's conscience
concerning the matter, he replied: "Do you really think that I would

1 Ahbar, p. 234.
2 Ahbar, p. 272. See above, p. 17, n. 7.
3 Diwan 94; 104; 114.
4 The Manichees were a sect whose religion was designed for a cultured
élite, usually non-Arabs, and informed with a great feeling for extravagant fancies.
Since poets are often symbolists, poets were often accused of being Manichees,
probably unjustly.
5
Murug VII, 151: tarrea�unan la-i'tiqadan.
6 Ibid., cf. O. Rescher, Abriss der Arabischen
Litteraturgeschichte, Stuttgart,
Vol. II, p. 105. The Emir al-Hasan b. Ra�a' was a clerk (k�tib)in the Diwan
even in the days of his youth, and had drawn upon himself the notice of the Caliph
- Asrar, p. 287, n. 299.
20

omit prayers because of the trouble of making a few obeisances that

would certainly be no trouble to me-I who undertook the long
journey from Bagdad to come to you here-if I were really convinced
that their performance was bound up with a (future) reward and their
omission with punishment?" On hearing these words, I felt that I
should like to knock Abu Tammam down but I renounced this
idea, realizing that such an affair might have unpleasant conse-
1
quences for myself.'
In Abu Tammam's poetry there is not a hint of any sort that could
awaken suspicion that he was indifferent to religious uses. He was,
rather, assiduous in trying to conserve the goodwill of his patrons.

II. WORKS
a. Anthologies
Abu Tammam's collections of poetry are set out in the chronology
2
given by al-Amidi :
1. al-Ihtiyar al-Qaba'ili al-Akbar
2. 3
al-Ihtiyar al-Qaba'ili
3. Ihtiyar Šu (arä> al-Fuhul
4. al-Hamasa
5. Ihtiyar al-Muqatta'dt
6. Ihtiyar Mugarrad fi Aš(är al-Mubdatin
About these works, with the exception of the Hamasa, nothing
further is known. The two first and the last of the anthologies in
al-Amidi's list were almost certainly forerunners of the Hamasa.
Certain works are missing from this list, namely al-Hamasa as-
Sugrd, also known as al-Waqšiyyät, Naqä>içl Garir wa-'I-Ahtal and
the Ihtiyarat min 9i'r aš-Šu (arä> wa-Madh al-Hulafa' wa-Ahd Gawa-
3izihim.4
Most of Abu Tammam's works have been lost. Only his Diwan,

1 Once, when the father of al-Hasan b. Ra�a'saw Abu Tammam's superficial

attitude to prayer, he complained: 'I should like to see him exercise the same
attention towards his religious duties as he does towards his poetry.'
2 Muwazana; p. 23.
3 The first two
anthologies in this list are given in the Fihrist (p. 241 ) as
Ihtiyarat min AŠ'ar al-Qaba'il (cf. Ritter/EI). There is no indication as to whether
these were two independent anthologies that were brought together by Ibn
an-Nadim, or whether al-�midi undertook their separation into two.
4 Cf.
Ritter/EI.
 21

his al-Hamasa anthology, Naqa'id Garir wa-'I-Ahtal,l the Hamasa

as-Sugra (al-Wahsiyyat) 2 and Ihtiyar Šu <arä> al-Fuhul 3 still exist.
A few words relating to the Naqa'id Garir wa-'I-Ahtal must be
said; the misleading title of this anthology can hardly have been that
of the author. In reality the work enshrines the poetical tradition
covering the events that led to the Marg Rahit wars,4 together
with these themselves and their consequences. In uncommentated
poems, Abu Tammam relates the story of the second civil war. These
are the origins of the poetical tradition at the beginning of which
stands history and not lyric poetry. The work may have been com-
posed after being commissioned by a Caliph.
b. Diwan
The poems of Abu Tammam collected in the Diwan were edited
by an excellent philologist, as-Sukkari.5 This indicates how deeply
the poems interested him. To edit the works of contemporary poets
was not usual and commonly at least 40-50 years went by before the
verses of a poet were published. Whether these poems were approved
by as-Sukkari is not known to us. However, Abu Tammam's indi-
vidual style, about which more will later be said, especially interested
as-Sukkari. That he may have read the verses in the presence of the
poet, as at-Tibrizi states,6 is perfectly possible, although as-Sukkari
was not twenty years old when Abu Tammam died.
Famous scholars of various philological schools wrote commen-
taries on Abu Tammam's Diwan. The oldest known one is that of
as- Silli.7 Others were by Harazangi (died 348/959), by al-Marzuqi
(died 421/1030), by Abu al-'Ald al-Ma'arri, equally renowned as
poet, philologist and ethical philosopher (died 449/1057) and by
at-Tibrizi (died 502/1109).
z
III
a. Survey of Arabic poetry
In order to aid understanding of the following analysis of the
works discussed, including the Hamasa, it is thought desirable to
give a brief account of Arabic poetry, both pre-Islamic and Islamic:
1 Ed. P. A. Salhani, Beyrouth, 1891.
2
Ritter/Oriens, p. 261-262.
3 MMIA XXIV, 274.
4 End of the year 64/684.
5
212-275/827-888. Cf. foreword of at-Tibrizi to his commentary on the Diwan.
6 Ibid.
7 See above, page 14.
22

Ancient Arabic poetry is known from the beginning of the sixth

century. Its principal form, the Qasida, consisting largely of descrip-
tions, was early enlivened by the inclusion of dramatic, and later
of epic episodes. Their contents often served political ends. Politics
in this sense concern not only relations with the Eastern Roman and
Persian vassal princes of the dynasties of the Cassdn and the Lahm
in al-Hira but also those between tribe and tribe and between their
subdivisions, `Gemeinzvefen ohm Obri?keit'.1 Moreover, attacks by many
poets-individualists-upon their communities were influenced by
the political climate, and even other poetry, encomium or elegy,
was not always free from political bias. Many verses, therefore,
in so far as they reached Arabic philologists in a more or less authentic
form, can bear witness to Arabian history.
In Islam, after the migration (higra) of the prophet to Medina in
the year 622, new themes appeared in poetry. Later on there was a
temporary setback. The Caliph 'Umar (13-23/634-644) forbade Higa',
that is the often sharply mocking exchange of lampoon-type verses
between poets. Also, the conversion to Islam was such a far-reaching
factor and the wars of conquest in Asia and Africa carried people to
such great distances abroad-and this is meant not only geographi-
cally-that their connections with their countries and their past
disappeared for a time and the tradition of the poets was broken. With
the wider horizon came changes: in Higaz there arose with 'Umar
b. Abi Rabi`a 2 a new type of love poetry, of which, certainly, there had
been traces in pre-Islamic poetry. New metres were developed.
Poetry was first engaged with the battles between religio-political
parties in the first and second civil wars: the war between the Caliph
'All (35-40/656-661) and his successor Mu'awiya (41-60/661-680)
and those between the latter's son, Yazid I (60-63/680-683) and his
successors, Marwan b. al-Hakam (64-65/684-685) and 'Abdalmalik
b. Marwan (65-86/685-705), against the anti-caliph cabdalldh b.
az-Zubair (61-73/680-692). Many verses were devoted to the battle
of Marg Rahit near Damascus in the year 64/684, in which Marwan
and the Umayyads, through the victory of the Kalb tribe and its
partly Christian supporters over the tribe of Qais in Syria, gained
the upper hand. Before, but especially after this time, poets took up
attitudes for and against the genealogical-political parties (Mudar,
Rabi(a, Nizar, Ahl al-Yaman, i.e. Qahtan), in whose formation, at the
1 Title of a lecture
by J. Wellhausen, Göttingen, 1900.
2 GAL I, 46.
 23

desire of leading personalities, they took a principal part. The Higa',

in the Naqa'id, the counter-poems of Farazdaq and al-Garir, provo-
ked a battle that lasted for decades, during which they greatly exceeded
their heathen exemplars in sharpness and `smearing'-certainly
also in their propensity to grotesquerie which alone make them
tolerable. It is important that in these Naqa'id the historical and
legendary past of Arabia was revived: the wars and raids of the
Bedouins, their relations with the border states and the kingdom
of the South Arabian Kinda, and especially the decline of the last
named towards 530. Under these new conditions, knighthood dete-
riorated into robbery and raiding, and with it arose the 'robber
poems'. The 'true religious poetry of most ancient Islam' 1 is found
in the verses stemming from the leaders of the non-conformist,
puritan sects of the Harigites in the first century of the Higra. Never-
theless, the poems of the Umayyad period do not represent a new
poetry, but only one renewed and broadened by reason of the altered
circumstances.
A few words should be said about old Arabic prose. It is certain
that some parts of the Ayyam al-'Arab, that is to say the battle days
(mostly raids with robbery in view) of the Bedouins, have a kinship
with the heathen past as far as the range of subjects, not their verbal
form, is concerned. A characteristic of these stories is their conjunc-
tion with poems and verses. It was not individual raids, however,
but a war between the brother tribes of "Abs and Dubyan, which
took place some time between 575 and 595, that inspired the legend
of the 'D£bis-War',2 which appeared during the next 30 years and,
as echoes in the writing show, was even added to in Islam.
Alongside this tale stands the story of the Basus-war.3 This, too,
is about a fratricidal conflict, that of Bakr with Taglib. However,
this story does not describe a real war, although one such was known,
but an imaginary one. Only one reason can be suggested for this
strange state of affairs. Those who handed down the legend belonged
to Qais b. Ta'laba, a branch of Bakr. But the first to recount it belon-
ged also to that branch; most of the heroes of their tales belonged
as well to Qais, while their later opponents, 'Ikl, who stemmed
from another branch of Bakr, are not in the same way referred to
in these legends. This would be possible only if the legend was not

1 Franceso Gabrieli, Die altarabischeDichtung, 'Bustan', vol. 1/2, 1962, p. 30.

2
Ag VII, 143. Ham 44, 147, 148, 153, 190.
3
Ag IV, 139.
24

based on historical events. For the same reason the text of the Basus-
war was subjected to much more far-reaching alterations than that
of the Dahis-war. The later version in at-Tibrizi's commentary on
the Hamasa is wholly foreign to ancient Arabia. Five poems in the
Hamasa 1 belong to the oldest version and were incorporated by
Noldeke in the Delectus 1.1'etertim Carmiliitvi Arabicorum. They derive
from early Islam.
Fables and fairy tales, of course, were also known. Ancient prose
writings included proverbs as well, as may be noted from their
echoes in poetry, especially in Zuhair's `Mu`allaqa'.2 The form in
which they occur in Islamic literature, where they are embodied in
stories, stems presumably from al-Hira. They probably had their
models in late antique times. Therefore, longer legends were already
composed in the form of proverb-stories in early periods.
Transmission of pre-Islamic literature was effected, in the lifetime
of the poets, by their Rawis who probably were often their pupils,
but in later ages their poems were handed down within their tribes,
or their closer communities; finally this was done by the addressee to
whom the poem was dedicated or by scholars of al-Hira3. Al-Hira
may perhaps be called the mother of classical Arabic poetry, was
certainly its greatest sponsor and probably was important also
in its transmission to later generations, just as it was a mine of Persian
and Arabic legend. However, through the break in continuity
described above much was lost. The revival of political verse and the
desire, fostered by East Roman and Persian example, for an Arabian
history led to a start being made in collecting ancient poetry and its
transmission to others by poets and their associates. This occurred
from about the beginning of the reign of Mu (äwiya to the end of
cabdalmalik (41-86/661-705), a period during which the basis of
Arabic-Islamic art was also laid down. It then suffered once more,
though only to a limited extent, by reason of the commencement of
4 of and verses
early historiography.4 Quite soon, course, poems
started to be written down. In this way, they reached the first antho-
logists and philologists in Kufa and Basra and were edited by them;
1 Ham 2, 167, 168, 176, 315.
2 Ahlwardt, p. 94, etc. (No. 16).
3 cf. M. J. Kister, al-Hira, Some notes on its relations with Arabia, Arabica
xv (1968), p. 143 ff.
4 Because historiography was not particular in requiring historical witnesses,
genuine and non-genuine verses were combined and Islamic writings were
declared to be pre-Islamic.
 25

that is, the verses were read and taken down by dictation or the
manuscript was handed to pupils and copied by them. The scholars,
their pupils and pupils of a second generation all wrote commentaries:
Hammad ar-Rawiya, al-Mufaddal, al-Asma`i, Abu 'Ubaida, This
does not exclude, however, the possibility that much material was
obtained from verbal recitals by teachers and pupils. This is parti-
cularly the case where there are anthologies containing poems not
of individual great poets but of whole tribes, amongst whom were
many lesser poets. Furthermore, philologists were also concerned
with the poetry of the Umayyad period, as, for example, Abu 'Ubaida.

b. The New Style

Just as the late Umayyad era laid down the basis for the political,
military and social arrangements of the Abbasid period, so it was also
in the case of poetry. In Umayyad times (641-750), the form, style
and subjects of poetry followed to a great extent those of pre-Islamic
writers, that is nomads. At the beginning of the Abbasid epoch,
there was a crisis. A new kind of poetical writing (referred to as
Badr) appeared. This new type of poetry began with Bassar b.
Burd.I This, at least, is the opinion of al-Asmali 2 and that also of
later native commentators. Ibn Harma 3 is also mentioned in this
connection. The new situation was that modern poets no longer used
Bedouin forms of expression, or did so only to a limited extent.
Since then, according to as-Suli,4 the poets turned to 'modern poetical
delineations, more pointed utterances and a more elegant way of
expressing themselves'. They were called the Moderns (Muhdatun).
They were critical of conservative poets (Mi<taqaddi>ixn), who acknow-
ledged only the style of ancient poetry and rejected every innovation,
but they, that is the Moderns, did not criticize the old poets them-
selves. From the verbal treasures of these, the Moderns wished to
develop a new style, but they desired also to find new poetical subjects.
The language of the ancient poets was analysed and their peculiar
forms of speech were individually classified. There arose a science of
this new-style poetry (11m al-Badï(). The number of artificial classi-
fications grew continually. While Ibn al-Mu'tazz 5 distinguished five
tropes of the new style, Abu Hilal al-'Askari mentioned thirtyfive.
1 Died 167/783; GAL I, 73. Cf.
Ag III, 23, 1.21.
2 Died 216/831; GAL S I, 163 etc.
3 Died after 150/767; GAL I, 84. Cf. Ag V, 47, 1.21.
4 Ahbar, p. 16.
5 6 293-395/906-1005; GAL I, 126.
247-296/861-908; GAL I, 80.
26

Rhetorical forms are more rarely found in the poetry of heathen

times than later. But even Maimun al-A <šä, who died after 625,
shows an inclination to an involved style (mannerism) and Arab
critics reproached him on this account. Ancient Arabic poetry sprang
from natural endowment (tab`). By intensive use of rhetorical forms,
the later poets could produce nothing of comparable value to older
poetry.2 Those who opposed the 'new' style complained that this
poetry was contrived opposite : 11la!bü(- 'naive'), forced and
mannered (watakallifl.
Consideration of this stylistic development that divided poets is
necessary to enable critical appraisal to be made both of the Diwan
and the Hamasa, because Abu Tammam stood midway between the
opponents and supporters of the new style.

IV. CRITIQUE OF ABU TAMMAM'S POETRY

The Kitab al-Badi', published in the year 274/887, was the first
work in which the special types of expression used in the new style
were systematically considered. The frequent use of tropes was
defended by Ibn al-Mu'tazz and supported by him from many
quotations from the Koran and the ancient poets. In consequence of
the considerable lapse of time since the first appearance of the new
style, there now occurred a development within this style which
reached its zenith in the poetry of Abu Tammdm.3 Abu Tammam
was 'utterly captivated' by the new style.4 From his poetry, therefore,
Ibn al-Mu"tazz quoted very extensively and he is one of the first
to have given an unprejudiced opinion of Abu Tammam. In the intro-
duction to his work, he declares Abu Tammam to be a poet who
'has written well and also badly' in the new style.5 Thus Ibn al-Mu'tazz
disarms the suspicion that he might judge blindly for or against the
poet. 'Most of his writings are good' 6 writes Ibn al-Mu`tazz, giving
full recognition to Abu Tammam's 'ingenious conceptions 1 and 'his
s
many new ideas'.8 Only his 'incomprehensible and complicated

1 Cf. GAL S I, 66.

2 Cf. Grunebaum, p. 97.
3 Badi', Introduction,
p. 10.
4 Badi', p. 1.
5 Ibid.
6 Tabaqät, p. 286.
7 Ibid.: al-ma'ani al-latifa.
8 Ibid.: al-bida' al-katira.
 27

forms of expression' 1 are deplored by the critic. Abu Tammam,

through his all too intensive use of rhetoric constantly drew upon
himself the criticism of immoderation,2 of exaggeration 3 and of
mannerisms.4 Most of the quotations from Abu Tammam's Diwan
occurring in the Kitab al-Badi', therefore, are examples for the bad
use of tropes. That a bad use of language 'should be recognized and
then avoided' 5 was one of the purposes that guided Ibn al-Mu'tazz
in writing his book about the 'new' style.
Amongst the rhetorical forms most often used by Abu Tammam
in his own poetry were antitheses (al-Mutåbaqa),6 paronomasia (at-
Tagni.r) and hyperbole (al-Mubiilaga).7 Antithesis was so intensively
employed in Abu Tammam's poetry that it could really be called a
stylistic 'habit'.8 His preference for paronomasia ran him into parti-
9
cularly severe criticism. Of the verse :
qarrat bi- Qarrina (ainu 'd-dini wa -> štatarat
bi ->l-Aštaraini (19üntt -> š-širki fa -)¡tulimii

(In Qurrdn the eye of faith was calmed, and the eyes of polytheism
became sick by Astarain and he was uprooted.) 10
'Abdalqahir al-Curk5n! said: 'If he (Abu Tammam) then comes upon
a place name that he must mention, or arrives at an event that he
wishes to commemorate in a poem, he seems to believe that he is
doing something wrong or is omitting a sacred duty if he does not
produce some play on words or conjure up some other piece of
artificiality'.11
His metaphors (isti(iiriit) are often far-fetched (ba'id).12
1 Ibid. :yastagliqu lafzub�.
2 Tabaqat, p. 235: at-ta��wuz 'ala 'l-miqd�r.
3 Badi', p. 1, 1.11: al-ifrat and al-isr�f.
4 Asrar, p. 15, 1.3.
5 Badi', p. 23, 1.11.
6 'The connecting of a thing with its opposite', Ham, p. 251.
7 The equivalence of the speech figure al-Mub�lagawith hyperbole is only
partially correct, since al-Mubal�gais a collective conception of related stylistic
nuances, to which can be added pleonasm (cf. Diwan LXVIII, 49-al-qi si
al-'��)and euphemism (al Mub�laga fi'l-Madh)cf. Diwan XV, 19).
8 Cf. Ham,
pp. 251; 284; 777.
9 Diwan CXXXV, 12; cf. XXXVII, 23 and CLXII, 1.
10 Diwan CXXXV, 12, read: 'nŠatarat. Qurran is a village in the Yamama,
near which the false prophet Musailima was conquered and killed. al-AŠtarain =
AŠtar and Nihawand. The reference is really to the decisive victory of the Arabs
over the Iranians in the year 18/639. Play on words regarding proper names is
still used to-day in Arabic folk poetry; cf. Dalman, pp. 75, 76.
11 Asrar, p. 23, etc.
12 Baq, p. 82.
28

Verses are so over-decorated with rhetoric, so over-filled with

flowery expressions and so deliberately designed for effect that they
seem to be the work of an orator (kbatib) rather than that of a poet. 1
Abu Tammdm's style has a close affinity to that of Abu Nuwas 2
and of Muslim b. al-Walid.3 The latter was the first poet to make great
use of the 'new' style. Opponents of this style therefore regarded
him as the first who 'corrupted' (afsada) 4 poetry. Since Abu Tammam
made immoderate use of this style,5 his poems, so far as his critics
were concerned, were included amongst what they held to be corrupt
literature.
The following anecdotes show how intensively Abu Tammam
concerned himself with the poetry of Abu Nuwas and Muslim b.
al-Walid. Ibn al-Mu'tazz related: 'I (Abu al-Gusn Muhammad b.
Qudama) visited Habib b. Aus in Qazwin. Around him lay books
in which he was completely absorbed. He scarcely took in my pre-
sence, so I stood there for an hour before at last he noticed me.
Finally he stood up and greeted me. I said to him: "Abu Tammam,
you really examine your books deeply and dedicate yourself to a
study of them! What a great amount of assiduity you pay to your
books". He answered: "In the name of God, these are my sole
companions. Nothing else gives me such pleasure." Two books
lay there, one on his right and one on his left. To these two volumes,
he seemed to devote himself more than to any other. I asked: "What
are these, to which you seem to give more time than to the rest?"
He replied: "On my right is al-Ldt and on my left al-,UZZa.7 I have
revered both for more than twenty 8 years." On his right were the
poems of Muslim b. al-Walid, "the prostrated Victim of the Beau-
ties", and on his left the poems of Abu Nuwas.'
Al-Marzubani 9 tells how Abu Tammam, speaking of what seemed
to him the masterly eloquence displayed in one of Abu Nuwas's
poems, said: 'I shall practise such (poetical) art'.lo
Once, as Abu al-Farag recounts, Abu Tammam swore that he
1 Ahbar,
p. 244, 5.
2 Died between 195/806 and 198/813. GAL I, 75.
3 Died 208/823. GAL I, 77.
4 Muwazana,
p. 55, 24.
5 Tabaqat, p. 235, 7.
6 Tabaqat, p. 284.
7 Two goddesses of the heathen Arabs.
8 Abbar, p. 173, 4: for thirty years.
9 Died 384/993. GAL S I, 190.
10 Muwaššah,
p. 305, 17.
 29

would pray no more until he knew the poems of Muslim b. al-Walid

and of Abu Nuwas by heart, and it was said that he knew these verses
at the end of only two months. 1
Just as views on style and language in poetry differed, there were
divided opinions regarding Abu Tammam. The assumption that
contemporary poets were 'as good as united in their evaluation of
his (Abu Tammam's) poetical gifts' 2 is contradicted in numerous
statements by Arab writers and historians. Judgments about Abu
Tammam were never uniform but were formed on the bases of
exaggeration and under-valuation. AI-Mas(udi stated: 3 `Concerning
Abu Tammam two opposing factions existed; one of these valued
him more highly than he really deserved and they overstep the limits
in their descriptions of his poetical gifts and set his poems above
those of all others. The members of the second faction turn their backs
on him, decrying everything he did well, denigrating his virtues and
disapproving even of those noble conceptions in which he shows
'
his originality and individuality.'
How emotionally and uncritically opinions about Abu Tammam
were formed is described in similar terms by Abu al-Farag al-Isba-
hani,4 who writes: 'If anyone supports him (Abu Tammam), he
invariably, even today, uses such exaggerations as to place him above
all other poets, past or present. Others, on the other hand, concen-
trate their attention only on his bad verses and ignore all that are
good.'
One of Abu Tammam's greatest adversaries during his lifetime
was the poet Di'bil.5 This is the more remarkable in that Di <bil was,
in his youth, a pupil and friend of Muslim b. al-Walid, whose works
inspired Abu Tammam and whose style he always strove to imitate.
Di'bil thought nothing of Abu Tammam as a poet.6 He therefore
ostentatiously did not mention him in his book, The Classification
Poets. 7
of
Di'bil and later opponents of Abu Tammam were at pains to present

1 K.
al-Agani, Dar al-Kutub, Cairo MS, Nr. 1318 Adab, p. 51; cf. Šarh
Diwan Sari' al-Gawani Muslim b. al-Walid al-Ansari, ed. Sami ad Dahhan, Cairo
(undated), p. 378, Dar al-Ma'arif.
2 Rescher II, 106.
3
Murug VII, 153.
4
Ag XV, 96. GAL I, 146.
5
148-246/765-860. GAL S I, 121.
6
Ahbar, p. 244, 5.
7
Yaq�tXI, 112. Muwazana 6, 7. Muwaššah 304, 16. Hiz III, 121.
30

him as a plagiarist whenever they were able to discover in his poems

the echo of some thought already known, or traces of some other
poet's style. When someone asked Di'bil about Abu Tammam, he
replied: 'One-third of his poetry is stolen, one-third is poor and only
one-third of what he wrote is good'.'
Any means enabling him to denigrate Abu Tammam were welcome
to Di'bil. On one occasion, he mixed up the verses of a Lament by
Muknif Abu Sulma with the verses of an elegy by Abu Tammam,
both of which had the same metre, and circulated them thus 'in
order to do him down' and to convict him of plagiarism.2 2
Di'bil did not hesitate to write lampoons even against the Caliph
Harun ar-Rasid,3 al-Ma'mun 4 and al-Mu'tasim.5 It is therefore not
surprising that he turned his mockery also upon Abu Tammam.
The philologist Ibn al-A'r£b1 6 was particularly critical of Abu
Tammam. This is borne out by the words of as-Suli,7 who wrote:
'My father sent me (Abu 'Amr b. A. al-Hasan at-Tusi 8) to study
poetry under him. I was charmed by Abu Tammam poems. Once
I read him (Ibn al-A`rabi) some poems of the Hudailites and imme-
diately afterwards a poem in the Ragaz metre by Abu Tammam
wrongly supposing that it was by one of the Hudailite poets:
wa- (iiçjilin (açjaltuhu fï (açjlihï
fa-ganna anni giihilun min jablibi

(Many a critic whose complaints I criticized; he thought I knew

nothing of his ignorance.)
As I finished reading, he said to me: "Write out this poem for me!"
So I wrote it down and then asked him: "Is it good?". Whereupon he
replied: "I have heard no poem that is more beautiful than this!"
I said: "It is by Abu Tammam!" He answered: "Tear it up! Tear
it up!" 9
This anecdote increases the suspicion that Abu Tammam published
1 Ahbar, p. 244.
2 Ahbar,
p. 201. Cf. ibid., p. 61, 1.9.
3
Ag XVIII, 57, 1.20.
4 Ag XVIII, 30,1.9.
5 Qut,
p. 549.
6 149-230/766-844. GAL I, 116.
7 Ahbar,
p. 175, 1.7 etc. Muwazana, p. 10.
8 Died about the
year 250/864. Fihrist, p. 112.
9 Cf. Goldz/Abh. Vol. I,
p. 165.How little Ibn al-A'crabiknew of Aba� Tammam's
poetry and, therefore, how blind was his judgment of him is made clear in the
anecdote related by the historian and writer Mada'ini (135-215/752-830-GAL
I, 140): Ahbar, p. 177, 5-11. cf. Diwan XX, 17.
 31

poems of his own under the names of other poets, in this case one
of the Hudailites.
Like Di`bil, Ibn al-A'rabi thought nothing of Abu Tammam as a
poet and said of his verses: 'If that is poetry, then the eloquence
of the Arabs is worthless.' 1
Abu Tammam was well acquainted with the highest intellectual
standards of his time. Some have reproached him for using his verses
in order to display his erudition, for example through the frequent
use of 'philosophical terms and unusual expressions'.2 His poetry was
'learned poetry'. It required an educated readership which could
wrestle with the difficulties of the content. `Abu Tammam's special
interest lay in complicated forms of expression, the meaning of which
was hard to grasp by others;' thus wrote Abu al-Farag al-Isbahani.3
That this statement is true is supported by the numerous commen-
taries without which Abu Tammam's Diwan cannot be understood.4 4
Once Abu Tammam was asked: 'Why don't you write verses that
can be understood?' He answered: 'Why cannot you understand
what the 5
poetry says ?'
In making a stylistic analysis of Abu Tammam's poems, it is
important first to examine the stylistic characteristics of Arabic
poetry during Abu Tammam's lifetime. The separation of the poetical
style into so-called Bedouin (badaJvï) and urban (barjarï) was at this
period already complete.6 While Bedouin poets clung to tradition
and both literally and metaphorically to desert and desert-life, the
poets of the towns concerned themselves with a new world and
addressed a quite different society. The difference in the milieu, in
the tasks and interests of the Bedouins and those of the towns resulted
in the establishment of poetic forms which differed both in thought
and in style. The natural sensitivity of the poet made it impossible
for him to ignore these contrasts. 'The non-Bedouin poet,' said
al-Amidi,' 'should use in his verses only those expressions that are
used in the speech of non-Bedouins.' If, however, al-Amidi continued,
he occasionally preferred an expression used in speech by the Be-

1 Muwazana, p. 9, 1.3.
2 Muwazana,
p. 12, 1.2.
3 Ag XV, 96, 1.9.
4 Cf. Ritter/Oriens, p. 266.
5 MuwaššaQ, 325. Muwazana,
p. p. 10, 8. at-Tibrizi's Commentary on Diwan
XVI, 1
6 Muwazana, p. 190.
7 Ibid.,
p. 190, 1.22, etc.
 32

douins, he should choose one that was not solely employed by them
but was heard also in the towns.
Abu Tammam sought to unite these contrasts in his own poetry.
This syncretism arises from a purely romantic sensitivity. His poetry
is extremely modern in form, but conservative in motive. This
mixture of styles led to the strongest criticism of Abu Tammam.
To unite heterogeneous elements of style suited Abu Tammdm's
inclinations; he enjoyed himself in the role of a Bedouin. So he
used words of Bedouin origin in his poems, as in the verse : 1
kiina fï > l-agfalii Jvajï 'n-naqar£ `ur=
fitka nadra >1- <umüminadra 'I-wibddi.
How much illwill he caused by such artificialities is evidenced by
the derogatory remarks of al-Marzubdni, who selects this verse as
an example of the 'abhorrent and disgusting expressions of the
Bedouins'.2 He asks further: 'How does he (Abu Tammam) bring
himself to use such typical Bedouin forms of language, when he is
the son of an educated (muta'addib) citizen?'
What is striking and individual in the poems of Abu Tammam
is the fact that often good and bad verses are found immediately
following each other. This elicited surprise and ciiticism even from
his friends and admirers. Al-Buhturi 3 was once asked whether he
or Abu Tammam was the better poet and replied: 'His good verses
'
are better than my good verses and my bad verses are better than
his bad ones.' 4
Abu Tammam's poetry spans extreme contrasts: his style is 'affec-
ted, but also pregnant; wearisome, but sometimes full of peace'.5 5
Abu Tammam united in his works 'beautiful and bad poetry, both
of the extremest kind',6 figuratively speaking, 'two contrasts (like)
heaven and earth'.' 7
After Abu Tammam's death, various works were written which
attempted to defend his poetry against the immoderate criticism of
his detractors, for example those by as-Suli 8 and al-iVlarzuqi.9

1 Diwan XXXIV, 16.

2 Muwaššah, p. 308, 1.14.
3
206-284/821-897. GAL I, 80.
4 Ahbar, p. 67. Muwazana, p. 5. Muwaššah, p. 286.
5 Qair, p. 32, 4.
6 Muwaššah, p. 307, 11.
7 Qair, p. 32, 4.
8 Risalat as-S�liila Abi al-Lait Muzahim. b. Fatik
(at the beginning of Ahbar).
9 Risalat al-Intisar min Zalamat Abi Tammam, cf. Ham, p. 1620.
 33

As an example of Abu Tammdm's poetical style, here follows the

translation of a Qasida.1 It is dedicated to al-Hasan b. Wahb,2 from
whom he had had the gift of a valuable horse.

1. Where rock and sand-dune meet, is there a spot where traces

remain of their dwellings,
2. which can tell a man, leading his exhausted riding camel into
remains of an encampment, where the beautiful-lipped antelope
calves 3 may be?
3. Do not ask them,4 for only he can hear the sound of a voice, who
himself has a voice.5 5
4. Only a fleet-footed, old (camel mare) can banish the complaint
of a clumsy, late-married woman.
5. Whoever has a sorrow that sleeps quietly is as if paralysed; and
a house to which you have grown accustomed is a grave.
6. What a magnificent possession of this world it is that a beautiful
(horse), neither small nor heavy, offers you.
7. A yellow (steed), coloured like the yolk of an egg and polished
like the centre part of a bow.
8. His neck is a trunk of the Ardk tree and what lies behind his
crupper is a firm rock.
9. Saffron almost flows from the sweat of his flanks; wars 6 can al-
most be gained from his back.
10. He is of noble descent and himself has reached the highest stage
of development, so that by himself he stands as a species.
11. His forbears guarded their nobility from the time the Persians
discovered their noble breed.
12. It is neither surprising nor astonishing in his case that in a single
night he can reach water which it usually takes five days to reach.
13. He leaves so far behind him places that he has gone by only a
second before that it seems as if it were yesterday that he had
passed them.

1 Diwan LXXIX.
2 See
above, p. 17, n. 7.
3 This means women who have departed with their families.
4 The remains of the forsaken
camp.
5
Frequency of sibilants! The two half verses have been erroneously divided
in Arabic print.
6 wars =
yellow material from the similarly-named saffron tree (Memecylon
tinctorium), cf. A. Siggel, Arabisch-Deutsches Wärterbuch der Stoffe aus den drei
Naturreichen, die in arabischen alchemistischenHandschriften vorkommen ..., Berlin
1950, p. 73. I; Löw, AramäischePftanzennamen,Leipzig 1881, p. 132.
34

14. When his rider whispers something to him, he understands as

would a human being.
15. Although he is not three years old, five- and seven-year old
horses cannot keep pace with him.
16. When he rolls his eyes, his eyeball shows black, as if made of ink.
17. The blaze on his forehead gleams white like a cotton plant. If
you lent the blaze of his forehead to your two eyes, they would
gleam white like cotton.
18. He (= the horse) looks as if his colour is rubbed into him, as if
in his hide the sun is darkened.
19. Whatever precious thing that could be offered as payment for
the horse-apart from my honour-is trifling.
20. With this horse, a gallant young hero has driven away my sorrow;
his limbs are perfect;
21. his head and brow are held high when a vulgar man behaves ill
towards him.
22. Abu 'All's virtues are like flowers after the rain; his mind is
pure and
23. noble; the spirit lying between him and myself is uniformly
cut out, like sandal thongs from tanned leather.
24. He strives for glory; since his day good manners have prevailed
and generosity lies as close to his character as a saddle cloth
upon a camel's back.1
25. How many heated wars of words has he been able to settle! In
such cases, other men appear to be ignorant and stupid.
26. He pierced through their bowels with a counter-speech, just as if
this were a lance skilfully thrust.
27. (He is) wonderful! (Were he as the winds), amongst his winds
none would be stormy or cold; (were he as the stars), amongst
his stars there would be no inauspicious one.
28. Because of his perfection the morrow longs for him; and the past
day increases ardent longing for him.
29. When I avert my gaze from his face, time seems endless to me;
and to me a moment of separation from him looms like half
eternity.
30. Our days in his shadow are an eternal springtime; our age is
a wedding season.
31. Not like people who have already become the rust of life, as if
the world had become a prison to them.
1
ma�fuww?
 35

32. Remoteness from such as them is real companionship; to be near

them is to be far from the spirit.
33. These (verses) are gifts of friendship, written for you; the best
of them are dedicated (to you alone).
34. Whoever wishes to gain praise for himself looks upon people
as the best ground and upon good deeds as the planting.
Difficult modes of expression (verses 18 and 27), twisted forms
(verse 15), the preference for paronomasia (verses 4 and 11) and alli-
teration (verse 19) mark the poetical style of Abu Tammam. It is
noteworthy that Abu Tammam has reduced to four lines the love
verses (nasib) at the beginning of his Qasida, which in old Bedouin
poetry always included ten or more verses.
FELIX KLEIN-FRANKE

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