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The poet ‘Um(cid:9)ara al-Yamanl
‘Alwash, Jawd A.
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‘Alwash, Jawd A. (1967) The poet ‘Um(cid:9)ara al-Yamanl, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at
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Tho Poot MJmara al-Yamani
1. Abu Muhammad ^Uiriar^ ibn VAii was born in tho Yomen
in 515/1121, He studied jurisprudence at Zabid (531-535 A.H.)
thon ho taught Shafi*i Jurisprudence there. TThilo on
pilgrimage to Mecca in 538/Li^5 ho mot tho Quoen al-Hurra
of Zabid and beoaino ono of hor close frionds. Ko began
trading bott^oen Adon and Zabid in 533 A.II. , and became rich,
famous, and a friend of Ibn Saba* (tho Dali of Aden), his
Vizier BiJal b. Jarir and his secretary al-*Abdi. Ho was
sent by tho Prince of "al-Haramain" (Qasim b. Hashim b.
Falito), on a mission to tho Fatitnid Caliph (al-Fa'i^) in
Egypt in 549 A.II. So successful was his mission that the
Prmco of al-Horamain sent him on another mission m 553- A.H.
He wont to Egypt and settled thoro, living happily until
Saladin ended the Fatimid Caliphate in 5^7 A.II. when 'Uraara
was involvod in a plot to roplace tho son of the last
Fatimid Caliph on the throno. Tho plot was betrayed and
UUmara was exocuted on 2 Ramadan 5^9/6 April 1175)
(Chapter 1 Part I P. 28 - 76).
2. *Umora had a good character, so that most peop3e
lilcod and rospoctcd him. lie was a faithful and pious ruoslim,
so that he seemed proud of his roligion. Ho bolongod to
Sha.fi *i soct by birth, education and m his way of thinking;
so it was said that ho was a fanatic of sunna. He was one of
(2)
the most learned of tho peoplo of his tlmo. lie studied
jurisprudence, Tafsir Hadith, History, Arabic litorature
and language. Then ho wroto many "books In addition to his
"Diwan": al-Nukat ai-tAsriyya, Tarikh al-Yaman, ShularaJ
al-Yamnn, al-FaraJicl and Sirat al-Sayyida Nafiaa. All this
made him gain a good position in his society
(Chapter ? P. 77 - 129).
3. lUmara'a pootic talent was rovoalod in Adon by the
holp of al-*AbdI, grow at Zabid, and his fame made complete
in Egypt especially when he joined "Diwan al-ShutaraJ1" m
the Fatiiuia Caliphate. So ho became one of the groatost
poets of his time until Saladm's roign when ho became
noglected.
(Chapter 1 Part II P. 131 - 159).
4. lUmara was a panegyrist. Ho was expert m
eulogy in which was most of his pootry, but he also vrote
in most of tho poetical themos common to his times olegy
opistolary-poetry, satire, love-poetry, ascetic-poetry,
doscriptive-pootry and other themos.
(Chapter 2 P. 160 - 230).
5. 'Umara constantly sought to express his idoas
lucidly, so most of his poetry was understood by ordinary
(3)
roaders. Although h is stylo was not distinguished, it was
adequate, and h is language was eloquent. He was fond
of rhotorica.1 flguros (Badit) which can bo soon in moat of
his pootry. While ho avoided strange rhymos and rare
metres ho wrote many "Urjuzas" and "Muwashshahs".
(Chapter 3. P. 231 - 2S2),
6. iUmora mado us© of some of h is predecessors'
art, ospocially Abu Tammam, ai-Buh-curi and al-Muranabbi.
Similarly some of h is followers bonefittod from his art.
His pootlc thought and descriptions reachod a high lovol,
and ho won the admiration of Arabs evorywhere. His
importance, then, was as a poet who was able to record
in his poetry the events which happenod in h is time, and ho
was one of the pioneers of "Muwa3hshahou m the east.
(Chaptor h. P. 283 - 318).
J. A. cAl\jash
A
The Poet Mjmara al-Yamani
Jawad A.cAlwash
Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts m the University
of Durham f or the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
School of Oriental Studies,
Elvet H i l l,
Durham.
June 1967.
The copyright of this thesis rests with the author
No quotation from it should be published without
his prior wiirten consent and information demed
from it should be acknowledged
DEDICATION
^-— ) f.
lUmara remains the symbol of a unique loyalty,
the creator of veritable pearls of poetry.
A star which illuminated his day and age,
into the horizon of eloquence m Cairo.
I dedicate this new "book,
to his unsullied loyal Spirit.
J.'Alwash.
(2)
Index
Page
Dedication j.
Index 2
Preface 5
Transliteration 7
Introduction (His Background) 5
PART I
( 'Umlra's l i f e)
Chapter I. iHis Biography)
1. His Origin, Birth and Upbringing 23
2. At Zabld 28
3. His Marriage 29
4. To Mecca 32
5. To Aden 35
6. The First Poem 36
7. To H] aaz JLj.0
8. His Mission to Egypt 1+3
9. The Great Merchant 1+8
10. In Egypt 50
11. During the Time of the Ayyubids 67
12. His Death 7k
Chapter I I. (His Personality)
1. His Outward Appearance 77
2. His Character 79
3. His Habits and Hobbies 89
(3)
i+. His Religion 93
5. His Madhhab 97
6. His Culture 106
7. His Works(a. The Diwan. b) Al- no
Nukat al-lAsriyya. c) Tarikh al-
Yaman. d) Sh^ara* al-Yaman.
e) al-Fara1id. f) Sirat a l-
Sayyida NafTsa. g) Rasa-*il
^Umira.)
8. His Social Position 122
PART II
{lUmara's Poetry)
(The Stages m ^Umara's
Poetical Development)
1. The Beginning 131
2. The Merchant Poet 135
3- The Ambassador Poet 12+2
k* The DTwan Poet 12+6
5. The Neglected Poet 151
Chapter 2
(The Themes of his Poetry)
1. Eulogy (.Madih): Panegyric 160
2. Elegy (Ritha') 180
3. Epistolary Poetry (al-Murasalat 191
al-Ikhwaniyya)
i+. Satire (Hi3a') 197
5. Love Poetry (Ghazal) 205
6. Ascetic Poetry (Zuhdiyyat) 211+
7. Descriptive Poetry (Wasf) 218
8. Other Themes 226
Chapter 3
(His Poetical Technique)
1. His Ideas 231
2. His Style and Language 239
3. The RhetoricaSFigures (Bad!1) 255
k» Rhyme (Qafiya) 2GU
5. His Metres (Buhur) 269
6. His'Raoaz' 2?2
7. His"Muwashshahat" 278
Chapter k
(His Place m the History
of Arabic Literature)
1. His Predecessors 283
2. His Creative Art 295
3. His Followers 301+
i+. His Importance "08
Conclusion 319
322
BibIn ography
5.
Preface
I farst "became interested m MJmara when I was
writing an article about Rajih a l - H i l li for "al-Ustadh",
the academic magazine of the Faculty of Education m
Baghdad University. Some Arab writers said that
Rajih took his elegy on the death of the King al-Zahir
of Aleppo irom lUmara. I wanted to see to what extent
Rajih imitated vUmara, so I sought out his "Diwarw lihen
1 examined Derenboarg's edition, 1 found it interesting
and thought it would be worth academic research.
This thesis is concerned only with lUmara's poetry,
(2 )
since its t i t le is "The Poet Hlmara al-Yamani". v '
The i i r st part is devoted to the study of his l i fe and his
personality, and examines his character, habits, religion,
sect and culture. Part two is devoted to his poetry. It
consists of four chapters, m which the development of
his poetry, themes ana techniques are studied.
The introduction gives a brief picture of his time,
brief because there are quite a number of books, m Arabic,
English and other languages, which aeal with varying
(7.)
aspects ol this period. w/
(1) Al-Ustadh, V.10, 1962
(2) The letter of the University of Durham*
2nd December, 196k.
(3) Hasan, Ibrahim, Tarikh al-Dawla al-Fatimiyya 67I+-70O