al-Farazdaq

When Al-Farazdaq lived in Basra he composed satires on the Banu Nishal and Banu Fuqaim tribes and when Ziyad ibn Abihi a member of the Banu Fuqaim became the governor of Iraq in 669, Al-Farazdaq was forced to flee to Medina and he lived there for many years, only returning to Basra on the death of Ziyad. In Basra he managed to gain the support of Ziyad's son Ubaydullah. Later when Al-Hajjaj became the Governor he was once more out of favour though he wrote several laudatory poems for Al Hajjaj, perhaps because of his long time rivalry with another poet; Jarir, who had a close relationship with the Governor.



Al-Farazdaq became official poet to the Caliph al-Walid who reigned from 705 to 715, to whom he dedicated a number of panegyrics. He also enjoyed the favour of the Caliph Sulayman who was Caliph from 715 till 717 but was eclipsed when Umar II became Caliph in 717. Later an insurrection occured and he gained favour of the Caliph, Yezid II, who ruled from 720 to 724, by composing poems denouncing the rebel leader.





Al-Farazdaq was an eccentric and his exploits, as well as his verses and his feud with Jarîr, have been the subject for discussions for centuries. The wealth of al-Farazdaq's vocabulary led one of the old Arabic critics to declare: “If Farazdaq's poetry did not exist, one-third of the Arabic language would be lost.”



His Dîwan, the collection of his poetry, contains several thousand verses, including laudatory and satirical poems and laments. His poems are representative of the nomad poetry at its height. Most of them are characterized by a happy sincerity, but some of his satires are notably obscene.