Abd al-Ghaffar al-Akhras

Abd al-Ghaffar ibn Abd al-Wahhab ibn Wahb al-Akhras was a poet from Mosul who moved to Baghdad and grew up there. He was called al-Akhras (the stammerer) because of a speech impediment. His birth is estimated at around 1805 CE and his death at around 1873 CE. ¹

The Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.) describes 'Abd al-Ghaffar b. 'Abd al-Wahid b. Wahs, an Arab poet of Iraq, born at Mosul about 1220/1805 and dead at Basra in 1290/1874. After settling in Baghdad he came to the notice of the wali Dawud Pasha, who at his request sent him to India for treatment of the speech defect that gave him the nickname al-Akhras, "the mute"; he refused the operation. His panegyrics to Dawud Pasha, to 'Abd al-Baqi and to notable men at Baghdad and Basra secured his livelihood, but his fame in Iraq rests on the rest of his work, which covers the classical genres: love poetry, elegy, threnody, satire, descriptive verse and boasting. He also composed muwashshahs and bacchic songs, which earned him the title "Abu Nuwas of the 19th century". His incomplete diwan was compiled by the nephew of 'Abd al-Baqi, Ahmad Izzat Pasha al-Faruqi, and published at Constantinople in 1304/1886. ²