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Abu Tammam al-Ta'i

أبو تمام الطائي

The great poet; he said for the year-223 conquest of Amorium his famous ode 'the sword is truer news than books — in its edge the line between earnest and jest... where is report, where are the stars?' — for the astrologers had foretold an ill-omened rising and defeat 1.

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Era
The Early Abbasid Caliphate
Identifiers
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Overview

Abu Tammam al-Ta'i, a great poet. Al-Suyuti mentions his famous ode on al-Mu'tasim's conquest of Amorium in 223 AH. 2

The Amorium ode

Al-Suyuti relates that when al-Mu'tasim prepared, the astrologers judged to the caliph that the omen was unlucky and that he would be defeated, but the victory came beyond all expectation. One of the lines of Abu Tammam's ode on that conquest begins: "The sword is truer in its reports than books." 2

His works

Al-Mas'udi attributes to him the Hamasa. He says some people called it "the book of al-Khubayya". He also says that Abu Bakr al-Suli wrote a book on his reports and poetry. 3 The museum's data link the Hamasa to him on the authority of 4.

Connections

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Related to
al-Mu'tasim Abu Ishaq ibn al-Rashid
Authored
Hamasa of Abu Tammam

People and things also explored

Conquest of Amorium· Death of al-Mu'tasim· The Fall of Qaliqala, 133, and its Rebuilding· The Garrisoning of Sur man Ra'a (Samarra)· Imran ibn Musa's Sind and the Zutt-Mayd Wars· The Court's Wooing of Transoxania· The Sack of Zibatra and al-Mu'tasim's Retaliation· The Conversion of al-Usayfan's King

Sources

  1. Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p. 523
  2. Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p.523
  3. Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi , p.463
  4. Wafayat al-A'yan wa-Anba' Abna' al-Zaman — Ibn Khallikan
  • al-Nuwayri, Nihayat al-Arab fi Funun al-Adab, vol. 1 (scan)
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Abu Tammam al-Ta'i”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/abu-tammam/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-25.

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People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story. Related

Conquest of Amorium

Al-Mu'tasim set out campaigning into Byzantine lands in the year 223, though some say his departure was in 224 or 222, after he had killed Babak. According to al-Suyuti, he took it by the sword, killed thirty thousand of its people and took as many captive. The astrologers had judged the ascendant unlucky when he was preparing and that he would be broken; yet his victory exceeded anything feared, and Abu Tammam said that the sword is truer in its reports than books. According to al-Mas'udi, al-Mu'tasim was roused to war, donning a white woollen tunic and the raider's turban, when Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi recited to him, 'O raid of God, you have now beheld it, so break in.' He encamped on the west bank of the Tigris on Monday, two nights into Jumada I in the year 223. He placed Ashnas in the vanguard, Itakh on the right wing, Ja'far ibn Dinar al-Khayyat on the left, Bugha al-Kabir in the rear, and Ajif at the centre. He entered by the Pass of Safety, while al-Afshin entered by the Pass of Hadath; he met the king and defeated him. Lawi the patrician came out to him from Amorium and surrendered it; he took Batis captive, killed thirty thousand, and stayed four days demolishing and burning.