Al-Abbas ibn al-Ahnaf

Al-Abbas ibn al-Ahnaf ibn al-Aswad al-Hanafi was an Abbasid poet. He grew up in Baghdad while his family lived in Basra, and he is ascribed to Banu Hanifa. He died around 192 AH (808 CE), according to the Encyclopaedia of Notable Scholars and Men of Letters ¹.

Al-Mas'udi cites a verse of his, which he had taken from a remark of Abd Allah ibn al-Hasan to al-Mansur ².

Al-Mas'udi relates another report. A group of people from Basra found him lying under a tree on the pilgrimage road. He recited verses about being a stranger, then his soul departed, and they washed him and buried him ³.

Al-Khatib describes him as witty, pleasant, agreeable, and good at verse. He said little in praise and satire, and his poetry was mostly on love. There are many reports of him with Harun al-Rashid and others. His lineage is disputed. It is reported that he was al-Abbas ibn al-Ahnaf ibn al-Aswad ibn Talha ibn Jaddan ibn Kalda ibn Judhaym ibn Shihab ibn Salim ibn Dahiya ibn Kulayb, of Banu Hanifa. Ibrahim ibn al-Abbas al-Suli said he was of the descendants of al-Dayl ibn Hayma, brother of Adi ibn Hanifa. It is also said that his origin was among the Arabs of Khurasan and that he grew up in Baghdad ⁴.

Abu al-Hudhayl al-Allaf disliked him and cursed him because of his line, "If you want an equal, my heart is your helper; yet am I master of my heart?" He said that he binds fetters and robes together in his verse. Once, when Muslim ibn al-Walid was mentioned at a drinking session with his brothers, one of them called him "the one bewildered by the ladies" (sari' al-ghawani). Al-Abbas said: "By God, it is only fitting that he be the one bewildered by the ghoulesses (sari' al-ghilan)." This reached Muslim, and he composed a satire against him. Abu al-Abbas Abd Allah ibn al-Mu'tazz said: "If I were asked which poetry I know to be the finest, I would say the poetry of al-Abbas ibn al-Ahnaf" ⁵.