e
Omayyad period (cf. Goldziher, _Abhandlungen_, i. 144 ff). This form had
been ridiculed but now it lost its hold altogether, and was only
employed occasionally by way of direct imitation of the antique. The
rise of Persian influence made itself felt in much the same way as the
Norman influence in England by bringing a newer refinement into poetry.
Tribal feuds are no longer the main incentives to verse. Individual
experiences of life and matters of human interest become more usual
subjects. Cynicism, often followed by religion in a poet's later life,
is common. The tumultuous mixture of interests and passions to be found
in a city like Bagdad are the subjects of a poet's verse. One of the
earliest of these poets, Muti' ibn Ayas, shows the new depth of personal
feeling and refinement of expression. Bashshar ibn Burd (d. 783), a
blind poet of Persian descent, shows the ascendancy of Persian influence
as he openly rails at the Arabs and makes clear his own leaning to the
Persian religion. In the 8th century Abu Nuwas (q.v.) is the greatest
poet of his time. His language has the purity of the desert, his morals
are those of the city, his universalism is that of the man of the world.
Abu-l-'Atahiya (q.v.), his contemporary, is fluent, simple and often
didactic. Muslim ibn ul-Walid (ed. de Goeje, Leiden, 1875), also
contemporary, is more conservative of old forms and given to panegyric
and satire. In the 9th century two of the best-known poets--Abu Tammam
(q.v.) and Buhturi (q.v.) --were renowned for their knowledge of old
poetry (see HAMASA) and were influenced by it in their own verse. On the
other hand Ibn ul-Mo'tazz (son of the caliph) was the writer of
brilliant occasional verse, free of all imitation. In the 10th century
the centre of interest is in the court of Saif ud-Daula (addaula) at
Aleppo. Here in Motanabbi (q.v.) the claims of modern poetry not only to
equal but to excel the ancient were put forward and in part at any rate
recognized. Abu Firas (932-968) was a member of the family of Saif
ud-Daula, a soldier whose poems have all the charm that comes from the
fact that the writer has lived through the events he narrates (ed. by R.
Dvorak, Leiden, 1895). Many Arabian writers count Motanabbi the last of
the great poets. Yet Abu-l-'Ala ul-Ma'arri (q.v.) was original alike in
his use of rhymes and in the philosophical nature of his poems. Ibn
Farid (q.v.) is the greatest of the mystic poets, and Busiri (q.v.)
wrote