Abu Tammam

Abu Tammam (188–231 AH / 804–846 CE) was an Arab poet and anthologist of the Abbasid era, celebrated for his poetic mastery and his compilation of Arabic verse Nuzhat al-Alba fi Tabaqat…+1.

Origin and Early Life

He was Habib ibn Aws ibn al-Harith ibn Qays ibn al-Ashajj, tracing his ancestry to the tribe of Tayy Nuzhat al-Alba fi Tabaqat…+1. A divergent report cited by Abu Bakr al-Suli and al-Amidi maintained that his father was a Christian named Thaddus (or Tadus), which was later changed to Aws al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya+1. According to his son Tammam, he was born in 188 AH, though other accounts place his birth in 190 AH during the late caliphate of Harun al-Rashid Nuzhat al-Alba fi Tabaqat…+1. He was born in Jasim, a village in the Jaydur district of the Hauran near Damascus and Tiberias al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya+1.

In his early youth, he was employed by a weaver in Damascus before moving to Egypt, where he served water in the congregational mosque Nuzhat al-Alba fi Tabaqat…+1. There he sat with scholars and men of letters, developing a vast memory for Arabic verse that was reported to encompass fourteen thousand urjuzahs alongside longer poems and fragments Nuzhat al-Alba fi Tabaqat…+1.

Literary Career and Travels

As his renown grew, Abu Tammam was brought to Samarra before the Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim, who rewarded him for his panegyrics and favored him above contemporary poets Nuzhat al-Alba fi Tabaqat…+1. He subsequently resided in Baghdad, where he associated with leading literary figures and scholars, and from whom transmitters such as Ahmad ibn Abi Tahir Tayfur narrated literary traditions Nuzhat al-Alba fi Tabaqat…+1.

Abu Tammam traveled east to Khurasan, where he praised its governor Abd Allah ibn Tahir in Nishapur Mirat al-Zaman fi Tawarik…+1. On his return journey toward Iraq, heavy winter snowfall blocked the roads at Hamadhan, stranding him as a guest of its local leader, Abu al-Wafa ibn Salama Mirat al-Zaman fi Tawarik…+1. Utilizing his host’s extensive library of Arabic poetry, he compiled his renowned thematic anthology Kitab al-Hamasa and another compilation titled al-Wahshiyyat Mirat al-Zaman fi Tawarik…+1.

Standing and Characteristics

Biographers described Abu Tammam as tall with a brownish complexion, eloquent in expression with a slight stammer, and noted for his generosity and refinement Nuzhat al-Alba fi Tabaqat…+1. Critics frequently weighed his standing against that of al-Buhturi and al-Mutanabbi; Abu al-Ala al-Ma'arri observed that Abu Tammam and al-Mutanabbi were sages, whereas al-Buhturi was the true poet Qiladat al-Nahr fi Wafaya…. When asked to evaluate their standing, al-Buhturi stated that Abu Tammam's best verse surpassed his own Qiladat al-Nahr fi Wafaya…. His collected Diwan was later organized alphabetically by al-Suli and by genre by Ali ibn Hamza al-Isfahani Qiladat al-Nahr fi Wafaya…+1.

Later Life and Death

Later in his life, the official al-Hasan ibn Wahb patronized Abu Tammam and appointed him director of the postal service (barid) in Mosul Nuzhat al-Alba fi Tabaqat…+1. He remained in that office for less than two years and died in Mosul in 231 AH during the caliphate of al-Wathiq, though alternative reports record his death in 228 AH or 232 AH Nuzhat al-Alba fi Tabaqat…+1. He was elegized in verse by al-Hasan ibn Wahb, the vizier Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik al-Zayyat, and al-Buhturi Nuzhat al-Alba fi Tabaqat…+1.