Isam al-Din al-Umari
- Died
- 1193 AH
- Born in
- Mosul
Isam al-Din al-Umari (1134–1193 AH / 1721–1779 CE) was an Ottoman-era Iraqi poet, historian, administrator, and man of letters from Mosul, best known for his biographical anthology of contemporary literary figures, al-Rawd al-Nadr fi Tarjamat Udaba al-Asr.
Lineage and Early Life
His full name is Uthman ibn Ali Murad ibn Uthman al-Umari al-Mawsili, though his genealogy is also recorded as Uthman ibn Ali ibn Umar ibn Uthman and Uthman ibn Ali ibn Murad. He held the honorific title Isam al-Din and the kunya Abu al-Nur, and was known by the official surname al-Daftari. He was born in Mosul in 1134 AH (1721 CE) into an established, prominent family.
In his early years, al-Umari studied Islamic sciences and Arabic literature under several scholars in Mosul, including Ismail ibn Abi Jahsh al-Mawsili, his nephew Yahya ibn Murad ibn Ali, Darwish al-Kurdi al-Aqrawi, Mustafa al-Khushnawi, and Jirjis al-Arbili. He then traveled to Yemen, where he studied in the village of Sawran under Salih Fadl al-Haydari.
Career and Political Conflicts
After returning from Yemen, al-Umari entered the service of the Ottoman vizier Husayn Pasha, traveling with him to al-Qasr and Van, where he was placed in charge of several small districts. He returned to Mosul before 1170 AH (1756 CE) and entered the service of the governor Muhammad Amin Pasha.
Al-Umari subsequently traveled to Constantinople, where he secured an appointment overseeing the accounting bureau (qalam al-muhasaba) and the land registry (daftar al-aradi) in Baghdad. He held this office for four years until Ali Pasha became governor of Baghdad in 1175 AH (1761 CE). Disputes arose between al-Umari and Ali Pasha, leading to al-Umari's dismissal and imprisonment, and he suffered under the oppressive rule of the Baghdad governors Ali Pasha and Umar Pasha.
Later Life and Death
Sources differ regarding the circumstances of his final years. One account states that he accompanied the former governor Muhammad Amin Pasha to Constantinople, later returning to Mosul by way of Aleppo—where he was praised and celebrated by local poets and men of letters—and remained in Mosul until his death. Another account records that he traveled to Constantinople to lodge a formal complaint against the governors of Baghdad and died there.
He died in 1193 AH (1779 CE), though another report places his death in 1184 AH. Alongside his biographical anthology al-Rawd al-Nadr, his writings include the travel account Tadhkirat al-Ma'alim wa-al-Tulul wa-al-Rihla fi Arba'at Fusul and the literary work Rahat al-Ruh.
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List of Works
al-Rawd al-Nadr fi Tarjamat Udaba al-Asr ("The Flourishing Garden: Biographies of the Men of Letters of the Age") is an 18th-century biographical anthology of contemporary poets and literary figures. Completed in 1170 AH (1756–1757 CE), the work gathers biographical notices alongside selected verse and prose, focusing on 123 literary figures of the 12th century AH, primarily from Iraq alongside several from Ottoman Anatolia and Rumelia.