✒EP033 Dr. Kevin Blankinship on al-Mutanabī (c.915-965CE): 'the Shakespeare of the Arabs.' Part 7 of 12 - Spring of Classical Arabic Poetry
Release Date: 11/06/2021
🖋️EP062 Ali Hammoud on the life and works of Nizami Ganjavi (d. 1209 CE): the Romantic
Abbasid History Podcast
Jamal ad-Dīn Abū Muḥammad Ilyās ibn-Yūsuf ibn-Zakkī better known as Nizami is considered the greatest romantic epic poet in Persian literature. His love story of Layla and Majnun inspired the Eric Clapton hit record of 1970, “Layla” and there are monuments of Nizami as far as Beijing and Rome. Nizami was born in the modern-day Republic of Azerbaijan around 1141CE and lived at the same time as Attar, the subject of our previous episode. What more can we say about his socio-political and cultural context? Like many of the poets we have examined, details of Nizami’s...
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🖋️EP061 Ali Hammoud on Attar of Nishapur (d. 1221CE): the Spirit of Persian Sufi Poetry
Abbasid History Podcast
Farīd al-Dīn Abū Ḥamid Muḥammad ʿAṭṭār lived and died in Nishapur. Though he was little known beyond his city as a poet, his enduring legacy can perhaps be summarised by Rumi: Attar has roamed through the seven cities of love while we have barely turned down the first street. (1) Attar was born in Nishapur around 1145CE during the reign of Abbasid caliph al-Muqtafī who finally succeeded in asserting the caliphate militarily against their supposed Sunni Seljuk Turkic vassals. Ghazzali had passed away in the conveniently memorable 1111CE leaving his enduring influence upon...
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🖋️EP060 Ali Hammoud on the life and works of Sanai (d. 1141): Poeta Doctus
Abbasid History Podcast
Hakim Abul-Majd Majdūd ibn Ādam, better known as Sanai, was an influential poet of Sufism who was attached to the Ghaznavid court in modern day Afghanistan. His major work The Walled Garden of Truth has been an enduring classic. An adaption of his verses were quoted at the end of the 2017 Hollywood film The Shape of Water. Q1. Sanai was born 1080CE. During his life the Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad were clashing with internal enemies from their supposed Seljuk vassal, engaged in a Cold War with Fatimid Cairo, and reckoning with Crusaders in the Levant. And the Almohads would established...
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🖋️EP059 Ali Hammoud on the life and works of Omar Khayyam (d. 1131CE)
Abbasid History Podcast
Writing to his brother from prison in 1949, a young African American man opens his letter citing these lines from a medieval Persian poet: Indeed the Idols I have loved so long, Have done my credit in this World much Wrong: Have dropped my Glory in a shallow Cup, And sold my Reputation for a song The writer would later achieve acclaim as the civil rights activist Malcolm X, and the lines he was citing were by Omar Khayyam, the subject of today’s episode. Q1. Omar Khayyam was born in 1048CE in Nishapur, Iran. The Abbasid caliph in Baghdad was al-Qāʾim which was witnessing a so-called...
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🖊️EP058 Ali Hammoud on the life and works of Nasir Khusraw (d. c.1088CE): The Proof
Abbasid History Podcast
Born 1004CE in present-day Tajikistan then under control of the Ghaznavid dynasty, Abū Muʿīn al-Dīn Nasir Khusraw was an Ismaili convert and missionary who became better known for his poetry. To discuss with us today the life, works and legacy of Nasir Khusraw is Ali Hammoud. Ali Hammoud is a PhD candidate at Western Sydney University. He is broadly interested in Shīʿīsm and Islamicate intellectual history. Welcome Ustad Ali! Q1. I think it’s important we set the scene for the socio-political dynamics in which Nasir Khusraw lived. There were two major competing...
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🖊️EP057 Ali Hammoud on the life and works of Ferdowsi (d.1019CE): author of the epic Shahnameh
Abbasid History Podcast
Born under the Samanid dyansty and living through the rule of the Ghaznavid dynasty in Tus located north Iran, Ferdowsi is author of the epic Shahnameh (“The Book of Kings”) of 50,000 lines taking 30 years to compose. The work is of central importance in Persian heritage. Q1. Ferdowsi was born in 940CE and died around 1019CE at around 80 years old. He lived under the Ghaznavid dynasty who at their height ruled territory spanning modern day Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Tell us about the cultural context in which he was born. Q2. Ferdowsi was born into a family of dehqan landowners. He...
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🖋EP056 Ali Hammoud on the life and works of Rudaki (d. 941): Father of Persian Poetry
Abbasid History Podcast
Living under the Samanid dyansty in modern-day Tajikistan, Rudaki is considered the first of the great classical Islamic Persian poets and the father of Tajik literature. Despite being a celebrated, patronised court poet, he would fall into poverty near the end of his life dying blind and alone. To discuss with us today the life, works and legacy of Rudaki is Ali Hammoud. Ali Hammoud is a PhD candidate at Western Sydney University. He is broadly interested in Shīʿīsm and Islamicate intellectual history. Q1. Rudaki was born around 858CE and died around 941CE at around 83 years old. He lived...
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📖EP055 Faheem Hussain on Thomas Bauer's "A Culture of Ambiguity: An Alternative History of Islam"
Abbasid History Podcast
Thomas Bauer's "A Culture of Ambiguity" stands out as one of the most important contributions to Islamic Studies in recent decades. First published in German in 2011, it wasn't until 2021 that it became available in English. Bauer's three decades of knowledge and expertise shine through in the work, which earned him the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Award in Germany. It is rare for an academic book rich in insights for specialists to also be engaging enough for general readers, yet this is exactly what Bauer has achieved. However our guest today has an essay published in the Maydan journal...
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💧EP054 GUEST EPISDODE (8/8) The Great Valens Aqueduct of Constantinople/ Istanbul
Abbasid History Podcast
The longest aqueduct of the ancient world, the Valens aqueduct brought water to the capital of the eastern Roman empire: Byzantium or Constantinople, today known as Istanbul. Monumental sections of the aqueduct bridge still majestically stride across the city. In this episode we talk about the reasons for embarking on this colossal project, its development, decline and adaptation, and its place in the cultural heritage of today’s Turkey. Speaker: Mariëtte Verhoeven. Interviewer: Edmund Hayes. Mariëtte Verhoeven is university lecturer and researcher at Radboud University specialising...
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💧EP053 GUEST EPISDODE (7/8) Qanāts: Harvesting Water on the Edge of the Desert
Abbasid History Podcast
In this episode we discuss what is perhaps the most famous and distinctive invention of Middle Eastern and North African hydraulic engineering is the qanāt (also known as foggaras, khettāras, and aflāj): an underground tunnel dug horizontally into a hillside to harvest water from the water table. Speakers: Majid Labbaf Khaneiki and Louise Rayne. Majid Khaneiki is a human geographer who specializes in traditional irrigation and hydro-social cycles in rural communities. He has conducted or cooperated with more than 20 research projects on water issues in Oman, Iran, Iraq, India and...
info_outlineDr. Kevin Blankinship, BYU Utah, speaks about the life, works and legacy of al-Mutanabbī, whose poetry continues to inspire.
Timestamps
01:44 Al-Mutanabbī was born in 915CE in the city Kufah in modern day Iraq at the height of the Abbasid caliphate but with rising challenges from sectarian foes. What do we know about his socio-political context?
05:34 Al-Mutanabbī was educated in Damascus and is said to have participated in Qaramatian revolts which we covered in episode 13 with Dr. Andani. What do we know about al-Mutanabbī’s life and what is the origin of his name?
19:22 Al-Mutanabbī is particularly known as being the court poet of Sayf al-Dawlaḧ, ruler of Aleppo. How would you characterise his works?
22:15 In February 2021, NASA tweeted some lines by al-Mutanabbī to congratulate the UAE satellite reaching Mars. Al-Mutanabbī’s reputation has now reached across the stars. That would have been very appealing to his reputed big head. How do we assess his legacy?
30:18 Finally, let's end with a sample and translation.
This is the seventh part of a twelve part series exploring classical Arabic poetry which can be utilised in college-level teaching programmes.
For more on our guest, see kblankinship.com.
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