The first poet to compose much poetry about a single theme...

The first poet to compose much poetry about a single theme was al–Sayyid al–Himyari. Ibn al–Mu’tazz states in Al–Tadhkhirah that al–Sayyid al–Himyari had four daughters, and each one of them committed to memory four hundred qasidahs composed by her father. He versified whatever he heard of Ali’s merits and feats similar to his versification of the hadith. All his qasidah s were long. He was a Shi'ah who openly declared his stand although his parents were not of the same persuasion.

He hailed from Himyar in Syria. Once he said: ‘Mercy has been abundantly poured on me so that I became like the believer of the people of the Pharoah’ ”. He died in 173 (some say in 193 and others say in199 A.H). I have mentioned in the original version of this book the names of ancient and recent Shi'ah poets who composed poetry only on extolling the Ahl al–Bayt versifying their virtues. Some poets took up unreserved poetry and were their time’s masters for this invention.

Ibn al–Hajjaj al–Husayn ibn Ahmad al–Katib al–Baghdadi was a in pioneer in this field. His poetry is characterized by a unique style, sweet ness and spontaneity. A collection of his poetry runs into ten volumes from which al–Sayyid al–Sharif al–Radi selected the anthology he called Al–Hasin min Shi‘r al–Husayn .

Hibatullah ibn Hasan al–Asturalabi, the poet who was also proficient with the astrolabe has arranged Ibn Al–Hajjaj’s work into a hundred and forty–one chapters, each dealing with a specific style of poetry giving it the title Durrat al–Taj fi Shi’ir Ibn al–Hajjaj . Ibn al–Hajjaj died in 391 and was buried somewhere near the mausoleum of Imam Musa al–Kazim (‘a). Al–Asturalabi died in 434 A.H.

The first to invent the muwashshah al–mudhamman which is a form of poetry in stanzas, was Safiyuddin al–Hilli, a unique poet who died in the year 750. He himself collected his diwan in three volumes containing good poetry. His diwan is among the excellent ones. The first proficient poet who wrote profusely is al–Sayyid al–Sharif al–Radi, al–Murtada’s brother. He was the first to be named the best poet of the Quraysh and the Talibis (the descendants of Abu Talib).

Of the earlier or the later poets no one was at par with him. Mehyar al–Dailami, a servant of al–Sharif al–Radi, is counted among the merits of the latter. He was among the unique personalities of his time. His diwan consists of four volumes of excellent unequalled poetry.