Due to the poems he has recited in praise of Banu Hashim and...

Due to the poems he has recited in praise of Banu Hashim and the pains experienced by the progeny of the Prophet (S), Kumayt ibn Zayd al-Asadi fell prey to the bigotry of the Umayyads and was imprisoned.[^7] Because of poems he had recited in acknowledging Muhammad Nafs az-Zakiyyah,[^8] Sadif ibn Maymun[^9] earned the tirade of the ‘Abbasid caliph Mansur and by the caliph’s order, ‘Abd as-Samad ibn ‘Ali, the then governor of Medina, buried Sadif alive.[^10] Ibrahim ibn Hurmah was also one of the silver-tongued Shi‘ah poets who composed beautiful poems in praise of the ( ‘a ).

When he entered the court of the ‘Abbasid caliph Mansur, Mansur spoke to him harshly and said: “After this, if you would recite poems which we do not accept, I will kill you.”[^11] Nonetheless, the self-sacrificing poets such as Du‘bal paid less attention to these threats.

Du‘bal used to say, “For fifty years, I have been carrying a gallows but I cannot find anyone who would hang me in it.”[^12] The Shi‘ah Poets Till the End of Minor Occultation As indicated earlier, from the very first few days after the event of Saqifah, there were those among the truth-speaking poets who defended the school of Shi‘ism through their eloquent tongues.

During the rule of the Commander of the Faithful ( ‘a ) and at the Battle of Jamal and the Battle of Siffin, apart from the poets of Iraq who were among the followers of ‘Ali ( ‘a ), many of the companions of the Prophet (S) such as ‘Ammar ibn Yasir, Khuzaymah ibn Thabit, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, ‘Abd Allah ibn al-‘Abbas, and others recited poetry in defending the right of the Commander of the Faithful ( ‘a ).

During the Umayyad period, some poets had also kept their attachment to the progeny of the Prophet (S). During the Umayyad period compared to the ‘Abbasid period, however, there were fewer poets who were present on the scene because during that period an extreme atmosphere of strangulation was prevalent in the Shi‘ah community.

As Abu’l-Faraj al-Isfahani says, “The preceding poets of the Umayyad period recited fewer poems in lamentation for Imam al-Husayn ( ‘a ).”[^13] When Kumayt al-Asadi recited the poetry in praise of Banu Hashim { hashimiyyat }, ‘Abd Allah ibn Mu‘awiyah who was one of the descendants of Ja‘far ibn Abi Talib at-Tayyar addressed the Banu Hashim, saying: “O Banu Hashim!