ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books History of Shi'ism: From the Advent of Islam up to the End of Minor Occultation Lesson 28: The Subjects of the Poems of the Shi‘ah Poets The Shi‘ah poets have recited poetry in various arenas and diverse themes, which may be classified into the following: Argumentation against the Usurpers of the ’s (‘a) Rights The Shi‘ah poets and orators, believing in the guardianship { wilayah } of ‘Ali ( ‘a ) and his progeny, spoke out immediately after the event of Saqifah and the oppression against ‘Ali ( ‘a ), defending the right of the Imam and trying to describe the course the Holy Prophet (S) specified with respect to the Imamate and guardianship through the language of poetry.

In this regard, it was known that Kumayt al-Asadi was the first to open the gate of argumentation for the Shi‘ah poets.

‘Allamah Amini attributes this fact to Jahiz and then continues thus: Long before the fetus of Kumayt was to be formed, a number of the great sahabah and tabi‘un such as Khuzaymah ibn Thabit Dhu’sh-Shahadatayn, ‘Abd Allah ibn al-‘Abbas, Fadhl ibn al-‘Abbas, ‘Ammar ibn Yasir, Abu Dharr al-Ghiffari, Qays ibn Sa‘d al-Ansari, Rabi‘ah ibn Harith ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib, ‘Abd Allah ibn Abi Sufyan ibn Harith ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib, Zafar ibn Zayd ibn Hudhayfah, Najashi ibn Harith ibn Ka‘b, Jarir ibn ‘Abd Allah Bajli, and ‘Abd Allah ibn Janbal had defended the right of the Commander of the Faithful ( ‘a ) through their poems.[^1] Among the first persons to have recited poetry in defence of ‘Ali ( ‘a ) was ‘Abd Allah ibn Abi Sufyan ibn Harith ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib.

Shaykh al-Mufid says, “When the Prophet (S) passed away, ‘Abd Allah ibn Abi Sufyan was not in Medina. When he arrived in Medina, I saw that the people had pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr. As such, he stood at the middle of the mosque and recited this poem: ما كنت احسب أن الأمر منصرف عن هاشم ثم منها عن أبي حسن! أليس اولى من صلى لقبلتكم و أعلم الناس بالقرآن و السنن؟ I did not imagine that they would take away the matter of caliphate from the Banu Hashim and among whom from Abu’l-Hasan (‘Ali)!

Is he not the first person to pray toward your qiblah and the most learned of people about the Qur’an and the Sunnah? [^2] Similarly, a number of other Hashimite poets from among the sahabah and tabi‘un had also recited poetry in defence of the right of ‘Ali ( ‘a ).