A'sha Hamdan

Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Harith al-Hamdani (Arabic: عبد الرحمن بن عبد الله بن الحارث الهمداني), commonly known as A'sha Hamdan (أعشى همدان) (lit. 'the Night-Blind of the Hamdan') or al-A'sha (d. 701 or 702), was a late 7th-century Kufan poet.

Life

A'sha was born in Kufa.^[1] He belonged to the South Arabian tribe of Hamdan. He began his career as a Muslim traditionist and qari (Quran reader) and was married to the sister of the prominent theologian Amir al-Sha'bi, who was married to A'sha's sister.^[2] He later shifted to poetry, purportedly after dreaming of being in a room full of 'barley' (shi'r, which has the dual meaning of 'poetry'). He served in the military campaigns of the Kufans during the governorship of al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf (r. 694–714),^[2] though evidently this was not always voluntary.^[1] One such campaign in Makran took a heavy toll on his health.^[2]

He campaigned under the Kufan commander Ibn al-Ash'ath in Daylam. According to one of his poems, he was taken captive there before gaining the love of a Daylamite woman who helped free him.^[1][3] He became akin to the spokesman of Ibn al-Ash'ath during the mass Iraqi rebellion he led against al-Hajjaj and the Umayyads in general.^[1] He was present at the Battle of Dayr al-Jamajim in 701 or 702 where Ibn al-Ash'ash was put to flight and al-A'sha captured by the Umayyad troops. He was brought before al-Hajjaj who condemned him for his critical verses against him and the Umayyads. His attempt to win al-Hajjaj's favor by reciting to him an ode of praise did not sway the governor, who had him executed.^[2][1]

Poetry

The historian G. J. H. van Gelder describes A'sha's poetry as "an interesting mixture of the personal and the political".^[1] The Encyclopaedia of Islam calls his poems "reflexes of his adventures and political sentiments".^[2] In his poems, he often championed the Yaman (South Arabian) tribal faction to which he belonged, in opposition to the northern Arab faction.^[2] His poems would be turned into songs by his fellow Hamdani tribesman, the musician Ahmad al-Nasbi.^[3]

Al-Tabari preserved the following fragment of A'sha's poem praising Ibn al-Ash'ath (Abd al-Rahman) and condemning al-Hajjaj:

For a lover who has emerged in Zabulistan,
there have been two liars from Thaqif,
their past liar and a second one.
May my Lord give power to Hamdan over Thaqif
For a day until nighttime, so consoling us for what took place [before].
We betook ourselves to the devilish infidel,
When, in unbelief after belief, he exceeded the bounds,
with the noble lord Abd al-Rahman.
He set forth with a throng of Qahtan, like locusts
While from Ma'add ibn Adnan he brought
A tumultuous and might multitude.
So tell Hajjaj, Satan's friend, [if he can],
Stand steady against Madhhij and Hamdan,
that they will give him to drink from the goblet of poison,
And will send him off to the villages of Ibn Marwan.^[4]