Waddah al-Yaman ( ar, وضّاح اليمن), born Abdul Rahman bin Isma’il al-Khawlani ( ar, عبدالرحمن بن اسماعيل الخولاني) (died 708), was an
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
poet.
Biography
Al-Yaman was born in
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
in the second half of the seventh century. He was famous for his erotic and romantic poems.
He was executed by the
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
Caliph
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
Al-Walid I, allegedly due to his over familiarity with his wife. Al-Yaman is now regarded as the national poet of Yemen.
Poetry
Excerpt of one of Al-Yaman's poems:
:: ''She said: "Don’t come to our home, my father is deadly jealous."''
::: ''I said: "I’ll pluck you before he knows it, my sword is razor sharp."''
:: ''She said: "There’s a whole castle between us."''
::: ''I said: "I’ll fly my flag over the castle."''
:: ''She said: "There’s a whole sea between us."''
::: ''I said: "I’m a strong swimmer."''
:: ''She said: "My seven brothers keep an eye on me."''
::: ''I said: "I’m a match for them all."''
:: ''She said: "Allah is watching us."''
::: ''I said: "My lord is Merciful and Forgiving."''
:: ''She said: "I have run out of words, so come tonight when everyone’s floating in dreams, and fall on me like dew, undisturbed."''
Resources
Waddah al-Yaman: national poet
See also
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List of Arab scientists and scholars
This is a list of Arab scientists and scholars from the Muslim World, including Al-Andalus (Spain), who lived from antiquity up until the beginning of the modern age, consisting primarily of scholars during the Middle Ages. For a list of cont ...
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7th-century births
708 deaths
Yemeni poets
Poets from the Umayyad Caliphate
Love in Arabic literature
8th-century Arabs