Marwan ibn Abi al-Janub () (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

813 Events By place Byzantine Empire * June 22 – Battle of Versinikia: The Bulgars, led by Krum, ruler ('' khan'') of the Bulgarian Empire, defeat Emperor Michael I near Edirne (modern Turkey). The Byzantine army (26,000 men) is ...

– 861) was a 9th century

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

from

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

. He was also governor of Bahrayn and Yamama. Marwan al-Janub was also known as Marwan al-Aṣghar ().

Background and career

Marwan al-Janub was from a family of prominent poets, the most famous being his grandfather

Marwan ibn Abi Hafsa Abu'l-Simt Marwan al-Akbar ibn Sulayman ibn Yahya ibn Abi Hafsa () (723–) was a famous Arabic poet at the court of the Abbasid Caliphate during the second half of the 8th century. He was born to a non-Arab family. Biography Marwan belonged t ...

(723–). Both were descendants of

Abu Hafsa Yazid Abu Hafsa Yazid () was a '' mawla'', or servant, of the Umayyad Caliph Marwan ibn al-Hakkam (). Background and career Yazid's full name is not known; ''Abu Hafsa'' means "father of Hafsa" (an Arabic '' kunya''). Abu Hafsa Yazid's origins are uncl ...

, a tax administrator and possible court physician who married the daughter of the

amir Emir (; ' (), also transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or ceremonial authority. The title has ...

al-Yamama Al-Yamama () is a historical region in south-eastern Najd in modern-day Saudi Arabia. Only a handful of centralized states ever arose in the Yamama, but it figured prominently in early Islamic history, becoming a central theater in the Ridd ...

after being freed from servitude by

Marwan I Marwan ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As ibn Umayya (; 623 or 626April/May 685), commonly known as MarwanI, was the fourth Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad caliph, ruling for less than a year in 684–685. He founded the Marwanid ruling house of the Umayyad ...

in 656. Al-Janub wrote

panegyric A panegyric ( or ) is a formal public speech or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing. The original panegyrics were speeches delivered at public events in ancient Athens. Etymology The word originated as a compound of - ' ...

poetry for Caliphs

al-Ma'mun Abū al-ʿAbbās Abd Allāh ibn Hārūn al-Maʾmūn (; 14 September 786 – 9 August 833), better known by his regnal name al-Ma'mun (), was the seventh Abbasid caliph, who reigned from 813 until his death in 833. His leadership was marked by t ...

(),

al-Mu'tasim Abū Isḥāq Muḥammad ibn Hārūn al-Rashīd (; October 796 – 5 January 842), better known by his laqab, regnal name al-Muʿtaṣim biʾllāh (, ), was the eighth Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid caliph, ruling from 833 until his death in 842. ...

(),

al-Wathiq Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad al-Wathiq bi'Llah (; 18 April 81210 August 847), commonly known by his regnal name al-Wathiq bi'Llah (), was an Abbasid caliph who reigned from 842 until his death in 847. Al-Wathiq is described in the so ...

() and

al-Mutawakkil Ja'far ibn al-Mu'tasim, Muḥammad ibn Harun al-Rashid, Hārūn al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allāh (); March 82211 December 861, commonly known by his laqab, regnal name al-Mutawwakil ala Allah (), was the tenth Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid caliph, rul ...

(). From al-Mutawakkil, he sought political favor by composing anti-

Shi'a Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor ( caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community ( imam). However, his right is understoo ...

poems. He also commemorated the day that al-Mutawakkil appointed his three sons as heirs by chanting an ode to them. Most contemporaneous and subsequent critics considered al-Janub's poetry mediocre, however little of it has survived. Al-Mutawakkil made al-Janub governor of Bahrayn and Yamama. But in 861, he lost his positions when al-Mutawakkil was assassinated and his eldest son

al-Muntasir Abu Ja'far Muḥammad ibn Ja'far ibn Muḥammad ibn Hārūn al-Muntasir biʾLlāh (; November 837 – 7 June 862), better known by his regnal title al-Muntasir biʾLlāh (, "He who triumphs in God") was the caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from ...

came to power.

Background and career

References

Further reading