Abul ‘Atahiyah (Isma’il ibn al-Qasim) was a poet from the ‘Abbasi period. Born to a poor family, he developed love for poetry and literature which saw him travel to Baghdad and become a resident poet for the Rulers such as al-Mahdi, al-Hadi, Harun al-Rashid and al-Ma’mun.

However, after reaching the age of 40, he began to contemplate over life and death leading him to eventually kick in his habit of praising the Rulers. Instead he turned to leading a more ascetic lifestyle and embarked upon giving Da’wah – calling others to the way of Islam. As a result, he was nicknamed Abul ‘Atahiyah, meaning ‘one overcome by madness’ as the people couldn’t comprehend the drastic change in him. This change was also due to him witnessing the downfall of the Muslims as the society he lived in plunged to lavishness and immodesty (a characteristic of the ‘Abbasi era) – gone were the days when piety and indifference to the life of this world was a common factor, and so he took to returning those golden days through his poetry.

Two such poems are below:

Death

يا نفس قد أزف الرحيل *** وأظلك الخطب الجليل
O my soul, indeed departure has drawn near
And a great matter is shading over you (i.e. death)

فـتأهــبي يـا نـفـس, لا *** يلعب بك الأمــل الطـــويــل
So prepare yourself O’ soul and do not allow
Long hopes to fool or deceive you

فـلـتـنـزلـن بـمنزل *** ينسى الخليل به الخليل
You will surely be placed in a position
Where even friends will forget each other (i.e. grave)

ولـيركـبن علـيـك فـــيه *** من الــثـرى ثقل ثقــيل
And surely there shall be placed upon you
Of dirt, that which is heavy and weighty

قرن  الفناء بنا فما *** يبقى العــزيــز ولا الذلــيل
Death has become our companion and so none remain,
Neither the great, nor the dishonoured

إني إعـيذك أن يميل *** بك الهوى فـيمن يميل
I warn you from being misled by your desires
Misled amongst those who are misled

والـمــــوت آخــــر عـــــلة *** يـعـتـلها الـبـدن العــلــيــل
For indeed death is the final sickness
That every sick body shall come to feel

Zuhd

رغــيــف خــبز يـابس *** تأكــله في زاويــه
A flat and dry loaf of bread
Which you eat in a corner

وكـــوز مــاء بــارد *** تـشـربه من ساقــيــه
A cold glass of water
Which you drink from a stream

وغــرفــة ضــيقــة *** نـفـسـك فيـها خالــيــه
A narrow and constricted bedroom
Wherein you are all alone

أو مسجد منــعزل *** عن الورى في ناحــيــه
Or an isolated mosque
In a corner far from the people

تـدرس فـيه دفـتراً *** مسـتنداً بالـسـاريه
Wherein you study from a book
Fastened by the spine

معـتـبراً بمــن مضى *** من القـرون الخالــيه
Giving you news of those gone by
Of past centuries and nations

خــيــرٌ من السـاعـات في *** فيء قصـور عالـيه
Is better than moments spent
Under the shade of lofty castles

تعــقـبها عـقــوبة *** تصلى بــنار حامـيه
Only to be followed by punishment
Being burnt by fierce Fire

فــهذه وصيـــتي *** مخـبــرة بحاـليه
And so this is my parting advice
Informing you of current times

طــوبى لمن يســمعها *** تلك لعـمري كافــيه
Glad tidings to the one who hears it
That, I swear, is sufficient

فاسمع لنصح مشــفـق *** يدعى أبا العتـــاهـيــه
So listen to the advice of the worried one
The one whom they call Abul ‘Atahiyah

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