Abu'l-Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad al-Iyadi al-Tunisi ( Arabic : ??? ?? ???? ??????? , romanized :  ?Al? ibn Mu?ammad al-Iy?d? ; died 976) was a 10th-century Maghrebi Arabic poet in the service of the Fatimid caliphs al-Qa'im , al-Mansur , and al-Mu'izz .

His exact origin is unknown. The nisba "al-Tunisi" has led to suggestions that he was born in Tunis , but his other nisba of "al-Iyadi" suggests ties to the Iyad, a clan of the Arab Banu Hilal tribe settled near Msila . ^[1] Pro- Shi'ite , he was court poet of the Isma'ili Shi'a caliphs al-Qa'im , al-Mansur , and al-Mu'izz . ^[1] His reputation during his lifetime was considerable, and he was highly regarded by later critics. However, possibly due to his pro-Shi'a partisanship, which may have led to an attempted damnatio memoriae after the Zirid dynasty turned to Sunni Islam , or due to shifting literary tastes, none of his works survives in complete form. ^[1] His work survives mostly in fragments that were appreciated and gathered together by later anthologists for their vivid and evocative language, such as descriptions of the Fatimid navy , a galloping horse, or the so-called Lake Palace in the palace city of Mansuriya . ^[1] The only evidently pro-Shi'a works surviving are a eulogy for al-Mansur, and a moving description of the end of the famous anti-Fatimid rebel Abu Yazid . ^[1] Al-Iyadi died in 976, probably in Cairo , where he had followed the Fatimid court following the Fatimid conquest of Egypt in 969. ^[1]

References [ edit ]

Sources [ edit ]

• Yalaoui, M. (2004). "?Al? b. Mu?ammad al-T?nis? al-Iy?d?" . In Bearman, P. J. ; Bianquis, Th. ; Bosworth, C. E. ; van Donzel, E. & Heinrichs, W. P. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition . Volume XII: Supplement . Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 62?63. doi : 10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_8322 . ISBN   978-90-04-13974-9 .