Al-Mutanabbi’s Ode to Sayf Al-Dawlah OR Al-Mutanabbi’s Eulogy for Those Whose Deaths Were Fated

“Who dares, wins!” as proclaimed by Al-Mutanabbi al-Kindi is the opening line of a striking ode titled, Strong Resolves Come (1). Al-Mutanabbi’s famous Qasida is translated from the Arabic; in Arabic the title اهل قدرعلىالعزم

is in fact the poem’s opening line which translates verbatim to, “strong resolutions come to those who dare.” It is not a rarity to be humbled by the tendency of classical Arabic poetry to assume an exalted stature. Al Mutanabbi is a key figure in exalted-Arabic-literature if not one of its pioneers. He was born in 915 CE and for the next fifty years until his death was said to have authored over three hundred poems. He is renowned for writing panegyrics or verses that are to be delivered

with high praise. His ode to Sayf Al-Dawlah is exactly that— an exaltation for the founder of the Hamdanid Dynasty of Aleppo and his courageous efforts against Byzantine aggressions. The poem begins with Al-Mutanabbi’s introduction for our hero and his prowess as a Hamdanid prince. Al-Hadath the Red, as mentioned in the poem’s third stanza, is a town in what is present- day Turkey that was occupied via Sayf Al-Dawlah’s skillful direction. The poem continues in its adorations for the leader; notably, Al-Mutanabbi personifies Al-Hadath the Red as a damsel in distress— a life who must be protected against the threats that have “driven her away” (12). “How could [they] have hoped/ to raze her when your spears were/ her foundations?” begins the fourth stanza which concludes the praise for Al-Hadath, the fortress turned woman.

Nevertheless, Al Mutanabbi continues in his celebrations for the remainder of the qasida commending the emir and romanticizing his brutal conquests. The poem surmises in proclamations of divinity: Sayf as a hand of God and thereby a writer of fate.

Strong Resolves Come is considered one of Al-Mutanabbi’s most important works. Initially, his fatalistic themes are evident; his romantization of war serves not to appear cruel, but rather to depict the idea of Qadar (fate) in Islam and the innate faithfulness around their dynastic conquests. Al-Mutanabbi goes as far as to declare that Sayf “brings joy to Glory… to Islam itself” (50). The juxtaposition of the exaltations versus the brutalities of war results in a tone that can only be read as Quranic. The qasida, or the Arabic panegyric, is an ancient medium that functions as both an ode and a lament: an ode to the deserving and a lament for the fallen who could not escape their fated demise. Al Mutanabbi’s Ode to Sayf-Al Dawlah is, by the above definition, a perfect Qasida. Mutanabbi’s efforts to describe the brutalities with lofty language results in a dynamic and remarkable ode to an unarguable hero and a eulogy for the killed who ultimately were forced to die at the hands of Qadar, in the name of praise – for our Sayf Al-Dawlah.

Ode to Sayf Al-Dawlah, written by Al-Mutanabbi al-Kindi translated to the English by A.J.

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Arabic Poetry: A Primer for Students