Abu'l-Hasan Mihyar al-Daylami

Abu'l-Hasan Mihyar al-Daylami
BornMihyar al-Daylami
Daylam, Iran
Died1037 AD
OccupationPoet
LanguageArabic
NationalityDaylamite
PeriodBuyid period
GenreGhazal, riddles, elegies
Notable worksElegies on Ali and Husayn ibn Ali

Abu'l-Hasan Mihyar al-Daylami (died 1037) was an Arabic-language poet of Daylamite origin during the Buyid period.[1] Mihyar's poetry was dominated by metaphor, and he wrote in various poetic genres including ghazal,[2] riddles,[3]: 265  as well as writing elegies on Ali and Husayn ibn Ali.[2]

A former Zoroastrian, Mihyar was converted to Shia Islam by his teacher who was also poet.[1][2][4][5] Ibn Khallikan narrates that Mihyar was harshly rebuked by an acquaintance for reviling the companions of Muhammad.[1]

Ibn Khallikan, who said Mihyar's works were so high in number that it fills four volumes, opined that Mihyar's writings "displayed great delicacy of thought and a remarkable loftiness of mind."[1] However, Mihyar's poetic style was criticized for being "artificial and derivative."[2]

  1. ^ a b c d Ibn Khallikan's Biographical dictionary, 3 By Ibn Khallikan, pg. 517-520
  2. ^ a b c d Encyclopedia of Arabic literature, Volume 2 By Julie Scott Meisami, Paul Starkey, pg.525
  3. ^ Nefeli Papoutsakis, 'Abū l-Maʿālī al-Ḥaẓīrī (d. 568/1172) and his Inimitable Book on Quizzes and Riddles', Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, 109 (2019), 251–69.
  4. ^ A Literary History of Persia from the Earliest Times Until Firdawsh By Edward Granville Browne, pg. 207
  5. ^ The preaching of Islam: a history of the propagation of the Muslim faith By Sir Thomas Walker Arnold, pg. 180