Abu Firas al-Hamdani

Abu Firas al-Hamdani
1963 Syrian postage stamp with a modern representation of Abu Firas
Born	Al-Harith ibn Abi'l-Ala Sai'd 932 (or 933) probably Baghdad
Died	4 April 968 Sadad (near Homs)
Nationality	Arab
Occupation	Governor, military leader and poet
Years active	948–968
Notable work	al-Rūmiyyāt

Al-Harith ibn Abi’l-ʿAlaʾ Saʿid ibn Hamdan al-Taghlibi (932–968), better known by his nom de plume of Abu Firas al-Hamdani (Arabic: أبو فراس الحمداني‎‎), was an Arab prince and poet. He was a cousin of Sayf al-Dawla and a member of the noble family of the Hamdanids, who were rulers in northern Syria and Upper Mesopotamia during the 10th century. He served Sayf al-Dawla as governor of Manbij as well as court poet, and was active in his cousin's wars against the Byzantine Empire. He was captured by the Byzantines in 962 and spent four years in their capital, Constantinople, where he composed his most famous work, the collection of poems titled al-Rūmiyyāt (الروميات). He was killed in 968, when he raised a revolt against Sayf al-Dawla's successor Abu'l-Ma'ali. He is considered among the greatest figures of classical Arabic poetry.

He was born in 932 or in 933, probably in Iraq and specifically in Baghdad, as his father Abi'l-Ala Sa'id—a son of the Hamdanid family's founder, Hamdan ibn Hamdun—occupied a distinguished position in the court of the Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir (reigned 908–932). Abu Firas' mother was a Byzantine Greek slave concubine (an umm walad, freed after giving birth to her master's child). His maternal descent later was a source of scorn and taunts from his Hamdanid relatives, a fact reflected in his poems.