Ismail ibn Yasar al-Nisai
Ismail ibn Yasar al-Nisa'i[1] (Arabic: اسماعیل بن یسار النسائی) was an Arabic-language poet of Persian origin and one of the earliest Shu'ubi poets. His son, Ebrahim, and his brothers, Muhammad and Musa Shahawat were also poets. Al-Nasa'i was born and lived in Medina as a client (mawlā) of Taym b. Morra. He was a descendant of a Persian prisoner of war from Adharbayjan. He initially supported the Zubayrid's cause, but when the cause was crushed and Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr was killed in 73AH/692CE, Al-Nasa'i attached himself to the court of the Umayyad Caliphate, despite his strong Anti-Arab sentiments.[1]
When he recited a poem for Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik in which he glorified his Persian ancestors without praising the caliph, Hisham punished and exiled him to Hejaz.[1]
Al-Nasa'i died before 132AH/750CE at a very old age and shortly before the fall of the Umayyad dynasty.[1]
References
- Lacey, Kevin. "ESMĀʿĪL, b. Yasār NESĀʾĪ". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
Further reading
- Weipert, Reinhard (2020). "Ismāʿīl b. Yasār". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE. Brill Online. ISSN 1873-9830.