Ibn al-Rumi

Abū al-Ḥasan Alī ibn al-Abbās ibn Jūrayj, also known as Ibn al-Rūmī, was the grandson of George the Greek and a popular Arab poet of Baghdād in the Abbāsid-era.
By the age of twenty he earned a living from his poetry. His many political patrons included the governor Ubaydallah ibn Abdallah ibn Tahir, Abbasid caliph Al-Mu'tamid's minister the Persian Isma'il ibn Bulbul, and the politically influential Nestorian family Banū Wahb. In the tenth century his Dīwān, which had been transmitted orally by al-Mutanabbī, was arranged and edited by Abū Bakr ibn Yaḥyā al-Ṣūlī, and included in the section of his book Kitāb Al-Awrāq on muḥadathūn.

Early life

Ibn al-Rumi was born in Baghdad, then the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, in 836. Originally named Ali bin Al-Abbas bin George, he was given the epithet "Ibn al-Rumi", referring to his father's Greek ancestry. He was raised a Muslim.

Death

Ibn al-Rumi died in Baghdad in the year 896, at the age of 59. His early biographer Ibn Khallikān relates an account that he was given poisoned biscuits in the presence of the caliph Al-Mu'tadid on the orders of his vizier, Al-Qasim ibn Ubayd Allah, whom Ibn al-Rumī had satirised viciously. In another account his death is attributed to suicide.