A Christian poet from the famous Taghlib tribe. The narrators agree that he, Jarir, and Al-Farazdaq are three-poeted in the Umayyad era. He became famous when Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan made him one of the poets of the Umayyad court.

He is the poet Ghiyath bin Ghawth bin Al-Salt, nicknamed "Abu Malik". He was born in Al-Hirah in the 19th year of the Hijra, corresponding to 640 AD. He grew up on Christianity. He lived in Damascus for a period of time and resided for another time in the Syrian Jazira region.

And as it was stated in the episode “Reflections” (28/2/2023), the poet was called al-Akhtal, and for that reason there are three stories: for him.

And it came in "Lisan Al-Arab" that he was called Al-Akhtal because of his tongue's defect, i.e. its length.

It was also said that he was nicknamed by that because of his obscenity. As for Abu Al-Faraj Al-Isfahani, he mentioned in his book “Al-Aghani” quoting Ibn Al-Sakit that Al-Akhtal had satirized a man from his tribe, so he said: To him, O boy, you are the most mistaken, so he called him.

A lot was said about him, so Al-Farazdaq described him when he was asked about the hairiest of people?

He replied: It is enough for you if you are proud of me, and Jarir if he is satirized, and Ibn al-Nasraniya if he is praised, as Abu Amr ibn al-Ala said about him: “If the most inaccurate realized one day from the Jahiliyyah, I would not have favored anyone over him.” Christianity arm us for the fairies, praise us for kings, and describe us for wine and red” (meaning women).

Although he wrote poetry at a young age, Al-Akhtal gained fame because of his proximity to the Umayyad court, and that was when Yazid bin Muawiyah contacted him, and he was the crown prince of his father, Muawiyah bin Abi Sufyan.

And the story goes back to that Yazid bin Muawiyah was angry with Abd al-Rahman bin Hassan al-Ansari because he insulted his sister Ramla bint Muawiyah, so Yazid ordered Kaab bin Jail not only to attack Abd al-Rahman al-Ansari, but his entire tribe.

Ka’b bin Ja’il was afraid of satirizing people who supported the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, and pointed out to Yazid that if he could not satirize them, then he knew who could satirize them without caring for anything but a covenant, and he was the most mistaken.

Al-Akhtal satirized the Ansar harshly, using a style and words that belittled them, and struck a sensitive chord among the Arabs, making them inferior in status and honor to the Quraysh, provoking what was between the Adnanites and the Qahtanites of historical hostility:

Quraysh went with generosity and superiority

And meanness under the turbans of the Ansar

So leave the honors, you are not among its people

And take your surveyors, sons of the carpenter

This incident brought Al-Akhtal closer to the Umayyad court, and it was a prelude to contacting them, so he obtained from them money, prestige, and fame, and lived earning from that skill, and Al-Akhtal became the poet of the Umayyads and their official spokesman, promoter and defender of their policies.

satirical poems

Al-Akhtal was also known for satirical poems collected by him and Jarir, and they both satirized the other. Jarir says:

God's ugliness faces overcome it

Our anchors and spala hunted me

The ugliness of God overcomes the faces whenever

The ghost of the pilgrims, and say “Allah is Greater.”

They worshiped the cross and denied Muhammad

And Gabriel, and they lied to Mikala

It was only from Al-Akhtal that he responded with the same pattern in a poem after which Jarir said that Al-Akhtal had defeated him in it:

Did your eye lie to you, or did you see through it?

The darkness of the lords covered the imagination

So lick your lamb, Jarir, for it is only

You have deceived yourself in the open

Grant yourself to transcend Dharma

Or that balance visor and headband

And if you put your father in their balance

His iron jumped at you, failing

Al-Akhtal died at the age of 70 in the year 92 AH, corresponding to the year 710 AD, in the fifth year of the caliphate of Al-Walid bin Abdul-Malik, and there is no documented information available about the place of his death, and it is most likely that he died among his people on the Euphrates island.