Bashar Ibn Burd

Background

Bashar was of Persian origin. His grandfather was taken as a captive to Iraq, his father was a freedman (Mawla) of the Uqayl tribe.

Career

Some Arab scholars considered Bashar the first "modern" poet and one of the pioneers of the badi" in Arabic literature. lieutenant is believed that he exerted a great influence on the subsequent generation of poets. Bashar was blind from birth and said to have been ugly.

He grew up in the rich cultural environment of Basra and showed his poetic talents at an early age.

Bashar fell foul of some religious figures, such as Malik ibn Dinar and al-Hasan al-Basri, who condemned his poetry for its licentiousness. He exchanged Hija with several poets.

After the Abbasids built Baghdad, Bashar moved there from Basra in 762. Bashar became associated with the caliph al-Mahdi.

This ban was quickly breached and as a result, Bashar was charged with heresy and zendiqism, imprisoned and beaten to his death and his body was thrown into the Tigris river.

الارض مظلمة و النار مشرقة

والنار معبودة مذكانت النار

Bashar ibn Burd was condemned as a heretic (Blasphemy) and finally executed by the Caliph al-Mahdi in 783.

Achievements

• Most of his Hija" (satires) is in traditional style, while his fakhr expresses his Shu"ubi sentiments, boasting the achievements of his Persian ancestors and denigrating the "uncivilized Arabs".

Views

Due to his libertinism, he was ordered by al-Mahdi not to write any love poetry.