Abu Tammam

Born about 796 in the village of Jasim, near Damascus; died 845. Arab poet and collector of ancient poetry. His divan of verses contains poetic cycles (elegiac, panegyric, satiric, ascetic). He assembled several collections of poems, including Kitab al-Khamasa—an anthology of the best verses from the pre-Islamic to the Abbasid periods. His small Khamsa and the collection Ikhtiyar al-shuara al-fukhul —selected qasidas of pre-Islamic and Islamic poets—are also preserved. His other works are known only by their titles.