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Terrifying Terrorists of the Ancient World and Medieval Era

Khalid Elhassan February 20, 2025 15 min

Terrorists - A Sicarius springing into action — A Sicarius springing into action. Deadliest Fiction

4. The Teenage Poet Who Turned Prophet

Statue of Al Mutanabbi in Baghdad. University of Warith al Anbiyaa

Abu al Tayib Ahmad ibn Hussayn, better known as Al Mutanabbi (915 – 965), is the most influential and prominent Arabic language poet. His verse is widespread and proverbial throughout the Arab world. His work was mostly odes to patrons, but he was an egomaniac who managed to turn a significant portion of his panegyrics into odes to himself, his talent, and his courage. However, he crafted verse with such consummate skill and artistry that he is commonly deemed to have attained a pinnacle unequaled in the Arabic language before or since. Al Mutanabbi exhibited a precocious poetic talent that won him a scholarship and free education. When he was a child, the Qarmatians, a heretical cult that began to pillage the Middle East, and he joined them in his teens. At age seventeen, Al Mutanabbi claimed to be a Nabi, or prophet, and led a Qarmatian revolt in Syria.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.