and viziers (1), and he possessed an even longer reach in love poetry. As for ribald jesting and outright obscenity, he was their standard-bearer and the one who bore their full burden (2). He served as a scribe in various departments, received stipends, and for a period held the market inspectorate of Baghdad (3) before being dismissed. His verses contain innovative themes in which he had no predecessor (4). He was a cheeky Shiʿi—frivolous, playful, and a biting satirist—an entire nation unto himself in crafting indecencies and displaying quick wit. He also had learning in several disciplines of history, anecdote, and languages. I have come across his own words: “Everything licentious that I have uttered—Allah is witness that I intended only to lift the spirits; I seek Allah’s forgiveness for this slip.” It was said that he sent his dīwān, beautifully penned in the proportioned script, to the ruler of Egypt, who rewarded him with a thousand dinars.
(1) See Yaqut, Mujam al-udaba, 9:210 ff.
(2) Among his verses:
“My poetry, now a scandal in full view of the people,
will not respond to my inspiration
except when I enter the privy.
O my master, my frivolity lies beneath my gravity,
and beneath the silver the butcher swerves away.
The silliness of my poetry is unavoidable;
we have been cured and all shame has departed.
Is there any house without a latrine
in which a rational man could stay?
On one occasion he was invited to a banquet, but the food was late. Watching the host pace back and forth, he improvised:
‘O you who go to and fro in your house
without purpose and without benefit,
your guests have gone mad from hunger;
recite over them Surah al-Maida (The Table Spread).’
(3) He was appointed to that post by ʿIzz al-Dawla Bakhtiyar ibn Buwaih; see al-Nujum al-zahira, 4:204.
(4) For the various genres of his poetry, see al-Thaʿalibi, Yatimat al-dahr, 3:31–99, and al-Safadi, al-Wafi bi-l-wafayat, 12:334–337.