and pledged allegiance to him. He then crossed over to al-Andalus; the ruler of Málaga joined him and his cause became formidable. He next advanced upon Córdoba. Muḥammad, the son of al-Mustaʿīn, rode out to fight him; they engaged, Muḥammad was routed, and the Idrīsid broke into Córdoba, seized it, and—praise be to Allah—personally put al-Mustaʿīn to death, slaughtering him in cold blood. He likewise killed his father al-Ḥakam, an old man in his eighties. This occurred in Muḥarram of the year 407 AH. Thus the Marwānid dynasty came to an end. Al-Mustaʿīn lived a little over fifty years, and a selection of his fine poetry has already been quoted. (1)
174 – al-Raḍī, the noble Sayyid Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Mūsā *
Abū al-Ḥasan Muḥammad, son of al-Ṭāhir Abū Aḥmad al-Ḥusayn ibn Mūsā, al-Ḥusaynī, al-Mūsawī, al-Baghdādī, the poet (2), author of the Dīwān.
His verse occupies the highest rung; indeed, it was said, “He is the most accomplished poet among the descendants of Ṭālib.” (3)
(1) See the conclusion of his earlier entry, no. 79.
(*) Principal sources: Thaʿalibi, Yatimat al-dahr, 3/131–151; al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Tarikh Baghdad, 2/246–247; Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Muntazam, 7/279; al-Qifti, al-Muhammadun min al-shuʿara (MS fol. 89); Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil fi al-tarikh, 9/261–262; Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-aʿyan, 4/414–420; Agha Bozorg, al-Dhariʿa, 7/16; Abu’l-Fida, al-Mukhtasar fi akhbar al-bashar, 2/152; al-Dhahabi, al-ʿIbar, 3/95; Ibn al-Wardi, Tatimmat al-mukhtasar, 1/494; al-Safadi, al-Wafi bi’l-wafayat, 2/374–379; al-Yafiʿi, Mirat al-jinan, 3/18–20; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa’l-nihaya, 12/3–4; al-Kittani, Nuzhat al-jaliss, 1/359; Ibn al-Imad, Shadharat al-dhahab, 3/182–184; al-Khuwansari, Rawdat al-jannat, pp. 573–579; Kitab al-rijal, p. 283; Ismaʿil Pasha al-Baghdadi, Idah al-maknun, 1/430; al-Giftari, Hadiyyat al-ʿarifin, 2/60; Aʿyan al-Shiʿa, 44, 173–187.
(2) The honorific al-Radi Dhi al-Hasbayn was bestowed on him by Bahaʾ al-Dawla, who gave his brother the title al-Murtada Dhi al-Majdayn (al-Muntazam, 7/279). His brother al-Murtada will be treated below, no. 394.
(3) Thaʿalibi records in Yatimat al-dahr that al-Radi began composing poetry shortly after the age of ten. Al-Khatib transmits from Ibn Mahfuz—one of the leading dignitaries—the remark: “I heard several experts in Arabic literature say: al-Radi is the most gifted poet of Quraysh.” Ibn Mahfuz added: “This is true. Others in Quraysh were eloquent, but their poems are few; as for one who is both masterful and prolific, it is al-Radi alone.” Among his finest verses is the couplet he addressed to Caliph al-Qadir Billah in a longer ode:
ʿUṭfan Amir al-Muʾminin fa-inna-na * fi dawḥati al-ʿulya la natafarraqu (Graciously favour us, Commander of the Faithful, for we belong to the same lofty tree and shall never be divided.)