102 – Ibrāhīm ibn Harmah Abū Isḥāq ibn ʿAlī al-Fihrī *

The pre-eminent poet of his age, Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAlī ibn Salamah ibn ʿĀmir al-Fihrī, a man of Medina. A master of eloquence and one of the poets who spanned the two dynasties, he allied himself with the Alids. Al-Dāraqutnī said, “He stands at the forefront of the modern poets,” and some critics ranked him even above Bashshār. Ibn ʿĀʾisha relates: “Ibn Harmah came before al-Manṣūr, praised him in verse, and the caliph rewarded him with ten thousand dirhams.”

Among his poetry:
When their litters turned away from me,
my eyes were like a dove’s wings drenched with rain,
or loose pearls from a maiden’s necklace—
a clumsy girl, pulled at by the children, till the beads were scattered. (1)

103 – Ibn Hubayrah: Yazīd ibn ʿUmar ibn Hubayrah al-Fazārī **

Governor of the Two Iraqs, Abū Khālid Yazīd ibn ʿUmar ibn Hubayrah al-Fazārī, the viceroy of Marwān al-Ḥimār. He was a seasoned warrior—brave, politically astute, generous, articulate, and an accomplished orator. He was also famed for his prodigious (2) appetite, and numerous anecdotes are told about how much he could eat.