Gheeath and Caab began to launch lampoons against each other. Gheeath, who was yet very young, had but commenced giving scope to his taste for poetry, yet he was no-wise loth to contest the palm with an adversary already known to fame. Ghauth, however, doubted his son's discretion in coveting so unequal a contest, and in order to turn away the anger of Caab, remarked to him, Pay no attention to what my son says; he is a young ninny (b)." Another authority states, that it was Caab himself who applied to Gheeath this epithet of contempt. Whatever be the fact, this reproachful term has been ennobled by the merit of the poet who bore it.

Akhtal soon acquired some reputation. Ambitious of extending it, and of opening to himself a path to fortune, he travelled to Damascus, the residence of the Caliph Moawiyah I. Caab ben Joayl, against whom he had exerted his satirical vein, was the very person who introduced him at court; actuated, probably, less by generosity than by malice, and for the purpose of ridding himself of a troublesome office. There was, at that time, a poet who, in his verses, celebrated a daughter of the caliph, named Ramleh; this was Aderrahman, belonging to a family of Ansarians (inhabitants of Medina, who embraced the cause of Mahomet after his flight from Mecca). Prince Yezid, son of Moawiyah, nettled at this piece of effrontery, wished to excite his father against Abderrahman; but Moawiyah, far from treating this indiscreet poet with severity, contented himself with the following expedient. He observed to the poet," They tell me that your verses express your love for Ramleh, daughter of the Commander of the Faithful ?" "It is true," replied Abderrahman; " and if I had known a more illustrious beauty, whose name could give more splendour and attraction to my verses, I would have celebrated her.” Why, then," said Moawiyah, “do you not celebrate Hind, her sister, who surpasses her in beauty ?" The caliph's object, in inviting Abderrahman to speak of the two sisters at the same time, was to let the public see that his love was a mere poetic fiction. This stroke of policy, however, did not satisfy Prince Yezid, who wished Caab ben Joayl to write a satire against the Ansarians. Caab, who was a Musulman, excused himself, alleging that he feared the displeasure of the Caliph, and that, besides, he could not, prevail upon himself to attack men who had supported the prophet. But," he added, "I can introduce to you a poet, of considerable talent, who is not of our religion, and therefore has no scruples upon the subject." "Who is he?" said Yezid. Akhtal," replied Caab. Yezid desired he might be sent to him immediately, and he desired Akhtal to write a poem against the Ansarians, promising him his protection to the utmost of his power, if the caliph should be displeased. Akhtal set about the work with alacrity, and produced a virulent diatribe, in which was this verse:

Noble actions and glory are the attributes of the Koreishites;

Cowardice and avarice lurk under the turbans of the Ansarians.

Noman ben Beshir, one of the heads of the Ansarians, hearing of this satire, appeared before Moawiyah, and taking off his turban and exposing his bare head to the caliph, said:-' "Commander of the Faithful, do you perceive in me any marks of cowardice and avarice?" "I see nothing in you but what is honourable," replied the Caliph. "Well then," returned Noman, “Akhtal has asserted that these vices are concealed beneath our turbans." "I give you leave to cut out his tongue," exclaimed the indignant caliph, and directed Akhtal to be immediately brought, that he might be delivered up to the vengeance of the Ansarian. Akhtal prevailed upon the officer who came to fetch

him, to allow him first an interview with Yezid. The prince immediately went to Moawiyah, and took the part of Akhtal so effectually, that he saved the poet's tongue.

Yezid, when he succeeded to the throne some time after, was very kind to Akhtal, whose reputation increased rapidly. The caliphs who succeeded Yezid allowed him to participate largely in the bounty which they lavished upon poets. He was in high favour, especially under the reign of Abdalmalek, who admitted him into intimate society with him. The poet, however, did not reside entirely at court; he sojourned alternately at Damascus and in Mesopotamia, amongst his family, the Benu Maleks, in which he married. He had several children, the eldest of which was called Malek: after the birth of this son, he acquired, according to the custom of the Arabs, in addition to the name of Akhtal, that of Abu Malek, 'father of Malek.'

It would appear that, at this period, the Arabian Christians, after the example of the Musulmans, were in the common practice of divorce; for Akhtal, having repudiated his first wife, married another who had herself been repudiated by her husband. This second union was not a happy one: the tranquillity of the poet's household was disturbed by frequent family-quarrels, Akhtal, one day, hearing his wife speak of her former husband with a sigh of regret, uttered these verses, which have been preserved in the Kitab al Aghani; they appear, in a translation, sufficiently bald and prosaic :—

Each of us passes the night in pain,

As if our wedding-contract had scorched our skins;
My wife regrets her former husband,

And I regret my former wife.

Akhtal was much addicted to wine,- —a habit not very creditable to his religious tenets, which he imagined (or his biographer supposes so) was calculated to open in his mind veins of rich fancy and inspiration. "Drink," said he to the Musulman poet Mutawakkul, "and you will be the king of choice spirits." In one of his journies to Damascus, he stopped at the house of Ebn Serhun, secretary of Abdalmalek. When the poet paid his respects to the caliph, the latter asked him where he had taken up his quarters. "At Ebn Serhun's," replied Akhtal. "Ah!" said Abdalmalek, "you know where you are well off. And what is your fare ?" "Vermicelli bread,” answered Akhtal, “like that you eat; the most delicate dishes and exquisite wines." "Do not you remember," returned Abdalmalek, with a smile, "how often I have been vexed with you on account of your passion for this odious liquor? Become Musulman and I will load you with favours." "But what shall I do for wine ?" said Akhtal. "What charm can there be in that drink," exclaimed the caliph, "which has a bitter taste at first, and in the end plunges you into inebriety ?" "Whatever you may say," replied Akhtal, "between the two extremes you mention, there is a point of delicious enjoyment, in comparison with which your whole empire has, in my eyes, no more value than a drop of water from the Euphrates."

"My

Abdalmalek once requested Akhtal to recite some verses to him. throat is dry," said the poet; "let me have something to drink." “Bring him water," said the caliph to his attendants. "That is asses' drink," replied Akhtal; "besides, I have plenty of water at home." "Let him have some milk, then." "Milk!" exclaimed Akhtal; "I have been weaned a long time." "Give him some honey-water." "That is very good for a sick per"What then do you wish for ?" asked the Caliph. "Some wine," was

son."

the answer. "What!" returned the former, am I in the habit of offering this accursed liquor to those whom I entertain? But for the esteem I feel for your talents, I should treat you as you deserve." Akhtal knew that, if the caliph himself observed faithfully the precept of the Mahomedan law, his household were less scrupulous; so he went out, and desired a servant of the palace to let him have some wine. He drank freely, and returned to the apartment in which Abdalmalek was, with heavy eyes and a reeling gait, and began to recite a panegyric on the house of Ommiya, which was one of his masterpieces. The caliph, observing the state he was in, directed a slave to take him by the hand and lead him home. Instead of manifesting anger against him, however, he gave him dresses of honour and a large sum of money. "Every family," he observed, "has a poet to sing its glory; the bard of the Ommiyades is Akhtal."

The panegyric referred to acquired an astonishing celebrity, and even excited the envy of the caliphs of the Abbas dynasty. Its founder, Abul Abbas Seffah, when urged to hear a poet who had composed a piece in honour of his house, replied: "What can he say of us equal to what the son of the Christian has sung in honour of the children of Ommiya ?" It is also reported, that Haroon al Rashid one day inquired of his courtiers which, in their opinion, was the finest poem that had been made in praise of the Ommiyades or Abbassides. A long discussion ensued, and judgments were divided. Haroon decided the question by observing that the most beautiful piece of this kind was that of Akhtal.

The caustic satire of this poet might have been the occasion of his ruin, in consequence of the circumstance of Abdalmalek, who was fond of listening to a trial of skill between rival poets, in his presence, furnishing his favourite with an opportunity of shining at the expense of a sensitive rival. This occurrence, which is connected with the events of a war between two numerous tribes, requires some details.

The Benu Taghleb, Akhtal's tribe, had killed, near the city of Takrit, one Omayr ben Khashab, of the family of the Benu Cays, a branch of the tribe of the Benu Bekr.* Tamim ben Khashab, brother of Omayr, undertook to avenge him, and implored the aid of all the Benu Bekr, whose chief was Zofar ben Hareth. The latter sent troops of horse to attack and plunder various families of Benu Taghleb domiciled in Syria, all of whom, who could not escape by flight, were massacred. Zofar marched in person against the Benu Taghleb who dwelt in Mesopotamia, and who, being informed of his design, resolved to quit their country and pass the Tigris, interposing this river as a barrier between them and their enemy. He pursued and came up with them near the Kohayl, a little river which falls into the Tigris, ten parasangs south of Moosul, at the moment when the fugitives were preparing to effect their passage. A furious battle took place; the Taghlebites were worsted; a vast number perished by the sword, and a still greater number were drowned in the Tigris. The victors gave no quarter, and carried their cruelty so far as to eviscerate the females. The war lasted several years, with various success, between the two parties, who practised equal barbarities upon each other. At length, in A.H. 73, after the death of Abdallah ben Zobayr, the feuds of the two families were composed. The descendants of Bekr and Taghleb ceased to trouble Mesopotamia and Syria with their contests, and their chiefs even associated together at the court of Abdalmalek. But this caliph, instead of cementing

* The animosity between the tribes of Taghleb and Bekr began near half a century prior to Mahomet. A war betwixt them lasted for forty years, ending about the period of the prophet's birth.

their union, by endeavouring to make them mutually forget their past dissentions, was so imprudent as to allow them to vaunt their feats of arms before him, and to listen to verses in which they were celebrated. On one of these occasions, Akhtal declaimed a poem, wherein he exalted his own tribe above all the others, and poured contempt upon its adversaries, particularly the Benu Cays. A warlike poet of this tribe, named Hajaf, who had been personally attacked in the verses of Akhtal, rose and was about to retire, but the caliph detained him, and made him promise he would do nothing that might revive the animosity between the tribes of Bekr and Taghleb. Hajaf pledged his word. Some days passed away, and Akhtal quitted Damascus to return to his family. Hajaf did not hesitate to violate the compulsory obligation he had entered into. He collected a thousand horsemen, and led them, without disclosing to them his intentions, to Ressafeh, a place situated to the southward of the Euphrates, half a day's journey from that river. There he repeated to them the verses which Akhtal had recited before Abdalmalek, declared that he wished to take vengeance for them, and said: "We must either fight, or acquiesce in the dishonour with which this satire covers us; let those who have a heart come with me, and let the rest return home." All replied, "we will follow thee; our fate shall be thine !" They set off that very night, passed Sahim, a mile south of Ressaleh, and arrived before dawn at Ajenet Erroohub, near the valley of Bechr, inhabited by a Taghlebite family, where Akhtal then was. They fell upon this family in the obscurity of the night, and massacred all they met with, men, women, and children, perpetrating the most shocking brutalities upon pregnant women. A son of Akhtal was slaughtered in this assault, which is called "the Night of Bechr," and the poet himself fell into the hands of his enemies, and owed his safety to his presence of mind. He cried out that he was a slave of the tribe: as he was clad in a coarse woollen mantle, much worn, and as his person was not known by those who took him, they believed what he said, and let him go. Hajaf, after this expedition, ordered his companions to disperse. He took refuge in the Greek provinces till the resentment of the caliph was appeased: Abdalmalek, at length, pardoned him at the intercession of the chiefs of the Benu Cays.

Akhtal, in the sequel, obtained from the caliph a slight revenge for the injuries which the chief of the Benu Bekr, Zofar ben Hareth, had inflicted upon the Taghlebites. Zofar, after being long in a state of rebellion (having espoused the cause of Abdallah ben Zobayr), submitted, and, being summoned to court, came to Karkissa, where it was held, with a safe-conduct. Abdalmalek received him with great regard, and made him sit beside him on his throne. Ebn Zilkela, a Musulman of distinction, entering the apartment, and seeing the place of honour occupied by Zofar, shed tears. Abdalmalek asked him the cause of his emotion. "Commander of the Faithful," replied he," how can I refrain from bitter tears when I perceive this man, so late in revolt against you, whose sabre is still reeking with the blood of my family which has been shed in your service, this murderer of those I love,-seated beside you on the throne, at the foot of which I am obliged to stand ?" If I have made him sit beside me,” rejoined the caliph," it is not because I wish to exalt him above you, but merely because his sentiments concur with mine, and his conversation is agreeable." Akhtal, who was at this moment drinking in another saloon of the palace, was informed of Zofar's reception by the caliph. "I will go," said he, "and strike a blow, which Ebn Zofar cannot

parry." He instantly appeared before the caliph, and after fixing his eyes attentively upon him for some seconds, declaimed as follows:

The sparkling juice, that beams in my cup,

Lifts to the skies the quaffer's soul:
The hero, who three good bumpers will sup,

With kindness warms, as he drains the bowl.
Lightly he swims, like a Koreish fair,

Whilst flutters his robe in the wanton air.

"Abu Malek," exclaimed the caliph, "what do you mean by coming to recite these verses to me? What fancy have you got in your head now ?" "Commander of the Faithful," replied Akhtal, “it is very true that many strange fancies do obtrude upon me when I see that man seated near you, upon your throne, who said no longer ago than yesterday: :

Whilst grass grows o'er the victims of our steel,

Our vengeful souls the deadly feud shall feel."

At these words, Abdalmalek, exasperated, gave Zofar a kick in the chest, which tumbled him from the throne, exclaiming," God extinguish that hatred in your soul !" "For heaven's sake, sire," said Zofar as he fell, remember your safe-conduct !" He confessed, afterwards, that he never thought himself so near his end.

Akhtal displayed the causticity of his genius chiefly against Jareer; but the latter, equally skilful with his adversary in barbing the epigram, never had recourse to violence for revenge. The following, according to the report of Abu Obeyda, is the origin of the poetic war which subsisted between these two poets during their whole life.

The fame of Jareer and Farazdak, both junior to Akhtal, began to extend throughout Irak about the same time that the Christian poet's renown was diffusing itself in Syria Akhtal had often heard these rivals spoken of: not having yet become acquainted with their verses, he sent his son Malek into Irak, expressly to ascertain their merit, and to collect some of their productions. Malek proceeded upon his expedition, heard the poetry of Farazdak and Jareer, and returned to his father, who was impatient to learn his opinion of his two rivals. "I find," says Malek, “ that Jareer draws from a sea, and that Farazdak cuts in a rock." "He who dips out of a sea,” returned Akhtal, is the greatest of the two:" and he made a verse, which is extant, wherein he assigns the superiority to Jareer.

Some time after, Akhtal went himself to Irak, and visited Cufa, when Bashar ben Merwan, brother of the Caliph Abdalmalek, was governor of that country. Some friends of Farazdak, fearing that Akhtal, when he appeared before the prince, would eulogize Jareer and disparage Farazdak, sent him a thousand drachms, dresses, wine, and a mule, with this message: << Recite not your satire against Farazdak; direct your shafts against the dog who attacks the family of Darem. You have heretofore exalted Jareer above our friend; now place our friend above Jareer." Akhtal consented to the proposal. Without giving himself more concern than modern politicians about the inconsistency of his present with his former opinions, he composed some verses against Jareer, who replied with equal spirit; and from that time they never spared each other,

Some one spoke to Akhtal on this subject. "Let me give you a little advice," said the speaker. "You satirize Jareer, and take part against him in