Abà « ÿAbdallÃÂh Muḥammad ibn Naá¹£r (1085âÂÂ1154), known as al-QaysarÃÂnë or Ibn al-QaysarÃÂnë, was a Syrian Muslim poet who wrote in Arabic under the Zangid dynasty. He had a broad and scientific education, which included a sojourn in Iraq. He was one of the most renowned poets of his age, and the most prolific Zangid propagandist. He wrote extensively against the Crusades for his masters.
Ibn al-QaysarÃÂnë was born in AD 1085 (AH 478) in Acre in Palestine, then part of the Seljuk Empire. He sometimes bears the tribal nisba al-Makhzà «më, which would make him a relative of KhÃÂlid ibn al-Walëd al-Makhzà «më, one of the earliest Muslim commanders, but medieval chroniclers generally reject this relationship. When the Fatimid Caliphate began advancing into Palestine, his father, Naá¹£r ibn á¹¢aghër, moved the family to Caesarea Maritima. There, according to the chronicles, he was educated in Islamic tradition and the Arabic language. The evidence of his poetry and career suggests that he also studied arithmetic, astrology, astronomy, geometry and horology.
In 1101 or 1102, his family fled Caesarea for Damascus following an attack by King Baldwin I of Jerusalem. In Damascus, he became for a time superintendent of mechanical clocks. He oversaw the clock of the Umayyad Mosque. He received an ijÃÂza (authorization) from the famous poet Ibn al-KhayyÃÂá¹ to transmit the latter's dëwÃÂn (poetry collection). It was through Ibn al-KhayyÃÂt that Ibn al-QaysarÃÂnë was introduced to the Damascene elite. He became the teacher of Ibn ÿAsÃÂkir.
Ibn al-QaysarÃÂnë left Damascus on a riḥla (journey in search of knowledge) to Baghdad. He spent some time in al-AnbÃÂr. He did not have success in Baghdad and returned to Damascus shortly before the death of his old patron, TÃÂj al-Mulà «k Bà «rë, in 1132. According to Sibá¹ ibn al-Jawzë, he wrote a hijÃÂþ (invective) against Bà «rë's successor, Shams al-Mulà «k IsmÃÂÿël. He then fled Damascus for Aleppo. There he met with great success under the patronage of the atabegs. He was appointed head librarian of the KhizÃÂnat al-kutub, Aleppo's main library. He joined the circle around Abà « ṬÃÂhir al-Ḥalabë, the scholar and khaá¹Âëb of Aleppo. He was invited back to Damascus by the Emir Mujër al-Dën. He died ten days after his return in 1154 (548).
As a poet, Ibn al-QaysarÃÂnë is most famous for his panegyrics for ÿImÃÂd al-Dën Zangë and Nà «r al-Dën ibn Zangë and his love poems for people from around Antioch. He also composed panegyrics for previous governors of Damascus: Shams al-Mulà «k DuqÃÂq, Ṭughtikën and TÃÂj al-Mulà «k Bà «rë. Abà « ṬÃÂhir also received one. In one panegyric, he praises Bà «rë for the defence of Damascus against the Franks in 1129. In two rhyming poems, he commemorates Zangë's victories at the Battle of Baþrin (1135) and the Siege of Edessa (1144).
Ibn al-QaysarÃÂnë had a famous rivalry with Ibn Munër al-ṬarÃÂbulusë. According to Abà « ShÃÂma, "during [the] reign [of Nà «r al-Dën], the two masters of poetry of the times were Ibn al-QaysarÃÂnë and Ibn Munër." Ibn KhallikÃÂn, who praised him as "one of the greatest poets and outstanding udabÃÂþ [litterateurs]" of Syria, reports that he saw an autograph copy of Ibn al-QaysarÃÂnë's dëwÃÂn in Aleppo. Only one poorly preserved copy of this collection of poems survives, kept in Cairo. Some of his qaṣëdas are quoted by Abà « ShÃÂma in his KitÃÂd al-Rawá¸Âatayn. In his early years, he wrote satire before finding his gift in panegyric. Among his poetic influences was Abà « TammÃÂm.
Besides poetry, Ibn al-QaysarÃÂnë wrote a small biographical dictionary, KitÃÂb al-AnsÃÂb, quoted by YÃÂqà «t al-Rà «më and probably used by Ibn al-SamÿÃÂnë. YÃÂqà «t refers to him as "a majestic poet and an outstanding adëb," while Ibn al-SamÿÃÂnë considered him "the most talented poet in" Syria. While in al-AnbÃÂr, he wrote in praise of Baghdad and with homesickness for Damascus, two well-used tropes of shiÿr al-mudun (city poetry):