Sayf Al-Dawla - Cultural Activity and Legacy

Cultural Activity and Legacy

Sayf al-Dawla surrounded himself with prominent intellectual figures, most notably the great poets al-Mutanabbi and Abu Firas (who was Sayf al-Dawla's cousin), the preacher Ibn Nubata, and the noted philosopher al-Farabi. Al-Mutanabbi's time at the court of Sayf al-Dawla was arguably the pinnacle of his career as poet. During his nine years at the Hamdanid court, al-Mutanabbi wrote 22 major panegyrics to Sayf al-Dawla, which, according to the Arabist Margaret Larkin, "demonstrated a measure of real affection mixed with the conventional praise of premodern Arabic poetry." The celebrated historian and poet, Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, was also part of the court, and he dedicated his major encyclopedia of poetry and songs, Kitab al-Aghani, to Sayf al-Dawla. Sayf al-Dawla paid special favour to poets, but his court contained scholars versed in religious studies, history, philosophy and astronomy as well. As S. Humphreys comments, "In his time Aleppo could certainly have held its own with any court in Renaissance Italy". Sayf al-Dawla's patronage of poets had a useful political dividend too: it was part of a court poet's duty to his patron to celebrate him in his work, and through their poetry, the influence of Sayf al-Dawla and his court spread far across the Muslim world.

Sayf al-Dawla was also unusual for 10th-century Syria in his espousal of Twelver Shi'a Islam in a hitherto solidly Sunni country. During his reign, the founder of the Alawite sect, al-Khasibi, benefited from Sayf al-Dawla's patronage. Al-Khasibi turned Aleppo into the stable centre of his new sect, and sent preachers from there as far as Persia and Egypt with his teachings. His main theological work, Kitab al-Hidaya al-Kubra, was dedicated to his Hamdanid patron. Sayf al-Dawla's active promotion of Shi'ism began a process whereby Syria came to host a large Shi'a population by the 12th century.

Sayf al-Dawla played also a crucial role in the history of Aleppo and Mayyafariqin, as his choice of these two cities as his capitals raised them from obscurity to the status of major urban centres. Sayf al-Dawla lavished attention on his two capitals, endowing them with new buildings, as well as taking care of their fortifications. Aleppo especially benefited from Sayf al-Dawla's patronage: of special note is the great Palace of Halba outside Aleppo, as well as the gardens and aqueduct which he built there. Its rise to the chief city in northern Syria dates from his reign.