Born in Samarra as a prince of the imperial house and the great-great-grandson of Harun al-Rashid, Ibn al-Mu'tazz had a tragic childhood in the complicated intrigues of the Abbasid caliphate.
Despite his reluctance, Ibn al-Mu'tazz was persuaded by the opposition to assume the caliphate instead, in the hope that he would put an end to the intrigues that had plagued the dynasty for decades.
[4] Its title can be translated as 'the book of the new style', and 'takes its name from its polemical aim, namely to show that the style of the poets called "modern" (muḥdathūn), such as Bashshār b. Burd (d. 167 or 168/784-5), Muslim b. al-Walīd (d. 208/823), or Abū Nuwās (d. between 198/813 and 200/815), is not so very "new" and that none of its features was not anticipated in the Quran, the traditions of Muḥammad and his companions, and old poetry.
'[5] In the estimation of Charles Greville Tuety: Ibn Al-Mu‘tazz is the spontaneous poet, akin in temper to Abu Nuwās.
What makes him essentially new, however, lies on another plane and is not immediately apparent: Carried along by his bold and sensuous imagery, we are satisfied that it is so, until, on pausing, we suddenly glimpse the perspective beyond.
), Dīwān aš‘ār al-amīr Abī l-‘Abbās ‘Abdallāh b. Muḥammad al-Mu‘tazz, Dahā’ir al-‘Arab (Cairo: Dār al-Ma‘ārif, 1977-78) and Yūnus Ahmad as-Sāmarrā’ī (ed.