Ḥabīb ibn Aws al-Ṭā’ī (حبيب بن أوس الطائي; ca.

It is believed that Abu Tammam himself converted to Islam, changing his father's name to Aus and forged a genealogy linking him to the Arab tribe of T̩ayy.

[4] He seems to have spent his youth in Homs, though, according to one story, he was employed during his boyhood selling water at a mosque in Cairo.

[5] Following the death of al-Ma'mun, the newly famous Abu Tamman sought an audience with the new caliph al-Mu'tasim who immediately took him under his wing.

A later anthology by the same name was compiled by the poet al-Buhturi, and the term has been used in modern times to mean "heroic epic."

His poems reflect a stylistic break from prevailing oral-based concepts of Arab poetry,[8] often describing historical events and people.

They were distinguished for the purity of their style, the merit of the verse, and the excellent manner of treating subjects,[1] and have been linked to the prevailing Mutazilite philosophy of the Abbasid period.