Usama ibn Munqidh
He was the nephew and potential successor of the emir of Shaizar, but was exiled in 1131 and spent the rest of his life serving other leaders.
He was a courtier to the Burids, Zengids, and later Ayyubids in Damascus, serving Zengi, Nur ad-Din, and Saladin over a period of almost fifty years.
He travelled extensively in Arab lands, visiting Egypt, Syria, Palestine and along the Tigris River, and went on pilgrimage to Mecca.
In 1025 the Banu Munqidh tribe were given an allocation of land beside Shaizar by the ruler of Hama, Salih ibn Mirdas.
Over time they expanded their lands building fortifications and castles until Usama's grandfather Izz al-Dawla al-Murhaf Nasr retook it in 1080.
[3] When Nasr died in 1098, Usama's father, Majd ad-Din Abi Salamah Murshid (1068–1137) became the emir of Shaizar and the surrounding cities.
[4] However, he soon gave up his position to Usama's uncle, Izz ad-Din Abi al-Asaker Sultan, since Murshid was more interested in studying religion and hunting than in matters of politics.
[5][6] While Usama's uncle's rule, Shaizar was attacked numerous times by the Banu Kilab of Aleppo, the sect of the Hashshashin, the Byzantines, and the crusaders.
[8] He was encouraged by his father to memorise the Quran, and was also tutored by scholars such as Ibn Munira of Kafartab and Abu Abdullah al-Tulaytuli of Toledo.
He returned to Shaizar when his father died in May 1137, and again in April 1138 when Byzantine emperor John II Comnenus besieged the city.
After the siege, Usama left Zengi's service and went to Damascus, which was ruled by Mu'in ad-Din Unur, the atabeg of the Burid dynasty.
During these diplomatic missions Usama developed a friendship with members of the Knights Templar whom he considered more civilized than other crusader orders.
Usama took part in battles with the crusaders outside of Ascalon on his way back to Egypt, and after he left, his brother 'Ali was killed at Gaza.
Ibn Ruzzik tried to persuade him to come back, as the rest of his family was still in Cairo, but Usama was able to bring them to Damascus, through crusader territory, in 1156.
That year, Usama left Nur ad-Din's service and went north to the court of Kara Arslan, the Artuqid emir of Hisn Kayfa.
"[27] Robert Irwin thinks the Banu Munqidh were Twelver Shi'ites (unlike the Fatimids who were Seveners), and that another clue to Usama's Shi'ism is his dislike of jihad, which is different in the Shia doctrine.
In Damascus in the early 1180s he wrote another anthology, the Lubab al-Adab ("Kernels of Refinement"), instructions on living a properly cultured life.
He is most famous for the Kitab al-I'tibar (translated various ways, most recently as the Book of Contemplation), which was written as a gift to Saladin around 1183.
[35] Ibn Khallikan, author of a fourteenth-century biographical dictionary, calls him "one of the most powerful, learned, and intrepid members of the [Munqidh] family" and speaks at great length about his poetry.
The disjointed nature of the work has given him a reputation as a senile rambler, although it is actually written with an anthological structure, with humorous or moralistic tales that are not meant to proceed chronologically, as a true autobiography would.
[38] Since this style of literature, adab in Arabic, does not necessarily have to be factual, historians are quick to point out that Usama's historical material cannot always be trusted.
