Introduction to the poet
Abu Ali – Abu Ja’far – Dibil bin Ali bin Razin bin Uthman bin Abdur
Rahman bin Abdullah bin Budail bin Waraqa bin …bin Rabia Khuzai1
Family of Razin
Although Ibne Rashiq, in the book of Umdah2 has extolled him only as a
poet, but his family was a family of knowledge, excellence and literature, because
there were among them, tradition scholars and poets and by the blessings of
supplications of Prophet, leadership and every kind of excellence was present in
their chief ancestor, Budail bin Waraqa.
When Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib brought Budail to the Messenger of Allah
(s.a.w.a.) and said: “O Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.), today is the day in which
you exalted some people and accorded honor to them, thus what is the suggestion
regarding your uncle, Budail bin Warqa, who, in your tribe has the least distance till the ancestor of the tribe? The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) replied: O Budial, move
your eyebrows aside; he did that and moved his veil to one side, then he saw
blackness on his cheek and asked: “What is your age, O Budail?”
He replied: “Ninety-seven years complete.”
The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) looked into his eyes and said: “May God
enhance year elegance and make you and your family prosperous.”3
The basis of their greatness and rank was Abdullah bin Waraqa bin Budail
and as mentioned in Rijal of Shaykh, he and his two brothers Abdur Rahman and
Muhammad were two ambassadors of Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) to Yemen.
These three persons and their brother, Uthman were fighters in the army of
Ameerul Momineen (a.s.), who were martyred in the Battle of Siffeen.4 And their
fifth brother, Nafe bin Budail was martyred during the period of Holy Prophet
(s.a.w.a.) and Ibne Rawaha recited an elegy for him:
“May God have mercy on Nafe bin Nufail, like the mercy on one, who is
in pursuit of reward of Jihad. He, who was patient and truthful and when
people spoke much, he was steadfast and truthful in speaking.”5
It is sufficient for the nobility of this family that there are five martyrs from
them and they were at the side of the cousin of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.)
and Abdullah was in the foremost rank of valor and had more precedence in
warfare as well as religion.
As mentioned in Isabah6: Zuhri regards him as one of the five most
intelligent persons among Arabs. As for the father of Dibil, Ali bin Razin, he was
a poet of his age and Marzabani has mentioned his biography in Mojamush
Shuara7; Ibne Rashiq has said in Umdah:8 Abdullah bin Razin, Uncle of Dibil was also a poet.
Abdul Hasan Ali, brother of Dibil
He was a poet and as mentioned in Fehrist of Ibne Nadim, his collected
poetical works (Diwan) comprise of fifty pages. In 198 A.H. he traveled with his
brother, Dibil to meet Imam Ali Reza (a.s.) and both remained with Imam for a
long time. He born in the year 172 A.H. and he passed away in 283 A.H.
Dibil Khuzai
He was named as Dibil9 and agnomen was Abu Ali. In Aghani, it is narrated from Ibne Ayyub that his name was Muhammad and according to Tarikh10 of
Khatib, it is narrated from Ismail that his wet nurse jokingly gave him the title of
Dibil. But his wet nurse had intended naming him as Zibil. But after that ‘Z’ was
changed into ‘D’.
It is said that he was originally from Kufa as mentioned in numerous books,
but he mostly lived in Baghdad.