In his book of Manaqib,1 published from Iran, Ibne Shahr Ashob has mentioned the following verses composed by Abdi:
“For Ali, there is no equal among the creatures other than his brother,
Muhammad. When the Quraish surrounded him at night, the Chief of
believers risked his life for the Prophet; the Prophet repaid his loyalty and
appointed him as his vicegerent in Ghadeer Khum.”
Introduction to the poet
Abu Muhammad Sufyan bin Musab Abdi Kufi, was among the poets of the
holy Ahle Bayt of the Prophet (a.s.), who became proximate to them due to his
affection and poems, and due to sincerity of intention, he became their favorite.
His verses comprise of numerous well known merits of Ameerul Momineen
(a.s.) and he has excessively and nicely extolled His Eminence (a.s.) and his
purified progeny. He has also composed tragic poetry about their calamities and
the hardships, which befell them. We don’t find any of his poems praising
anyone other than the Purified Progeny.
Imam (a.s.) asked Abu Ammaara, the poetry reciter, to recite the verses of
Abdi as is mentioned in the book of Kamil of Ibne Quluwayh2 through his chains of narrators from Abu Ammaara:
Abu Abdullah (a.s.) said: “O Abu Ammaara, recite the verses of Abdi
regarding Imam Husain (a.s.).”
I recited them, and he wept. Again I recited and he wept. Again I recited and
he wept.
Abu Ammaara continues: By God, I went on reciting and Imam (a.s.)
continued to cry, till I heard lamentations from inside the house…” till the end of
the report.
In his Rijal,3 Shaykhut Taifa has mentioned Abdi as a companion of Imam
Ja’far Sadiq (a.s.). His faith and affection was embellished with pure Mastership
(Wilayat); thus Imam (a.s.) ordered the Shia to teach verses of Abdi to their
children and said that he is on the religion of God; as Kishi in his Rijal4 has narrated from Samaa through his authorities.
Abu Abdullah Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s.) said: “O Shias, teach the verses of
Abdi to your children; indeed he follows the religion of God.”
His genius in literature and traditions
One, who is aware of the clarity and sweetness of the poetry of Abdi would
testify for his artistic genius and will confess of his expertise and eloquence. And
the praise of Himyari, who was himself a great poet, is most remarkable when he
says:
“After Abdi, I am the greatest poet.”5
Birth and death
We are not aware of the dates of birth and death of Abdi. We did not obtain
anything that may inform us about this, except a report from Imam Ja’far bin
Muhammad (a.s.) and him being visited by Sayyid Himyari (born 105 and died
178 A.H.) and with Abu Dawood Mustasriq. Attention to the date of birth and
death of Abu Dawood Mustasriq, who narrates from Abdi, makes us familiar that
our poet, Abdi was alive till around the year of the death of Himyari.
Abu Dawood has also narrated the events of Abdi. The death of Abu
Dawood is calculated to have occurred in 231 A.H. or according to Kishi in 230
A.H. Kishi has written that Abu Dawood lived for seventy years; in this way the
date of his birth according to Kishi, comes to 160 A.H. and according to Najjashi,
161 A.H. This proves that Abdi lived after the passing away of the Sayyid.
In this way the conclusion of Ayanush Shia6 that Abdi died around 120 A.H. does not fulfill the criteria of research.
Examples of his poetry
- We narrate a report regarding this tradition, that others have narrated. 2. A man came to Umar bin Khattab and asked: What is the number of divorces of slave girls? 3. Umar replied: O Haider, tell him what is the number of divorces for slave girls (and after how many divorces does she become unlawful forever)? So, Murtada gestured 4. with his two fingers, and Umar turned towards the questioner and said: Two; and he returned. 5. He asked: Do you recognize him? No, he replied. He said: This is Ali, owner of loftiness and greatness. 6. And Akrama has narrated in a report that none has doubted. 7. That Ibne Abbas passed by some people cursing Ali (a.s.). So he feared and wept. 8. And being terribly infuriated, he asked: Which one of you is cursing Allah, the Mighty and Sublime? 9. They replied: Refuge of God! He asked: Which one of you is cursing the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) in audacity? 10. They replied: Refuge of God! He asked: Which one of you curses Ali, who is the best of those, who walked on pebbles? 11. They replied: Yes, we are doing this. He said: By God, I heard from the chosen Prophet. 12. He said: One, who curses Ali, has cursed me. And cursing me is cursing God. And he was content with that only. 13. Muhammad, his brother, his daughter and her two sons are the best of those, who walked barefoot or wearing sandals. 14. O Lord, who is the creator of creators and who brought creatures on the earth, has blessed him. 15. Almighty Allah made them clean and pure, accorded permission and chose them from creatures. 16. If they had not been there, Allah would not have raised the heavens, not spread the earth and had not created the creatures. 17. Allah does not accept the deed of any creature unless it is accompanied by sincere affection for them. 18. And the prayer of no one is complete and perfect, and supplication does not become pure, except with their remembrance. 19. If they had not been the best of those, who stepped on the earth, Jibraeel would not have said to those below the cloak: 20. Am I from among you in excellence and greatness? When they said: ‘Yes’, he went to the heavens and boasted to the angels. 21. If a person meets the creator of all slaves of God with good deeds and piety; 22. but he had no affection for Ali, his deeds would be destroyed and he would be thrown headlong into Hell fire. 23. Indeed, Jibraeel, the trustworthy, asked the two recording angels [of Ali (a.s.)] regarding his scroll of deeds. 24. Indeed, those two had definitely not mentioned any mistake or dishonesty from Ali, the untainted one.7