political fragmentation and cultural diversity 225presided over Egypt, they came in direct rivalry and confrontation
with them. By contrast to other sundry states, the Œamdànìds were
of an Arab stock. They were descendants of Taghlib tribe, and in
religious conviction they were Shi"ì. As such, the Œamdànìds were
the second Shì"ah independent state, which preceded the Fatimids,
but came after the Idrisids in North Africa. They lasted until 1003
when the last of the dynasty gave way to the Fatimid caliphate that
by that time crushed the Ikhshìdids in Egypt in 969. It was perhaps
a case of Shi"ìpolitical amalgamation between the small Œamdànìd
dynasty in the north and the major growing caliphate in the south.
The intellectual life of the Œamdànìd court was very rich. In con-
trast to the non-Arab sundry dynasties, they encouraged learning
and prided themselves on attracting a distinguished learning circle.
Sayf-al-Dawlah, the sword of the dynasty, (944–967), himself a poet,
is renowned in history for his patronage of learning. The literary
circle included the highly celebrated philosopher-musician al-Farabi,
the distinguished historian of literature and music al-A›fahànì, whose
autograph manuscript al-Aghanìis a celebrated reference on the sub-
ject until today, the eloquent court preacher ibn-Nabatah whose ele-
gant sermon in rhymed prose fired the zeal of his hearers for
prosecuting the holy war against Byzantine, and the celebrated poet
laureate al-Mutanabbi, whose bombastic and ornate style with its
flowery rhetoric and improbable metaphors made him to the present
day the most popular and most widely quoted poet in Arabic lan-
guage (Hitti, 1963). Added to the list, was the poet-philosopher Abù-
al-Ala"al-Ma"ari (973–1057), who projected the skeptical pessimistic
feelings of an age of social decay and political anarchy in Islam
(ibid.).
The Non-Arab Separatist Movement
The Persian Separatist Movement
The north western region of the Abbasìd caliphate was the main
domain of the non-Arab Persian and Turkish quasi-independent
states.
The first, to the east of Baghdad, was the Tahirids, named after
the general of the caliph al-Ma"mùn (813–933) who helped the caliph
in his dispute with his brother al-Amin (809–813) over the caliphate.
He was a Persian slave. Extending their domain to the Indian bor-
ders, the Tahirids remained in power from 820 to 872 (ibid.).