An Arab-Syrian Gentleman and Warrior in the Period of the Crusades

:
INTRODUCTION 13
twenty thousand verses of pre-Islamic poetry." It is not likely
that so many verses of pre-Islamic poetry had survived to the time
of Usamah, but the writer simply wanted to convey the impression
that Usamah knew a great many of them.
Nor was Usamah a mere rdwi, a memorizer and reproducer of
poems. He was a composer himself. In fact, to many of his
biographers he is known primarily through his Diwan (anthologies).
Ibn-'Asakir, the historian of Damascus who knew Usamah personally,
calls him "the poet of the age" and describes his verse as
" sweeter than honey and more to be relished than slumber after a
prolonged period of vigilance." 13 Yaqut in his Mu'jam 14 quotes
his poetry. §alih ibn-Yahya 15 boasts of possessing a copy of
Usamah's Diwan in the latter's own handwriting. "Especially
fond of his poetry" was Saladin, who esteemed it
so highly as to
have kept with him a copy of Usamah's Diwan. 16
Among the most quoted verses of Usamah are those he composed
and inscribed on the wall of a mosque in Aleppo 17 on the occasion
of his return from a pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca and
Medlnah, and those he composed on the occasion of pulling out
his tooth and in which he showed some originality
O what a rare companion I had whose company never brought ennui
to me,
Who suffered in my service and struggled with assiduity!
Whilst we were together I never saw him, but the moment he made
his appearance
Before my eyes, we parted forever. 18
Usamah "had a white hand in literature, in prose as well as in
poetry" to use a phrase of his student, ibn-'Asakir. 19
His fondness
for books is indicated by the lifelong "heartsore" (infra, p. 61)
which the loss of his four thousand volumes en route from Egypt
left in him
His quiet stay during his old age at Hisn-Kayfa afforded him
an opportunity to compose many of the books he wrote and of
w Al-Ta'rikh, vol II, p 401.
14
Op. cit , vol II, p 417-
a To'rikh, p 36
16
Al-Rawi}atayn, vol I, p 247
17 Ibn-al-Ath5r, Atdbeks in Recueil historiens orientaux, vol. II, pt. II, p 208;
al-Kamil, vol XI, p 188
18 Ibn-'Asakir, vol II,p.402, lbn-Khallikan, op.cit., vol. I, p. 112, al-Rau>4atayn,
vol I, p 264, 'ImSd-al-Dln, op at , p 123.
w Al-Ta'rikh, vol. II, pp. 400-401.