'Ali ibn Jabala al-'Akawwak (Abbasid poet, 776–828)

'Ali ibn Jabala al-'Akawwak was an Abbasid poet, a panegyrist of several patrons, who was punished by the caliph al-Ma'mun and died in 213/828.

The Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.), article on al-'Akawwak, meaning "thick-set", describes 'Ali b. Jabala as born at Baghdad in 160/776 into a Khurasani family of mawali. He spent most of his life in Iraq, where he was a panegyrist of Abu Dulaf al-'Ijli, Humayd b. 'Abd al-Hamid al-Tusi and the vizier al-Hasan b. Sahl. The exaggerated and almost sacrilegious eulogies he addressed to the first two are said to have aroused the hostility of the caliph al-Ma'mun, who had his tongue torn out. He died of the mutilation in 213/828. ¹

His diwan, a work of considerable size, has not survived, and his poetry is known only from anthologists. A long poem quoted by al-Tha'alibi in the Yatimat al-dahr is attributed to him, but doubtfully. Al-Jahiz admired the way he recited poetry and quoted him only once, while Ibn Qutayba and Abu l-Faraj al-Isfahani considered him a poet of exceptional merit. ¹