Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
During my search for the founding poets, I noticed the presence of more than one scholar from the Al-Husseini family , and I was postponing talking about them, but what caught my attention was that there were a number of them in Gaza who were from one family founded in Gaza by a man who was raised by his father, the scholar Abd al-Hay al-Husseini. Glory is from his outskirts, and he was courted by politicians, scholars, jurists, and writers. He was Mr. Hajj Ahmed Muhyiddin Abd al-Hay al-Hanafi al-Husseini (1223-1295 AH / 1808-1878 AD).
You will find, dear reader, a fair number of poets from the Al-Husseini family, and they are not one family. They are like the Al-Khatib, Al-Hajj, Imam, and Sheikh families who were found in every Palestinian village .. The noble captains in Palestine had great importance, and the nobles were the ones who represented the lineage of the Chosen One, may God bless him and grant him peace, in Palestine. Most of the families descending from the lineage of Imam Hussein, may God be pleased with him, were given the nickname Al-Husseini, and some families descending from Imam Al-Hassan, may God be pleased with him, were given the nickname Al-Hasani.
It is known that the people of Gaza carry in their hearts this love for the noble masters of the lineage of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace. It is called Gaza Hashem, in reference to the grave of the Prophet’s grandfather, Hashim bin Abd Manaf, and his shrine and mosque there (and our poet had a fundamental role in building the Hashem Mosque in Gaza).
This family insisted on remaining in Gaza and Palestine, despite its members leaving several times, either in pursuit of education or political exile. They would return as soon as they were able.
Our poet, the only son of the scholar Sheikh Abd al-Hayy, had three important jobs in Gaza: issuing fatwas, judiciary, and preaching, in the Grand Omari Mosque. He was raised in his father's care and learned from him, then he lived next to Al-Azhar Al-Sharif for five years, studying under the most prominent scholars of that era. He returned to Gaza, and his father waived the fatwa for him, and delegations, nobles, jurists, poets, writers, and those interested in literature and poetry came to him, led by the Lebanese poet, writer, and linguist Ibrahim Al-Ahdab from Tripoli, the Levant (one of the Renaissance poets in Lebanon).
The author of “Ithaf Al-Azza in the History of Gaza” summed up his status by saying that “he was unique in his time and unique in his era.” He was in stature and knowledge like the Mufti of Hebron, Sheikh Khalil Al-Tamimi, and the Mufti of Damascus, Sheikh Mahmoud Hamza. He described him as having “complete knowledge of history and literature, a strong proficiency in poetry, and great erudition in dialogues and debates...”
He made a good effort to build a mosque near the shrine of Hashim, the grandfather of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace. Most of the construction cost was saved thanks to his communication with the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Majeed Khan and obtaining great aid to build the mosque. However, our poet was met with hostility from the envious and the covetous and they harassed him until an order was issued in 1861 to dismiss him from his job and exile him. He chose to be exiled to Jerusalem, until things calmed down and he returned to Gaza, but he was directed to a movement against him for criticizing the new Ottoman policy of Westernization and centralization.
He sensed the intention of being exiled again, so he sneaked into Egypt, where he praised the Khedive with a long poem and stayed with him, so he interceded for him to return to Gaza. He was confronted a third time with new plots and exiled to Damascus. He resided in the house of Emir Abdul Qadir al-Jazairi there for a period of time and finally returned to Gaza. He did not live long, and he died in 1878 at the age of seventy. The great poets of Gaza, such as Sheikh Ahmed Bseiso and others, inherited it.
He bequeathed his knowledge to his five children, and his hair was carried by two of his sons, Hussein and Abdul Hay (they will be together in the next episode of this series, God willing). For further clarification, see his family tree that branched off from him, according to the photo published by the “Identity Foundation” website of trees. Palestinian families.
He was buried in Gaza and it was written on his grave: This is the grave of the son of Mustafa Muhyi Din Allah, the Mufti of the era, Ahmed.
He does not have a collection of poetry, and his poetry is published in the book “Ithaf Al-Azza in the History of Gaza.”
His poem, which he submitted to Khedive Ismail, has a flow and smoothness that indicate his ability and skill in poetry, and the smoothness of entering the soul of his addressee in the easiest way (according to Al-Babtain Dictionary). In its purposes, it is similar to some of Al-Nabigha Al-Dhubyani’s apologetic and metaphorical poems, and Al-Mutanabbi’s poems in which he praised Kafur, where he wrote a long poem in which he praised the king, and at the end of it he expressed his request: relief for a servant who was in his homelands... to develop for the state of your glory, and we established it, his enemies deceived him until he took
refuge
.. In a sanctuary whose protection is not permissible.
So look at the one who is anxious about his land... It has distanced him from his enemies with its misfortune, and he has made him
succor when he is at a distance. Ramakum abode... and he came to the abode of refuge and towards it.
He has poems composed for the Hashem Mosque, which he helped build in Gaza, including his poem “Light of the Message,” in which he says: Through the
diligence of the Messenger of God, the matter will be made easy... And through it, conquest and victory are hoped
for, and visitors’ burdens are erased through it... And the one who seeks is protected by it, and his reward is
not diminished. He is a stranger, since the pride of the wilderness is its branch... All perfection has its origin in that pride,
and from its house the entire existence is illuminated... God has a house below which is the sun and the full moon,
and the parts of Gaza have set Hashem on hold... His Excellency is a shrine whose publication has been successful,
and he has flirtatious poetry cut in the Andalusian style, including:
Al-Jameel came, and on the page of his cheek... a line of excuses and a dot of moles,
as if it were on a piece of paper that had been lost... and from above it appeared to us the verses.
Al-Jameel passed away, and on the page of his cheek... a line that gave security from dryness.
And he narrated to us, on the authority of Durr-e-Ghafhar, in the name of... news that we knew was the news of the cure.
News about Ahmed Al-Husseini
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