Abū l-ʿIbar Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Hāshimī (c. 175-252/791-866) was an unusual poet, writer, preacher, and bearer of traditions in the early ʿAbbāsid period. He was born in Baghdad and showed proficiency in composing poetry already as a youth in the reign of the caliph al-Amīn (r. 193-97/809-13), but after al-Mutawakkil (r. 232-47/847-61) came to power he turned away from serious poetry and used his talents for composing humorous, even silly, verses, for he had come to the