Ashja ʿ b. ʿAmr al-Sulamī , Abū l-Walīd (d. end of second/eighth century), was an Arab poet at the court of the ʿAbbāsid caliph Hārūn al-Rashīd (r. 170-93/786-809). Ashjaʿ was born in al-Yamāma, but after the early death of his father, his mother took him to Basra, where he grew up. He showed a remarkable poetic talent that sustained him throughout his life. The Qaysites of Basra adopted him as their poet; he then went on to al-Raqqa, where he was introduced