Abou-t-Tayyib Ahmad ibn al-Husayn al-Mutanabbi ‎ 915–23 September 965 was an Arab (Iraqi-born) poet. He's regarded as one of the greatest poets in the Arabic language. History Al-Mutanabbi was born in Kufah, modern Iraq. He was the son of a water-carrier but claimed to have noble ancestors. When the Qarmatians attacked Kufah in 924 he left with the raiders and lived in the desert with them, learning their dialect of Arabic which, according to the prevailing view of the time, was sup… (More on Al-mutanabbi)