The Principle of Imamate in Ibn Hani's Poems, The Shiite Poet of Andalusia

The present study analyzes the poems composed by Andalusian poet, Ibn Hani from the religious and doctrinal viewpoint. Ibn Hani, Andalusian Shiite poet, used his poems to express his belief and religion, using it as a tool to show his religious beliefs. The present study shows that imamate is a major principle in the Shiite doctrinal principles; and in his eulogistic odes, Ibn Hani expresses this fact. The main pillars of imamate can be shown as follows: a) the necessity to know imam; b) Imam's knowledge of invisible world, c) imam's intercession, d) leadership of the society, e) imam's justice, f) the spiritual essence and the virtues of the purified imams, g) the rightness of infallible imams and their verification in in the Quran and other celestial books, h) the necessity to have imams, i) imam's knowledge of interpreting the Quranic verses.The writer uses a descriptive and analytical method to explain the views of this poet on the principle of imamate and the doctrinal principles regarding it.