Reflection of the Shiite Thoughts In the Poems Composed by Andalusian Ibn Shakil

Islamic and Shiite themes have a special status among the Muslim poets. The men of letter in Andalusia under governments with Shiite leanings, such as Bani Hamud and Almohads, inclined towards Shiism and used Shiite themes in their poems. Abul-Abbas bin Shakil was one of the Andalusian poets under Almohads, in whose poems one finds the Shiite thoughts more than any other theme. Making use of the Quranic verse and mentioning events in Islamic history (including succession of the Prophet and Ashura incident) are the contents of most of his poems. To prove the rightness of Imam Ali refers to evidences such as Ghadir Khom incident, the verse Tathir, Manzelt hadith, and Imam Ali’s knowledge and bravery. The present article analyzes and describes the Shiite beliefs in his poems. Those themes can properly show the spirit governing that time (under Almohads) in Andalusia as well as the religious inclination of the poet. Looking at the few poems extant from Ibn Shakil, one may find that his poems are so simple and far from literal complexities and are ready to state the poet’s ideas more than serving figures of speech.