Al-Mutanabbi was born in Kufa in 915 CE, and packed his 50 years of life with politics, religion and poetry. Al-Mutanabbī’s career saw him travel from Kufa to Baghdad, Syria, Egypt and Iran as he sought patronage at the courts of warlords and potentates or service in the retinue of local elites and bureaucrats, and he also spent time in the deserts of Iraq. He died at the hand of bandits in 965 CE.