al-Hakim Limerick
December 14th, 2010 § 4 Comments
My favorite guy is the caliph al-Hakim (d. 1021). He was the sixth Fatimid caliph; the Fatimids were a totally boss dynasty of Shi’i Muslim rulers of Egypt. They were into really cool ceremonies and architecture.
Al-Hakim, in addition to being a caliph, is the sixteenth Isma’ili Imam, which ups his awesomeness by a factor of ten. The Druze are pretty into him, as well. He was quite strict with religious minorities and was no stranger to destroying churches. At the age of 36, he went on a night journey alone outside of Cairo (this was normal for him), and all they ever found were his donkey and bloodstained garments. The only reasonable explanation for this, obviously, is that he went into hiding. He is still in hiding, actually.
the mosque of al-Hakim
So, here is a poem I wrote about about al-Hakim.
The Fatimid caliph al-Hakim
Not a Jew he didn’t smack ‘em
No women went out at night
Because try as they might
Just cain’t wear shoes if they lack ‘em
This is one excellent poem my friend. A tour de force.
Yes, I will write some more, based on this outpouring of praise and admiration from my readership.
You mention his destruction of churches like it was a bad thing.
Yes okay, I was given to understand that there would be more limericks about Islamic history, but this appears to be the first and last. We wait you. Ok.