FARAZDAQ (Hammam ibn Ghalib ibn Sa'sa', known as al Farazdaq) (c. 641—c. 728), Arabian poet, was born at Basra. At the age of fifteen Farazdaq was known as a poet. He devoted his talent largely to satire and attacked the bani Nahshal and the ban' Fuqaim. When Ziyad, a member of the latter tribe, became governor of Basra, the poet fled, first to Kufa, and then, as he was still too near Ziyad, to Medina, where he was well received by Said ibn ul-Asi. Here he remained about ten years, writing satires on Bedouin tribes, but avoiding city politics. But he lived a prodigal life, and his amorous verses led to his expulsion by the caliph Merwan I. On the death of Ziyad he returned to Basra, where he secured the favour of Ziyad's successor `Obaidal lah ibn Ziyad. Much of his verse at this period is concerned with his dispute with his wife, his cousin Nawar, whom he had married against her will. Another subject occasioned a long series of verses, namely his feud with his rival Jarir (q.v.) and his tribe the bani Kulaib. These poems are published as the Naka'id of Jarir and al-Farazdaq (ed. A. A. Bevan, Leiden, 1906 ff.). In political life Farazdaq was prevented by fear from taking a large part. He seems, however, to have been attached to the house of Ali. During the reign of Moawiya I. he avoided politics, but later gave his allegiance to `Abdallah ibn Zobair.