Abu Firas al-Hamdani (932-968): Arab poet and knight. Born in Mosul, now in Iraq. Cousin of Sayf al-Dawla, ruler of Aleppo, Syria, who appointed him governor of the town of Manbej. He was imprisoned by the Byzantines in one of Sayf al-Dawla's battles against them and spent 4 years in their jails. He took over the city of Homs when Sayf al-Dawla died, before being assasinated. His most famous poems are the 'Roumiyat', which he wrote during the period of his imprisonment.