Eulogy has always been a means for gaining and seeking ambitions,
particularly if it deals with political or social affairs and if the aim of the poet
for eulogy is flattering. A few poets can be found who compose eulogistic poem
just for the sake of praising someone without looking forward to receiving
presents.
Arabs were familiar with eulogy since the age of ignorance (Asr AIJahellieh);
however it mostly flourished in Umayyads period and stopped
during the Abbasid dynasty. They did this because they were so enticed to see
their names before the name of the caliph or a major ruler. Nevertheless,
Mottonabi was not an exception in this case. He was a dedicated poet of "Seif
AI-Dule" and "Kafur" and praised them. In general, he used poetry as a means
of gaining wealth and social status. Yet comparing his eulogistic poem with
other poets in his time, we realize that he has taken precedence over them in
important book, "AI Vaseteh beyn al Mutanabbi va Khusoomah". From the
fourth century on wards literary criticism came closer to rhetorics and Abdol
Ghaher Jorjani compiled ancient rhetorical debates into his two important books
"Asrar al Balaghah" and "Dalael al Ejaz." With the fall of Baghdad in the
seventh Century, the Arabic poetry and literary criticism declined.