Yahya b. Yahya b. Alī b. Eflah. His kunyah was Abū'l-Qāsim. He served as a secretary. The Caliph al-Mustarshid bestowed upon him a khilʿah (robe of honor) and gave him the epithet Jamāl al-Mulk. He was also granted four houses. In addition to these four houses, he had his own house. He demolished all these houses and built a magnificent mansion in their place, measuring sixty zīrāʿ in length and forty zīrāʿ in width. The caliph provided the wooden bricks and the materials for the ornamentation and patterns of the mansion. Yahya b. Yahya inscribed beautiful poems, both his own and others', in various places of this mansion. The poem on the door of the mansion was as follows:
“Those who looked at my exterior were astonished.
If they knew, my interior is even more astonishing.
Palaces became like rain-laden clouds in his palm.
Rain-laden clouds were ashamed before his palm.
The flowers in his garden of morals swayed to and fro.
In a land whose madhhab is light.
Such a heart that veiled my qalb (heart) with the light within it.
That light became the sun that rises over days and never sets.”
On the decorations of the palace, the following poem was also inscribed:
“The honor of a young man is this:
As long as he lives, there should be a palace worthy of praise for him.
Live contentedly with the provision of this world.
Work for the real abode of the Hereafter. Thus you have fulfilled your promise.
And now this worldly life is cut off.”
Elsewhere in the palace, this poem was written:
“Such an assembly is as if the eternal paradise,
To which beauty has lent a borrowed radiance.
The events of time have given it
A resilience not to tire of calamities and evils.
Every palace he built
Informs him of every news at sunrise and sunset.
Delegations come there bowing, willingly.
Guests there spend evenings with heads bowed.
O handsome one among rulers, remain there eternally.
Remain as long as you wish, O possessor of grace and superiority,
May the calamities of time not touch you there.
And be protected from what is to be avoided.”
But I swear by Allah that these hopes were not realized. On the contrary, shortly afterward, the caliph accused him of corresponding with Debīs and ordered the demolition of his palace. The palace was destroyed so thoroughly that not a stone remained upon another. What was once a beautiful maqām (spiritual station) and a visually pleasing residence became a ruin. This was the result of a divine hikmah (wisdom) and qadar (destiny) unfolding within the flow of nights and days. Divine wisdom has always operated thus in every palace built in arrogance and extravagance. Divine decree has thus been fulfilled in every garment worn with pride, arrogance, and grandeur.”
Ibn al-Jawzī transmitted beautiful poems and prose attributed to Yahya b. Yahya. For example, the following poems also belong to Yahya b. Yahya b. Alī:
“Leave desire to those who know it.
They have experienced love and passion, even the most difficult...
You have involved yourself in a matter you have not tried.
What a person has not tried is difficult for him.
Be patient in what you cannot endure.
There are many who have attained something
Only after great hardships.
Every day, before a heart whose movements tire me, be patient with that heart that gives me choice,
The wind blew from the Najd side. It set it in motion,
Melodies like lightning flashes excite it.”
“Here is Ḥayf, there is also Minā,
O wayward one who wronged us! Have mercy on us, stop your mount for a while for us.
Let us go and cry for mercy in that house and for ourselves,
I have reserved crying for just this place.
Tears are kept waiting on this day also for crying,
O when we are oppressed,
Allah has brought back this time.
On that day, we will come together in reconciliation,
Even if we are not pleased with each other, we will reconcile.”