Date of Birth: 
About Sayf al-Dawla
- ?Ali ibn ?Abu l-Hayja? ?Abdallah ibn ?amdan ibn al-?arith al-Taghlibi (Arabic: ??? ?? ??? ??????? ??? ???? ?? ????? ?? ?????? ????????), more commonly known simply by his laqab (honorific epithet) of Sayf al-Dawla (??? ??????, "Sword of the Dynasty"), was the founder of the Emirate of Aleppo, encompassing most of northern Syria and parts of western Jazira, and the brother of al-Hasan ibn Abdallah ibn Hamdan (better known as Nasir al-Dawla). The most prominent member of the Hamdanid dynasty, Sayf al-Dawla originally served under his elder brother in the latter's attempts to establish his control over the weak Abbasid government in Baghdad during the early 940s CE.
- After the failure of these endeavours, the ambitious Sayf al-Dawla turned towards Syria, where he confronted the ambitions of the Ikhshidids of Egypt to control the province.
- After two wars with them, his authority over northern Syria, centred at Aleppo, and the western Jazira, centred at Mayyafariqin, was recognized by the Ikhshidids and the Caliph.
- A series of tribal rebellions plagued his realm until 955, but he was successful in overcoming them and maintaining the allegiance of the most important Arab tribes.
- Sayf al-Dawla's court at Aleppo became the centre of a vibrant cultural life, and the literary cycle he gathered around him, including the great al-Mutanabbi, helped ensure his fame for posterity. Sayf al-Dawla was widely celebrated for his role in the Arab–Byzantine Wars, facing a resurgent Byzantine Empire that in the early 10th century had begun to reconquer Muslim territories.
- In this struggle against a much superior enemy, he launched raids deep into Byzantine territory and managed to score a few successes, and generally held the upper hand until 955.
- After that, the new Byzantine commander, Nikephoros Phokas, and his lieutenants spearheaded an offensive that broke Hamdanid power.
- The Byzantines annexed Cilicia, and even occupied Aleppo itself briefly in 962.
- Sayf al-Dawla's final years were marked by military defeats, his own growing disability as a result of disease, and a decline in his authority that led to revolts by some of his closest lieutenants.
- He died in early 967, leaving a much weakened realm, which by 969 had lost Antioch and the Syrian littoral to the Byzantines and become a Byzantine tributary.
Read more at Wikipedia