Zarqawi’s spiritual mentor, Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, composed an elegy for his deceased disciple soon after his death. Although the two fell out over Zarqawi’s brutal tactics in Iraq, Maqdisi still has a soft spot for him. The elegy, “The Dove Cried and the Swords Wept,” is recited by Maqdisi and has been released online for the first time via the Shumukh forum.
For those of you that don’t know Maqdisi, he rated as the most-cited Jihadi alive in the study I conducted for West Point.
Document (Arabic): 9-20-08-shamikh-abu-muhammad-maqdisi-elegy-for-zarqawi
2 Responses
That was a brilliant study, but I’m still saddened that you didn’t follow up on the most downloaded book, Abu Jandal al-Azdi’s, which if I recall said bin Laden is the mujaddid of the time in its title (ie one of the hundred-year Reformers in a series whose last member will be the Mahdi). No mention in David Cook, but i seem to remember Reuven Paz has talked about it.
Hi Charles,
I believe Peter Bergen quotes a lot from Abu Jandal’s book in _The Osama Bin Laden I Know_. (I’d check, but everything is in boxes right now.)
Thank you for your kind remarks on the study. There’s lots in there that has yet to bubble to the top. For example, the study identified the importance of Sayyid Imam long before most analysts had heard of him. There’s more where that came from.