This paper reveals critical issues dealt with by al-Sharif al- Murtadah in his poetry. These issues were then dealt with by critics of the day. Al-Murtadh included in his poetry such themes as ''The Nature of poetry" ; "Incentives to artistic innovation"; as well as themes dealing with expressions; meaning; variety; succinctness and digression; and poetic citations from other poems. All this verifies his being wellinformed on the critical issues of his time.