Hind bint al-Nu'man ( ar, هند بنت النعمان, Hind bint al-Nuʿmān), also known as al-Ḥurqah, was a pre-Islamic Arab poet. There is some historiographical debate, going back to the Middle Ages, over precisely what her names were, with corresponding debates over whether some of the bearers of these names were different people or not. An example of a poet-princess, she has been read as a key figure in pre-Islamic poetry.

Biography

Hind was the daughter of

al-Nu'man III ibn al-Mundhir Al-Nuʿmān III ibn al-Mundhir ( ar, النعمان بن المنذر), also transcribed Naʿaman, Nuʿaman and Noman and often known by the patronymic Abu Qabus (), was the last Lakhmid king of al-Hirah (582 – ) and a Nestorian Christian Ar ...

, the last

Lakhmid The Lakhmids ( ar, اللخميون, translit=al-Laḫmiyyūn) referred to in Arabic as al-Manādhirah (, romanized as: ) or Banu Lakhm (, romanized as: ) was an Arab kingdom in Southern Iraq and Eastern Arabia, with al-Hirah as their capital, ...

king of

al-Hirah Al-Hirah ( ar, الحيرة, translit=al-Ḥīra Middle Persian: ''Hērt'' ) was an ancient city in Mesopotamia located south of what is now Kufa in south-central Iraq. History Kingdom of the Lakhmids Al-Hirah was a significant city in pre- I ...

() and a

Nestorian Christian Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian ...

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

mother. According to the ''Ḥarb Banī Shaybān maʻa Kisrá Ānūshirwān'' (whose historical reliability is questionable),

Khosrow II Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; pal, 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩, Husrō), also known as Khosrow Parviz (New Persian: , "Khosrow the Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian king (shah) of Iran, ruling f ...

, king of the Sasanian Empire () and her father's overlord, demanded Hind in marriage. Thinking better of the arrangement, al-Nu'man sent Hind to seek refuge among the Arabs, and was subsequently attacked and imprisoned by Khosrow. After failing to find sanctuary with the

Ghassanids The Ghassanids ( ar, الغساسنة, translit=al-Ġasāsina, also Banu Ghassān (, romanized as: ), also called the Jafnids, were an Arab tribe which founded a kingdom. They emigrated from southern Arabia in the early 3rd century to the Levan ...

and other Arab tribes, Hind was granted sanctuary among the

Banu Shayban The Banu Shayban () is an Arab tribe, a branch of the Bakr ibn Wa'il group. Throughout the early Islamic era, the tribe was settled chiefly in the Jazira, and played an important role in its history. History In the pre-Islamic period, the Shayb ...

through the intercession of their princess

al-Ḥujayjah Al-Ḥujayjah (), also known as Safīyah bint Thaʻlabah al-Shaybānīyah () was a pre-Islamic poet of the Banū Shaybān tribe, noted for her work in the genre of taḥrīḍ (incitement to vengeance). Her dates of birth and death are unknown, and ...

. It was supposedly for this reason that the Banu Shayban had to fight the

Battle of Dhi Qar The Battle of Dhi Qar ( ar, يوم ذي قار), also known as the War of the Camel's Udder, was a pre-Islamic battle fought between Arab tribes and the Sassanid Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Ira ...

in . She was then sent to marry

al-Nu'man ibn al-Rayyan Nu'man ( ar, نعمان ) or Nu'maan is an Arabic given name dating to pre-Islamic times, meaning ''blood'' or ''red''. Prevailingly, the Islamic given name is most commonly associated to the Arabic word meaning ''bliss''. It is also used with th ...

, 'her only cousin to survive the Persian attack on the Kingdom of al-Ḥirah', after which Khosrow granted him the throne of al-Hirah. Another source of dubious reliability, Ali ibn Nasr al-Katib's '' Encyclopedia of Pleasure'', tells that Hind loved another woman, the legendary al-Zarqāʾ. When Hind Bint al-Khuss died, her faithful lover "cropped her hair, wore black clothes, rejected worldly pleasures, vowed to God that she would lead an ascetic life until she passed away". Hind bint al-Nu'man even builds a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

to commemorate her love for al-Zarqāʾ. This source figures the two characters as the first

lesbians A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

in Arab culture..

Works

Some poetry is attributed to Hind, making her (if the attributions are correct) a relatively rare example of a pre-Islamic female poet whose work survives.Hamad Alajmi, 'Pre-Islamic Poetry and Speech Act Theory: Al-A'sha, Bishr ibn Abi Khazim, and al-Ḥujayjah' (unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Indiana University, 2012), pp. 165-66.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurqah 6th-century Arabs 7th-century Arabs 6th-century Christians 7th-century Christian nuns Medieval women poets Poets of the early Islamic period Arabic-language women poets Arabic-language poets 7th-century women writers 7th-century Arabic poets 7th-century deaths 6th-century women writers 6th-century Arabic poets Arab Christians in Mesopotamia Christian poets Church of the East writers Lakhmids Arab princesses Arabs from the Sasanian Empire One Thousand and One Nights characters