Al-Nābighah (), al-Nābighah al-Dhubiyānī, or Nābighah al-Dhubyānī; real name Ziyad ibn Muawiyah (); was one of the last
Arabian poets of pre-
Islamic
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ma ...
times. "Al-Nabigha" means "
genius
Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabili ...
or
intelligent" in Arabic.
His tribe, the
Banu Dhubyan, belonged to the district near
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow v ...
, but he spent most of his time at the courts of
Hirah and
Ghassan. In
Hira he remained under
Mundhir III, and then his successor in 562.
After a sojourn at the court of Ghassan, he returned to Hirah under
Numan III. Owing to his verses written about the Queen he was compelled to flee to Ghassan, but returned ca., 600. When Numan died five years later he withdrew to his own tribe.
His date-of-death is uncertain, but seems to predate Islam. His poems consist largely of eulogies and satires, and are concerned with the strife of Hirah and Ghassan, and of the
Banu Abs and the Banu Dhubyan. He is one of the six eminent pre-Islamic poets whose poems were collected before the middle of the 2nd century of Islam, and have been regarded as the standard of Arabic poetry; some writers consider him the first of the six.
These poets have written long poems comparable to epic poems, known as Muʿallaqat (معلقات) since they were hung on the walls of the Kaaba for all to admire and read.
His poems were edited by
Wilhelm Ahlwardt in the ''Diwans of the Six Ancient Arabic Poets'' (London, 1870), and separately by
H. Derenbourg (Paris, 1869, a reprint from the ''Journal asiatique'' for 1868).
References
535 births
604 deaths
Arab Christians in Mesopotamia
6th-century Arabic poets
Ghatafan
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