ʿAmr ibn Kulthūm ibn Mālik ibn ʿAttāb ʾAbū Al-ʾAswad al-Taghlibi ( ar, عمرو بن كلثوم; 526–584) was a poet and chieftain of the

Taghlib The Banu Taghlib (), also known as Taghlib ibn Wa'il, were an Arab tribe that originated in Najd (central Arabia), but later migrated and inhabited the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) from the late 6th century onward. Their parent tribe was the Rabi ...

tribe in

pre-Islamic Arabia Pre-Islamic Arabia ( ar, شبه الجزيرة العربية قبل الإسلام) refers to the Arabian Peninsula before the emergence of Islam in 610 CE. Some of the settled communities developed into distinctive civilizations. Informatio ...

. One of his poems was included in the ''

Mu'allaqat The Muʻallaqāt ( ar, المعلقات, ) is a group of seven long Arabic poems. The name means The Suspended Odes or The Hanging Poems, the traditional explanation being that these poems were hung in the Kaaba in Mecca, while scholars have also ...

''. He is the grandson of the poet

Abu Layla al-Muhalhel Abu Layla ʿUday ibn Rabīʿa ibn al-Ḥāriṯ at-Taḡlibiyy ( ar, أَبُو لَيْلَى عُدَيّ بْن رَبِيعَة بْن الْحَارِث التَّغْلِبِيّ; 443 – 531 CE), also known by the nicknames al-Muhalhil ...

Taghlibs

The great

Basus War The Basus (or Basous) War (often written al-Basus War; ''ḥarb al-basūs'') was a 40-year conflict between two cousin tribes in Arabia of Late Antiquity which was started by the killing of a camel owned by woman named Al Basus under the protecit ...

, which was between the Taghlibs and the Bakrs, lasted for approximately forty years until the

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 capita ...

s 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-Is ...

'Amr ibn Hind Amr III ibn al-Mundhir ( ar, عمرو بن المنذر, ʿAmr ibn al-Mundhir; gr, Ἄμβρος ὁ �ἱός τοῦἈλαμουνδάρου), more commonly known by the matronymic Amr ibn Hind ( ar, عمرو بن هند, ''ʿAmr ibn Hind''), w ...

, urged them to make peace with each other on condition that some of their children were to be taken hostages by the king. The King of Hira said one day to his drinking companions, "Do you know anyone among the Arabs whose mother declines serving my mother?" They replied, "Yes, Amr Ibn Kulthum." The king asked, "Why is that?" His companions replied, "Because her father is Al-Muhalhel Bin Rabī'ah, her uncle is Kolaib a prestigious Arabian, her spouse is Kulthum Ibn Malik Ibn Etab an astounding knight of Arabs and her son is Amr ibn Kulthum chief of his clan." After that the king sent for Amr Ibn Kulthum asking him to visit along with his mother Layla. Ibn Kulthum accepted the king's invitation and visited him with his companions and his mother. After they arrived and while Layla was sitting, the mother of the king (the aunt of Imru' al-Qais) Hind asked her to pass the plate, to which Layla replied, "let the one in need go to her need" and when Hind insisted, Layla shouted saying: "What a humiliation!" Her son heard her and was so deeply stirred by the insult that he took his sword and decapitated the king of

and killed his guards then left. This exploit may be a legend of the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...

era.

Ode

In his ode, the first eight verses are a wine song which perhaps were added later but suit the poem very well. The next thematic section narrates his lady's departure on her litter (a chair placed on camel's back that veiled women from strangers, dust and sun), and the joy of the sword-fight. Finally he deals with several types of grief - camels over their young, mothers for sons, the departure of lovers and the grief brought by fate. At this point in the ode he covers the philosophy of the uncertainty of life and fate. Next, he addresses the grandfather of the victim - Amr b. Hind - and discusses Arab ideals and defends his mother again. He lauds his ancestors as well. The following is the opening section of his ode:

His Works

He has only four poems that have survived: *
ALA HOBEY BESAHNEK FASBAHINA
' (

Muallaqah The Muʻallaqāt ( ar, المعلقات, ) is a group of seven long Arabic poems. The name means The Suspended Odes or The Hanging Poems, the traditional explanation being that these poems were hung in the Kaaba in Mecca, while scholars have also ...

) *
AAGMA` SOHBATY
' *
ALA MIN MOBALGHA
' *
EN NASRKOM GHADA
''

References

External links

Poem Text & Audio (in Arabic)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Amr ibn Kulthum 526 births 584 deaths 6th-century Arabic poets Year of birth unknown Banu Taghlib