Al-Basus (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: البسوس) was a female poet of pre-Islamic Arabia. She is remembered for her poetry which incited her nephew into murdering

Kulaib ibn Rabiah Kulaib ibn Rabi'ah al-Taghlibi (Arabic: كليب بن ربيعة التغلبي) also known as Wa'il al-Taghlibi was a pre-Islamic tribal chief and the first of the Adnanites to become a king over them. Under his rule, the Adnanites gained promine ...

, starting the

Basus War The Basus War (often written al-Basus War; ''ḥarb al-basūs'') was a 40-year conflict between two cousin tribes in Arabia of Late Antiquity. It was caused by the slaughtering of a camel that was owned by a neighboring tribe, and the subsequent ...

that lasted for 40 years.

Biography

Al-Basus was from the tribes of

Banu Tamim The Banū Tamīm () are an Arab tribe that originated in Najd and Hejaz in the Arabian Peninsula. It is mainly present in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Jordan and Lebanon, and has a strong presence in Algeria, and Morocco, Palestine, ...

and

Banu Bakr The Banu Bakr bin Wa'il ( '), or simply Banu Bakr, today known as Bani Bakr is an Arabian tribe belonging to the large Rabi'ah, a branch of Adnanite tribe. It is registered as one of the oldest and most ancient Arab gatherings. The tribe is rep ...

. Her father, Munqidh, was of Bakri descent. She was also the maternal aunt of

Jassas ibn Murrah Jassas ibn Murrah al-Shaybani al-Bakri (Arabic: جساس بن مرة الشيباني البكري) was a pre-Islamic tribal chief of the Banu Shayban, a division of the Banu Bakr tribe. He is best remembered for his assassination of the chief of ...

, who was the chief of the

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

tribe at the time in the late 5th century.

Role in the Basus War

Al-Basus owned a she-camel that had one day accidentally wandered into and grazed some fields that were the property of

, the chief of the

Taghlib The Banu Taghlib (), also known as Taghlib ibn Wa'il, were an Arab tribe that originated in Jazira. Their parent tribe was the Rabi'a, and they thus traced their descent to the Adnanites. The Taghlib were among the most powerful and cohesive no ...

tribe. Kulaib was unhappy at what had happened to his property, so he shot at the unwelcomed she-camel with arrows, killing it. When Al-Basus heard of the plight of her she-camel, she composed a poem which incited her nephew

against Kulaib. Jassas eventually murdered Kulaib as revenge for the killing of his aunt's she-camel; the murder aroused the wrath of the members of the Taghlib tribe including Kulaib's brother,

Abu Layla al-Muhalhel Abu Layla ʿUday ibn Rabīʿa ibn al-Ḥāriṯ at-Taḡlibiyy (; 443 – 531 CE), also known by the nicknames al-Muhalhil ("he who finely weaves poems") and az-Zīr ("the philander"), was a Pre-Islamic poetry, pre-Islamic poet and warrior ...

. The Basus War which lasted for approximately 40 years was triggered by the murder of Kulaib, which in turn was triggered by Al-Basus' poetry.

References

{{reflist Banu Bakr Banu Tamim 500s deaths

Biography

Role in the Basus War

See also

References