Al-Mutalammis (

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 ...

: المتلمس), real name Jarīr ibn ʻAbd al-Masīḥ, was a 6th-century

Arab Christian Arab Christians () are the Arabs who adhere to Christianity. The number of Arab Christians who live in the Middle East was estimated in 2012 to be between 10 and 15 million. Arab Christian communities can be found throughout the Arab world, bu ...

poet. He was the maternal uncle of fellow poet

Tarafa Tarafa ( / ALA-LC: ''Ṭarafah ibn al-‘Abd ibn Sufyān ibn Sa‘d Abū ‘Amr al-Bakrī al-Wā’ilī''; 543–569), was an Arabian poet of the tribe of the Bakr. He is one of the seven poets of the most celebrated anthology of ancient Arabic ...

. Al-Mutalammis was from the

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 ...

tribe.

Biography

His real name was Jarir ibn 'Abd al-Masih and he was from the tribe of

. His patronymic Ibn 'Abd al-Masih implies that he was an

and not a follower of pre-Islamic polytheism. His nephew was the poet

. Ibn Sallam al-Jumahi places Al-Mutalammis in the seventh of the later classes of poets that lived before Islam.

Conflict with the Lakhmids

Al-Mutalammis and his nephew Tarafa travelled to the city of

Al-Hira Al-Hira ( Middle Persian: ''Hērt'' ) was an ancient Lakhmid Arabic city in Mesopotamia located south of what is now Kufa in south-central Iraq. The Sasanian government established the Lakhmid state (Al-Hirah) on the edge of the Arabian Desert ...

around the 6th century, where they visited '

Amr ibn Hind Amr III ibn al-Mundhir (; ), more commonly known by the matronymic Amr ibn Hind (, ''ʿAmr ibn Hind''), was the king of the Lakhmid Arabs in 554–569/570. He was a client of the Sasanian Empire. In around 550 AD he clashed with Aksumite Empire ...

, the

Lakhmid The Lakhmid kingdom ( ), also referred to as al-Manādhirah () or as Banū Lakhm (), was an Arab kingdom that was founded and ruled by the Lakhmid dynasty from to 602. Spanning Eastern Arabia and Sawad, Southern Mesopotamia, it existed as a d ...

ruler of the city. The three men had generally good relations until Tarafa recited a poem which was insulting towards 'Amr ibn Hind. After the two poets had left Al-Hira, 'Amr ibn Hind sent a message to both of them which ordered them to come forward to ancient

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

for their execution. Tarafa, not wanting to break the royal seal, went ahead to Al-Hira for his execution, while Al-Mutalammis instead ignored the letter and threw it away, hence saving his life. He escaped via camel to the

Ghassanids The Ghassanids, also known as the Jafnids, were an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe. Originally from South Arabia, they migrated to the Levant in the 3rd century and established what would eventually become a Christian state, Christian kingdom unde ...

Legacy

Al-Mutalammis died around 580 CE in the

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

city of

Bosra Bosra (), formerly Bostra () and officially called Busra al-Sham (), is a town in southern Syria, administratively belonging to the Daraa District of the Daraa Governorate and geographically part of the Hauran region. Bosra is an ancient cit ...

. A fictionalized version of him appears in the book '' 1001 Arabian Nights'', where he escapes from the king

Al-Nu'man III ibn al-Mundhir Al-Nuʿmān III ibn al-Mundhir (), 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 Arab. He is considered one of the mos ...

. Some of his poetry has been compiled into a book known as the ''Dīwān Shiʿr al-Mutalammis al-Ḍubaʿī''.

References

{{reflist Arab Christians 6th-century Arabic-language poets 580s deaths

Biography

Conflict with the Lakhmids

Legacy

See also

References