Durayd ibn al-Simma () was a pre-

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

warrior A warrior is a guardian specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal society, tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracy, social class, class, or caste. History ...

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

of the

Hawazin The Hawazin ( / ALA-LC: ''Hawāzin'') were an Arab tribe originally based in the western Najd and around Ta'if in the Hejaz. They formed part of the larger Qays tribal group. The Hawazin consisted of the subtribes of Banu Sa'd, and Banu Jusham, a ...

tribe. He was also the chief of the Banu Jusham ibn Mu'awiya,Abi Hatim Sahl ibn Muhammad al-Sijistani. almueamirun walwasaya (in Arabic). p. 8. or the modern day Al-Qthami clan of the tribe of

Otaibah The Otaibah (, also spelled Otaiba, Utaybah) is one of the biggest Arabian tribes originating in the Arabian Peninsula. Their distribution spans throughout Saudi Arabia, especially in Najd and Hejaz. and the Middle East. The Otaibah are descended ...

. Historians have cited that he contributed to more than a hundred battles for his tribe. By the time of the

rise of Islam The spread of Islam spans almost 1,400 years. The early Muslim conquests that occurred following the death of Muhammad in 632 CE led to the creation of the caliphates, expanding over a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted ...

, he was already an old man and remained a

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

Lineage of Durayd ibn al-Simma

Durayd ibn al-Simma (Mu'awiya) ibn al-Harith ibn Mu'awiya ibn Bakr ibn Alqa ibn Khuza'a ibn Ghazieh ibn Jusham ibn Mu'awiya ibn Bakr ibn

ibn Mansur ibn Ikrima ibn Khasafa ibn Qays ʿAylān ibn

Mudar The Mudar () was a principal grouping of the northern Arab tribes. History The Mudar and Rabi'a are recorded in central Arabia in the Arabic histories of the pre-Islamic period; the kings of the Kindah bore the title of "king of the Ma'add ( ...

ibn Nizar ibn

Ma'add Maʿadd ibn ʿAdnān (Arabic: مَعَدّ ٱبْن عَدْنَان) was a mythic Arabs, Arab ancestor, traditionally regarded as the son of Adnan and the forefather of several northern Arab tribes, including Mudar and Adnanites, Rabi'ah. He is ...

ibn

Adnan Adnan () is traditionally regarded as the patriarch of the Adnanite Arabs, a major Arab lineage that historically inhabited Northern, Western, Eastern, and Central Arabia. The Adnanites are distinct from the Qahtanite Arabs of Southern Arabia ...

His attributes

Durayd ibn al-Simma is a brave knight and poet, and Muhammad bin Salam Al-Jumahi made him the first poet of the knights. He was the longest war poet, and Abu Ubayda said: Durayd ibn al-Simma was the leader of Banu Jusham ibn Sa'd, their knight and their leader, and participated in about a hundred battles, he did not lose in one of them, and he heard about Islam but did not embrace it, and participated in the

Battle of Hunayn The Battle of Hunayn () was a conflict between the Muslims of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the tribe of Qays in the aftermath of the conquest of Mecca. The battle took place in 8 AH () in the Hunayn valley on the route from Mecca to ...

Brothers

Durayd had four brothers: Abd Allah, who was killed by

Ghatafan The Ghaṭafān () were an Arab tribal confederation originally based northeast of Medina. The main branches of the Ghatafan were the tribes of Banu Abs, Banu Dhubyan and Ashja'. They were one of the Arab tribes that interacted with Muhammad. Th ...

, Abd Yaghuth, who was killed by Banu Murra, Qays, who was killed by Banu Abu Bakr ibn Kilab, and Khalid, who was killed by Banu al-Harith ibn Ka'b. Their mother is Rayhana, the daughter of Ma'adi Yakrib al-Zubaidi, the sister of

Amr ibn Ma'adi Yakrib Amr ibn Ma'adi Yakrib al-Zubaīdi al-Madḥ'hijī () (died 642 CE) was an Arabian cavalry commander of the Zubaid clan in Yemen, part of the Madhhij tribe confederation. Amr is considered a legendary warrior, battling against legendary figures ...

His story with Khansa

In his old age, he proposed marriage to the poet

Al-Khansa Tumāḍir bint ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥārith ibn al-Sharīd al-Sulamīyah (), usually simply referred to as al-Khansāʾ (, meaning "snub-nosed", an Arabic epithet for a gazelle as metaphor for beauty) was a 7th-century tribeswoman, living in the Ara ...

. According to the ''

Kitab al-Aghani ''Kitāb al-Aghānī'' (), is an encyclopedic collection of poems and songs that runs to over 20 volumes in modern editions, attributed to the 10th-century Arabic writer Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, Abū al-Farāj al-Isfahānī (also known as al-Is ...

'', she sent a slave woman to watch him urinate, saying "If his urine cuts into the ground, he has got something left in him; but if his urine trickles over the surface, there's no zip in him." The slave woman observed only a weak stream of urine, so Al-Khansa refused his offer of marriage.

References

{{authority control 7th-century Arabic-language poets Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown Hawazin One Thousand and One Nights characters 6th-century Arab people 7th-century Arab people

Lineage of Durayd ibn al-Simma

His attributes

Brothers

His story with Khansa

See also

References