Rāfiʿ ibn Abīʾl-Layl ibn ʿUlayyān al-Kalbī () (), also known by his ''

laqab Arabic names have historically been based on a long naming system. Many people from Arabic-speaking and also non-Arab Muslim countries have not had given name, given, middle name, middle, and family names but rather a chain of names. This system ...

'' (honorific epithet) ʿIzz al-Dawla (), was the emir of the

Kalb The Banu Kalb () was an Arab tribe which mainly dwelt in the desert and steppe of northwestern Arabia and central Syria. It was involved in the tribal politics of the Byzantine Empire's eastern frontiers, possibly as early as the 4th century. ...

tribe of

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

in the mid-11th century.

Life

Rafi succeeded his uncle, Sinan ibn Ulayyan, as emir of the

after the latter's death in 1028. Sinan had entered the Kalb into an alliance against the

Fatimid Caliphate The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa and West Asia, i ...

with two other

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

tribal confederations, the

Tayy The Tayy (/ALA-LC: ''Ṭayyi’''; Musnad: 𐩷𐩺), also known as Ṭayyi, Tayyaye, or Taiyaye, are a large and ancient Arab tribe, among whose descendants today are the tribes of Bani Sakher and Shammar. The '' nisba'' (patronymic) of Tayy i ...

under

Hassan ibn Mufarrij Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to: People *Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name *Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scotti ...

and the Kilab under

Salih ibn Mirdas Abu Ali Salih ibn Mirdas (), also known by his ''Arabic name#Laqab, laqab'' (honorific epithet) Asad al-Dawla ('Lion of the State'), was the founder of the Mirdasid dynasty and emir of Ancient City of Aleppo, Aleppo from 1025 until his death in ...

. However, under Rafi, the Kalb defected to the Fatimids. This occurred after Rafi' declared his loyalty to Caliph az-Zahir () in return for control of Sinan's '' iqtaʿat'' (fiefs). When the Fatimids dispatched

Anushtakin al-Dizbari Sharaf al-Maʿālī Abu Manṣūr Anūshtakīn al-Dizbarī (died January 1042) was a Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid statesman and general who became the most powerful Fatimid governor of Bilad al-Sham, Syria. Under his Damascus-based administration, a ...

to confront the Tayy and Kilab, Rafi and the Kalb fought alongside him at the decisive

Battle of al-Uqhuwana The Battle of al-Uqhuwana () was fought at a place east of Lake Tiberias in May 1029 between the Fatimid Caliphate under general Anushtakin al-Dizbari and a coalition of Syrian Bedouin tribes. The latter was represented by the Tayy tribe of Pal ...

near

Lake Tiberias The Sea of Galilee (, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ), also called Lake Tiberias, Genezareth Lake or Kinneret, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth and the second-lowest lak ...

. After the battle, during which Salih was slain, Rafi' identified his body and that of his son, decapitated them and sent their heads to Anushtakin. The Kalb under Rafi later participated in Anushtakin's campaign against Salih's successor,

Shibl al-Dawla Nasr Abu Kamil Nasr ibn Salih ibn Mirdas () (died 22 May 1038), also known by his (honorific epithet) of Shibl al-Dawla ('Lion cub of the Dynasty'), was the second Mirdasid dynasty, Mirdasid emir of Aleppo, ruling between May 1029 until his death. He ...

, in 1038, which ended in Nasr's slaying and the Fatimids' recapture of Aleppo.

Druze tradition

Rafi is considered a hero in the

Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...

tradition for fighting Salih ibn Mirdas and using his wealth to protect and support the Druze in Syria. The Druze missionary Baha al-Din praised Rafi for protecting the oppressed in an

epistle An epistle (; ) is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as part of the scribal-school writing curriculum. The ...

to Arab tribal chiefs in 1031. He later became considered a saintly figure of the Druze.

References

Bibliography

* * * * *{{cite book, last1=Swayd, first1=Sami, title=The A to Z of the Druzes, date=2006, publisher=Scarecrow Press, page=85, isbn=9780810868366 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Nq9lD5wnBMC&pg=PA85 11th-century Arab people 11th-century Syrian people Banu Kalb Bedouin tribal chiefs Syria under the Fatimid Caliphate History of the Druze