Hutayah

(also al-Hutay’ah; nickname of Jarwal ibn Aws al-Absi). Born circa 600; died 679 in the al-Hijaz. Arabic poet; last major pre-Islamic Arabic poet and one of the first professional panegyrists in medieval Arabic literature.

Hutay’ah came from the lower strata of the Mudarite tribe of Abs. His panegyrics to members of the old Arab elite and figures of the early Muslim state reflect the sentiments of the Arabian poor, who idealized the tribal order of the past. Hutay’ah wrote masterful examples of poetical invective (hajw), appreciated not only for their mordant ridicule but also for their lively descriptions of reality.

Hutay’ah’s poetic style influenced medieval Arabic poetry. Iraqi philologists of the eighth and ninth centuries compiled cycles of legends and anecdotes celebrating the erotic indulgence of Hutay’ah.