Zuhayr Ibn Abi Sulma

Zuhayr Ibn Abi Sulma

 

(also, Rabiya al-Muzani). Born 530; died 627. Arab poet of the bedouin Hatafan tribe.

Zuhayr is best known for his qasida on the nobility of the two Arabs who ended a 40-years’ war between the kindred Abs and Zubiyan tribes. Included in the collection al-Muallagat, the qasida is considered one of the best works of pre-Islamic poetry. It differs from other pre-Islamic qasidas in its epic narrative manner. It contains many wise precepts.

WORKS

The Divans of the Six Ancient Arabic Poets. Edited by W. Ahlwardt. London, 1870.

REFERENCES

Krymskii, A. E.Arabskaia literatura v ocherkakh i obraztsakh, vol. 1. Moscow, 1911.
Brockelmann, C. Geschichte der arabischen Literatur, vol. 1, 2nd ed. Leiden, 1943.