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Introduction to the Source

In the following rithāʾ, or elegy, al-Ḥārith laments the disrespectful slaying of Bujayr, rehearses the many hard feelings the father endured in its wake, and presents images and moods from his day in the battle. The poem is best known by its famous refrain, “Qarribā marbaṭ al-Naʿāmah minnī,” (“Bring me al-Naʿāmah’s harness”), al-Naʿāmah being his unrivaled horse. The poem as it survives exists in multiple versions, though none live up to the claim that al-Ḥārith repeated this call over 50 times.

Introduction to the Text

The advent of Islam precipitated a breakthrough in historiography. In the centuries that followed the religion’s arrival, linguists, lexicographers, and chroniclers spared no effort to write all they knew of the Arabs’ pre-Islamic days, much of it preserved in verse. This poetry commemorated landmarks of the past—events not so much faithfully recorded as artistically imagined to drive home their import.

One such event, the Basūs War (ca. 494-534), comes to us by way of several poems. This legendary 40-year war between the sibling tribes of Taghlib and Bakr (two sons of Wāʾil ibn Hind) broke out with the murder of the Taghlibs’ leader, Wāʾil ibn Rabīʿah, better known as Kulayb. Not long before, Kulayb’s aunt-in-law, al-Basūs bint Munqidh, hosted Saʿd ibn Shumays as a resident under her protection. Saʿd’s she-camel, al-Sarāb, was pastured with those of Jassās ibn Murrah, her nephew and Kulayb’s brother-in-law. According to medieval transmitters of this story, the expressions “ashʾam min al-Sarāb” (“worse omened than al-Sarāb”) and “ashʾam min al-Basūs” (“worse omened than al-Basūs”) derive from what ensues.

Noticing the unfamiliar camel among his herd, Kulayb warned Jassās that al-Sarāb was not welcome to pasture near his land. Jassās responded in kind that none of his camels would pasture without her. Kulayb then threatened that if he saw her again, he’d stick an arrow in her breast. If he did so, said Jassās, he’d stick an arrow in his (Kulayb's) neck. Despite this threat, Kulayb fatally struck al-Sarāb when again encountering her. al-Basūs wailed her humiliation to her nephew, vowing to kill Kulayb’s most prized camel, Ghilāl, in retaliation. Jassās set his mind to killing Kulayb, and did.

Following Kulayb’s murder, Taghlib leadership transferred to his brother, ʿAdiyy ibn Rab īʿah, styled “al-Muhalhil” (“The Refiner”) on account of the refinement of his poetry. He maintained a killing streak for several decades that eventually resulted in the deaths of Jassās and his half-brother, Hammām. A third half-brother, al-Ḥārith ibn ʿUbād (or ʿAbbād), who had avoided the conflict entirely until this point, now intervened, dispatching a letter to al-Muhalhil. The message, sent with al-Ḥārith’s son, Bujayr, offered al-Muhalhil the choice of either slaying Bujayr and finally ending the bloodshed, or releasing him to likewise establish peace. al-Muhalhil chose a third option, proclaiming “buʾ bi-shisʿ naʿl Kulayb!” (“Take payback for Kulayb’s shoelace!”) before slaying the emissary.

al-Ḥārith initially accepted this awesome sacrifice, but when it reached him, al-Muhalhil’s taunt incensed the grieving father. He entered the battle not long after, killing many that day, conclusively defeating the Taghlibs and capturing their leader. Failing to recognize him, al-Ḥārith commanded his prisoner to lead him to al-Muhalhil; the latter promised to do so on the condition that he would not harm him. al-Ḥārith acquiesced. When the prisoner identified himself, his captor, a man of his word, cut al-Muhalhil’s forelock off but otherwise left him alone.

Further Reading

Fück, J.W., “al-Basūs”, Encyclopaedia of Islam, edited by P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs, 2nd ed., Brill, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_1273.

Ibn al-Athīr. A. al-Kāmil fī al-Tārīkh, edited by ʿU. Tadmurī, vol. 1, Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 2017, pp. 427-85.

Khalidi, T. Arabic Historical Thought in the Classical Period. Cambridge UP, 1994.

Nabawī, ʿA. Dīwān Banī Bakr fī al-Jāhiliyyah. Dār al-Zahrāʾ li-al-Nashr bi-al-Qāhirah, 1989.

al-Nuwayrī, A. Nihāyat al-Arab fī Funūn al-Adab, edited by M. Qumayḥah and Ḥ. Nūr al-Dīn, Vol. 15, Dar Al-Kotob Al-ilmiyah, 2004, pp. 303-10.

Rosenthal, F. A History of Muslim Historiography. 2nd rev. ed., Brill, 1968.

Credits

Text based on Cheikho, L. 1890. Kitāb Shuʿarāʾ al-Naṣrāniyyah. Vol. 1. Beirut: Maṭbaʿat al-Ābāʾ al-Mursilīn al-Yasūʿiyyīn fī Bayrūt, pages 271-273., Translation by Sherif Abdelkarim, Encoded in TEI P5 XML by Danny Smith