Al-Mutalammis

Jarīr ibn ʻAbd al-Masīḥ
جرير بن عبد المسيح
Diedc. 580 CE
Bosra
Known forArabic poetry
Titleal-Mutalammis
RelativesTarafa (nephew)

Al-Mutalammis (Arabic: المتلمس), real name Jarīr ibn ʻAbd al-Masīḥ, was a 6th-century Arab Christian poet. He was the maternal uncle of fellow poet Tarafa. Al-Mutalammis was from the Banu Bakr tribe.

Biography

His real name was Jarir ibn 'Abd al-Masih and he was from the tribe of Banu Bakr.[1] His patronymic Ibn 'Abd al-Masih implies that he was an Arab Christian and not a follower of pre-Islamic polytheism.[a] His nephew was the poet Tarafa.[1][2]

Ibn Sallam al-Jumahi places Al-Mutalammis in the seventh of the later classes of poets that lived before Islam.[3]

Conflict with the Lakhmids

Al-Mutalammis and his nephew Tarafa travelled to the city of Al-Hira around the 6th century, where they visited 'Amr ibn Hind, the Lakhmid ruler of the city.[1][4] The three men had generally good relations until Tarafa recited a poem which was insulting towards 'Amr ibn Hind.[1][4] After the two poets had left Al-Hira, 'Amr ibn Hind sent a message to both of them which ordered them to come forward to ancient Bahrain for their execution.[1][4] Tarafa, not wanting to break the royal seal, went ahead to Al-Hira for his execution, while Al-Mutalammis instead ignored the letter and threw it away, hence saving his life.[1][4] He escaped via camel to the Ghassanids.[5]

Legacy

Al-Mutalammis died around 580 CE in the Syrian city of Bosra. A fictionalized version of him appears in the book 1001 Arabian Nights, where he escapes from the king Al-Nu'man III ibn al-Mundhir.[6] Some of his poetry has been compiled into a book known as the Dīwān Shiʿr al-Mutalammis al-Ḍubaʿī.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ 'Abd al-Masih is a name for Arab Christians which means "Slave (or servant) of the Messiah" in Arabic.
  1. ^ a b c d e f Ibn Manzur (1984). Mukhtaṣar Tārīkh Dimashq li-Ibn ʻAsākir. Damascus, Syria: Dar Al Fikr.
  2. ^ a b Altunji, Mohammed (1998). Dīwān Shiʿr al-Mutalammis al-Ḍubaʿī. Beirut, Lebanon: Dar Sader.
  3. ^ al-Jumahi, Ibn Salam (1900). Tabaqat al-shu'ara' al-jahiliyin wa-al-Islamiyin. Egypt: Misr al-Matba'ah al-Mahmudiyah al-Tijariyah al-Kubra.
  4. ^ a b c d Nicholson, Reynold A. (1994). A Literary History Of The Arabs. New Delhi, India: Kitab Bhavan - Publishers, Exporters and Importers. ISBN 8171511945.
  5. ^ "Note on the "letter of death" motif". www.wisdomlib.org. 2019-06-29. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
  6. ^ Burton, Richard F. (1888). A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights' Entertainments, Now Entitiled The Book of The Thousand Nights and a Night. The United States: Kama Shastra Society.