Amr ibn Kulthum
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Amr ibn Kulthum Ibn Malik Ibn A`tab Abu Al-Aswad al-Taghlibi (... - 584), a knight and the leader of the Taghlab tribe which was in Al-Forat island and was famous for its glory, bravery and merciless behavior in battle. Arabs in the past would say in remembrance of the Taghlab "People were about to be eradicated by the Taghlabs, except for the appearance of Islam".
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[edit] Taghlabs
The great Basus War, which was between the Taghlabs and the Bakrs, lasted for approximately forty years until the Lakhmids king of al-Hirah, Amr Bin Hind, urged them to make peace with each other on condition that some of their children were to be taken hostages by the king.
The King of Hira said one day to his drinking companions, "Do you know anyone among the Arabs whose mother declines serving my mother?" They replied, "Yes, Amr Ibn Kulthum." The king asked, "Why is that?" His companions replied, "Because her father is Al-Muhalhel Bin Rabī'ah, her uncle is Kolaib a prestigious Arabian, her spouse is Kulthum Ibn Malik Ibn Etab an astounding knight of Arabs and her son is Amr ibn Kulthum chief of his clan."
After that the king sent for Amr Ibn Kulthum asking him to visit along with his mother Layla. Kulthum accepted the king's invitation and visited him with his companions and his mother. After they arrived and while Layla was sitting, the mother of the king (the aunt of Imru' al-Qais) Hind asked her to pass the plate, to which Layla replied, "let the one in need go to her need" and when Hind insisted, Layla shouted saying: "What a humiliation!"
Her son heard her and was so deeply stirred by the insult that he took his sword and decapitated the king of al-Hirah and killed his guards then left.
[edit] Ode
In his ode, the first eight verses are a wine song which perhaps were added later but suit the poem very well. The next thematic section narrates his lady's departure on her litter (a chair placed on camel's back that veiled women from strangers, dust and sun), and the joy of the sword-fight. Finally he deals with several types of grief - camels over their young, mothers for sons, the departure of lovers and the grief brought by fate. At this point in the ode he covers the philosophy of the uncertainty of life and fate. Next, he addresses the grandfather of the victim - Amr b. Hind - and discusses Arab ideals and defends his mother again. He lauds his ancestors as well.
The following is the opening section of his ode:
وَلاَ تُبْقِي خُمُـوْرَ الأَنْدَرِيْنَـا أَلاَ هُبِّي بِصَحْنِكِ فَاصْبَحِيْنَـا Ha girl! Up with the bowl! Give us our dawn draught And do not spare the wines of al-Andarina,
مُشَعْشَعَةً كَأَنَّ الحُصَّ فِيْهَـا إِذَا مَا المَاءَ خَالَطَهَا سَخِيْنَـا The brightly sparkling, as if by saffron were in them Whenever the mulled water is mingled with them,
إِذَا مَا ذَاقَهَـا حَتَّـى يَلِيْنَـا تَجُوْرُ بِذِي اللَّبَانَةِ عَنْ هَـوَاهُ That swing the hotly desirous from his passion When he has tasted them to gentle mellowness;
عَلَيْـهِ لِمَـالِهِ فِيْهَـا مُهِيْنَـا تَرَى اللَّحِزَ الشَّحِيْحَ إِذَا أُمِرَّتْ You see the skinflint miser, when the cup's passed him, Suddenly holds his prized property in derision.
وَكَانَ الكَأْسُ مَجْرَاهَا اليَمِيْنَـا صَبَنْتِ الكَأْسَ عَنَّا أُمَّ عَمْـرٍو O Umm ‘Amr, you've withheld the beaker from us- From right to right it should have been running-
وَمَا شَـرُّ الثَّـلاَثَةِ أُمَّ عَمْـرٍو بِصَاحِبِكِ الذِي لاَ تَصْبَحِيْنَـا And yet your friend, whom you deny the dawn-draught, O Umm ‘Amr, is not the worst trio,
وَأُخْرَى فِي دِمَشْقَ وَقَاصرِيْنَـا وَكَأْسٍ قَدْ شَـرِبْتُ بِبَعْلَبَـكٍّ And a wine cup I had drank in Baalbek; and other one (wine cup) in Damascus and Qāserīn
وَإِنَّا سَـوْفَ تُدْرِكُنَا المَنَـايَا مُقَـدَّرَةً لَنَـا وَمُقَـدِّرِيْنَـا And of surety the fates will overtake us Predestined for us, as we for them are predestined.
[edit] His Works
He has only four poems that have survived:
- ALA HOBEY BESAHNEK FASBAHINA ( The Muallaqah ) [1]
- AAGMA` SOHBATY [2]
- ALA MIN MOBALGHA [3]
- EN NASRKOM GHADA [4]
