Labid

Labid Poems

Labid Biography

Labīd (Abu Aqil Labīd ibn Rabī'ah) (Arabic لَبيد بن ربيعة بن مالك أبو عقيل العامِري) (c. 560 – c. 661) was an Arabian poet. He belonged to the Bani Amir, a division of the tribe of the Hawazin. In his younger years he was an active warrior, and his verse is largely concerned with inter-tribal disputes. Later, he was sent by a sick uncle to get a remedy from Muhammad at Medina and on this occasion was much influenced by a part of the Koran. He accepted Islam soon after, but seems then to have ceased writing. In Umar's caliphate he is said to have settled in Kufa. Tradition ascribes to him a long life, but dates given are uncertain and contradictory. One of his poems is contained in the Mu'allaqat. His muruwwa (virtue) is highlighted in the story that he vowed to feed people whenever the east wind began to blow, and to continue so doing until it stopped. Al-Walid 'Uqba, leader of the Kuffa, sent him one hundred camels to enable him to keep his vow.)

The Best Poem Of Labid

And many a bitter morn of wind and cold

And many a bitter morn of wind and cold
I curbed,
When its reins were in the hand
of the north wind.
I defended the tribe, my battle gear borne
by a winning courser,
Her reins my sash when I went
forth at dawn.
Then I mounted a lookout post
on a narrow, wind-blown peak
Whose dust rose to the banners
of the foe
Until when daylight dipped its hand into
the all-concealing night,
And darkness veiled the crotches of
each mountain pass,
To the plain I descended and my mare
held erect her neck
Like the date palm's stripped trunk at which
the picker's courage fails.
I spurred her to a speed
fit for the ostrich chase,
Until when she was heated through
and her bones were nimble,
Her light leathern saddle slipped,
sweat flowed from her neck,
And her saddle girth
was soaked with froth.
She coursed, head held high and thrusting
in the bridle, racing headlong
Like a thirsting dove to water when
her flock beats urgent wings.

Labid Comments