Labid

Abū Aqīl Labīd ibn Rabīʿa ibn Mālik al-ʿĀmirī (Arabic: أبو عقيل لَبيد بن ربيعة بن مالك العامِري; c. 505 – c. 661) was an Arab poet from Hejaz and a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

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, shortest Surah, 'Al-Kawthar'. 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.

In an elegy composed for Nu'mh Mundhii, Labid wrote:

Every thing, but Allah, is vain

And all happiness, unconditionally, will vanish

When a man is on a night journey, he thinks that he has accomplished some deed

But man spends his life in hopes

...

If you do not trust your self, approve it

Perhaps the past would unclose it to you

When you do not find a father other than 'Adnan and Ma'ad,

The judge (God) will punish you

On the day when every body will be informed of his deeds

When the record of his life is opened before Allah

أَلا كُلُّ شَيْءٍ مَا خَلا اللَّهَ بَاطِلٌ

Muhammad said regarding the first verse of the above eulogy,

❝The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The most true words said by a poet was the words of Labid." He said, Verily, Everything except Allah is perishable and Umaiya bin As-Salt was about to be a Muslim (but he did not embrace Islam).'❞

[Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhāri, The Book of Manners, Ḥadīth No. 3841]

References

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Labīd". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 5–6.

External links

• The concept of Allah as the highest god in pre-Islamic Arabia