Imru' al-Qais

Background

His qaṣīda, or long poem, 'Let us stop and weep' (qifā nabki) is one of the seven Mu'allaqat. His father was said to be Hujr bin al-Harith, the Kindan regent over the Arab tribes of Asad and Ghatafan, and it is believed that Imru' al-Qais was born in the territory of Asad. His mother was said to be Fatimah bint Rabi'ah al-Taghlibi. Legend has it that he was the youngest of his father's sons and began composing poetry as a child.

His father disapproved of his poetry and scandalous lifestyle, eventually banishing him. After the Asad rebelled and assassinated his father, Imru' al-Qais avenged his death and spent the remainder of his life trying to regain his father's kingdom. He was also referred to as 'the Lost King' (al-Malik aḍ-Ḍalīl) because he was never able to recover his father's throne. The name Imru' al-Qais means 'man of Qais', (al-)Qais being the name of a pre-Islamic deity.

Ancestry

The tribe of Kinda had its origins in South Arabia and migrated north to Najd. Hujr Akil al-Murar became the first Kindite king, succeeded by his son 'Amr, then al-Harith, then Hujr (father of Imru' al-Qais). Of al-Harith, it is told that when the Persian emperor Kavadh I adopted Mazdakism, al-Harith converted, causing Kavadh to make him king of the Hirah.

Kavadh's son Khosrau I rejected Mazdakism and restored al-Mundhir to the throne. Some reports indicate al-Harith was captured by al-Mundhir and killed along with two of his sons and more than forty kinsmen. Imru' al-Qais mourns this tragedy in one of his poems. In 525 AD Yemen was occupied by the Negus of Axum; with their sponsor destroyed, the Kingdom of Kinda quickly fell apart.

It is probably during this period that Asad rebelled and killed Hujr. Historians are divided as to the year of Imru' al-Qais' birth; one estimate is around 526 AD. After his father's death, the tribes of Bakr and Taghlib supported him against Asad, then withdrew. He traveled seeking support, and his last journey was to Constantinople to seek support from Emperor Justinian I. The Ghassanid prince Al-Harith ibn Jabalah sponsored him, and most accounts indicate he won some promise of support.