Labīd ibn Rabīʿah: Hospitality, Justice, Trust and Tribal Leadership (Verses 70–88)

1. From individual courage to communal life

Verses 70–88 shift Labīd’s attention from individual prowess to communal character. The passage moves through crowded assemblies and pre-Islamic customs, then through relief for strangers, fair rights, sound judgment, stewardship and tribal leadership.

Generosity here becomes a social practice: feeding guests, protecting the vulnerable, and accepting difficult decisions. This is an instance of poetic self-praise within the tribal culture of its time.

2. Verse 70: A crowded assembly: favour and blame

وَكَثِيرَةٍ غُرَبَاؤُهَا مَجْهُولَةٍ تَرْجَى نَوَافِلُهَا وَيُخْشَى ذَامُهَا
And how many a large gathering has strangers unknown to one another: its additional gifts are hoped for, and its censure is feared.

Kathīratin qualifies an understood noun such as gathering or assembly. Ghurabāʾuhā majhūlah emphasizes how many strangers have come together; the poet turns from his horse to his standing in a difficult social environment.

Nawāfiluhā denotes extra benefits or gifts and dhāmuhā blame. The paired expressions present a gathering whose favour is desirable and whose disapproval has consequences.

3. Verse 71: Formidable adversaries

غُلْبٌ تَشَذَّرُ بِالدُّخُولِ كَأَنَّهَا جِنُّ الْبَدِيِّ رَوَاسِيًا أَقْدَامُهَا
They are thick-necked, formidable men, ready to enter contention, as if they were desert spirits, their feet planted firmly.

Ghulb, plural of aghlab, describes men with thick, powerful necks. Tashadhdharu evokes aggression or readiness for confrontation; their feet are imagined as firmly rooted.

Comparing them to jinn of the wilderness is poetic hyperbole, not a literal identification. The formidable opponents establish the scale of the speaker’s claimed courage.

4. Verse 72: Rejecting falsehood, admitting a right

أَنْكَرْتُ بَاطِلَهَا وَبُؤْتُ بِحَقِّهَا عِنْدِي وَلَمْ يَفْخَرْ عَلَيَّ كِرَامُهَا
I rejected its false claims and acknowledged its valid rights, and even its notable men could not boast over me.

Ankartu and buʾtu are paired: rejecting what is false and admitting a valid claim. In context, buʾtu bi-ḥaqqihā means acknowledging the right, not simply returning with an object.

After the intimidating opponents of the previous verse, the speaker claims moral confidence: he can deny a false allegation while conceding a legitimate one.

5. Verse 73: Camels and pre-Islamic lots

وَجُزُورِ أَيْسَارٍ دَعَوْتُ لِنَحْرِهَا بِمَغَالِقٍ مُتَشَابِهٍ أَجْسَامُهَا
And many a camel for the pre-Islamic lot-drawers: I called for its slaughter with matched lots of similar shape.

Jazūr is a camel intended for slaughter. Aysār refers to participants in a pre-Islamic allotment by arrows, while maghāliq are the lots or arrows used. Mutashābihin ajsāmuhā describes their similar appearance.

This is a historical setting for a claim of lavish distribution; it should not be recast as a recommendation to practise such allotments today.

6. Verse 74: Generosity as distribution

أَدْعُو بِهِنَّ لِعَاقِرٍ أَوْ مُطْفِلٍ بَذَلْتُ لِجِيرَانِ الْجَمِيعِ لِحَامُهَا
I call for the slaughter of barren or nursing camels alike and distribute their meat among all the neighbouring people.

ʿĀqir describes an animal without young; muṭfil has a young one. Their contrast emphasizes the range of animals offered. Liḥāmuhā refers to their meat.

The preceding verse concerns slaughter and allotment; this verse turns to sharing. The poet represents his generosity as extending beyond his own household to nearby people.

7. The vocabulary of giving and customary practice

TermMeaning
نَوَافِلAdditional gifts and favours
أَيْسَارParticipants in an old drawing of lots
جَزُورCamel prepared for slaughter
مَغَالِقLot-drawing arrows
مُطْفِلFemale animal with young

Together these terms take the scene from the imposing public assembly to the distribution of meat. The pre-Islamic custom is historical background, not an instruction to practise it.

8. Verse 75: The guest in a fertile valley

فَالضَّيْفُ وَالْجَارُ الْجَنِيبُ كَأَنَّمَا هَبَطَا تَبَالَةَ مُخْصِبًا أَهْضَامُهَا
The guest and the unrelated neighbour are as if they had descended into fertile Tabālah, whose valleys teem with abundance.

Al-jār al-janīb is a neighbour or guest outside the close kin group. Tabālah was associated with a fertile region, and ahḍām refers to the lower parts of valleys.

The simile turns the generosity received by a guest into the experience of entering a rich and productive landscape. Kaʾannamā explicitly signals the comparison.

9. Verse 76: Shelter at the tent ropes

تَأْوِي إِلَى الْأَطْنَابِ كُلُّ رَذِيَّةٍ مِثْلَ الْبَلِيَّةِ قَالِصٌ أَهْدَامُهَا
Every destitute woman seeks refuge by the tent ropes, worn as an animal left beside a grave, with scant and ragged clothing.

Taʾwī means to seek refuge and aṭnāb are tent ropes. Radhiyyah normally describes a worn-out animal but is applied figuratively here to an impoverished woman. Baliyyah recalls an animal left by a grave; ahdām are ragged clothes.

The image conveys severe need and vulnerability at the camp. The reference to burial customs is historical, not a religious prescription.

10. Verse 77: Overflowing bowls in bitter weather

وَيُكَلِّلُونَ إِذَا الرِّيَاحُ تَنَاوَحَتْ خُلُجًا تُمَدُّ شَوَارِعًا أَيْتَامُهَا
When the winds blow against one another, they heap large bowls with meat, whose portions stand out and spread across them.

Tanāwaḥat describes winds blowing against one another. Khulujan is used of large serving bowls or vessels, and shawāriʿan depicts portions protruding or extending from them.

Food supplied during hardship extends the earlier themes of shelter and sharing. Instead of simply declaring generosity, Labīd creates an image of overflowing vessels.

11. Verse 78: Leadership under pressure

إِنَّا إِذَا الْتَقَتِ الْمَجَامِعُ لَمْ يَزَلْ مِنَّا لِزَازُ عَظِيمَةٍ جَشَّامُهَا
When great assemblies confront one another, there is always among us one who shoulders and undertakes weighty affairs.

Majāmiʿ refers to assembled groups; lizāz evokes someone who stands firm in a confrontation and jashshām one who undertakes burdensome tasks.

The poem moves from hospitality to communal responsibility. Leadership is shown as accepting risk and difficulty when groups collide.

12. Hospitality and leadership in the same portrait

ImageIts function
Fertile TabālahAbundance for guests
Worn creature at the tentRefuge for the vulnerable
Bowls laden with meatPractical relief during cold
Lizāz and jashshāmResponsibility under strain

Together these images give tribal prestige a practical dimension: organized aid and collective resilience, as well as ancestry and armed prowess.

13. Verse 79: Fair shares and indignation

وَمُقَسِّمٌ يُعْطِي الْعَشِيرَةَ حَقَّهَا وَمُغَذْمِرٌ لِحُقُوقِهَا هَضَّامُهَا
Among us is one who distributes the tribe’s full due and another who protests encroachments on its rights while yielding from his own share.

Muqassim is an active participle: the distributor. Mughadmir expresses angry objection, and haḍḍām concerns accepting a reduction of a claim. A tribal leader may safeguard the clan’s rights by yielding part of his own.

The speaker extends tribal defence beyond fighting to the safeguarding and distribution of claims within the group.

14. Verse 80: Earning and giving generously

فَضْلًا وَذُو كَرَمٍ يُعِينُ عَلَى النَّدَى سَمْحٌ كَسُوبٌ رَغَائِبَ غَنَّامُهَا
All this is in addition to his generosity; among us is a noble giver who supports liberality, earns readily, and gains desirable goods.

Nadā means liberality, samḥ generous-hearted, kasūb an effective earner, and ghannām one who secures gains. Raghāʾib are desirable or valuable things.

The verse pairs acquiring wealth with spending it generously. The poet praises ability and open-handed use together, not mere accumulation.

15. Verse 81: Custom, precedent and leader

مِنْ مَعْشَرٍ سَنَّتْ لَهُمْ آبَاؤُهُمْ وَلِكُلِّ قَوْمٍ سُنَّةٌ وَإِمَامُهَا
They belong to a people whose ancestors established a way of conduct; every community has its customary path and an exemplar of it.

Sannat, from the root s-n-n, here means to establish a customary way. Imām describes an exemplar or leader of that way.

This is a description of inherited tribal practice. The word sunnah is used in its general, customary sense, not automatically in the later technical sense of the Prophetic Sunnah.

16. Verse 82: Judgment above impulse

لَا يَطْبَعُونَ وَلَا يَبُورُ فِعَالُهُمْ إِذْ لَا يَمِيلُ مَعَ الْهَوَى أَحْلَامُهَا
They are not corrupted in character, nor do their deeds come to nothing, for their sound judgments do not bend with desire.

Yaṭbaʿūn here conveys moral corruption or defect; yabūru means to fail or become worthless; aḥlām is the plural denoting minds or reasoned judgments.

The verse supplies a reason for upright conduct: their judgement is not governed by impulse. It is a self-praising moral claim that goes beyond ancestry.

17. Grammar: participles and intensive forms

FormAnalysis
مُقَسِّمActive participle of qassama: distributor
مُغَذْمِرDescriptive form: one who voices anger
كَسُوبFaʿūl pattern: one who earns often
غَنَّامFaʿʿāl pattern: one who gains much
عَلَّامFaʿʿāl pattern: one of profound knowledge

An active participle identifies the doer; patterns like faʿʿāl and faʿūl may add a sense of intensity or repetition, though their force always depends on usage and context.

18. Verse 83: Contentment and divine allotment

فَاقْنَعْ بِمَا قَسَمَ الْمَلِيكُ فَإِنَّمَا قَسَمَ الْخَلَائِقَ بَيْنَنَا عَلَّامُهَا
So be content with what the Sovereign has allotted, for the One who knows all has apportioned the people among us.

Faqnaʿ is an imperative meaning “be content.” Al-malīk denotes the sovereign Lord, while ʿallām is an intensive pattern expressing comprehensive knowledge.

The command to accept one’s portion follows the preceding praise of measured judgment. Fa-innamā gives the rationale with emphasis; it is part of the poet’s moral outlook.

19. Verse 84: Honouring an entrusted share

وَإِذَا الْأَمَانَةُ قُسِّمَتْ فِي مَعْشَرٍ أَوْفَى بِأَوْفَرِ حَظِّنَا قَسَّامُهَا
When the entrusted share is apportioned among a people, the distributor grants our portion in full—and with the most ample measure.

Al-amānah indicates an entrusted obligation or share in this tribal setting; qussimat is a passive perfect verb and qassām an intensive term for a distributor. Awfā stresses the fulfilment of the share.

The preceding verse spoke of allotment on a universal scale; this one returns to how trust and honour are handled inside the community.

20. Verse 85: The lofty house as a symbol of honour

فَبَنَى لَنَا بَيْتًا رَفِيعًا سَمْكُهُ فَسَمَا إِلَيْهِ كَهْلُهَا وَغُلَامُهَا
Thus a house of lofty structure was raised for us, a height toward which the elders and youths of the tribe alike aspire.

Baytan rafīʿan samkuhu presents a towering house as a symbol of high standing. Samk denotes elevation or height of construction, and kahl a mature man.

The house is more than a building in the imagery: its height evokes honour shared by both older and younger generations of the tribe.

21. The ethical criteria of tribal honour

Verses 81–85 bring together sunnah (custom), aḥlām (sound judgment), contentment, amānah (trust), and the high house. The sequence moves from inherited precedent to the restraint of impulse and the handling of public responsibility.

Sunnah is customary here, and bayt rafīʿ is a symbolic high house: social distinction rather than only masonry. Moral claims are developed through concrete images.

22. Verse 86: Service, defence and judgment

وَهُمُ السُّعَاةُ إِذَا الْعَشِيرَةُ أَفْظَعَتْ وَهُمُ فَوَارِسُهَا وَهُمْ حُكَّامُهَا
When calamity overtakes the tribe, they are its active helpers, its horsemen, and its judges.

Suʿāh are those who strive or undertake a task, afẓaʿat indicates severe crisis, fawāris riders or fighters, and ḥukkām judges or arbiters.

The three repeated wa-hum phrases assign three public functions: practical action in crisis, defence, and arbitration. The rhetorical repetition underlines communal competence.

23. Verse 87: Springtime for those in need

وَهُمْ رَبِيعٌ لِلْمُجَاوِرِ فِيهِمُ وَالْمُرْمِلَاتِ إِذَا تَطَاوَلَ عَامُهَا
They are like springtime for a stranger living among them and for impoverished women when their year of hardship drags on.

Rabīʿ is metaphorical spring: renewal, growth and relief. Al-murmilāt denotes women with little or no means, and taṭāwala ʿāmuhā makes a year of hardship feel extended.

The poet presents hospitality toward strangers and support for the vulnerable as evidence of communal distinction. Help is compared to the life-giving effect of spring.

24. Verse 88: Conclusion: a united community

وَهُمُ الْعَشِيرَةُ أَنْ يُبْطِئَ حَاسِدٌ أَوْ أَنْ يَمِيلَ مَعَ الْعَدُوِّ لِئَامُهَا
They are a united clan, standing together lest an envious person hold back or its ignoble members turn toward an enemy.

ʿAshīrah is a kin-based community; ḥāsid an envious person and liʾām ignoble members. An yubṭiʾa and an yamīla evoke the risks of delay and leaning toward an adversary.

The poem closes by praising collective cohesion. This is Labīd’s historically situated tribal self-portrait, not an unconditional rule that group loyalty always supersedes justice.

25. How the concluding verses achieve their effect

DeviceExample and function
SimileFertile Tabālah: abundance for guests
MetaphorRabīʿ, spring: relief for the needy
Metonymic implicationLofty house: dignity and honour
RepetitionWa-hum: stress on service, defence, judgment
ContrastRejecting what is false, acknowledging rights

These techniques serve distinct purposes: simile makes an idea concrete, an indirect expression suggests honour, and repetition helps organize the final portrait of the community.