Ṭarafah ibn al-ʿAbd al-Bakrī is a major pre-Islamic poet, traditionally associated with the tribe of Bakr ibn Wāʾil. Travel, desert life, youth, personal dignity, and the transience of life recur in his poetry.
Accounts concerning ʿAmr ibn Hind and the poet’s death belong to the literary-biographical tradition; not every detail should be treated as historically certain. In this lesson the principal evidence is the wording and artistry of the poem itself.
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Ṭarafah ibn al-ʿAbd: Ruins, Ships, Gazelle, and Beauty (Verses 1–10)
Ṭarafah ibn al-ʿAbd al-Bakrī is a major pre-Islamic poet, traditionally associated with the tribe of Bakr ibn Wāʾil. Travel, desert life, youth, personal dignity, and the transience of life recur in his poetry.
Accounts concerning ʿAmr ibn Hind and the poet’s death belong to the literary-biographical tradition; not every detail should be treated as historically certain. In this lesson the principal evidence is the wording and artistry of the poem itself.