Labīd ibn Rabīʿah

Labīd ibn Rabīʿah was a pre-Islamic Arab poet whose celebrated ode became one of the Muʿallaqāt. He later embraced Islam and is traditionally said to have lived to an exceptional age.

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Muʿallaqāt: A celebrated collection of long pre-Islamic Arabic odes, traditionally attributed to seven poets. Labīd’s ode is one of the poems that secured his place in this canonical collection.
Muʿallaqa of Labīd: Labīd’s long pre-Islamic ode, included among the Muʿallaqāt. This is the poem most closely associated with his name and literary standing.
Imruʾ al-Qays: A sixth-century Arabian poet traditionally counted among the foremost authors of the Muʿallaqāt. His celebrated ode offers a close comparison with Labīd’s in the same anthology.
Islamic-era Arabic poetry: Arabic poetry composed after the rise of Islam, shaped by new religious and political settings. Labīd’s conversion links his remembered life to poetry across the pre-Islamic and Islamic divide.
Qasida: A long, monorhymed Arabic poem with a formal structure and varied themes. Labīd’s Muʿallaqa follows the qasida tradition, including its opening remembrance of abandoned campsites.
Abode of the Beloved: The celebrated opening passage of Labīd’s Muʿallaqa, recalling traces of an abandoned encampment. Its vanished dwellings and remembered traces establish the ode’s mood of loss and time.
Ṭarafa ibn al-ʿAbd: A pre-Islamic Arabian poet whose Muʿallaqa is among the best-known early Arabic odes. His poem shares the anthology with Labīd’s but reflects a distinct poetic voice.
Arabic literary canon: The body of Arabic literature preserved and taught as exemplary across generations. Inclusion among the Muʿallaqāt made Labīd a lasting presence in this canon.
Pre-Islamic Arabian poetry: Arabic poetry composed before the rise of Islam, preserved through oral performance and later transmission. Labīd’s early work belongs to the poetic culture that preceded Islam.
Dīwān of Labīd: A collected corpus of poems attributed to Labīd ibn Rabīʿah. The dīwān preserves poems beyond the ode that made him famous.