Which of the Mu’allaqat as-Sab’a poets became Muslim, how and in what way?

- What does Mu’allaqat as-Sab’a mean?
- Which poets wrote them? 

Dear Brother / Sister,

- What does Mu’allaqat mean?

Mu’allaqat is the name given to seven or ten famous odes written by famous Arab poets in gold and hung on the wall of the Kaaba in the Era of Jahiliyya, before the Quran was revealed. (see Lisanul-Arab, “alq” item)

According to narrations, the Mu’allaqat were written with gold water on scrolls made of linen cloth and hung on the wall of the Kaaba in poetry competitions organized in fairs such as Ukaz, which was established in various regions of the Arabian Peninsula during the Era of Jahiliyya.

- Who are Mu’allaqat poets?

There are different opinions related to both which poets’ poems were included in this collection and the naming of Mu’allaqat as well as being hung on the wall of the Kaaba.

Ibn Abdurabbih lists the following names as the poets of the Mu’allaqat:

Imruulqays b. Hujr, Tarafa b. Abd, Harith b. Hilliza, Amr b. Kulthum, Zuhayr b. Abu Sulma, Antara and Labid b. Rabia.

Ma’mar b. Muthanna substituted Nabigha az-Zubayani and Maymun b. Qays al-A’sha for Anṭar and al-Harith.

Abu Zayd al-Qurashi increases the number of poets to eight by removing Harith b. Hilliza from Ibn Abdurabbih’s list and adding Nabiga and ‘A’sha. (Jamhara, p. 123 ff.) Ibn Qutayba adds Abid b. Abras to those poets.

Nahhas increases the number of Mu’allaqa poets to nine, and Khatib at-Tabrizi and Ahmad Amin al-Shinqiti to ten. Ibn Khaldun adds Alqama b. Abada to those poets (Muqaddima III, 253)

Abu Bakr Ibn al-Anbari and Husayn b. Aḥmad az-Zawzani adhered to Ibn Abdurabbih’s list in their commentaries.

The earliest of the Mu’allaqat poets is Imruulqays b. Hujr, who is considered to have lived in the first half of the 6th century AD.

The others lived in the second half of that century. Of these, only Labid b. Rabia became a Muslim and lived for a long time in the Islamic era. (see TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi, Muallakat)

Poets’ Attitudes toward the Quran

Poets and poetry were everything for the Arabs of the Era of Jahiliyya because poetry was the only reliable mirror that reflected the social life, customs and beliefs of their ancestors.

Poets were highly valued and highly respected in the society. So much so that they would always prefer a poet to a strong hero emerge from their tribe because it was only the poet who could spread fame, which was their only goal, in the most beautiful way. They feared and dreaded the satire of poets like they feared snakes.

Poets were regarded as heroes by them. So much so that tribes would clash with each other over a single word of a poet. Again, with a single word of a poet, those who had been at loggerheads with each other for years could suddenly reconcile.

It was because of these unique characteristics of the Arabs that the Quran was revealed at the peak of literature, eloquence and rhetoric. With its eloquence and rhetoric, with its miraculousness and conciseness, the Quran invited and challenged the Arab poets and orators. However, they soon realized that it was not possible to match this unique word and they had to remain silent.

The style of the Quran was so concise, so sweet and so eloquent that the Arabs, who knew literature well, could not hide their astonishment.

As a matter of fact, when a Bedouin poet heard the verse,

“Therefore expound openly what you are commanded” (al-Hijr, 15/94),

he bowed down in prostration.

The incident was of such a nature that it drove the polytheists mad. They came upon him with hateful looks and shouted at him angrily:

“Did you become a Muslim too?”
“No!..” answered Bedouin poet.
“I only prostrated before the eloquence of this verse.” (see Ahmed Cevdet Paşa, Kısas-ı Enbiya, 1/78; Bediüzzaman Said Nursî, Sözler, p. 350; Elmalılı Hamdi Yazır, the interpretation of the verse in question)

“Then the word went forth: ‘O earth! swallow up thy water, and O sky! Withhold (thy rain)!’ and the water abated, and the matter was ended. The Ark rested on Mount Judi, and the word went forth: ‘Away with those who do wrong!’ “ (Hud, 11/44)

When the sister of Imruulqays, one of the Mu’allaqa poets, heard the verse above, she went straight to the Kaaba and said, “No one has anything to say anymore. Even my brother’s poetry cannot stand against this eloquence.” She took down his brother’s ode, which was hanging at the top, from the wall.

When it was seen that the most famous ode had been removed, the other Mu’allaqat were also taken down one by one. (see Ahmed Cevdet Paşa, Kısas-ı Enbiya, 1/79; Bediüzzaman Said Nursî, Sözler, p. 416)

Labid b. Rabia

Labid, who was among those to whom the Prophet (pbuh) gave zakah in order to warm their hearts to Islam (muallafa al-qulub), became a Muslim in 9 H (631 AD) according to the strong view. He was among those who founded the city of Kufa and he settled there with his sons. Labid, who is reported to have lived a long life, died in Kufa in 40 or 41 H (660 or 661 AD) and was buried in the field of Sons of Ja’far b. Kilab.

Described by Imam Shafi’i as “a great poet” and by Dhurrumma and Nabigha az-Zubayani as “the greatest poet of the Arabs or of his tribe, the Khawazin”, Labid considered himself the third poet after Imruulqays b. Hujr and Tarafa b. Abd. Jumahi counts him among the third layer of the Jahiliyya poets.

Although authors of the early period such as Ibn Sad, Ibn Qutayba and Ibn Khallikan wrote that Labid did not recite poetry after his conversion to Islam, Brockelmann, Umar Farrukh and some other contemporary scholars argue, acting upon the Islamic motifs in his poems, that he recited some poems, though very few, after his conversion to Islam.

The Prophet (pbuh) appreciated Labid’s couplet, “Know very well that everything other than Allah is false and every blessing is doomed to perish” and said, “No poet has ever uttered a truer word than this.” (see Ibn Athir, Usdul-Ghaba, 4/514)

According to Theodor Nöldeke, Labid’s Mu’allaqa, which he composed to express his own feelings rather than a specific incident or reason, is one of the most beautiful poems of Bedouin poets; Labid was the only Muslim poet among the Mu’allaqa poets. (see M. Asım Köksal, İslam Tarihi, 7/430-431; TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi, Lebid b. Rebia item)

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