Abu Layla al-Muhalhel

ST-Moorish-warrior.

Abu Layla ʿUday ibn Rabīʿa ibn al-Ḥāriṯ at-Taḡlibiyy (Arabic: أَبُو لَيْلَى عُدَيّ بْن رَبِيعَة بْن الْحَارِث التَّغْلِبِيّ; c. 443 – 531 CE), also known by the nicknames al-Muhalhil ("he who finely weaves poems") and az-Zīr ("the philander"), was an Arabic pre-Islamic poet and warrior born in Najd. He led the Banu Taghlib tribe in the forty-year long War of Basus.

Abu Layla al-Muhalhel
Born	c. 443 CE Najd
Died	c. 531 CE
Occupation	Poet, warrior
Language	Arabic
Relatives	Kulaib ibn Rabiah (brother), Imru' al-Qais (nephew), Amr ibn Kulthum (grandson)

His life before the war

Despite being the brother of Kulaib ibn Rabiah who was the king of the Adnanites, al-Muhalhel had no interest in politics at first, he was nicknamed az-Zīr meaning the philander as he was more interested in the life of luxury and relations with women.

The Basus war

After his brother kulaib was killed he found himself forced to lead his tribe Banu Taghlib and fight in the Basus War to take revenge for his brother, the war lasted for more than 40 years, at the beginning of the war Banu Taghlib were victorious and killed most of the Banu Bakr forces but as the war dragged on Banu Bakr were able to regroup, increase their numbers and win the war at the end. Abu Layla was the leader of Banu Taghlib for the entirety of the war, his story is used as a cautionary tale against pride and warmongering because his refusal of diplomatic solutions ended up costing his tribe the war which ended with them losing lives, money and status.^[1][2][3]

Later life and death

After losing the war Abu Layla was able to flee to Yemen, where he lived the rest of his days under the protection of the Madhhaj tribe.

In Media

His character was depicted in TV and movies most notably in the critically acclaimed TV series "Al-Zeer Salem" directed by Hatem Ali starring Salloum Haddad [ru] ^[4]

His relatives

He was the maternal uncle of fellow poet Imru' al-Qais,^[1] and also the grandfather of Amr ibn Kulthum through his second daughter Layla.

References

1. الزركلي, خير الدين (1926). الأعلام – الجزء 4 [Al-Aʿlām — Part 4]. p. 220. Archived from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
2. "المهلهل بن ربيعة" [Al-Muhalhil ibn Rabīʿa]. Ma'ajm al-Shu'ara al-Arab (in Arabic). Retrieved 14 January 2019.
3. Weipert, Reinhard (1 January 2021). "al-Muhalhil". Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
4. https://m.imdb.com/title/tt3109706/