Amar Bin Kulthum | His Life and Poetic Career
Amar Bin Kulthum | His Life and Poetic Career
Amar Bin Kulthum: His Life and Poetic Career
Brief Life Sketch: Amar bin Kulthum was one of the great poets of the pre-Islamic era. His full name was Abu Abbas Amar bin Kulthum. He was born in the famous Taghlib tribe of Arabia. The exact date of his birth is unknown, although he is thought to have been born in the first decade of the sixth century or the last decade of the fifth century. His father’s name was Kulthum bin Malik. He was a cavalryman from Mesopotamia. Her mother’s name was Laila. She was the daughter of the famous Muhalhal, the hero of the famous Basus war. He was a famous warrior and poet of his time. He is said to have been the father of Arabic qasida. It is said that the famous Battle of Basus started rounding his qasida.
Amar bin Kulthum was brought up in an environment of war and tribal conflict. This is why he was trained in martial arts from an early age and for his bravery and heroism, his tribe selected him as their team leader at the age of only fifteen. He inherited a sense of self-respect and independence from his parents. It is said that the people of the Taghlib tribe were self-respecting in their belief that they stood firm against any disrespectful behavior. It is learned that once the king of Heera, Amar bin Hind, called in Laila, the mother of Amar bin Kulthum, to the royal court and persuaded her to attend to the queen. But Laila, who had a sense of self-worth, denied it and cried out to his son Amr bin Kultum to protect her dignity. Then Amar Bin Kulthum with an open sword in his hand rescued his mother from the queen’s chamber. After this incident, the heroism of Amar Bin Kulthum spread all around.
He lived for more than eighty years and died in 61 AD.
Kulthum was one of the famous Muwallaka poets. It is not known how many poems he composed. But it is true that he was not a professional poet. He seldom wrote poetry. Only a small portion of his work is preserved. Love, family pride, war, etc. were the main themes of his poetry. Muwallaka is one of the most famous of his poems. The poem is thought to have had more than a thousand lines. It was through this poem that his name as a poet became well-known. The people of his tribe held the poem in high esteem and memorized it with great reverence as a symbol of national heroism.
Amar Bin Kulshum begins his famous Muwallaka poem with a love story in the traditional way. Here the poet’s pain of separation from his beloved is portrayed vividly. The poem begins with this, “O my beloved, while saying goodbye, give me a good drink so that I can forget the pain of my separation from you.” After this, the poet describes the physical beauty of his beloved. This description is very poetic and appealing. He described the various parts of the beloved as quoted below:
“The arms are as full as a barren camel,
The two breasts are swelling, touchless and soft
Ankle worn feet are as bright as a tube made of elephant teeth
She has become like a calf-losing camel in separation of pain
And like a mother who has lost her child. ”
After this, the poet goes on to describe the valor and heroism of Amar Bin Hind, the king of Heera, and praises the strength of his tribe and his heroic warriors.
Towards the end of the poem, he describes the horses used by his tribe during the war and says that they prefer horses with a few hairs that win the battle and return with the enemy’s horses, swords, and captives. Their heroic warriors are strong in the belief that they can resist all forces and extend their dominance wherever they wish.
In this way, the poet Amar Bin Kulthum has elaborately given an account of the pain of love, the praises of the king of Heera, the heroism of his family, etc.
His language is very captivating, eloquent, meaningful, and full of varied imagery.
To sum up it can be said that, as a poet, Amar Bin Kulthum possessed a powerful poetic power that was embodied in his Muwallaka poem. It is for this poem that he has drawn the attention of poetry-loving readers for ages. 0 0 0.
Read More: A Brief History of Arabic Literature: Early Islamic Period (622 AD-661 AD)
N.B. This article ‘Amar Bin Kulthum: His Life and Poetic Career’ originally belongs to the book entitled ‘A Brief History of Arabic Literature: Pre-Islamic Period (500 AD-622 AD) by Menonim Menonimus.
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