[No. 1, 
6G C. J. Lyall— Mo l allaqali of Lebid, with the 
by the swift riding-camels through the rugged plains of Semwil ? 
The thing has been said, be it true or be it a lie, 
and what shall excuse thee from a thing that has once been said ? 
Betake thyself where thou findest the land so broad and wide, 
and feast thine eyes thereon in all its breadth and length!” 16 
And it is said that Lebid also satirized er-Rabi‘ in the following verses, 
which some however allege to be spurious— 17 
“ O Rabi‘—let not any one bring thee before me 
And ask me of thy faults and thy true nature 
Or enquire what man thou art and what thou wast! 
For thou, when the battle-press girds thee round, art like 
Naught but a thing which hindrances constrain ; 
Verily thou sippest naught but a sip and tastest it ; 
If he that withstands thy flight but feel thee, surely 
He will find thee even lighter than himself ; 
Verily thou art an old traitor, a hypocrite, 
A manifest villain that returns to his villainy again and again.” 
Lebid used to compose poems, but forbade them to be published until 
he composed his Mo l allaqah ; and what had been done by er-Rabi‘ son of 
Ziyad and Hamzeh son of Damarah and the other chiefs who formed their 
company having been mentioned, Lebid said to his people “ Publish now 
my poems.” 
I quote from the book handed down by Abu-1-Hakem : he says—“ I 
was told by el-‘Ala son of ‘Abdallah el-Muwaqqa‘ that Lebid was once 
present among a company of persons who were telling tales by night in the 
house of el-Welid son of ‘Oqbeh, 18 who was governor of el-Kufeh. And 
el-Welid asked Lebid of what passed between him and er-Rabi‘ son of 
Ziyad before en-No‘man. Lebid replied, ‘ That befell in the days of the 
Ignorance : but now God has brought to us el-Islam.’ And el-Welid said, 
‘ I adjure thee that thou tell me.’ And when an Amir used this form of 
asking, it was considered necessary to obey him ; so Lebid began to tell 
the tale. And a certain man of Ghani 19 who bore a grudge against him 
said—‘ We were not informed of this.’ ‘ Doubtless, son of my brother,’ 
said Lebid, ‘ thy father could not come by the knowledge of things like this : 
he was not of those who were admitted to witness them, that he should tell 
thee of them.’ ” 
My uncle told me that he had been informed by el-Kiranl, who heard 
it from el-‘Omari, who was told by el-Heythem, who learned it from el- 
‘Ayyash, who was told by Mohammed ibn el-Munteshar, that Lebid was 
never heard to boast of his former state after he became a Muslim except 
one day, when he happened to be in a courtyard belonging to Ghani. He 
was lying on his back, having wrapped himself in his mantle, when there 
