Harith ibn Hallizah

Died circa 570. Arabic poet.

All information on Harith ibn Hallizah is highly unreliable. Some sources credit him with an ode written in praise of his native tribe, the Bakri, and included in a muallaqat, a collection of works ascribed to famous pre-Islamic poets. Before a battle between the warring Bakri and Taghlib tribes, a poetry competition was held in the camp of the poet-leader of the Taghlib. Harith’s ode, which won the competition, predicted the victory of the Bakri. The amorous and descriptive parts of the muallaqat have not been preserved so well as the panegyric, which is a model of poetry on a political theme.

Harith’s divan was not compiled in the Middle Ages. It was published only in the 20th century (Beirut, 1922) by the British Arabist Crencow, who reconstructed it on the basis of scholarly research.