Matrud’s Elegy for Abd al-Muttalib and Banu Abd Manaf

Ibn Ishaq said: Matrud ibn Ka‘b al-Khuza‘i said, mourning Abd al-Muttalib and Banu Abd Manaf: O man who has moved his camel’s saddle away, why did you not ask about the family of Abd Manaf? May your mother lose you! Had you settled among them, they would have protected you from guilt and disgrace. They joined their wealthy and poor together until the poor among them became self-sufficient. They gave generously when the stars changed their course, and set out on the journeys of the trade alliance. They fed people when the winds blew against one another, until the sun disappeared into the surging sea. If you have lost Abu al-Fa‘al, no one like him has ever been encompassed by a necklace of pearls, except your father, the sole brother of noble deeds, and al-Fayd Muttalib, father of guests.

[1] Habalatka means “may your mother lose you.” Here it is an exhortation, not a curse, like “may your hands be rubbed with dust” or “may you have no father.” Iqraf means approaching a mixed or inferior lineage; the poet says the clan would protect a man from marrying into a base family and acquiring disgrace through descent. A similar expression occurs in the verse of Muhalhil. [2] This is an addition from recension A. [3] Tanaawahat means the winds faced one another; al-rajjaf here is the sea. [4] Nitaf is the plural of nitfah, an earring hanging from the ear. The reading with a kasrah in “necklace” allows this meaning; with a fatḥah it can mean a little clear water. [5] He means that the clan was like a father to its guests. Arabs call a generous host “father of guests.”