Ibn al-Aslat’s Poem Urging Quraysh to Avoid War

Abu Qays ibn al-Aslat, who loved Quraysh and had married among them, composed a poem honoring the sanctuary, urging Quraysh to stop fighting one another and to cease opposing the Messenger. He reminds them of Allah’s protection of Makkah from the Army of the Elephant and warns that civil war begins with words. The opening asks a rider to carry his message to Lu’ayy ibn Ghalib and says that he is troubled by the division among them.

Ibn al-Aslat invokes Allah and warns Quraysh against hostility and deceit. He reminds them that Makkah is a sanctuary where even distant gazelles should be safe, and urges them to abandon war before it destroys kinship and people. War, he says, begins attractively but ends as a calamity for both near and distant families. It burns without sparing the weak and strikes down the honored. He asks whether they have learned nothing from the wars of Dahis and Hatib.

The poem recounts how wars destroy nobles and households, then calls Quraysh to choose a sound, upright religion. Ibn al-Aslat says they should be a light and protection for the people, lead with wisdom, and pray to their Lord at the Ka‘bah. He recalls Allah’s past favor when the forces of Abu Yaksum were driven back, and urges Quraysh to remember their responsibility to the sanctuary.