Al-Munakhal al-Yashkuri () (died 607), whose real name was 'Amr ibn Mas'ud al-Yashkuri (), was a pre-Islamic

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

poet and sailor. He is known for composing the poem '' Fatat Al-Khedr'' or ''Fatat al-Qasr'' (; ) and for having an affair with both the

Lakhmid The Lakhmids ( ar, اللخميون, translit=al-Laḫmiyyūn) referred to in Arabic as al-Manādhirah (, romanized as: ) or Banu Lakhm (, romanized as: ) was an Arabs, Arab kingdom in Sawad , Southern Iraq and Eastern Arabia, with al-Hirah as ...

princess Hind bint 'Amr, daughter of the former king 'Amr ibn Hind (), and queen Al-Mutajarridah, al-Mutajareda, the wife of the king al-Nu'man III ().

Life

Little is known in certainty about al-Munakhal's life. He was born in the city of

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

to the subtribe of

Banu Yashkur The Banu Yashkur () is an Arab tribe belonging to the larger Banu Bakr ibn Wa'il tribe. The tribe is originally from Al-Yamama and had control over this region in the pre-Islamic period. Ancestry The tribe descended from Yashkur ibn Bakr ib ...

which belongs to the larger

Banu Bakr The Banu Bakr bin Wa'il ( ar, بنو بكر بن وائل '), or simply Banu Bakr, were an Arabian tribe belonging to the large Rabi'ah branch of Adnanite tribes, which also included Abd al-Qays, Anazzah, Taghlib. The tribe is reputed to have en ...

tribe. Although he died at a young age, he spent most of his life in the Lakhmid court in

al-Hira Al-Hirah ( ar, الحيرة, translit=al-Ḥīra Middle Persian: ''Hērt'' ) was an ancient city in Mesopotamia located south of what is now Kufa in south-central Iraq. History Kingdom of the Lakhmids Al-Hirah was a significant city in pre-Is ...

. There, he pursued a secret affair with the Lakhmid queen al-Mutajareda. The scholar

Ibn Qutaybah Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muslim ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī al-Marwazī better known simply as Ibn Qutaybah ( ar-at, ابن قتيبة, Ibn Qutaybah; c. 828 – 13 November 889 CE / 213 – 15 Rajab 276 AH) was an Islamic scholar of Persian ...

(d. 889) reports that the people of their time believe al-Munakhal was the actual father of al-Nu'man III two sons by al-Mutajareda. According to ''

Kitab al-Aghani ''Kitab al-Aghani'' ( ar, كتاب الأغاني, kitāb al-‘aghānī, The Book of Songs), is an encyclopedic collection of poems and songs that runs to over 20 volumes in modern editions, attributed to the 10th-century Arabic writer Abu al-F ...

'' of

Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Iṣfahānī ( ar, أبو الفرج الأصفهاني), also known as Abul-Faraj, (full form: Abū al-Faraj ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥaytham al-Umawī al-Iṣfahānī) (284–356 AH / 897 ...

(d. 967), al-Munakhal was one of the most handsome amongst the Arabs. And he was responsible for the famous poet

al-Nabigha Al-Nābighah (), al-Nābighah al-Dhubiyānī, or Nābighah al-Dhubyānī; real name Ziyad ibn Muawiyah (); was one of the last Arabian poets of pre-Islamic times. "Al-Nabigha" means "genius or intelligent" in Arabic. His tribe, the Banu Dhubyan ...

(d. 604) departure from the Lakhmid court of al-Nu'man III. The Lakhmid king ordered al-Nabigha to describe his wife in a poem, eventually, he described her body parts in great details. Thus, her lover al-Munakhal, out of jealousy, said to the king; "No one could compose such poetry except one who had tried her!" al-Nu'man III falling for al-Munakhal's accusation, made al-Nabigha escape the court of the Lakhmid to their rivals, the

Ghassanid The Ghassanids ( ar, الغساسنة, translit=al-Ġasāsina, also Banu Ghassān (, romanized as: ), also called the Jafnids, were an Arab tribe which founded a kingdom. They emigrated from southern Arabia in the early 3rd century to the Levan ...

court.

Death

There are several stories regarding his death. For instance, the Lakhmid al-Nu'man III entered the chamber of his wife surprisingly, where he found his wife al-Mutajareda and al-Munakhal together. Henceforth, al-Numan ordered for al-Munakhal to be imprisoned and tortured, and from that day he was never seen again. Hence the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

proverb, "Until Munakhal shall return", an expression for something that is not expected to ever happen. But, Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani narrates a different story in which al-Munakhal was imprisoned and killed by the order of the king

Amr ibn Hind Amr III ibn al-Mundhir ( ar, عمرو بن المنذر, ʿAmr ibn al-Mundhir; gr, Ἄμβρος ὁ �ἱός τοῦἈλαμουνδάρου), more commonly known by the matronymic Amr ibn Hind ( ar, عمرو بن هند, ''ʿAmr ibn Hind''), w ...

after news reached him about the involvement of his daughter Hind in an affair with her secret lover al-Munakhal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munakhal 6th-century births 607 deaths Year of birth unknown 6th-century Arabic poets Love in Arabic literature Arab Christians in Mesopotamia People from Mecca