Rāfiʿ ibn Abīʾl-Layl ibn ʿUlayyān al-Kalbī () (), also known by his '' laqab'' (honorific epithet) ʿIzz al-Dawla ( ar, عزالدولة), was the emir of the

Kalb The Banu Kalb ( ar, بنو كلب) was an Arab tribe which mainly dwelt in the desert between northwestern Arabia and central Syria. The Kalb was involved in the tribal politics of the eastern frontiers of the Byzantine Empire, possibly as early ...

tribe of

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

in the mid-11th century.

Life

Rafi succeeded his uncle,

Sinan ibn Ulayyan Sinān ibn ʿUlayyān or Sinān ibn al-Bannā (), also known by his ''laqab'' (honorific epithet) Ṣamṣām al-Dawla ( ar, صمصام الدولة, , Lion of the Dynasty), was a preeminent emir of the Banu Kalb tribe in Syria under early Fatimid ...

, as emir of the

after the latter's death in 1028. Sinan had entered the Kalb into an alliance against the

Fatimid Caliphate The Fatimid Caliphate was an Isma'ilism, Ismaili Shia Islam, Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the ea ...

with two other

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...

tribal confederations, the Tayy under

Hassan ibn Mufarrij Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to: People *Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name *Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scottis ...

and the Kilab under Salih ibn Mirdas. However, under Rafi, the Kalb defected to the Fatimids. This occurred after Rafi' declared his loyalty to Caliph az-Zahir () in return for control of Sinan's '' iqtaʿat'' (fiefs). When the Fatimids dispatched Anushtakin al-Dizbari to confront the Tayy and Kilab, Rafi and the Kalb fought alongside him at the decisive Battle of al-Uqhuwana near Lake Tiberias. After the battle, during which Salih was slain, Rafi' identified his body and that of his son, decapitated them and sent their heads to Anushtakin. The Kalb under Rafi later participated in Anushtakin's campaign against Salih's successor,

Shibl al-Dawla Nasr Abu Kamil Nasr ibn Salih ibn Mirdas () (died 22 May 1038), also known by his ''laqab'' (honorific epithet) of Shibl al-Dawla ('Lion cub of the Dynasty'), was the second Mirdasid emir of Aleppo, ruling between 1029/1030 until his death. He was the ...

, in 1038, which ended in Nasr's slaying and the Fatimids' recapture of Aleppo.

Druze tradition

Rafi is considered a hero in the

Druze The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...

tradition for fighting Salih ibn Mirdas and using his wealth to protect and support the Druze in Syria. The Druze missionary Baha al-Din praised Rafi for protecting the oppressed in an

epistle An epistle (; el, ἐπιστολή, ''epistolē,'' "letter") is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as par ...

to Arab tribal chiefs in 1031. He later became considered a saintly figure of the Druze.

References

Bibliography

* * * * *{{cite book, last1=Swayd, first1=Sami, title=The A to Z of the Druzes, date=2006, publisher=Scarecrow Press, page=85, isbn=9780810868366 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Nq9lD5wnBMC&pg=PA85 11th-century Arabs 11th-century Syrian people Banu Kalb Bedouin tribal chiefs Syria under the Fatimid Caliphate History of the Druze