'Uqba b. 'Amr al-Sahmi
ʿUqba b. ʿAmr al-Sahmī (Arabic: عُقبَة بن عَمرو السهمي) is considered the first person to compose poetry in mourning for Imam al-Husayn (a).[1] He was a famous poet from the tribe of Banu Sahm b. 'Awn who traveled to Karbala in the late 1st/8th century to visit Imam al-Husayn (a) and composed poems lamenting the Imam (a).[2]
The theme of 'Uqba b. 'Amr's poems is grief and sorrow for Imam al-Husayn (a) and the Martyrs of Karbala, as well as his love and devotion to them.[3] He speaks with regret and tears about being far from this holy place and offers his salutations to Karbala and its pilgrims.[4]
The name of 'Uqba b. 'Amr has been recorded in various sources with variations such as 'Uqba b. 'Amiq al-Sahmi[5] and 'Uqba b. 'Amr al-'Absi.[6]
Notes
References
- Ibn al-Jawzī, Yūsuf b. Qazāwghlī. Tadhkirat al-khawāṣṣ min al-umma bi-dhikr khaṣāʾiṣ al-aʾimma. Edited by Ḥusayn Taqīzāda. Qom, Al-Majmaʿ al-ʿĀlamī li-Ahl al-Bayt, 1426 AH.
- Khwārazmī, Muwaffaq b. Aḥmad al-. Maqtal al-Ḥusayn ʿalayh al-salām. Edited by Muḥammad Samāwī. Qom, Anwār al-Hudā, 1381 SH.
- Mufīd, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-. Al-Amālī. Edited by Ḥusayn Walī and ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī. Qom, Congress of Shaykh Mufīd, 1st ed., 1413 AH.
- Shubbar, Jawād. Adab al-ṭaff aw shuʿarāʾ al-Ḥusayn (a). Beirut, Dār al-Murtaḍā, 1st ed., 1409 AH.