33

Al-Uqaysir

The Qudi'ah[1], the Lakhm[2], the Judham[3], the 'Amilah[4], and the Ghatafan[5] had, in the hills of Syria, an idol called al-Uqaysir[6]. Of it Zuhayr ibn-abi-Sulma says:

"I swore by the baetyls of al-Uqaybir a solemn oath,
Where the foreparts of the heads and the lice ate shaven."

Of it also Rabi' ibn-Dab' al-Fazaril[7] said:

"By him to whom the melodies of mankind rise,
And round al-Uqaybir men sing his praise and glory." 		 

34

 
 

Of it, too, al-Shanfara al-Azdi[8] the confederate (halif) of the banu-Fahm[9], said:

"By the [honored] garments of al-Uqaysir! One who hath
Come to the aid of 'Amr and his friends reproacheth me[10]." 		 
 

FOOTNOTES

1. Ishtiqaq, p.313.

2 ibid., p.225.

3 ibid., p.225.

4 Sifah, pp.129, 132.

5 Ishtiqaq, pp.164, 167.

6 Wellhausen, pp.62-64. Set also G. L. Della Vida, "al-Ukaisir," in the Encyclopaedia of Islam.

7 Al-Aghani, vol. viii, p.72, vol. XIX, p.99.

8 ibid., vol. xxi, Pp.134-143.

9 Ishtiqaq p.162.

10 cf. al-Aghani, vol. xxi, p.141, line 18.