The poetry of Arab warriors

A translation of a poem by as-Samaw’al

The mountains of Taima’, where the poet as-Samaw’al spent most of his life (Source)

A culture’s poetry is a glimpse into its world, acquainting us with the lives of its people. The miracle of classical Arabic poetry is that it has preserved, through oral tradition alone, a rich testament of a people who would have otherwise been lost to history: the Arab warriors of late antiquity.