The virtues of the Arabs of the Jahiliyya

Al-Rahiq al-Makhtum does not deny that there were baseness and vices among the people of the Jahiliyya, but it holds that among them were praiseworthy virtues that astonish a person and fill him with wonder, and it counts six of them. ^{1 2}

They vied in generosity and boasted of it, and they spent half of their poetry praising it and extolling others for it. A man would receive a guest in the rigour of cold and hunger, with no property but his camel, which was his life and the life of his family; the impulse of generosity would seize him and he would slaughter it for his guest. Among the traces of their generosity was their bearing of enormous blood-money and astonishing guarantees, by which they held back the shedding of blood. ¹ It was among the results of their generosity that they praised the drinking of wine, not because it was a glory in itself, but because it was a path of generosity; for that reason they called the grapevine "generosity" (karm) and its wine "the daughter of generosity." The author cites verses from the mu'allaqa of Antara ibn Shaddad on drinking and open-handedness. ¹ Among its results was their occupation with gambling, because they fed the poor with what they won; for that reason the Qur'an does not deny the benefit of wine and gambling, but says that their sin is greater than their benefit (al-Baqara 219). ²

Covenant was for them a religion they held to, and for its sake they would make light of killing their children and ruining their homes. The stories of Hani ibn Mas'ud al-Shaybani, al-Samaw'al ibn 'Adiya, and Hajib ibn Zurara of Tamim suffice to show this. ²

Among these was self-respect, and a refusal to accept humiliation and wrong. Its results were extreme courage, intense jealousy, and quick anger. They would not hear a word in which they sensed the smell of humiliation without taking up the sword and stirring wars, and they did not care about sacrificing themselves. ² Among them was persistence in resolves: when they resolved on something they saw as glory, no obstacle turned them from it. ²

Among them were forbearance, patience, and deliberation, which they praised, though these were rare among them because of their great courage and their speed in engaging in battle. Among them was the simplicity of the desert, and not being stained by the pollutions and wiles of civilisation; its results were truthfulness, trustworthiness, and aversion from deceit and treachery. ²

The author holds that these qualities, together with the geographical position of the Peninsula, were the reason the Arabs were chosen to carry the general message and to lead the human nation, because although some of them could lead to evil, they were in themselves precious qualities that yield benefits after some refinement. This is what Islam did. The most precious of what they had, after keeping faith, was self-respect and persistence in resolves, since the suppression of evil and the establishment of a system of justice cannot be achieved without this strength. ² They had other noble qualities, which the author did not intend to list exhaustively. ²

The last paragraph is the author's interpretation, not a description. The comparison with modern studies of manliness and tribal morality has not yet been added.