'Amr ibn Qami'a

'Amr ibn Qami'a was a pre-Islamic Arab poet of the Bakr group, of the Kays ibn Tha'laba branch. ¹

The only biographical details the sources give concern his quarrels with his uncle Marthad ibn Sa'd, whose wife tried to seduce him, and his journey to Byzantium with Imru' al-Qays. Ibn Qutayba places him in the household of Hujr, the father of Imru' al-Qays; al-Aghani says the two poets met when 'Amr was already old. He died in Byzantine territory, around 530-540 CE. ¹

His poems, collected by the philologists of the second/eighth century, were often quoted by critics who admired their delicacy and simplicity. They were edited and translated into English by Charles Lyall. The family of Ibn Qami'a, also called Ibn Kamla, included 'Abd Allah (or Ma'mar) ibn Qami'a, father of the Udhri poet Jamil, and the poet Rabi'a ibn Kamla al-Sabi. ¹