Hassan ibn Thabit's second reply to al-Zibriqan, 'Is glory anything but ancient lordship and bounty?'

A qasida on the rhyme of the mim, which Ibn Hisham transmits from Hassan ibn Thabit in answer to the second verses of al-Zibriqan at the delegation of Banu Tamim. ¹

The poet asks whether glory is anything other than ancient lordship, generosity, the standing of kings and the endurance of great burdens. He then boasts that the Ansar supported the Prophet Muhammad and sheltered him, despite some who were content with that and others who were not. They are of the clan of Huraid, with their origin and wealth at al-Jabiya in al-Jawlan. They supported him when he settled among their homes with their swords against every aggressor and tyrant. They placed their sons and daughters in front of him and gladly gave him the spoils of war, and they struck people with swords until they followed his religion. ^{1 2} He says that they were born of the greatest of Quraysh, and that they gave birth to the Prophet of goodness, from the family of Hashim. He then addresses the Banu Darim: do not boast, for your boasting will return as a burden when noble deeds are mentioned; the Ansar are servants to them, between nurse and servant. If they came to preserve their blood and their property, let them not set up a rival to God, let them submit, and let them not wear the dress of foreigners. ²

One of its lines says: "We are of Quraysh, of its greatest; we gave birth to the Prophet of goodness from the family of Hashim." ²

The editors note that the line "we gave birth to the Prophet of goodness" means that the mother of Abd al-Muttalib, grandfather of the Prophet, was from the Ansar. They gloss "al-murhafat al-sawarim" as sharp swords, "al-wabal" as burden, "habaltum" as bereaved and deprived, "al-zi'r" as a nurse who suckles another's child, and "al-nidd" as equal or like. ²

When Hassan finished his poem, al-Aqra ibn Habis ruled that this man's orator was more eloquent than the orator of Tamim and his poet a better poet than theirs, and the people then became Muslims. ²