On the pre-Islamic poetry and Yamanite inscriptions
Irsan Ramini, Arabic Dept., Yarmouk University.
Abstract
This paper comprises a reading of a Yemenite inscription in the light of some poetic verses attributed to the well-known Jahili poet al-Mukhabbal of B. Sa'd of Tamim. At the same time, the paper makes use of this archeological material for correcting certain comments given by Arab linguists on those verses. The inscription under discussion records repair works done to the Damp of Ma'rib and harbors good details about a military campaign that took place in Hadramawt under the leadership of the Abyssinian Abraha in 542/547 A.D. Al-Mukhabbal, for his part, boasts of his people's fighting alongside Abraha at a place called Huluban and of their high status in his kingdom as well. This paper has re-examined both materials and proved that they belonged to the same occasion. It has also employed al-Mukhabbal's verses in establishing the right reading of some obscure data in the inscription and in removing the ambiguities of other data. On the other hand, it has benefited from the inscription, first, in defining the exact meaning of some of al-Mukhabbal's words and, second, in determining the real account of his verses. Then, the paper took advantage of these findings so as to highlight the strong links between poetic and historical materials as regards the pre-Islamic era; it asserts that the student of each field of knowledge needs to consult the other field's sources for conducting more secure research.