Al-Zeer Salem

"Al-Zeer Salem" tells the story of Adi ibn Rabi‘ah al-Taghlibi, nicknamed Al-Zeer, also known as Abu Layla al-Muhalhil. He was a knight of the Taghlib tribe, which inhabited northeastern Arabia, bordering parts of Iraq and the Levant. He was a poet and one of the heroes of pre-Islamic Arabia. Genealogists knew him as Adi, but some say his name was Salem. His brother, Kulayb, called him "Zeer al-Nisaa" (the womanizer), meaning the one who keeps women company. This is how his nickname became Al-Zeer. He was also called Al-Muhalhil because he made poetry more refined, or, as some say, because he wore tattered clothes. He had no sons, so he was called Abu Layla, after his eldest daughter. She was the mother of the poet Kulthum ibn Malik, author of the famous Mu‘allaqa. He also had another daughter named Ubaydah. Narrators differ on the names of his daughters, though they agree that he had only two daughters. Some say Layla and Ubaydah, others Salma and Sulayma, and still others Hind. And Ubaidah. His poems were considered a means of inciting revenge. He poured out his grief and complaints in his elegy for his brother, constantly describing his tears and the soreness in his eyelids, mentioning his brother‘s virtues and some of his achievements, so that the tribe would not be distracted from his tragedy.