ʿAlqama bin Dhi Jadan al-Himyari (Arabic: علقمة بن ذي جدن الحميري) also Dhu Jadan the Himyari (Arabic: ذو جدن الحميري) (fl. 6th - 7th century) was an Arab poet from Yemen. He was noted in particular for his poems about the fortresses of Yemen and their destruction including Ghumdan Palace, Baynun Fortress and Silhin Fortress.[1] al-Himyari wrote of Ghumdan Palace:[2][3]

You have heard of Ghumdan's towers:
From the mountain top it lowers
Well carpentered, with stones for stay,
Plastered with clean, damp, slippery clay;
Oil lamps within it show
At even like the lightening's glow.
This once-new castle is ashes today
The flames have eaten its beauty away.

References

  1. ^ Kueny, Kathryn (2001). The rhetoric of sobriety: wine in early Islam. SUNY Press. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-7914-5053-6. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  2. ^ "Citadels of High Yemen". CPA Media. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  3. ^ Calder, Norman; Mojaddedi, Jawid Ahmad; Rippin, Andrew (2003). Classical Islam: a sourcebook of religious literature. Routledge. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-415-24032-1. Retrieved 11 July 2011.


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