# The opening lines of the ten Mu'allaqat, the great pre-Islamic Arabic odes

The Mu'allaqat are among the most famous poems ever written in Arabic; legend says they were written in gold and hung on the Kaaba. These are the opening lines of the ten odes that every student of Arabic learns, from Imru' al-Qais's "Stop, let us weep" to Antarah's "Have the poets left".

- 144 votes · 10 items
- Jun 4, 2022 · matinee_old
- https://even.best/en/l/5269/the-opening-lines-of-the-ten-mu-allaqat-the-great-pre-islamic-arabic-odes

## Top 10

1. **Are these mute traces of a camp Umm Awfa's, / at Hawmanat al-Darraj and al-Mutathallam?** (16 · ▲17 ▼1) — Opening line of the mu'allaqa of Zuhayr ibn Abi Sulma.
2. **Stop, let us weep for the memory of a beloved and a dwelling / at the edge of the sand dunes between al-Dakhul and Hawmal.** (15 · ▲16 ▼1) — Opening line of the mu'allaqa of Imru' al-Qais.
3. **Khawla has traces of a camp on the stony ground of Thahmad / that shine like the remains of a tattoo on the back of a hand.** (14 · ▲16 ▼2) — Opening line of the mu'allaqa of Tarafa ibn al-Abd.
4. **Have the poets left any spot to be patched? / Or did you recognise the abode only after doubt?** (14 · ▲15 ▼1) — Opening line of the mu'allaqa of Antarah ibn Shaddad.
5. **Asma has told us she is leaving; / many a guest is a guest one tires of.** (13 · ▲15 ▼2) — Opening line of the mu'allaqa of Al-Harith ibn Hilliza.
6. **The dwellings are effaced, the halting places and the camps, / at Mina; Ghawl and Rijam have become wilderness.** (11 · ▲12 ▼1) — Opening line of the mu'allaqa of Labid ibn Rabi'a.
7. **Malhub is empty of its people, / and al-Qutbiyyat and al-Dhanub.** (8 · ▲10 ▼2) — Opening line of the mu'allaqa of Abid ibn al-Abras.
8. **O abode of Mayya on the heights and the slope, / deserted, with long ages passed over it.** (7 · ▲7 ▼0) — Opening line of the mu'allaqa of Al-Nabigha al-Dhubyani.
9. **Ho! Wake with your bowl and give us the morning drink, / and do not spare the wines of al-Andarin.** (5 · ▲9 ▼4) — Opening line of the mu'allaqa of Amr ibn Kulthum.
10. **Bid Hurayra farewell, for the caravan is leaving; / but can you bear a farewell, O man?** (5 · ▲9 ▼4) — Opening line of the mu'allaqa of Al-A'sha.

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