من شواعر العرب النّصارى المخضرمات: راهبة الأَحزان الأميرة الـحُـرَقَة (هند بنتُ النُّعْمان): سيرتُها، أخبارها، وما تـبـقّى من شعرها

Abstract

This study aims, in its first part, to present the biography of the pre-Islamic Arab Christian poetess Hind bint al-Nuʿmān bin al-Mundhir. Known as the daughter of the King of al-Ḥīra, and by her nickname “al-Ḥuraqa”, Hind is a prominent pre-Islamic figure celebrated for her intelligence and beauty. Yet, the fact that many details of her life remain obscure has led some relaters to exaggerate several of these details. The present study thus attempts to sift the sources and separate historical facts from fabrications. It does so by relying to a great extent on Ḥarb Banī Shubyān maʿa Kisrā (The War of the Banī Shubyān against Khosrau) as well as others. This current study discusses Hind’s name and nickname, as well as her genealogy, characteristics, her love for and marriage to ʿUday bin Zayd, her entry into the monastic life, the persons she encountered in the al-Ḥarīq monastery in al-Kūfa, and the significance of these encounters. The second part of the study is devoted to an annotated collection of Hind’s poems which we were able to locate in various ancient sources. We expended every possible effort to find her poetry, and of which we recovered only seventy lines. Accordingly, we analyse these verses prosodically, interpret them, explain the difficult expressions found in them, and determine their correct source.