al-Mu'tamid المعتمد
عِشْ مَا شِئْتَ فَإِنَّكَ مَيِّتٌ
Mālik ibn al-Rayb ibn Ḥūṭ ibn Qurṭ al-Māzinī al-Tamīmī (died around 56 AH / 676 CE) was a poet among the noble and refined young men of the Arabs, known for his chivalry and bravery, and his fame spread in the early Umayyad period.
It is narrated that he once lived as a highwayman for a time, until he was encountered by Saʿīd ibn ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān in the desert between al-Madīnah and al-Baṣrah, while Saʿīd was on his way to Khurasān, after being appointed its governor by Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān in the year 56 AH.
Saʿīd reproached him for the corruption and highway robbery attributed to him, whereupon he reformed and joined Saʿīd’s company. Mālik accompanied him to Khurasān and took part in the conquest of Samarkand. After Saʿīd’s dismissal, Mālik turned to piety and asceticism. He settled in Marw (Merv), where he fell ill and, sensing that death was near, composed his famous elegy, considered one of the masterpieces of Arabic poetry.
The poem consists of 58 verses, beginning with:
He then reflects on his spiritual transformation—how he abandoned a life of error for one of faith and repentance:
It is narrated that he once lived as a highwayman for a time, until he was encountered by Saʿīd ibn ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān in the desert between al-Madīnah and al-Baṣrah, while Saʿīd was on his way to Khurasān, after being appointed its governor by Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān in the year 56 AH.
Saʿīd reproached him for the corruption and highway robbery attributed to him, whereupon he reformed and joined Saʿīd’s company. Mālik accompanied him to Khurasān and took part in the conquest of Samarkand. After Saʿīd’s dismissal, Mālik turned to piety and asceticism. He settled in Marw (Merv), where he fell ill and, sensing that death was near, composed his famous elegy, considered one of the masterpieces of Arabic poetry.
The poem consists of 58 verses, beginning with:
He then reflects on his spiritual transformation—how he abandoned a life of error for one of faith and repentance:
