Abu Duad al-Iyadi

Abu Duad al-Iyadi was a pre-Islamic poet of al-Hira, a contemporary of the Lakhmid king al-Mundhir b. Ma' al-Sama' (about 506-554 CE), who put him in charge of his horses. The encyclopaedia's entry, signed by Ch. Pellat, gives his name variously as Djuwayra, Djuwayriyya or Haritha b. al-Hadidiya. ¹

The line "diyar ka-diyar Abi Du'ad" in a verse of Kays b. Zuhayr became proverbial, and it gave rise to traditions that make Abu Du'ad the protégé of a generous patron, who is variously al-Mundhir, al-Harith b. Hammam or Kab. He is famous for his descriptions of horses, and some critics rank him above Tufayl al-Ghanawi and al-Nabigha al-Ja'di in that genre. The lexicographers never collected his poems systematically. Al-Asma'i accused Khalaf al-Ahmar of attributing forty qasidas of his own to Abu Du'ad. ¹