Ka'b ibn Zuhayr (ra)

The foremost poet of Arabia at the time of the Prophet ﷺ — and, before Islam, one of its most dangerous satirists — who converted after the Conquest of Makkah and composed the ode later called the Qasidat al-Burda (“Poem of the Cloak”), for which the Prophet ﷺ gave him his own mantle.

One-line: the greatest living Arab poet, from foe to author of the original Qasidat al-Burda.

Identity & lineage

Son of Zuhayr ibn Abi Sulma, himself one of the authors of the Mu’allaqat (the Seven Hanging Poems); of the northern tribe of Muzayna. He had never seen the Prophet ﷺ or been to Madinah.

Role in the Seerah

• Wrote satire against the Muslims and crossed the line by insulting Muslim women, becoming a marked man after the Conquest. His brother (already Muslim) wrote urging him to flee or repent.
• Realising he never believed in idols, Ka’b came secretly to Madinah, approached the Prophet ﷺ after Fajr, took his hand and sought protection as though a messenger, then revealed himself. An Ansari rose to kill him, but the Prophet ﷺ accepted his repentance.
• He recited the ode Banat Su’ad — later titled Qasidat al-Burda — culminating in praise of the Prophet ﷺ (“The Messenger is a sword from whose flash light is sought, an Indian blade unsheathed…”). The Prophet ﷺ, deeply moved, gave him his own cloak; he then bade Ka’b praise the Ansar (whom his tongue had harmed), and Ka’b did.

Note: this original Qasidat al-Burda is distinct from the famous 7th-century-Hijra Burda of al-Busiri, composed after a dream of the Prophet ﷺ.

Character & lessons

The classic case of a former enemy of Islam whose repentance was accepted and whose talent was redirected to good. Umar’s favourite poet.

Death

Lived and died a Muslim; his poetry, unlike Hassan’s, was largely lost (perhaps because he lived in Makkah, not Madinah).

Cross-references

The Conquest of Makkah · Hassan ibn Thabit (ra) · Umar ibn al-Khattab (ra) · Muhammad ﷺ

Sources

• S011 — Yasir Qadhi Seerah EP 084. Ibn Ishaq/Ibn Hisham (the poem and the cloak); al-Qurtubi.