Kumait Ibn Zaid - Encyclopedia

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

KUMAIT IBN ZAID (679-743), Arabian poet, was born in the reign of the first Omayyad caliph and lived in the reigns of nine others. He was, however, a strong supporter of the house of Hashim and an enemy of the South Arabians. He was imprisoned by the caliph Hisham for his verse in praise of the Hashimites, but escaped by the help of his wife and was pardoned by the intercession of the caliph's son Maslama. Taking part in a rebellion, he was killed by the troops of Khalid ul-Qasri.

His poems, the Hashimiyyat, have been edited by J. Horovitz (Leiden, 1904). An account of him is contained in the Kitab ulAghani, xv. 113-130. (G. W. T.)