Prince of the Desert, Umrule Gais

Umrule Ghais (c. 500-540 AD) was a famous poet of the Arab Jahiliyah period (also known as the Obscurantist period, referring to the period from the end of the 5th century AD until the advent of Islam). He was brilliant in poetry and is considered the creator of traditional Arabic poetry. In the history of Arabic literature, it is known as "poetry master" and "love poem holy hand".

Every year, Arabs make a pilgrimage to the Kaaba Temple in Mecca (known in China as the Kaaba), and before the hajj, a poetry contest is held. The poets gathered together and recited their works in the language of the Guleisi tribe; then they were judged and arbitrated by famous poets; the winning poems were copied on sackcloth with gold water and hung on the walls of the "Kaaba" temple, like a string of pearls hanging around the neck, which people called "hanging poems". Seven of the poems are considered immortal masterpieces of Arabic poetry, and the first of the seven poems is the work of Umrule Ghais.

This poem by Umrule Gas, 82 stanzas long, has a wide reputation that no other suspense poem has ever achieved. Arabs, especially the ancient Arabs, regarded it as a standard of creation and aesthetics. The first verse of the opening verse: "Please stop and cry with me to miss my lover and homeland", has been shaking the hearts of Arabs for many years with its quaint style, sincere feelings, and sonorous rhythm. Even, when people evaluate a wonderful sentence, they tend to say, "Oh, it's just as beautiful as 'please stop and cry with me'!"

Born in the Najd region of the Arabian Peninsula and native to Yemen, Umrule Ghaith was the prince of Prince Gil bin Harris, King of Kenda, who ruled the Assad tribe at the time. Because of his wealthy birth and luxurious life, his early poems often expressed the content of amusement, drinking and hunting, and sexual encounters. Later, due to his indulgence, he was expelled from the palace by his father. The poet, in partnership with a group of young people, wandered from the Syrian region to southern Yemen. Along the way, he hunted horses, sang poems, drank and played music, and became a desert prince.

The Assad clan grew dissatisfied with Kenda's rule, stopped paying taxes, and repeatedly rebelled. Eventually, King Gill ben Harris was killed, and the kingdom of Kenda disintegrated.

After their father was killed, Umrunel, Gas, full of grief and anger, swore to avenge his father. He wrote in a poem: "When I was a child, I was spoiled and wasted my years; now I have a heavy responsibility to repay the blood debt; today the wine is not gone, tomorrow I will no longer be drunk; today I will drink again, and tomorrow I will start a new career." Since then, he has not drunk any wine, traveled to many tribes for help, and although he has defeated the Assads several times, he has not been able to restore his father's great cause because of his loneliness. Later, he also went to Constantinople to ask the Byzantine Emperor Justinian (reigned 527-565) for help, but his efforts were fruitless, and he died in Ankara in 540 due to a skin disease on his way home.

The content of the poems of Umrule Ghais is divided into three parts: hanging ruins, sustenance and mourning, describing sexual encounters, chanting love and singing praises to nature, and revealing the state of mind. His verses sometimes flowed quietly like a gushing spring, and sometimes they roared with grief like raging torrents. His poems are the love songs of the desert princes, the bitter chants of the wandering boys, and the chants of the last monarchs.

The passages about love in his suspense poems have a unique style that has been imitated by poets of all generations, that is, boldness, directness, and enthusiasm. The lover in the poem, named Onaizai, is also known as Fatma. It is said that one day, When Onazai went out with a few young girls, passing through the Pearl Pearl Spring, he took off his clothes and went into the water to bathe. Gaiss followed, put away the girls' clothes, and shouted, "If you want clothes, come and get them!" "None of the girls wanted to get out of the water, so they had to wait until it was dark before they quietly came over to get their clothes." But Onazai remained in the water and said, "Please throw my clothes here!" Gais still refused, and the girls rushed up and surrounded Gais to beat him, and Ernaizai took the opportunity to retrieve his clothes and put them on. Gais slaughtered his mount and roasted the camel meat for the girls to share. After eating, the girls loaded the items on the back of The Gais camel on their camels. Gass got into the camel car in which Onaizai was riding and courted her...

This legend has naturally been processed, and Gass writes in verses 10-15 of his poem: "On the day of the pearl spring, I shared the beauty of the good day with the girls. I slaughtered my mount for them that day, and oh my, the clutter was carried by their camels. The girls ate lean and fat camel meat, and the pieces of meat seemed to be covered with wisps of red. That day I squeezed into Onaizai's camel car, and she said, "Oh, why don't you let me walk?" Because the two of them have turned this camel palanquin to one side, go down, Gass, don't break my camel life! I said, "Go, let go, let go of the reins, don't drive me, and let me pick the flowers and pick the flowers..." Since Umrule Ghais was the most famous poet of the Obscurantist period, there are many stories woven around him. Regarding his expulsion from the palace by his father, it is said that When Houjil ben Harris heard about what had happened at the spring of Jewel Jewel, he was furious and summoned his subordinate Rabiah to order: "Kill this contrarian son, and gouge out his eyeballs to see me!" ”

Rabiah was ordered to perform the execution and present a pair of eyeballs on a tray. When the king saw this, he was full of remorse and cried, "Oh my God, may I take back my life!" ”

At this moment, Umrule Gass walked in the door to meet his father. It turned out that rabbi had killed only a small antelope. After the king forgave him, he forbade Gass to continue to write poetry. Gaiss continued to do his own thing, and was finally kicked out of the palace by his father.

There is also a legend about the revenge of his father: Gass was playing against a group of traveling companions on the road, when suddenly someone came to report that his father had been killed. Only to see That Gais did not move, and after the opponent's chess pieces were settled, he sighed and said, "When he was a teenager, he was expelled from the palace, but when he grew up, he still wanted me to avenge him!" Well, today a drunken party rests, the Ming Dynasty will not enter the wine. Exactly: today and drunk, the Ming Dynasty wrote Spring and Autumn! ”

Say goodbye and drink 7 cups in a row. When he woke up drunk, he made a solemn vow not to achieve the purpose of revenge, not to eat meat, not to drink alcohol, not to wear balsam, not to be close to women.

Some people pointed out that this story was also made up by later generations. For the poet Obeid bin Abrush, who was a contemporary of Ghaith and witnessed the battle between the Assads and King Hurgill, wrote in a poem to Ghais: "If you had not escaped quickly, you would have been spared the misfortune of others." The poet describes how King Kenda was defeated by the Assads, how Gyes lied that he had also killed several of Assad's leaders in battle, and so on. This shows that Gas was at his father's side at the time.

There is also a wonderful story about The Death of Gass. The story goes: Gass turned to some tribes unsuccessfully, only to get Justinian the Great of Constantinople to move the rescue troops. Justinian, who was trying to expand the Roman Empire's power in Syria or the Bedouins of central Arabia, agreed to help Ghaith.

Within Constantinople, there were also some opponents who believed that Gass was not trustworthy enough, and listed to Justinian that Gass used his hospitality to seduce the princess. It is also said that the princess came to peep while Gas and Justinian were bathing together, and fell in love, and the two had an affair.

Justinian was furious when he heard this, and after sending Gais away, he sent his men to chase after him with a gold embroidered coat and a letter. The letter said, "Send a coat that you are wearing as a sign of praise." Be sure to wear it after receiving it, be sure to be auspicious. Ann arrives and looks forward to recovery! ”

When Gais received it, he was overjoyed and immediately put on the dress. No, the clothes are soaked with poisonous juice. The venom was soaked, and Gaiss died of a skin disease.

Before he died, Gais saw a princess tomb at the foot of Mount Assib, and he chanted, "Oh, Fanglin, the time of the meeting is dead, and I will enter the grave of Asheb." Oh, fang neighbors, drifting in the ends of the world, strangers get along with each other.

There is also an episode. It is said that on his way to Constantinople, Gass stored a pair of his golden armor in the home of a village owner named Semauer. After Ghaith's death, King Sheila sent him to take it. Semmael refused to hand it over, saying, "Entrusted by man, you cannot break the covenant." If you do not see the relics of the deceased, you cannot pass them on to others. No, the general captured his son and threatened him with death. Seeing him slash his son's head with a knife, Semauer remained unshakable. "Trustworthy as Sai Maoeller" became a famous idiom.

Scholars searched the history books and found no mention of Gass moving troops to Rome. In Greek annals, there is a mention of an Arab prince under the Persian king, also known as Umrule Ghais. But he was a Laihemi, not a Kenda. They pointed out that the prince named Umrule Ghais at that time, no less than a few dozen people, was inevitably crowned and li dai.

No matter how bizarrely Ghaith's story is woven around Umrule, his poem has truly survived and still shines like a pearl.