Khansa

Khansa Poems

Khansa Biography

Khansā (translated from Arabic as either 'gazelle' or 'short-nosed') was a 7th century Arabic poet. She was born and raised in the Najd region (the central region of modern-day Saudi Arabia). She was a contemporary of Muhammad, and eventually converted to Islam. In her time, the role of a female poet was to write elegies for the dead and perform them for the tribe in public oral competitions. Al-Khansa’ won respect and fame in these competitions with her elegies for her brothers, Ṣakhr and Muʿāwiyah, who had died in battle. She is the best known female poet in Arabic literature.)

The Best Poem Of Khansa

I See Time

I see time wasting my tribe, my father's sons,
I became tears that my weeping does not dry,
O Sakhr, what use is lament or grief,
For the dead in the grave that was halt?
Let not Allah remove Sakhr and his love,
Nor Allah remove my lord Muawiya,
Let Allah not displace Sakhr,
For he is brother of bounty building by high acts,
I will weep them, by Allah,
While grief longs and while Allah fixes the mountain peaks,
Allah watered the earth that came to hold them
With the morning cloud's downpour

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