TIME, ETERNITY AND THE GODS

The religious and moral values of the ancient Arabs are mirrored, however partially, in the verses of their poets. Among them was Zuhayr b. Abi Salma, who flourished in the last days of paganism before the emergence of Islam in central Arabia in the seventh century. Toward the end of a long and often turbulent life he recorded these cautionary words in a famous ode:

Zuhayr was reflecting upon the attempts of conciliators to terminate an eruption of inter-tribal bloodshed. Traditional accounts portray these conflicts, the so-called Days of the Arabs, as a common feature of Arabian society of the period. His warning to each side in the conflict was to enter an agreement in good faith, for the inevitable consequence of deception would be punishment of the betrayer.

The poet's reference to Allah (al-ilah = the God) contradicted neither his pagan values nor the poem's pessimistic pagan ethos. Elsewhere he remarks,