Abū al-Ṭamaḥān al-Qaynī, Ḥanẓala b. al-Sharqī (d. ca. 105/723), was a mukhaḍram poet: that is, one who lived part of his life before, and part of it after, the advent of Islam. Even though all reliable sources record his name as Ḥanẓala b. al-Sharqī, in a copy of his Dīwān seen by al-Āmidī (p. 222) his name and nisba were given as Rabīʿa b. ʿAwf b. Ghanam.

Abū al-Ṭamaḥān was most likely born in Mecca, or its environs. He lived most of his life during the pre-Islamic period (jāhiliyya). It is said that in that era he was a poet, companion and friend to al-Zubayr b. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib,…