Fahd Al-Subaihi, Poet of Al-Oqilat
In the Thirteenth Century AH
By Saad Al-HafiThe name Al-Oqilat began with Banu Aqeel and came to include the merchants of Najd. Fahd Al-Subaihi, a poet from Buraidah, praised the Al-Oqilat during their travels abroad and commended their leader Ibn Arafaj.
Distance from a place of estrangement brings you dignity *** While nearness to a place of humiliation is torment
A free man will not endure oppression and hardship *** So long as strength remains within his hand
He takes wing and ranges far in search of livelihood *** Hoping to find provision with no barrier before it
Rise and bring two strong, purebred she-camels *** Their hard shins striding over folded ridges
By afternoon they reach the land of buying and selling *** For livelihood has its means within its markets
Reading the Poem
The poet began by lamenting the hardships of time after growing old and being deserted by friends. He believed that accepting humiliation negates every noble quality. If a man is too poor to provide dinner for a guest and earns no regard among his people, that is humiliation in his own land, and he must leave to preserve his dignity.
The poet then addresses young men generally. He defines oppression as poverty and lack of means, arguing that whoever will not leave home in search of a livelihood may die without ever attaining prosperity. A free person cannot bear humiliation; like a bird, he must fly away in the hope of finding provision. He calls on the young man to bring strong, purebred camels, travel to Iraq—the land of commerce—and join the Al-Oqilat.