Labid

{{Short description|Arabian poet (died c.660)}}

{{for|the place in Iran|Qaleh Lay Bid}}

{{more citations needed|date=January 2012}}

{{Infobox poet

| name = Labid

| image =

| caption =

| birth_name = Abū Aqīl Labīd ibn Rabīʿa ibn Mālik al-ʿĀmirī

| birth_date = c. 505

| birth_place = Higher Nejd, Arabia

| death_date = c. 661

| death_place =

| occupation = Poet, Warrior

| language = Arabic

| nationality = Arab

| period = Pre-Islamic and Islamic eras

| genre = Poetry

| notableworks = Mu'allaqat}}

Abū Aqīl Labīd ibn Rabīʿa ibn Mālik al-ʿĀmirī ({{Langx|ar|أبو عقيل لَبيد بن ربيعة بن مالك العامِري}}; c. 505{{Cite book |last=الغلاييني |first=مصطفى |title=كتاب رجال المعلقات العشر |pages=34–35 |language=ar}} – c. 661) was an Arab poet from higher Nejd and a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

He belonged to the Bani Amir, a division of the tribe of the Hawazin. In his younger years he was an active warrior, and his verse is largely concerned with inter-tribal disputes. Later, he was sent by a sick uncle to get a remedy from Muhammad at Medina and on this occasion was much influenced by a part of the Quran's , shortest Surah, 'Al-Kawthar'. He accepted Islam soon after. One of his poems is contained in the Mu'allaqat.{{sfn|Thatcher|1911|p=5}}

His muruwwa (virtue) is highlighted in the story that he vowed to feed people whenever the east wind began to blow, and to continue so doing until it stopped. Al-Walid 'Uqba, leader of the Kuffa, sent him one hundred camels to enable him to keep his vow.

In an elegy composed for Nu'mh Mundhii, Labid wrote:

:Every thing, but Allah, is vain

:And all happiness, unconditionally, will vanish

:When a man is on a night journey, he thinks that he has accomplished some deed

:But man spends his life in hopes

:...

:If you do not trust your self, approve it

:Perhaps the past would unclose it to you

:When you do not find a father other than 'Adnan and Ma'ad,

:The judge (God) will punish you

:On the day when every body will be informed of his deeds

:When the record of his life is opened before Allah

Muhammad said of the first verse of the above eulogy: "The most true words said by a poet was the words of Labid" and "Verily, Everything except Allah is perishable and Umaiya bin As-Salt was about to be a Muslim (but he did not embrace Islam)."

[Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhāri, The Book of Manners, Ḥadīth No. 3841]{{Cite web |title=Sahih al-Bukhari 3841 - Merits of the Helpers in Madinah (Ansaar) - كتاب مناقب الأنصار - Sunnah.com - Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم) |url=https://sunnah.com/bukhari:3841 |access-date=2022-07-27 |website=sunnah.com}}