Al-Nu'man I ibn Imru' al-Qays

Al-Nu'man I ibn Imru' al-Qays (Arabic: النعمان بن امرؤ القيس‎), surnamed al-A'war (الأعور, "the one-eyed") and al-Sa'ih (السائح, "the wanderer/ascetic"), was the king of the Lakhmid Arabs (reigned ca. 390–418^[1]).

Nu'man was the son of Imru' al-Qays II ibn 'Amr and followed his father on the throne. He is best known for his construction of two magnificent palaces, the Khawarnaq and Sadir, near his capital al-Hirah, which were accounted by contemporary Arab lore among the wonders of the world. The Khawarnaq was built as a resort for his overlord, the Sassanid Persian shah Yazdegerd I (r. 399–420) and his son Bahram V (r. 420–438), who spent his childhood years there.^[2]

According to later Arab tradition, he renounced his throne and became an ascetic, after a reign of 29 years. He is also reputed to have visited the Christian hermit Symeon the Stylite between 413 and 420.^[1][3][4] He was succeeded by his son al-Mundhir I (r. 418–452), who played an important role by assisting Bahram V in claiming his throne after Yazdegerd's death and by his actions in the Roman–Sassanid War of 421–422.^[1][5]

References

1. Shahîd (1986), p. 633
2. Bosworth (1999), p. 75
3. for details on Nu'man's visit to Symeon, see Shahîd (1989), pp. 161–164
4. Bosworth (1999), pp. 80–81
5. Bosworth (1999), p. 87

Sources

• Bosworth, C. E., ed. (1999). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume V: The Sāsānids, the Byzantines, the Lakhmids, and Yemen. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-4355-2.
• Shahîd, Irfan (1986). "Lakhmids". The Encyclopedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume V: Khe–Mahi. Leiden and New York: BRILL. pp. 632–634. ISBN 90-04-07819-3.
• Shahîd, Irfan (1989). Byzantium and the Arabs in the fifth century. Dumbarton Oaks. ISBN 0-88402-152-1.