Abu Khirash al-Hudhali: The Outlaw Who Died Bringing Water to His Guests

An old man walks out into the night with an empty waterskin, to fetch water for strangers who would not go themselves. On the way back, a snake bites him. He gives them the water, and tells them nothing. That old man was Abu Khirash al-Hudhali, an outlaw poet who could outrun horses on foot, and who lived long enough to embrace Islam. He lost his brothers one after another, praised a stranger he never knew for saving his son, and preferred hunger to humiliation. In this episode, we meet Abu Khirash and the hidden human sides of his life and poetry. Tell us in the comments, yes or no: 1. Could Abu Khirash outrun horses on foot, according to the sources? 2. Did Abu Khirash tell his guests that the snake had bitten him? 3. Did Abu Khirash know the man who saved his son from captivity? #Saalik #ArabicPoetry #OutlawPoets — The Knowledge Seeker: stories of the minds and hearts that shaped human cultures. We gathered to know one another and to talk, not to fight.