Al-Basus

Al-Basus (Arabic: البسوس) was a female poet of pre-Islamic Arabia. She is remembered for her poetry which incited her nephew into murdering Kulaib ibn Rabiah, starting the Basus War that lasted for 40 years.

Biography Al-Basus was from the tribes of Banu Tamim and Banu Bakr. Her father, Munqidh, was of Bakry descent. She was also the maternal aunt of Jassas ibn Murrah, who was the chief of the Banu Shayban tribe at the time in the late 5th century.

Role in the Basus War Al-Basus owned a she-camel that had one day accidentally wandered into and grazed some fields that were the property of Kulaib ibn Rabiah, the chief of the Taghlib tribe. Kulaib was unhappy at what had happened to his property, so he shot at the unwelcomed she-camel with arrows, killing it.