1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Tarafa
TARAFA [’Amr ibn ul-’Abd ul-Bakrī] (6th cent.), Arabian poet, who, after a wild and dissipated youth spent in Bahrein, left his native land after peace had been established between the tribes of Bakr and Taghlib and went with his uncle Mutalammis (also a poet) to the court of the king of Hira, ’Amr ibn Hind (died 568–9), and there became companion to the king's brother. Having ridiculed the king in some verses he was sent with a letter to the ruler of Bahrein, and, in accordance with the instructions contained in the letter, was buried alive. One of his poems is contained in the Moallakat (q.v.).
His diwan has been published in W. Ahlwardt's The Diwans of the Six Ancient Arabic Poets (London, 1870). Some of his poems have been translated into Latin with notes by B. Vandenhoff (Berlin, 1895). (G. W. T.)