▁history ▁and ▁literature ▁as ▁in ▁this ▁respect ▁greatly ▁the ▁superior ▁of ▁Hamm ad ▁and ▁K hal af , ▁who ▁are ▁accused ▁( es pecially ▁the ▁latter ) ▁of ▁un sc rup ul ous ▁fabric ation ▁of ▁po ems ▁in ▁the ▁style ▁of ▁the ▁anci ents . ▁He ▁was ▁a ▁native ▁of ▁K uf a , ▁the ▁northern most ▁of ▁the ▁two ▁great ▁military ▁colon ies ▁founded ▁in ▁ 6 3 8 ▁by ▁the ▁cal i ph ▁U mar ▁for ▁the ▁control ▁of ▁the ▁wide ▁Mes op ot am ian ▁plain . ▁In ▁K uf a ▁and ▁Bas ra ▁were ▁gathered ▁represent atives ▁of ▁all ▁the ▁Arab ian ▁tribes ▁who ▁formed ▁the ▁fighting ▁force ▁of ▁the ▁Islam ic ▁Empire , ▁and ▁from ▁these ▁al - M uf add al ▁was ▁able ▁to ▁collect ▁and ▁record ▁the ▁compos itions ▁of ▁the ▁po ets ▁who ▁had ▁celebrated ▁the ▁fort unes ▁and ▁explo its ▁of ▁their ▁for ef athers . ▁He , ▁no ▁doubt , ▁like ▁al - As ma ' i ▁and ▁Ab u ▁U ba ida , ▁also ▁himself ▁visited ▁the ▁areas ▁occupied ▁by ▁the ▁tribes ▁for ▁their ▁camp ing ▁grounds ▁in ▁the ▁neighbour ing ▁desert ; ▁and ▁adjacent ▁to ▁K uf ah ▁was ▁al - H ira ▁( mod ern ▁al - K uf ah ), ▁the ▁ancient ▁capital ▁of ▁the ▁Lak hm ids ▁k ings , ▁whose ▁court ▁was ▁the ▁most ▁celebrated ▁centre ▁in ▁pre - I sl am ic ▁Arab ia , ▁where , ▁in ▁the ▁century ▁before ▁the ▁pre aching ▁of