٤٥٥. وَسُئِلَ (عليه السلام) : مَنْ أَشْعَرُ الشُّعَرَاءِ؟ فقال (عليه السلام) :

455. Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, was asked about the greatest poet and he said:

إِنَّ الْقَوْمَ لَمْ يَجْرُوا فِي حَلبةٍ تُعْرَفُ الْغَايَةُ عِنْدَ قَصَبَتِهَا فَإِنْ كَانَ وَلَا بُدَّ فَالْمَلِكُ الضِّلِّيلُ.

The whole group of them did not proceed on the same lines in such a way that we can know the height of their glory; but if it has to be done then it is the “al-Mālik aḍ-ḍillīl” (the mislead king).

قال السيد الرضي: يريد امرأ القيس

as-Sayyid ar-Raḍī says : Amīr al-mu’minīn means Imriu’l-Qays. [1]

Nahj al-Balāgha

Chapter #455