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Banu al-Qayn

According to traditional Arab genealogy, the Banu al-Qayn was founded by a certain al-Nu'man ibn Jasr, who was known as al-Qayn (the iron smith).^[1] However, according to all historical indications, the tribe was strictly Bedouin and its tribesmen did not involve themselves in metalwork.^[1] The Banu al-Qayn formed part of the Quda'a, a large tribal confederation.^[1]

According to historian Irfan Shahid, "it is almost certain" that the Banu al-Qayn, along with the Judham and Amila tribes, "functioned as military units in the Roman period, forming part of the Nabatean confederacy".^[2] Moreover, Shahid argues the Banu al-Qayn dated back to the biblical era and "represent[ed] the strand of ethnographic continuity in the region, running from biblical to Byzantine to Muslim Arab times".^[3] In the 4th century CE, the tribe's dwelling places were in Transjordan and they served as foederati (federates) of the Byzantine Empire.^[4] They were among the Arab foederati, including the Banu Kalb, Judham, Bali, and Lakhm, that fought the Muslim Arabs at the Battle of Mu'tah in 629.^[1][5] However, at least part of the Banu al-Qayn was on friendly terms with the Muslims for the latter had hoped for help from the Banu al-Qayn during the Battle of Chains that same year.^[1] They again appear fighting for the Byzantines against the Muslims at the battles of Yarmouk and Fahl.^[1]

Most of the tribe converted to Islam following the Muslim conquest of Syria, which concluded in 638. The Banu al-Qayn, along with other Quda'a tribes, such as the Banu Kalb, backed Marwan I in the latter's bid to become caliph during the Second Muslim Civil War.^[1] During a territorial dispute between the Banu al-Qayn and Banu Kalb over Wadi Sirhan, Marwan's son and successor, Abd al-Malik, ruled in favor of the Kalb.^[1] About six hundred al-Qayni tribesmen took part in the Umayyad campaign against the Kharijite rebel Bahlul in 737.^[1] According to historian W. Montgomery Watt, "the last that is heard" of the Banu al-Qayn was in 792, during the Abbasid era, when they were involved in intertribal fighting in Damascus.^[1] However, the late 9th-century geographer al-Ya'qubi held that the town of Arandal, an administrative center in southern Transjordan, was populated by the Banu al-Qays along with the Ghassanids.^[6]

• Watt, W. Montgomery (1991) [1978]. "Al-Kayn". In Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch.; Schacht, J. (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Islam. Vol. 4 Ira-Kha (2nd ed.). Leiden and New York: Brill. pp. 819–820. ISBN 90-04-07026-5.
• Shahid, Irfan (2002). Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century. Washington, D. C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. ISBN 0-88402-284-6.