Note 295 — TALE OF KING OMAR BIN AL-NU'UMAN AND HIS SONS SHARRKAN AND ZAU AL-MAKAN, AND WHAT BEFEL THEM OF THINGS SELD-SEEN AND PEREGRINE.[138] (continued 3)

Chief of the Banú Tamím, one of noblest of tribes derived from Tamím, the uncle of Kuraysh (Koreish); hence the poets sang:—

There cannot be a son nobler than Kuraysh,

Nor an uncle nobler than Tamím.

The high-minded Tamím is contrasted with the mean-spirited Kays, who also gave rise to a tribe; and hence the saying concerning one absolutely inconsistent, "Art thou now Tamím and then Kays?"