Al-Nu'man I ibn Imru' al-Qays

Who is Al-Nu'man I ibn Imru' al-Qays?

Al-Nu'man I ibn Imru' al-Qays, surnamed al-A'war, "the one-eyed", and al-Sa'ih, "the wanderer/ascetic", was the king of the Lakhmid Arabs.

Nu'man was the son of Imru' al-Qays II ibn 'Amr and followed his father on the throne. He is best known for his construction of two magnificent palaces, the Khawarnaq and Sadir, near his capital al-Hirah, which were accounted by contemporary Arab lore among the wonders of the world. The Khawarnaq was built as a resort for his overlord, the Sassanid Persian shah Yazdegerd I and his son Bahram V, who spent his childhood years there.

According to later Arab tradition, he renounced his throne and became an ascetic, after a reign of 29 years. He is also reputed to have visited the Christian hermit Symeon the Stylite between 413 and 420. He was succeeded by his son al-Mundhir I, who played an important role by assisting Bahram V in claiming his throne after Yazdegerd's death and by his actions in the Roman–Sassanid War of 421–422.