ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Abī Rabīʿah (1) ibn al-Mughīrah ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar ibn Makhzūm was a celebrated poet. It is said that he was born the day ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb died, was circumcised the day ʿUthmān was killed, and was married the day ʿAlī was killed—Allah knows best. Renowned for his polished, eloquent love verse, he often sang of a lady called al-Thurayyā (2) bint ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allah of the Umayyad line, who was later wed to Sahl ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf al-Zuhrī. On that occasion ʿUmar composed:

O match-maker who weds al-Thurayyā to Suhayl—
by your life, how can the two ever meet?
She is a northern star whenever she rises, (3)
while Suhayl, when he appears, is in the southern sky of Yemen.

Among his choice poems is the piece cited by Ibn Khallikān (4):

Greet a phantom of the loved ones who visited
after drowsiness (5) had wearied the night-long talkers; (6)
arriving in a dream after the pitch-black night,
stealthily (7) hoping to visit by day.

I said:
“Why have we been shunned? For before this
we were their very hearing and sight.”

He replied:
“We are as you left us, but a jewel
keeps its owners too busy to lend it out.”

Bilāl ibn Abī al-Dardāʾ (8) first governed Damascus and then served as its judge, after which ʿAbd al-Malik removed him and appointed Abū Idrīs al-Khawlānī in his place. Bilāl was noted for sound conduct and abundant worship. It appears that the grave by Bāb al-Ṣaghīr popularly called “Bilāl’s grave” is in fact that of Bilāl ibn Abī al-Dardāʾ, not that of Bilāl ibn Ḥamāmah, the muezzin of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, for the latter was buried in Dāriyā; and Allah knows best.