Al-Darimi
A family name (nisba) attributed to Dārim of Banū Tamīm, a name of Najd and not of Quraysh; al-Dārī, from Banū al-Dār of Lakhm, is a different nisba the script brings close to it.
- Type
- Tribal nisba
- Attributed to
- Dārim b. Mālik b. Ḥanẓala, of Banū Tamīm (Najd)
- Root
- d-r-m
Overview
Al-Darimi (al-Dārimī) is attributed to Dārim b. Mālik b. Ḥanẓala of Tamīm, whom the genealogists place under Ḥanẓala and the reports associate with Najd. Dārim is given as a byname, not a name at birth: the root d-r-m in Lisān al-ʿArab is a short, close-set step, and the story told of how he earned it is reported in more than one form.
Names easily confused
The nisba sits in Tamīm and nowhere near Quraysh, though its shape resembles the Meccan clan nisbas built on Dār-, and modern writing pulls it toward them. Al-Dārī is the nearest of these in the script: it is the nisba of Banū al-Dār, reckoned in Lakhm, and it is not a form of al-Dārimī. A family called al-Dārimī may equally be written al-Tamīmī, since the wider nisba covers the narrower one; the reverse does not hold.
Bearing the name
A tribal nisba records what a family is called, not who its ancestors were. It may follow descent (ṣarīḥ), alliance (ḥilf) or clientage (walāʾ), and only a family's own documented record tells those apart.
Sources
- ابن منظور، لسان العرب، 711هـ — مادة: درم
- ابن حزم، جمهرة أنساب العرب، 456هـ — في بني حنظلة من تميم، وفي لخم
This page is an educational, historical reference compiled from published sources. It is not an authority on lineage. Where sources differ, we report the difference without taking a position. Corrections are welcome via our contact page.
Last reviewed: 2026-09-07