Al-Himyari
A family name (nisba) to Ḥimyar — a whole Qaḥṭānī grouping rather than a single tribe, which makes it one of the widest attributions in Yemen.
- Type
- Nisba to a grouping, not a single tribe
- Attributed to
- Ḥimyar (Qaḥṭānī)
- Homeland as described
- The southern Yemeni highlands
Overview
Al-Himyari (al-Ḥimyarī) is the nisba of Ḥimyar, which the genealogists treat as one of the two great groupings of the Qaḥṭānī line beside Kahlān, and which the historians also know as the kingdom that ruled much of Yemen before Islam. al-Hamdānī describes its lands in the southern Yemeni highlands. The nisba is borne today in Yemen, the Gulf and the wider Arab world.
A wide attribution
Because Ḥimyar covers many tribes rather than one, this nisba names an affiliation at the widest level: it says far less about a particular line than a nisba to a single tribe does. The sources also differ over which Yemeni tribes they reckon to Ḥimyar and which to Kahlān, so the same group may be placed differently in different works. As with any tribal name, bearing it does not by itself establish descent — a name may follow descent (ṣarīḥ), alliance (ḥilf) or clientage (walāʾ).
Sources
- الحسن الهمداني، صفة جزيرة العرب، نحو 334هـ — في ذكر حمير وديارها
- ابن حزم الأندلسي، جمهرة أنساب العرب، 456هـ — أنساب حمير وكهلان؛ يُراجَع ويُوثَّق قبل إثبات التفاصيل
This page is an educational, historical reference compiled from published sources.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: 2026-08-31