Banī Ḍamra

Overview

Ḍamra ibn Bakr ibn ʿAbd Manāt ibn Kināna is read together with Ghifār, which the genealogists reckon through him, so the two names travel as a pair in the sources. Its diyār are recorded on the coastal side of the Hijaz between Medina and the sea, about Waddān and al-Abwāʾ on the road down to the shore, and that is where the early historical narratives place the tribe. The root ḍ-m-r in Lisān al-ʿArab is leanness and a drawn-in belly — a ḍāmir horse is one trained down hard — and Ḍamra is a personal name built on it, common enough that men of the name occur in lines having nothing to do with this tribe. This page describes a historical tribe and makes no claim about any modern family.

On lineage

Branch lists and affiliations here are given as reported by the classical genealogists, who themselves disagree. Nothing on this page establishes any living family's descent: a shared name may reflect descent, alliance (ḥilf) or clientage (walāʾ), and the sources usually say which only when they know.