Al-Hira (Arabic: الحيرة, romanized: al-Ḥīra Middle Persian: Hērt ) was an ancient Lakhmid Arabic city in Mesopotamia located south of what is now Kufa in south-central Iraq.
The Sasanian government established the Lakhmid Kingdom of Hatra on the edge of the Arabian Desert near Iraq in order to both prevent direct confrontation between the two empires (Persian and Rome) and to gain its support in battles against Rome.
The Lakhmid kingdom (Arabic: اللخميون al-Lakhmiyyūn), also referred to as al-Manādhirah (المناذرة) or as Banū Lakhm (بنو لخم), was an Arab kingdom that was founded and ruled by the Lakhmid dynasty from c. 268 to 602. Spanning Eastern Arabia and Southern Mesopotamia, it existed as a dependency of the Sasanian Empire, though the Lakhmids held al-Hira as their own capital city and governed from there independently. The kingdom was a participant in the Roman–Persian Wars, in which it fought as a Persian ally against the Ghassanid kingdom, which was ruled by a rival Arab tribe and existed as a dependency of the Roman Empire. While the term "Lakhmids" has been applied to this kingdom's ruling dynasty, more recent scholarship prefers to refer to them as the Naṣrids.
The Nasrid dynasty's authority extended over to their Arab allies in Al-Bahrain (eastern cost of Arabia) and Al-Yamama. In 602, the Persian king Khosrow II deposed and executed the last Nasrid ruler Al-Nu'man III and annexed the Lakhmid kingdom, triggering a revolt by his Arab allies in Najd. The ensuing disorder between anti-Persian rebels and pro-Persian loyalists in the kingdom culminated in the Battle of Dhi Qar, which resulted in a defeat for the Persian army and their loyalists, thereby ending the Persian hegemony over Eastern Arabia. The success of the rebellion and the victory against the Persians at Dhi Qar roused political confidence, enthusiasm, and self-consciousness among the Arabs. Coupled with increasing instability in Persia proper after the downfall of Khosrow in 628, these events heralded the decisive Battle of Qadisiyya in 636 and the Muslim conquest of Persia.
Bahram V (also spelled Wahram V or Warahran V; Middle Persian: 𐭥𐭫𐭧𐭫𐭠𐭭), also known as Bahram Gur (New Persian: بهرام گور, "Bahram the onager [hunter]"), was the Sasanian King of Kings (shahanshah) from 420 to 438.
The son of the incumbent Sasanian shah Yazdegerd I (r. 399–420), Bahram was at an early age sent to the Lahkmid court in al-Hira, where he was raised under the tutelage of the Lakhmid kings. After the assassination of his father, Bahram hurried to the Sasanian capital of Ctesiphon with a Lakhmid army, and won the favour of the nobles and priests, according to a long-existing popular legend, after withstanding a trial against two lions.
Hatim al-Tai (Arabic: حاتم الطائي, 'Hatim of the Tayy tribe'; died 578), full name Ḥātim bin ʿAbd Allāh bin Saʿd aṭ-Ṭāʾiyy (Arabic: حاتم بن عبد الله بن سعد الطائي) was an Arab knight, chieftain of the Tayyi tribe of Arabia, ruler of Shammar, and poet who lived in the last half of the sixth into the beginning of the seventh century. Although he was considered a well-established poet in his time, today he is best known for his altruism. Additionally, he is known to be a model of Arab manliness.
Al-Tai is associated with the Lakhmid court in Hira, especially under its most famous king Al-Mundhir III ibn al-Nu'man. Stories about his extreme generosity have made him an icon among Arabs up until today, as evident in the proverbial phrase "more generous than Hatim" (Arabic: أكرم من حاتم, romanized: ʾakram min Ḥātim). According to Arab writer and poet Ibn Abd Rabbih, he was one of three people who reached the highest point of generosity in the pre-Islamic era, the other two were Ka'b ibn Mama and Harim ibn Sinan al-Murri. Al-Tai's generosity and chivalry have become proverbial not only in Arabic but also in Persian.