Hawazin in the context of "Banu Thaqif"

Qays ʿAylān (Arabic: قيس عيلان), often referred to simply as Qays (Kais or Ḳays) were an Arab tribal confederation that branched from the Mudar group. The tribe may not have functioned as a unit in pre-Islamic Arabia (before 630). However, by the early Umayyad Caliphate (661-750), its constituent tribes consolidated into one of the main tribal political factions of the caliphate.

The major constituent tribes or tribal groupings of the Qays were the Ghatafan, Hawazin, Amir, Thaqif, Sulaym, Ghani, Bahila and Muharib. Many of these tribes or their clans migrated from the Arabian Peninsula and established themselves in Jund Qinnasrin, the military district of the northern region of Syria and Upper Mesopotamia, which long became their abode. From there they governed on behalf of the caliphs or rebelled against them. The power of the Qays as a unified group diminished with the rise of the Abbasid Caliphate, which did not derive its military strength solely from the Arab tribes. Nonetheless, individual Qaysi tribes remained a potent force and some migrated to North Africa and al-Andalus, where they carved out their power.

The Banu Amir (Arabic: بنو عامر, romanized: Banū ʿĀmir) was a large and ancient Arab tribe originating from Western Arabia that dominated Najd for centuries after the rise of Islam. It was an independent branch of the Hawazin confederation, and its original homeland was the border area between Najd and Hejaz in Khurmah and Ranyah. Although the Banu Amir engaged in a long war with the Quraysh before the appearance of Islam —manifesting in particular as the Fijar War — the tribe gave a late allegiance to Muhammad and his immediate successors. The tribe produced several well-known Arabic poets, the most famous of whom was Labid ibn Rabi'ah, an author of one of the Seven Hanged Poems. Other poets included Amir ibn al-Tufayl, an important tribal chief; al-Ra'i al-Numayri, an opponent of Jarir; and the female poet Layla al-Akhyaliyyah. The protagonists of the romantic saga of Layla wal Majnun, Qays and Layla, also belonged to Banu Amir.