He adopted the use of royal umbrella and struck the coinage in his name. Being of an Abyssinian slave origin, Najah was not recognized as a sovereign by the tribal elements in the Yemeni highlands. He belonged to an ancient Abyssinian tribe called "Jazal". The Najahid dynasty followed Sunni Islam.

A decade later, Ali al-Sulayhi founded an Ismaili Shia dynasty in the highlands. He marched toward Zabid and killed Najah, forcing his sons to flee to Dahlak (3) in 1060.

Al-Sulayhi returned to Sana'a after conquering Zabid. Ali al-Sulayhi headed a pilgrimage caravan to Mecca in 1066 but was ambushed by Said al-Ahwal, one of Najah's sons who previously fled Zabid. Ali al-Sulayhi was killed and al-Ahwal imprisoned his wife Asma bint Shihab. Asma bint Shihab wrote to her son Ahmed al-Mukarram from Zabid :

    I am great with child by the squint-eye slave (Said al-Ahwal). See that thou come unto me before my delivery. If not, everlasting disgrace will ensue.

Al-Mukarram assembled an army of 3,000 horsemen from his own tribe and marched toward Zabid to free his mother from captivity. The Najahid slave army was defeated and immense numbers were slain. Said al-Ahwal fled the battle field again to Dahlak (3). Ahmed al-Mukaram found out later that his mother was not pregnant, she thought to excite and stimulate her son to vindication of his honor. Ahmed al-Mukarram appointed his uncle As'ad ibn Shihab (10) to govern Zabid and its dependencies in Tihama (4) and returned to Sana'a (5). In 1087, Said al-Ahwal returned to Zabid but was killed that same year by Ahmed al-Mukkaram. Jayyash, another son of Najah, fled to India. Jayyash returned to Zabid in 1089 disguised as an Indian. Being a Sunni, he enjoyed the support of Zabid population and easily gained power in the city.

The following extract from the book of Umarah ibn Ali al-Hakami (1174) covers the episode of the ambush by Said al-Ahwal.

P81-123

(After his younger brother Jayyash's joining him in Zabid), Sa'id openly rose against his enemies at the head of a band of seventy men. Not one of them possessed a horse, nor had they any other weapon than iron nails mounted on palm-sticks. Ahmad ibn Falah, chief of the Office of Control at Zabid, has told me that when Sa'id went forth from the city, he and his followers met a mounted soldier. They killed him, and Sa'id appropriated the horse he was riding. Sa'id started from Zabid, on his way to attack as-Sulayhi, at the close of the ninth day of Dhu 'l-Ka'dah (6), of the year 473 (1081AD).

We set forth, says Jayyash son of Najah, by the sea-board road, avoiding the royal highway for fear of being intercepted by the enemy. By forced marches the distance to al-Mahjam (7) could be performed in three days. The news of our insurrection had preceded us and had reached as-Sulayhi. Both the highlands and the plains were, at the time, filled with rumours. The time had come, it was said, for the uprising of Sa'id al-Ahwal son of Najah, and there was hardly a mosque or place of assembly, a college, or market, or public road, in which the matter was not discussed, though we endeavored, from motives of prudence, to act secretly. But Sa'id openly made oath by God Most High, that he would slay his enemy, that he was the destined master of the day, and he spoke in that tone to most people. As-Sulayhi, on hearing of our revolt, dispatched against us a detachment of his army, consisting of five thousand Abyssinian spear-men, most of whom were our own servants and kinsmen, and he ordered them to bring him the heads of the squint-eyed Sa'id, of his brother, and of his other companions.

By adopting the sea-board road, we avoided the troops. I remember that when night closed in upon us at al-Murawi'ah (8), in the province of al- Kadra, a man stepped forward from behind the hillocks in the valley, and addressing us, said that we had doubtless strayed from our way. We replied that it was so, whereupon he desired us to follow him, and he walked before us until day broke, when we lost sight of him. We underwent great fatigue and suffering from travelling barefooted by day and by night. Sa'id, walking in our midst whilst the horse was led, continually exclaimed : ' morning of prosperity, of triumph, and of happiness ! Make ye haste unto the man, lest to- morrow he die otherwise than by our hands. By Allah ! to-morrow's sun shall not rise and he still in this world ! We continued our march without intermission, until we at length entered the borders of the camp.

We were mistaken for servants and followers of as-Sulayhi, and none heeded us, saving 'Abd Allah son of Muhammad the Sulayhite, who, mounting his charger, suddenly called to his brother : To horse, my lord ! for this, by Allah, is al-Ahwal son of Najah, with his armed following, of whom we have received warning by As'ad ibn Shihab's (10) letter from Zabid. As-Sulayhi, in reply to his brother, exclaimed that he was destined to die at no other place but ad-Duhaym and Bir (the well of) Umm Ma'bad (11). He believed that the well (referred to in the prediction) was that bearing the same name, at which the Apostle of God (upon whom be blessings and salutations of peace) halted, on the occasion of his flight in company with Abu Bekr. But Mash'al the Akkite exclaimed : Defend thyself, for this, by Allah, is the well of Duhaym ibn Abs, and that mosque stands on the site of the tent of Umm (the mother of) Ma'bad, son of al-Harith the Absite (12). On hearing these words, says Jayyash, as-Sulayhi was overcome with despair, and he urined into his chain-armoured tunic. He never moved from the place where he stood, until we struck off his head with his own sword. I was the first to strike him, but one of Najah's slaves took part with me in the deed. He it was that pierced as-Sulayhi with his spear, and I struck off his head with my own hand and mounted it upon the shaft of the royal umbrella. I ordered the drums to be beat and the trumpets to be sounded, and I mounted Sulayhi's Hadramauti (13) horse named adh-Dhabbal. As for Abd Allah son of Muhammad the Sulayhite, the bravest of Arab horsemen, he charged us and killed several of our people. One of our men grappled him, and both fell to the ground. Kill us both, cried the man, for my people will rejoice at my not having perished at the hands of the vile. Sa'id thereupon, says Jayyash, transfixed both with a spear at one blow. He then struck off the head of Abd Allah, imagining him to be his brother Aly the Sulayhite.

Sa'id mounted the horse of Abd Allah, and with the two heads borne aloft before him he proceeded to the door of the mosque, in which the Lady Asmaj daughter of Shihab and wife of as- Sulayhi, was.  Come forth, he said to her, and offer thy morning greeting unto the two Sultans ! May God never bestow upon thee the greeting of his favours, O Ahwal ! she replied. And, with her face uncovered, she recited the line composed by Imru 'l-Kais the Kindite (14);

Verily none so insolently trample upon thee as the feeble boaster.

None so arrogant in humbling as he that hath been abased.

(1) Zabid: Town on Yemen's western coastal plain.

(2) Ziyadid: The Ziyadid dynasty was a Muslim dynasty that ruled western Yemen from 819 until 1018 from the capital city of Zabid.

(3) Dahlak: The Dahlak Archipelago is an Eritrean island group located in the Red Sea near Massawa, Eritrea.

(4) Tihama: coastal plains of Yemen.

(5) Sana'a: Present day capital of Yemen.

(6) Dhu 'l-Ka'dah: Dhu al-Qa'dah also spelled Dhu al-Qi'dah or Zu al-Qa'dah, is the eleventh month in the Islamic calendar.

(7) al-Mahjam: an old district-name north of Zabid.

(8) al-Murawi'ah: Al Marawi'ah District is a district of the Al Hudaydah Governorate; central part Western-Yemen.

(9) al Kadra: al-Kadra’, which is (also called) Saham (Wadi Saham); port city close to Zabid

(10) As'ad ibn Shihab: governor of Zabid appointed by as-Sulayhi reappointed by his son Ahmed al-Mukarra.

(11) Atika bint Khalid al-Khuzaʿiyya nicknamed Umm Maʿbad is a woman who lived during the time of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. She was from the tribe Khuza'ah. She is noted for providing a physical description of him. She met him on his way to Medina.

(12) al-Harith the Absite; means belonging to the tribe of Abs. The Banu Abs are an ancient Bedouin tribe that originated in central Arabia. They form a branch of the powerful and numerous Ghatafan tribes. They still inhabit the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa.

(13) Hadramaut: Eastern province in Yemen.

(14) on this poet see my webpage: Imru’u-l-Qays: Diwan of Imru’u-l-Qays (6th century)