KUM

kum, the capital, in 34° 39 n. and 50° 55 e., on the anarbar river, which rises near khunsar, has an elevation of 3100 ft. it owes much of its importance to the fact that it contains the tomb of imam reza's sister fatmeh, who died there a.d. 816, and large numbers of pilgrims visit the city during six or seven months of the year. the fixed population is between 25,000 and 30,000. a carriage road 92 m. in length, constructed in 1890-1893, connects the city with teheran. it has post and telegraph offices. see _eastern persian irak_, r. g. s. suppl. (london, 1896). kumait ibn zaid (679-743), arabian poet, was born in the reign of the first omayyad caliph and lived in the reigns of nine others. he was, however, a strong supporter of the house of hashim and an enemy of the south arabians. he was imprisoned by the caliph hisham for his verse in praise of the hashimites, but escaped by the help of his wife and was pardoned by the intercession of the caliph's son maslama. taking part in a rebellion, he was killed by the troops of khalid ul-qasri. his poems, the _hashimiyyat_, have been edited by j. horovitz (leiden, 1904). an account of him is contained in the _kitab ul-aghani_, xv. 113-130. (g. w. t.)