Banu Kalb
Al-Nu'man was the son of al-Mundhir IV ibn al-Mundhir () and Salma. She was the daughter of a Jewish goldsmith, Wa'il ibn Atiyyah, from Fadak, and had been a slave of al-Harith ibn Hisn, of the Banu Kalb tribe. The base, and even servile, origin of his mother was often used to mock al-Nu'man by contemporary poets. Furthermore, the Arabic sources unanimously portray al-Nu'man as a particularly ugly individual, and remark on his red hair, small stature, and mottled skin.