An Arabian chieftain turned me back, always poetically (5)
I believe the answer is:
emeer
'an arabian chieftain' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'me back always poetically' is the wordplay.
'back' is a reversal indicator.
'always poetically' becomes 'eer' ('e'er' is an archaic version of 'ever').
'me' reversed gives 'em'.
'em'+'eer'='EMEER'
'turned' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. It may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for emeer that I've seen before include "Islamic title" , "Meryl -, US actress" , "Leader of Arabs" , "Arabic title" , "Prince" .)