Faḍl al-Shāʻirah
Fadl al-Shaʻirah فضل الشاعرة | |
---|---|
Born | Al-Yamama, Abbasid Caliphate |
Died | c. 870/871 Samarra, Abbasid Caliphate |
Resting place | Samarra |
Pen name | Fadl |
Occupation | Arabic Poet |
Language | Arabic |
Nationality | Caliphate |
Period | Islamic Golden Age (Early Abbasid era) |
Spouse | al-Mutawakkil |
Fadl al-Qaysi or Faḍl al-Shāʻirah (Arabic: فضل الشاعرة "Faḍl the Poet", d. 871) was one of "three early ʻAbbasid singing girls ... particularly famous for their poetry" and is one of the pre-eminent medieval Arabic female poets whose work survives.[1]
Life[]
Born in al-Yamama (now in Bahrain), Fadl was brought up in ʻAbbasid Basra, (now in Iraq). Her brothers sold her to a leading officer of the Caliphate, and he gave her to Caliph Al-Mutawakkil (r. 847–61). Fadl became a prominent figure in the court. According to ibn Annadim, a bibliographer (died 1047), Fadl's diwan extended to twenty pages.[2]
Fadl was the concubine of Al-Mutawakkil. She was a poetess, born in Al-Yamamah. She was from Abd al-Qays tribe. She was purchased by Muhammad ibn al-Faraj al-Rukhkhaji, who gave her to Al-Mutawakkil.[3]
She died in 870-71.[4]
Poetry[]
An example of Fadl's work, in the translation of , is:
- The following poem was written in response to the poet Abu Dulaf (d. 840) who hinted in a poem that she was not a virgin and he preferred virgins, whom he compared to unpierced pearls.
- Riding beasts are no joy to ride until they're bridled and mounted.
- So pearls are useless unless they're pierced and threaded.[5]
References[]
- ^ Tahera Qutbuddin, 'Women Poets', in Medieval Islamic Civilisation: An Encyclopedia, ed. by Josef W. Meri, 2 vols (New York: Routledge, 2006), II 866, "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-02-07. Retrieved 2015-03-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link).
- ^ (1999). Classical Poems by Arab Women. Saqi Books. p. 132. ISBN 978-0-86356-047-7.
- ^ Ibn al-Sāʿī 2017, p. 38.
- ^ Ibn al-Sāʿī 2017, p. 43.
- ^ (1999). Classical Poems by Arab Women. Saqi Books. p. 132. ISBN 978-0-86356-047-7.
Sources[]
- Tahera Qutbuddin, 'Women Poets', in Medieval Islamic Civilisation: An Encyclopedia, ed. by Josef W. Meri, 2 vols (New York: Routledge, 2006), II 866, "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-02-07. Retrieved 2015-03-29.
- Udhari, Abdullah (1999). Classical Poems by Arab Women
- Ibn al-Sāʿī (2017). Consorts of the Caliphs: Women and the Court of Baghdad. Translated by Shawkat M. Toorawa and the Editors of the Library of Arabic Literature. Introduction by Julia Bray, Foreword by Marina Warner. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 978-1-4798-0477-1.
- 871 deaths
- Muslim poets
- Poets of the early Islamic period
- Arabic-language women poets
- Arabic-language poets
- 9th-century women writers
- 9th-century Arabic writers
- 9th-century deaths
- Middle Eastern poet stubs
- Women poets of the Abbasid Caliphate
- 9th-century women of the Abbasid Caliphate
- Arabian slaves and freedmen
- Concubines of the Abbasid caliphs
- Qiyan
- 9th-century women musicians
- Slaves of the Abbasid Caliphate
- Medieval Arabic singers
- Medieval Arab singers