Fadl al-Sha'irah
Arab female poet of the Abbasid era (d. 870)
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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] She was a concubine of caliph Al-Mutawakkil.[2]
Fadl al-Shaʻirah فضل الشاعرة | |
|---|---|
| Born | Al-Yamama, Abbasid Caliphate |
| Died | c. 870/871 |
| Resting place | Samarra |
| Pen name | Fadl |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Language | Arabic |
| Nationality | Caliphate |
| Period | Islamic Golden Age (Early Abbasid era) |
| Spouse | al-Mutawakkil |
Life
Born in al-Yamama (now in Saudi Arabia), Fadl was brought up in Abbasid Basra (now in Iraq). She was a muwallada (of mixed ancestry) raised among the Abd al-Qays tribe.[2] Although she was legally a slave, she claimed to be a freeborn daughter of the tribe and that her brothers had sold her into slavery unjustly;[2] however, she was sold to Muhammad ibn al-Faraj al-Rukhkhaji,[2] a leading officer of the Caliphate, who later gave her to Caliph al-Mutawakkil (r. 847–861).[2]
Fadl became a prominent figure in the court. According to Ibn Annadim, a bibliographer (died 1047), Fadl's diwan extended to twenty pages.[3] Her pupils included the singer Faridah.[4] When Fadl was brought to before al-Mutawakkil the very day she had been given to him, al-Mutawakkil asked her, "Are you really a poet"? She replied: Those who buy and sell me all say so. He laughed and said "Recite some of your poetry to us" and she recited following verses:
The rightly guided Ruler acceded in the year three and thirty.
A Caliphate entrusted to al-Mutawakkil, when he was seven and twenty
Let's us hope, Rightly guided Ruler that your rule goes on for eighty.
God bless you! On all who do not say Amen" — The curse of Almighty
Abu al-Ayna said that the Caliph liked the poem and gave her fifty thousand dirhams.
She was described as "dark-skinned, cultured, eloquent, and could think on her feet. Poetry came naturally to her, and she was better at it than all the other women of her time".[5]
She died in 870/71.[6]
Poetry
An example of Fadl's work, in the translation of Abdullah al-Udhari, 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.[3]
Riding beasts are no joy to ride until they're bridled and mounted.
So pearls are useless unless they're pierced and threaded.
