Faḍl al-Shāʻirah
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]
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.
- Riding beasts are no joy to ride until they're bridled and mounted.
- So pearls are useless unless they're pierced and threaded..[3]
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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).
- Udhari, Abdullah (1999). Classical Poems by Arab Women. Saqi Books. p. 132. ISBN 978-0-86356-047-7.
- Udhari, Abdullah (1999). Classical Poems by Arab Women. Saqi Books. p. 132. ISBN 978-0-86356-047-7.
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