Faḍl al-Yamamiya
Fadl al-Qaysi or Faḍl al-Shāʻirah ("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. She was a concubine of caliph Al-Mutawakkil.
Also recorded as Fadl Ashsha'ira · Fadhl the Poetess · Fadl al-Shāʻirah
Faḍl al-Yamamiya
- Name
- Fadl al-Shaʻirah فضل الشاعرة
- Birthplace
- Al-Yamama, Abbasid Caliphate
- Died
- c. 870/871
- Place of death
- Samarra, Abbasid Caliphate
- Occupation
- Poet
- Spouse
- al-Mutawakkil
- Languages
- Arabic
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wikidata · Q28089674
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Fadl al-Shaʻirah فضل الشاعرة • Pen Name — Fadl • Birthplace — Al-Yamama, Abbasid Caliphate • Died — c. 870/871 • Place of death — Samarra, Abbasid Caliphate • Resting Place — Samarra • Occupation — Poet • Language — Arabic • Period — Islamic Golden Age (Early Abbasid era) • Spouse — al-Mutawakkil
Life
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. 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; however, she was sold to Muhammad ibn al-Faraj al-Rukhkhaji, a leading officer of the Caliphate, who later gave her to Caliph al-Mutawakkil (r. 847–861). Fadl became a prominent figure in the court. According to Ibn Annadim, a bibliographer (died 1047), Fadl's diwan extended to twenty pages. Her pupils included the singer Faridah. When Fadl was brought 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". She died in 870/71.
Poetry
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.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Iraq.
Birth place
Abbasid Samarra.
Death place
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Fadl al-Sha'irah, revision 1372498558 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Michael Stigelbauer: Die Sängerinnen am Abbasidenhof um die Zeit des Kalifen Al-Mutawakkil : nach dem Kitāb al-Aġānī des Abu-l-Farağ al Iṣbahānī und anderen Quellen dargestellt, VWGÖ, Wien 1975, S. 32.
- 2.Shawkat M. Toorawa und Library of Arabic Literature: Ibn al-Sa'i –Consorts of Caliphs, New York University Press, New York 2017, S. 38f.
- 3.Yasemin Gökpinar: Der ṭarab der Sängersklavinnen: Masālik al-abṣār fī mamālik al-amṣār von Ibn Faḍlallāh al-ʿUmarī (gest. 749/1349): Textkritische Edition des 10. Kapitels Ahl ʿilm al-mūsīqī mit kommentierter Übersetzung, Ergon Verlag, Baden-Baden 2021, S. 103.
- 4.Michael Stigelbauer: Die Sängerinnen am Abbasidenhof um die Zeit des Kalifen Al-Mutawakkil : nach dem Kitāb al-Aġānī des Abu-l-Farağ al Iṣbahānī und anderen Quellen dargestellt, VWGÖ, Wien 1975, S. 32f.
- 5.Michael Stigelbauer: Die Sängerinnen am Abbasidenhof um die Zeit des Kalifen Al-Mutawakkil : nach dem Kitāb al-Aġānī des Abu-l-Farağ al Iṣbahānī und anderen Quellen dargestellt, VWGÖ, Wien 1975, S. 33.
- 6.Shawkat M. Toorawa und Library of Arabic Literature: Ibn al-Sa'i –Consorts of Caliphs, New York University Press, New York 2017, S. 40.
- 7.Yasemin Gökpinar: Der ṭarab der Sängersklavinnen: Masālik al-abṣār fī mamālik al-amṣār von Ibn Faḍlallāh al-ʿUmarī (gest. 749/1349): Textkritische Edition des 10. Kapitels Ahl ʿilm al-mūsīqī mit kommentierter Übersetzung, Ergon Verlag, Baden-Baden 2021, S. 105.
- 8.Michael Stigelbauer: Die Sängerinnen am Abbasidenhof um die Zeit des Kalifen Al-Mutawakkil : nach dem Kitāb al-Aġānī des Abu-l-Farağ al Iṣbahānī und anderen Quellen dargestellt, VWGÖ, Wien 1975, S. 33/34.
- 9.Michael Stigelbauer: Die Sängerinnen am Abbasidenhof um die Zeit des Kalifen Al-Mutawakkil : nach dem Kitāb al-Aġānī des Abu-l-Farağ al Iṣbahānī und anderen Quellen dargestellt, VWGÖ, Wien 1975, S. 34.
- 10.Shawkat M. Toorawa und Library of Arabic Literature: Ibn al-Sa'i –Consorts of Caliphs, New York University Press, New York 2017. Engl. Übersetzung von: Die Frauen der Kalifen, S. 38–43.
- 11.Yasemin Gökpinar: Der ṭarab der Sängersklavinnen: Masālik al-abṣār fī mamālik al-amṣār von Ibn Faḍlallāh al-ʿUmarī (gest. 749/1349): Textkritische Edition des 10. Kapitels Ahl ʿilm al-mūsīqī mit kommentierter Übersetzung, Ergon Verlag, Baden-Baden 2021, S. 102–113.
- 12.Shawkat M. Toorawa und Library of Arabic Literature: Ibn al-Sa'i –Consorts of Caliphs, New York University Press, New York 2017, S. 41.
- 13.Yasemin Gökpinar: Der ṭarab der Sängersklavinnen: Masālik al-abṣār fī mamālik al-amṣār von Ibn Faḍlallāh al-ʿUmarī (gest. 749/1349): Textkritische Edition des 10. Kapitels Ahl ʿilm al-mūsīqī mit kommentierter Übersetzung, Ergon Verlag, Baden-Baden 2021, S. 109.
- 14.Yasemin Gökpinar: Der ṭarab der Sängersklavinnen: Masālik al-abṣār fī mamālik al-amṣār von Ibn Faḍlallāh al-ʿUmarī (gest. 749/1349): Textkritische Edition des 10. Kapitels Ahl ʿilm al-mūsīqī mit kommentierter Übersetzung, Ergon Verlag, Baden-Baden 2021, S. 107–109.
- 15.Shawkat M. Toorawa und Library of Arabic Literature: Ibn al-Sa'i –Consorts of Caliphs, New York University Press, New York 2017, S. 42.
- 16.Shawkat M. Toorawa und Library of Arabic Literature: Ibn al-Sa'i –Consorts of Caliphs, New York University Press, New York 2017, S. 43.
References
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