Fatima al-Suqutriyya
Fāṭima bint Aḥmad Muḥammad al-Jahḍamī, known as Fāṭima al-Suqutriyya (Fatima the Socotran) and nicknamed al-Zahra on the model of the Prophet's daughter Fāṭima, for whom al-Zahra ('the shining one') was a popular epithet, was a Yemeni writer and poet who lived on the island of Socotra in the third century AH (816–913 CE). She is thought to be the first known Socotran poet.
Fatima al-Suqutriyya
- Nationality
- Yemen
- Occupation
- poet
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Fāṭima bint Aḥmad Muḥammad al-Jahḍamī, known as Fāṭima al-Suqutriyya (Fatima the Socotran) and nicknamed al-Zahra on the model of the Prophet's daughter Fāṭima, for whom al-Zahra ('the shining one') was a popular epithet, was a Yemeni writer and poet who lived on the island of Socotra in the third century AH (816–913 CE). She is thought to be the first known Socotran poet.
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Biography
Biography
Little is actually known about al-Suqutriyya. She is thought to have been born on the island of Socotra, during the third century AH. She was a poet and was related to Sultan al-Qāsim bin Muḥammad al-Jahḍamī, the ruler of the Yemeni island of Socotra. He was killed by Ethiopians who attacked the island. Al-Suqutriyya reputedly wrote a qasida to Imam al-Ṣalt ibn Mа̄lik, who had assumed the imamate of Oman in 273 AH / 886 CE, requesting help from him. The poem was sent by sea and found by a fisherman who passed it on to the imam. The Imam sent a fleet of one hundred boats to Socotra, defeating the Ethiopian force on Socotra. Al-Suqutriyya died some time after the year 273 AH / 886 CE.
Work
Work
Al-Suqutriyya is known for the long poem attributed to her, addressed to al-Ṣalt ibn Mа̄lik. The opening of the poem runs Tell the imam whose virtues are to be hoped for, the son of the noble and distinguished Sayyids, The son of the gentlemen who were its light and the best of the Arabs: Socotra has become empty of Islam after [it was full of] Islamic law, the Qur'an, and the books [of faith]. It has replaced the right guidance with disbelief and sin, and the call to prayer with wooden bells.
Reception
Al-Suqutriyya is considered a lost voice in Omani literature, whose work was re-discovered in the twentieth century. In the assessment of Serge D. Elie, her poem seems to be the first act of writing—or more aptly, discursive insurrection—attributed to a Soqotran, and as such it is the source of pride among Soqotrans. However, as this poem became part of popular ‘historiology’—that peculiar combination of orality and literacy, resulting into a synthesis of fact and fiction—the incident was believed to have taken place during the time of the Portuguese, and through a process of osmosis (as literacy remains a problem) has permeated the culture and shaped collective memory. Al-Suqutriyya's story and her poetry featured in an episode of "History and Heritage (Omani Personalities Immortalized by History)" presented by Dr. Hamid Al-Nawfali for Al-Ru'ya TV. This programme became controversial when it was aired in Socotra, because it claimed that Al-Suqutriyya was from Oman. A resident of the island, Abdul Karim Qabalan, called on the television company to apologise. In 2016, the novelist Munir Talal published a retelling of the poem.
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.جمعان الزهراني, قينان. اطمة الجهضمية تستنجد إمام عمان بقصيدة. الإسلام اليوم. 11 June 2012.
- 2.Serge D. Elie, 'Soqotra: South Arabia’s Strategic Gateway and Symbolic Playground ', British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 33.2 (November 2006), 131-60, (p. 158 n. 105).
- 3.الجمهورية نت - علم وقصيدة السقطرية - فاطمة بنت أحمد محمد الجهضمي. 27 April 2014.
- 4.السقطرية. 4 March 2016.
- 5.فاطمة الزهراء السقطرية من اعز نساء العرب (قصيدة رهيبة جدا) من فارس حمدان. vb.shbab7.com.
- 6.سقطرى المحتلة وبطولة العمانيين لتحريرها. 17 July 2014.
- 7.Isam Ali Ahmad al-Rawas, 'Early Islamic Oman (ca - 622/280-893): A Political History ' (unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Durham, 1990), p. 273.
- 8.محمد بن سليمان الحضرمي. المشرب العذب. قراءات في الشعر العماني. Alaan Publishing Co. 82–3. 2020. 9789996933677.
- 9.Team, FictionX. البوابة الإعلامية -وزارة الإعلام - سلطنة عمان -أحمد بن ماجد والزهراء السقطرية في برنامج. البوابة الإعلامية -وزارة الإعلام - سلطنة عمان.
- 10.اخبار محلية : تلفزيون عمان يثير موجة استياء في سقطرى. sahafahnet.net.
- 11.الزهراء السقطرية / إصدار جديد للكاتب اليمني/منير طلال - الرباط بريس. www.aribatpress.com.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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