Tumāḍir bint ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥārith ibn al-Sharīd al-Sulamīyah ( ar, تماضر بنت عمرو بن الحارث بن الشريد السُلمية), usually simply referred to as al-Khansāʾ ( ar, الخنساء, links=no, meaning "snub-nosed", an Arabic
epithet
An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...
for a
gazelle
A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . This article also deals with the seven species included in two further genera, ''Eudorcas'' and ''Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third f ...
as
metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...
for beauty) was a
7th-century
The 7th century is the period from 601 ( DCI) through 700 ( DCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Common Era. The spread of Islam and the Muslim conquests began with the unification of Arabia by Muhammad starting in 622. After Muh ...
tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...
swoman, living in the
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...
. She was one of the most influential poets of the
pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods.
In her time, the role of a female poet was to write
elegies
An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...
for the dead and perform them for the tribe in public
oral competitions. Al-Khansāʾ won respect and fame in these competitions with her elegies, and is widely considered as the finest author of
Arabic elegies and one of the greatest and best known female Arab poets of all time.
In 629, she went to
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
with a deputation from her clan and, after meeting the Islamic prophet
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
, embraced the new religion. Some say al-Khansāʾ was Muhammad's favorite poet. He wept when he heard her elegies for her two brothers, Ṣakhr and Muʿāwiyah.
Her poetry was later recorded by Muslim scholars, who were studying unaltered Arabic of her time in order to
explicate the language of early Islamic texts.
Life
Al-Khansāʾ was born and raised in
Najd
Najd ( ar, نَجْدٌ, ), or the Nejd, forms the geographic center of Saudi Arabia, accounting for about a third of the country's modern population and, since the Emirate of Diriyah, acting as the base for all unification campaigns by the H ...
,
Arabia
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...
, into a wealthy family of the tribe of Sulaym, and was the daughter of the head of the al-Sharid clan.
According to both contemporary as well as later judgement, she was the most powerful poetess of her time. In pre-Islamic society, the role of a female poet, such as al-Khansā’, was to compose elegies for the
tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...
smen who fell in the battlefield. Her extraordinary fame rests mainly on her elegiac poetry composed for her two brothers, Sakhr and Mu‘āwiya, who were killed in tribal skirmishes of Banū Sulaym with Banū Murra and Banū Asad, predating Islam.
In 612, her brother Muʿawiyah was killed by members of another tribe. Al-Khansāʾ insisted that her brother, Ṣakhr, avenge Muʿawiyah's death, which he did. Ṣakhr was wounded in the process and died of his wounds a year later. Al-Khansāʾ mourned her two brothers' deaths in poetry, writing over a hundred elegies about the two of them alone,
and began to gain fame for her elegiac compositions, especially due to her powerful recitals.
The contemporary Arab poet
al-Nābighah al-Dhubyānī said to her: "You are the finest poet of the
jinn
Jinn ( ar, , ') – also Romanization of Arabic, romanized as djinn or Anglicization, anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources)
– are Invisibility, invisible creatures in early Arabian mytho ...
and the humans." ( ar, إنك أشعر الجن والإنس, links=no).
Similarly, another anecdote says that
al-Nabigha
Al-Nābighah (), al-Nābighah al-Dhubiyānī, or Nābighah al-Dhubyānī; real name Ziyad ibn Muawiyah (); was one of the last Arabian poets of pre-Islamic times. "Al-Nabigha" means "genius or intelligent" in Arabic.
His tribe, the Banu Dhubyan ...
told al-Khansāʾ, "If
Abu Basir
Abū Baṣīr (Baseer, Busir; ar, أبو بصير), also known as Utbah ibn Baseed, was a contemporary of Muhammad from the Banu Thaqif tribe.
He had fled from Mecca after the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, away from the Quraysh, and he sought refuge ...
had not already recited to me, I would have said that you are the greatest poet of the Arabs. Go, for you are the greatest poet among those with breasts".
She responded by saying, "I'm the greatest poet among those with testicles, too".
She was a contemporary of
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
, and eventually converted to
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
.
It is said that Muhammad would ask her to recite some of her poetry for him, and he would love listening to her. Whenever she paused after a recital, he would gesture her to keep going and say, "Go on, Khunās!"
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
even rated al-Khansāʾ over the great
Imru' al-Qais
Imruʾ al-Qais Junduh bin Hujr al-Kindi ( ar, ٱمْرُؤ ٱلْقَيْس جُنْدُح ٱبْن حُجْر ٱلْكِنْدِيّ, ALA-LC: ''ʾImruʾ al-Qays Junduḥ ibn Ḥujr al-Kindīy'') was an Arab king and poet in the 6th century, an ...
, the most famous poet of the classical Arabic tradition, as the one with greater poetic abilities.
She was married at least twice, and had six children, all of whom were also poets and eventually converted to Islam.
Four of them, Yazīd, Muʿāwiyah, ʿAmr, and ʿAmrah, were killed in the
Battle of Qadisiyah
The Battle of al-Qadisiyyah ( ar, مَعْرَكَة ٱلْقَادِسِيَّة, Maʿrakah al-Qādisīyah; fa, نبرد قادسیه, Nabard-e Qâdisiyeh) was an armed conflict which took place in 636 CE between the Rashidun Caliphate and th ...
. When she received the news, she allegedly said, "Praise be to God who honored me with their martyrdom. And I have hope from my Lord that he will reunite me with them in the abode of his mercy." ( ar, الحمد لله الذي شرفني بقتلهم، وأرجو من ربي أن يجمعني بهم في مستقر رحمته).
Poetry and importance in the history of Arabic literature
![Al-Khansa](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Al-Khansa.jpg)
The poems of al-Khansā’ are short and marked by a strong and traditional sense of despair at the irrevocable loss of life. Apart from her poetical talent, her significance lies in having raised the early Arabic elegiac tradition to the level of qarīd poetry instead of
sadj‘ or radjaz. Her style and expression, which assured her a superiority in this genre, became stereotyped in the later
rithā’ poetry. As an outstanding poet and female figure in the history of Arabic literature, the position of al-Khansā’ is unique.
Al-Khansa’s elegies were later collected by
Ibn al-Sikkit (802–858 CE), a literary scholar of the early
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
era. Nearly a thousand lines of her poetry remain.
Editions and translations
* James Montgomery, ''Loss Sings'', The Cahiers Series, 32 (Sylph Editions, 2019),
* In 2021, it was announced that Yasmine Seale would translate al-Khansa's work for the Library of Arabic Literature series.
[Yasmine Seale to Translate Al-Khansa for LAL Series]
, ''ArabLit Quarterly'' (31 July 2021).
See also
*
Arabic poetry
Arabic poetry ( ar, الشعر العربي ''ash-shi‘ru al-‘Arabīyyu'') is the earliest form of Arabic literature. Present knowledge of poetry in Arabic dates from the 6th century, but oral poetry is believed to predate that.
Arabic poetry ...
*
List of famous Arabs
This is a list of notable Arabs.
Public figures Politicians Presidents
*Adib Shishakli (born 1909), President of Syria
* Houari Boumédiène (1932–1978), second president of Algeria.
* Anwar Sadat (1918–1981), third president of Egypt. ...
*
Women in Arab societies
The roles of women in the Arab world have changed throughout history, as the culture and society in which they live has undergone significant transformations. Historically, as well as presently, the situation of women differs greatly between A ...
*
Women in Muslim societies
The experiences of Muslim women ( ''Muslimāt'', singular مسلمة ''Muslimah'') vary widely between and within different societies. At the same time, their adherence to Islam is a shared factor that affects their lives to a varying degree a ...
References
External links
"A Great Arab Poetess of Elegy", an essay about Al-Khansa*
ttp://www.projectcontinua.org/al-khansa/ Project Continua: Biography of al-Khansa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khansa
575 births
645 deaths
6th-century Arabic poets
7th-century Arabic poets
Women companions of the Prophet
Converts to Islam
Arab women
Medieval women poets
Poets of the early Islamic period
Arabic-language women poets
Arabic-language poets
7th-century women writers
7th-century deaths
6th-century women writers
One Thousand and One Nights characters