Faḍl Al-Shāʻirah
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Fadl al-Qaysi or Faḍl al-Shāʻirah ( ar, 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 In the surviving historical record, medieval Arabic female poets are few compared with the number of known male Arabic-language poets: there has been 'an almost total eclipse of women's poetic expression in the literary record as maintained in Arab ...
whose work survives.Tahera Qutbuddin, 'Women Poets', in ''Medieval Islamic Civilisation: An Encyclopedia'', ed. by Josef W. Meri, 2 vols (New York: Routledge, 2006), II 866, .


Life

Born in
al-Yamama Al-Yamama ( ar, اليَمامَة, al-Yamāma) is a historical region in the southeastern Najd in modern-day Saudi Arabia, or sometimes more specifically, the now-extinct ancient village of Jaww al-Yamamah, near al-Kharj, after which the rest ...
(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 Abū al-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad al-Muʿtaṣim bi-ʾllāh ( ar, جعفر بن محمد المعتصم بالله; March 822 – 11 December 861), better known by his regnal name Al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allāh (, "He who relies on God") was t ...
(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 Farida. Fadl was the concubine of
Al-Mutawakkil Abū al-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad al-Muʿtaṣim bi-ʾllāh ( ar, جعفر بن محمد المعتصم بالله; March 822 – 11 December 861), better known by his regnal name Al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allāh (, "He who relies on God") was t ...
. She was a poet, born in Al-Yamamah. She was from the Abd al-Qays tribe. She was purchased by Muhammad ibn al-Faraj al-Rukhkhaji, who gave her to Al-Mutawakkil. She died in 870-71.


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.


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* * * * 871 deaths Arabic-language women poets Arabic-language poets 9th-century women writers 9th-century Arabic poets 9th-century deaths Women poets from the Abbasid Caliphate 9th-century women from the Abbasid Caliphate Arabian slaves and freedmen Concubines of the Abbasid caliphs Qiyan 9th-century women musicians Slaves from the Abbasid Caliphate Medieval Arabic singers Singers of the medieval Islamic world {{MEast-poet-stub