Layla bint Abullah ibn Shaddad ibn Ka’b al-Akhyaliyyah () (d. c. AH 75/694×90/709 CE), or simply Layla al-Akhyaliyyah () was a famous

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

Arabian The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

who was renowned for her poetry, eloquence, strong personality, and beauty. Nearly fifty of her short poems survive. They include elegies for her lover Tawba ibn Humayyir, lewd satires she exchanged with

al-Nabigha Al-Nābighah (), al-Nābighah al-Dhubiyānī, or Nābighah al-Dhubyānī; real name Ziyad ibn Muawiyah (); was one of the last pre-Islamic Arabian poets. "Al-Nabigha" means genius or intelligent in Arabic. Biography His tribe, the Banu Dh ...

, and panegyrics for the

caliphs A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of the enti ...

Uthman Uthman ibn Affan (17 June 656) was the third caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruling from 644 until his assassination in 656. Uthman, a second cousin, son-in-law, and notable companion of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, played a major role ...

and

Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam (; July/August 644 or June/July 647 – 9 October 705) was the fifth Umayyad caliph, ruling from April 685 until his death in October 705. A member of the first generation of born Muslims, his early life in ...

;

Life

She was born to the Banu 'Uqayl section of the

Banu 'Amir The Banu Amir () was a large and ancient Arab tribe originating from Western Arabia that dominated Najd for centuries after the rise of Islam. It was an independent branch of the Hawazin confederation, and its original homeland was the border are ...

tribe, coincidentally the same tribe as Qays ibn al-Mullawah and Layla al-Amiriya, the inspiration for the ''

Layla and Majnun ''Layla and Majnun'' ( "Layla's Mad Lover"; ) is an old story of Arab origin, about the 7th-century Arabian poet Qays ibn al-Mulawwah and his lover Layla bint Mahdi (later known as Layla al-Aamiriya). "The Layla-Majnun theme passed from ...

'' genre. However, unlike them, she was a city-dweller and not a

bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

. In her early years, she was known for her love of Tawba ibn Humayyir, but her father refused the marriage, and she married a man called Abi Al-Athla instead. Tawba continued to visit her despite her marriage until her husband complained to the

Caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

, who made Tawba leave. Her husband could not bear the

jealousy Jealousy generally refers to the thoughts or feelings of Emotional insecurity, insecurity, fear, and concern over a relative lack of possessions or safety. Jealousy can consist of one or more emotions such as anger, resentment, inadequacy, he ...

, so he divorced her. She then married an unknown poet and had many children, little is known about them.

Poetry and influence

Her strong personality and fame gave her access to the

courts A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and administer justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law. Courts gene ...

of the Umayyads and others. She was one of the few early female Arab poets who dared to speak of her

love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

in public; this poetry is particularly associated with Tawba b. al-Ḥumayyir: 'Laylā and Tawba had fallen in love with each other. But when Tawba asked for Laylā's hand in marriage, her father refused, and married Laylā to another man. Later, Tawba was killed, and this inspired the laments of Laylā'. What made this even more daring was that she was married to another ( Sawwār b. Awfā al-Qushayrī).Aram A. Shahin, 'Reflections of the Lives and Deaths of Two Umayyad Poets: Laylā al-Akhyaliyya and Tawba b. al-Ḥumayyir', in ''The Heritage of Arabo-Islamic Learning: Studies Presented to Wadad Kadi'', ed. by Maurice A. Pomerantz, Aram A. Shahin (Leiden: Brill, 2016), pp. 398-443 (p. 416 n. 48), DOI: 10.1163/9789004307469_018. Nevertheless, love poetry was not her only

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

, as her poems were diverse in subjects, although she avoided

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

. This helped her to continue her relations with politically influential people, despite changing times and powers. Her work includes exchanges of satires with Nābigha al-Ja‘dī (apparently between 40/660 and 63/683) and Ḥumayda bint Nu‘mān ibn Bashīr.A. Schippers, 'The Role of Woman in Medieval Andalusian Arabic Story-Telling', in ''Verse and the Fair Sex: Studies in Arabic Poetry and in the Representation of Woman in Arabic Literature'', ed. by F. de Jong (Utrecht: M. Th. Houtsma Stichting, 1993), pp. 139-52 (p. 140), http://hdl.handle.net/11245/2.80595. Her poetry was often compared to that of Al-Khansa.Tahera Qutbuddin
'Women Poets'
, in ''Medieval Islamic Civilisation: An Encyclopedia'', ed. by Josef W. Meri, 2 vols (New York: Routledge, 2006), II 867. However, Layla had more diverse imagery, not confined to the

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

, and used more than one genre, not confining herself to one subject. Her poetry also contained some philosophical aspects and

wisdom Wisdom, also known as sapience, is the ability to apply knowledge, experience, and good judgment to navigate life’s complexities. It is often associated with insight, discernment, and ethics in decision-making. Throughout history, wisdom ha ...

, usually attributed to her extensive travel. On the other hand, Layla depended highly on her poetry for income where she was awarded with money for some poems, and her poetry provided her with connections to rich and powerful people while Al-Khansa depended on her family's traditional

pastoralism Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as "livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands (pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The anim ...

. She died in 704 near the city of Samawa in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

while traveling. Example of her poetry: ::::::::أحــجاج لا يفـلل سلاحك إنما المنـايا بكـف الله حيث تراها ::::::::إذا هبـط الحجاج أرضاً مريضة تتبـع أقصـى دائـها فشفـاها ::::::::شفاها من الداء العضال الذي بها غـلام إذا هـز القنـا سقـاها ::::::::سقاها دمــاء المارقين وعلـها إذا جمحت يوماً وخفيـف أذاها ::::::::إذا سمـع الحجـاج صوت كتيبة أعـد لها قبـل النـزول قراها

Life

Poetry and influence

References

Further reading