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 Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and a ...

), Fadl was brought up in ʻAbbasid

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...

, (now in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–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 ...

(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

. 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