Fadl al-Qaysi or Faḍl al-Shāʻirah (; "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 whose work survives. She was a
concubine
Concubinage is an interpersonal relationship, interpersonal and Intimate relationship, sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarde ...
of caliph
Al-Mutawakkil
Ja'far ibn al-Mu'tasim, Muḥammad ibn Harun al-Rashid, Hārūn al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allāh (); March 82211 December 861, commonly known by his laqab, regnal name al-Mutawwakil ala Allah (), was the tenth Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid caliph, rul ...
.
Life
Born in
al-Yamama (now in
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
), Fadl was brought up in Abbasid
Basra
Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...
, (now 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 ...
). She was from the Abd al-Qays tribe. Her brothers sold her to Muhammad ibn al-Faraj al-Rukhkhaji, a leading officer of the Caliphate, and he gave her to Caliph
al-Mutawakkil
Ja'far ibn al-Mu'tasim, Muḥammad ibn Harun al-Rashid, Hārūn al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allāh (); March 82211 December 861, commonly known by his laqab, regnal name al-Mutawwakil ala Allah (), was the tenth Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid caliph, rul ...
(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
Faridah.
When Fadl was brought to before al-Mutawakkil the very day she had been given to him, al-Mutawakkil asked her, "Are you really a poet"?
She replied: Those who buy and sell me all say so.
He laughed and said "Recite some of your poetry to us" and she recited following verses:
The rightly guided Ruler acceded in the year three and thirty.
A Caliphate entrusted to al-Mutawakkil, when he was seven and twenty
Let's us hope, Rightly guided Ruler that your rule goes on for eighty.
God bless you! On all who do not say Amen" — The curse of Almighty
Abu al-Ayna said that the Caliph liked the poem and gave her fifty thousand
dirham
The dirham, dirhem or drahm is a unit of currency and of mass. It is the name of the currencies of Moroccan dirham, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates dirham, United Arab Emirates and Armenian dram, Armenia, and is the name of a currency subdivisi ...
s.
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.
References
Citations
Sources
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871 deaths
Arabic-language women poets
Arabic-language poets
9th-century women writers
9th-century Arabic-language poets
9th-century deaths
Women poets from the Abbasid Caliphate
Poets from the Abbasid Caliphate
9th-century women from the Abbasid Caliphate
9th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate
Concubines of the Abbasid caliphs
Qiyan
9th-century women musicians
Slaves in the Abbasid Caliphate
Medieval Arabic-language singers
Singers of the medieval Islamic world
9th-century slaves
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