The Slave Girls of Baghdad: The Qiyān in the Early Abbasid Era 9780755698325, 9781848855779

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ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS

b. ibn (son of), when used between names bt bint (daughter), when used between names pl. plural sg. singular tr. translation/translated by Year dates are given as both Anno Hegirae and Anno Domini (e.g. 145/762) BEO Bulletin d’études orientales EAL (see under “Meisami” Encyclopaedia of Arabic Literature) Enc. Brit. Encyclopedia Britannica EI-2 Encyclopaedia of Islam, New (second) Edition (Leiden, 1960–2009) JA Journal Asiatique JAL Journal of Arabic Literature JSS Journal of Semitic Studies In relation to poems, the first rhyme-word is given at the first mention in order to facilitate their retrieval in editions other than the ones used here. Where the citation is of a repartee or an exchange in verse using the same rhyme, it is given only with the first part.

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TRANSLITERATION

Arabic words and nouns are transliterated according to the system employed in the Encyclopaedia of Islam, New (second) Edition, with the following changes: j for dj, q for k. no underlining of digraphs and no shortening of long vowels before two consonant (e.g. Abū l-Hasan, not Abu l-Hasan). Names and terms commonly used in English are not transliterated according to this system (e.g. Abbasid, Baghdad, Iraq, Hijaz).

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GLOSSARY

Some Arabic words and their respective meanings as used in this book ‘addādāt akhbār ama, pl. imā’ atlāl du ‘ā’ faqīh fityān ghāliya ghazal hadīth hawā hazaj hijā’ hudā’ hurra, pl. harā’ir ibāhī iblīs ‘iffa ijāza imā’ imā’ shawā‘ir

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professional mourners reports slave-girl traces of past encampment; ruins wish prayer a jurist; legal scholar fashionable young, cultural men about town blend of perfumes courtship poetry Prophetic tradition; literally, narrative love singing with light modulation; chanting invective; satire camel driver’s song free woman licentious the devil virtue; modesty chasing; following on slave-girls (see ama) slave-girl poets

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‘ishq ‘itāb jāriya, pl. jawārī kātib, pl. kuttāb khamriyya, pl. khamriyyāt madīh majlis, pl. majālis maqāla, pl. maqālāt marthiya, pl. marāthī mawlā, pl. mawālī mihna mizāh mudīf mughanniya, pl. mughanniyāt mughāzalāt mukhadram al-dawlatayn mujūn mukhannath nasīb nawrūz qādī qasīda qayna, pl. qiyān qit‘a rāwī sadaqa sayyid shu‘ūbiyya sihr tāhir tahni’a tarab tīh

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OF

BAGHDAD

passion reproach; blame female slave bureaucrat; chancery clerk bacchic poem panegyric; eulogy salon of performing arts; literally a sitting, an assembly sung essay lamentation; elegy freedman; client Inquisition pleasantry; fun reception hall songstress lover’s plaint one who straddled the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties dissolute behaviour effeminate; a type of singing pre-Islamic courtship poetry; a conventional opening theme in a poem Persian Spring festival magistrate poem singing slave-girl epigram recitor benefaction; alms nobleman; gentleman challenge to Arabism sorcery pure felicitation rapture delusion; arrogance

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GLOSSARY ‘ūd ‘udhrī ‘ulamā’ umma umm walad wāshī zandaqa zinā’

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Oriental lute chaste; Platonic e.g said of love poetry, after the tribe of ‘Udhra scholars (esp. religious scholars) nation; commonly used to refer to the nation of Islam slave mother of a child by a free man slanderer; mischief maker heresy/Manichaeism adultery

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INTRODUCTION

Definition The Abbasid qiyān were a historical manifestation of courtesanship in which, as in the case of the ancient Greek hetaira and the Japanese geisha, women engaged male patrons in exchanges of artistic graces, literary sparring, flirtations and sexual favours. But what sets the historical qiyān apart from other courtesans is the fact that they were also women slaves whose status was defined by the laws of Islam and the cultural mores of the Arab society in which they lived. All the slave girls under consideration, being part of the performingarts segment of the earlyAbbasid era, are further identified as slave-girl poets (imā’ shawā‘ir) or as singing slave girls (qiyān mughanniyāt) or simply qiyān. For a start it is reasonable to infer that almost all of them were trained to perform, and did perform, as singers (qiyān, sg. qayna), so that they sang and set to song the verses of others as well as their own. Some would have also become so adept at composing poetry, mostly adapted as songs, that they were identifiable as imā’ shawā‘ir. Hence, most of the shawā‘ir combined both functions. The terms imā’ shawā‘ir and qiyān mughanniyāt are used to refer specifically to the slave girls in their functions of poets and singers respectively. At the same time the term qiyān is also commonly used to answer to both collectively. That is consistent with the meaning that the term qiyān generally acquired:1 Qina (sic) is synonymous with jariya and the two words are, moreover, used interchangeably ... Ibn Manzur, the author of the dictionary, tells us that the qina is a slave, whether she is a singer

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or not. He adds, ‘If the name qina is given to a jariya who knows the art of singing, that is precisely because that art is practised only by slaves and not at all by free women.’ In pre- and early Islamic Arabic the term qayn meant ‘blacksmith’ or ‘craftsman’. It was often used pejoratively, then progressively evolved to stand for slaves generally, to anyone employed in a manual trade – since manual trade was beneath the dignity of the Banū Hāshim – to anyone engaged in gainful employment, then specifically to anyone engaged in an artistic performance for reward. From this last usage it is but a small step to the term qayna referring to a performing slave girl. One comes across the occasional pre-Islamic use of the word in this last sense, e.g. the poet Uhayha b. Jūlāh, in love with a jāriya, declaring: ‘Let a qayna make a cry with her mizhar’ (a type of ‘ūd),2 or al-Nābigha being corrected by a qayna for using faulty rhymes.3 The combination of the themes of slavery, women, poetical productions and artistic performances presents one with a patchwork of contradictions and ambiguities. As a slave, the jāriya is a chattel. She can be bought, hired out and sold. But the fact that she is marketable gives her social mobility, and the prospect through a succession of changes of ownership to climb socially, a prospect depending on the type or class of the jāriya. As a woman in a strongly male-dominated society the qayna can be said to be doubly enslaved. Yet her lot in many respects is better than that of her free-born sister. She starts off by being at least as well ‘finished’ as the daughter of an aristocratic family who would have had private tutors for reading, music and deportment,4 while being more liberated than the free-born. She goes about without covering her face, dressed in finery instead of covering herself from head to toe in a dark, loose-fitting cloak. She is a leader of fashion in clothes and other personal adornments. She can sit and converse with the great and the famous among men. She has greater opportunities and choices to establish deep and meaningful relationships with a lover or a succession of lovers. She is often treated as not much better than a prostitute, and abused physically even as she is cared for and indulged as a valuable marketable asset. By dint of her upbringing and of her profession

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she is worldly, setting her snare to the rich; yet she is capable of deep and sincere loyalty to master and lover. Altogether, she may be said to have a more rounded personality than the free-born. In a different age and a different place, the Frères Goncourt had in mind the likes of her in saying that only the woman of the world is a woman – the rest are simply females.5 When the qayna dabbles in verse in a poetical salon (majlis, pl. majālis) she mostly produces occasional poetry, some epigrams which, while clever, have only a limited measure of intrinsic literary merit, and which she trades in repartee with men in order to impress with her knowledge, good humour and acuity. In this she displays the product, not of a contemplative experience which moves the spirit of the reader, but of the no less interesting cut and thrust of dazzling virtuosity that fills one with admiration. But she can also be capable of producing the occasional poem (qasīda) of the highest literary merit. She is shallow and artificial when playing a salon party game with guests. She can also be the author of lofty imagery in praise of a patron and of tender and sincere expressions addressed to a lover. And there is always the ambiguity: to what extent is her motivation derived from her being a slave, a woman or an artist? When she surrenders her heart and declares it in verse and song, does one see in that the submission of slavery, or a woman in love, or the worldly deference of a professional to a benefactor, or to all of those in varying proportions? As she sheds tears at the death of a master, to what extent is she moved by his loss, and to what extent by the uncertainty and anxiety relating to her own personal situation, now facing the prospect of her forced removal from one familiar household to some unknown other? And one thinks of the acute ambiguity in the stance of the slavegirl Sakan, who, out of love for her master (or perhaps at his urging?) invites the caliph to buy her to ease her master’s financial difficulties, but is yet prepared to suffer hardship and penury as her master’s slave and lover rather than suffer to be parted from him by her being sold to some mere nobleman.6 One way of getting at the essence of the qiyān phenomenon is to bring together those contradictions and ambiguities to form a cohesive cameo describing a discrete form of salon culture, consisting of artistic

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performances by a particular class of performers in a particular period of Arab civilisation – the early part of the Abbasid period, starting in the 3rd century of Islam/9th century AD (hereafter ‘3rd/9th century’). There had been nothing quite like it before. It is true that previously there had been serious literary sessions, in which women participated and poetry, philology and jurisprudence were discussed.7 Various schools of singing had also flourished in Hijaz, at the dawn of Islam. But the salon culture of the qiyān differs from all that. It is the product of particular factors coming into play in a particular historical context. These factors included: the presence of a large number of slave girls, of different national origins; the steady supply arriving from the slave markets, some by way of ‘finishing’ schools; the large body of privileged and dilettante chancery-clerks or bureaucrats (kuttāb, sg. kātib) as patrons; the abundant wealth cascading from the conquered lands; and the effect on Abbasid society of the non-Arabs, mainly of Persian origin, who occupied influential positions at court and in the cultural life of Abbasid society generally. But what particularly distinguishes this salon culture is that its abiding spirit is the pursuit of leisure for its own sake. By modern Western standards the salon culture of the qiyān is marked by moral laxity, lack of inhibition in the use of impolite expressions and by the extensive use of erotic-elegiac poetry. In particular, there is a poetical genre consisting of what is composed by establishment poets in praise of the qayna. A significant part of that would have been meant to serve as publicity material: the poet would repay the hospitality and favours of the qayna and her house by composing verses in her praise, in some cases the poet having possibly been commissioned to do so. One can reasonably infer this from the poems in which the name of the particular qayna is woven into the verses, and often used as rhyme, as well as from the tenor of some of the poems. Further, a publicity poem singing the charms of the qayna and recommending a visit to her house would also serve as publicity for the author; of particular material benefit to a commission poet. The clever repartee in which the slave girl engages with a potential buyer and patron also serves as a marketing tool – a ‘qualification’ test the passing of which testifies to the girl’s education and acuity.8 One

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may categorise the qiyān salon culture as being, at its lowest, an art in a business, and at its highest a business in an art. Free, high-born women were insulated from the public world of the qiyān, while little is known of what transpired at their own private meetings. ‘Ulayya bt. al-Mahdī is one notable exception. A great deal is written of her and about her and her private family meetings. But it is not without significance that someone in her position represented a link between the world of qiyān and that of the aristocratic houses – she was the daughter of the black slave Maknūna, whom the caliph al-Mahdī bought for 100,000 dirhams in his father’s lifetime. One notion which needs to be addressed is the effect that the qiyān may have had on the education and cultural attainment, as well as the social status, of the free-born, high-born women. It is noteworthy that there were fewer known, free women poets in the Abbasid era than there had been before it.9 There are some who attribute that to what are perceived as a loose moral climate at the heart of Abbasid social and cultural life which, in thrall to non-Arab practices, left little room for the literary talents of the virtuous, free-born, high-born Arab woman to flourish.10 One may see some basis for that view, provided one stripped it of the implied racist element. The differences between Umayyad and Abbasid, Damascus and Baghdad, 2nd/8th-century Hijaz and 3rd/9th-century Iraq, are not to be seen as reflections of racial characteristics that distinguish the Persian from the Arab. Rather, they reflect the gulf between two cultures observed in two different periods. The Islamic conquests brought an Arab culture in which nomadic roots were still discernible face to face with and under the influence of old civilisations in which, in the case of the Persian court and Persia’s upper social echelons, leisure activities were pursued for their own sake, while the practice of patronage of the arts was highly developed. In comparison, the traditional Arab culture would appear restrained, measured, family- and tribe-focused. The differences should not be regarded as due to the one culture being more morally pure than the other. Further, there is perhaps enough to indicate that the free-born woman (hurra, pl. harā’ir) did not become less educated nor less interested in literary matters with the transfer of the centre of state power and influence from Hijaz and Syria to Abbasid Baghdad. The apparent

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paucity of the material is likely to be due in part to the fact that as the harā’ir were cloistered and kept away from the public gaze their poetical works were less widely noted, retold and recorded than the brash, populist, memorable epigrams exchanged in the houses of qiyān. In practical terms the absence of professional recitors or transmitters (ruwāt, sg. rāwī) in their case meant that reports of their compositions would mostly have come about through their slave-girls. The onset of the Abbasid period marked a social shift fom what had basically been a traditional rural and small-town environment to a multi-cultural, metropolitan society. This was reflected in changes to literary themes, with the amatory epigram gaining ground from the traditional qasīda themes of family and tribal honour and pride. As the qiyān set the trend in the new form the tendency would have been for the harā’ir to follow. Notwithstanding the attempts to insulate the free woman from the nefarious new world and requiring her to go about in a hijāb, she and the world of slaves were not far apart. Many of the high-born harā’ir were daughters of slave concubines or brought up in households which included former qiyān acquired by the head of the household as wives or concubines. The qiyān, mostly of foreign origin, well educated and trained and also worldly, may well have opened to the high-born harā’ir a window of opportunity to acquire knowledge of the outside world and of what was fashionable in deportment, dress, food, flowers and gardens. If in some Western societies some measure of education, fashion and what otherwise passed for refinement can be said to have been carried down, through the medium of the woman in service, from the mansion house to the humble village dwelling, the same may be said to have been carried high up in Abbasid society through the conduit of the qayna from the slave market to the palace. One effect of the preponderance of women slaves and the lowering of moral standards was the restrictions, or further restrictions, that were placed on the freedom of association of the free women:11 Civilization with its extravagance and luxury and the advent of jawārī had a negative effect on women of the upper class. The more women war captives were brought to Baghdad the more corruption spread. This caused alarm about the manners and

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morals of upper class women. This in turn meant that restrictions were emphasized: the veil (hijāb) became mandatory. At the same time the jawārī were prohibited from covering their faces in public, in order to distinguish them from the free women. The veil appears to have been ‘adopted’ by the caliph ‘Umar (Omar) b. al-Khattāb, the second Caliph (r.13/634–23/644) but did not become mandatory until later.12 The wearing of the hijāb had a precedent in the custom of the noble women of Persia covering their faces, which may have been what inspired ‘Umar to introduce it into Arab society. But one can equally say that the restrictions were a male reaction to having the eyes of the cloistered upper-class woman opened to the wide outside world. These restrictions provide a further explanation for the paucity or apparent paucity of the literary output produced by the free women of the period, and would have limited the scope for the exchange of ideas and cross-fertilisation with the outside world, as well as denied to the free woman with poetical pretensions the appreciation and encouragement of a wider audience. That said, while one simply can have no clear idea how much or little poetry was composed at the Abbasid court and upper-class houses, it is difficult to accept that the introduction of slave girls, part of whose education consisted of knowledge of poetry and the ability to compose it, would have stifled the creative instinct of the free women; or that the flowering of the artistic talents of ‘Ulayya (a poet) and her half-brothers Ibrāhīm (poet, songwriter and singer) and Ya‘qūb (mizmār player/oboeist) was not due in some measure to their being the daughter and sons of their respective slave-concubine mothers. It did not last. The world of the qiyān suffered a decline commensurate with the political and financial decline of the Abbasid court, starting with the Turkish praetorian guards taking effective control and gradually supplanting the Persian influence that had obtained up to then. Thereafter, the sophistication and sense of leisure which imbued the society of qiyān, and which depended on patronage for its life-blood, did not sit comfortably with the harsh, austere, militaristic ethos of the new rulers. Of course, poetry and music endured, as they always will, and slavery in large numbers also endured until fairly

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recently, and has not altogether disappeared. But of the salon culture of the early part of the Abbasid period, with its slave-girl poets, singing slave girls, commission poets, courtiers and well-to-do bureaucrats, all that remain are the literary record and historical footnotes.

Primary sources In dealing with the Abbasid qiyān one has the benefit of a significant body of literature, in which one may discern at least some core material which is likely – more or less – to be historically factual, notwithstanding the doubt that may be entertained as to the accuracy or even the validity of what may have accrued to it over time. This core material, consisting of memorable epigrams as well as anecdotes and stories relating to the lives of the qiyān, their masters and patrons, would have been displayed in a semi-public setting, and thus listened to, memorised and recounted. In addition, the fact that the qiyān were notorious public figures and leaders of fashion, what they did and said can also be assumed to have been of public interest and repeatedly retold. Given that very process, the record which has come down to the present day gives rise to acute issues of methodology. What is extant is derived from oral pre-literate sources, which to a greater or lesser degree are suspect: the stories would have been told one way here and another way there, so that they would have changed a great deal before they became fossilised in their written form – what with facts exaggerated and distorted, fanciful additions to true anecdotes, and anonymous fairy-tale characters converted into historical personages. Further, the written product itself presents the reader with acute difficulties: cases of dubious attribution and dating, as well as the difficulty of seeking to produce a coherent chronology or story out of disparate, often contradictory facts by applying purely subjective criteria. One finds an example of this in the attempt to construct ‘Arīb’s chronology. And there are what one may suspect to be occasions for poems in the reports (akhbār) to be typically invented, and whereby verses of doubtful or multiple attribution are strung together to add to a good yarn or to create a new one. One also needs to allow for the fact that the source might have been contaminated by political or sectarian bias, as

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INTRODUCTION

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in the attitude demonstrated by al-Isfahānī, a devoted ‘Alīd and author of the Shī‘ite martyrology Maqātil al-Tālibiyyīn, towards Ibrāhīm Ibn al-Mahdī, a virulent anti-‘Alīd. Further, there are many cases of patent clerical corruption resulting in alternative readings – easy enough in Arabic, what with the ubiquitous absence of the vowels (harakāt) and the migration of the alphabetical dot from one letter to another. Faced with such difficulties one is tempted to express a view as to the respective degrees of reliability of the reports and of the different versions. But while it is legitimate to express a preference for a particular version, that could only be so provided there is a deliberate mention of the other version (or versions); otherwise one would be excising not only what one considers to be the less reliable, but also whatever might subsequently have been written based on it.13 A further limitation in the historical record is that it consists of uncoordinated episodes which somehow have to be brought together. It is a big canvas and, lest it be presented as an uncoordinated and unmanageable jumble of events and anecdotes, the Carthesian method is here adopted of breaking it up into sections and addressing the sections separately. Thus, by way of example, the poetry is presented in separate sections: eulogy, lamentation and invective respectively. An important tool for making sense of the picture is the poetry. There is a sufficient amount of it which, after a passage of time, was committed to writing and is extant, unlike the musical productions of the period, of which all that has survived are the reports of how people were affected by them. Given this, the bigger theme is the poetry itself, which is intrinsically interesting. It is possible to get a good, fairly authentic flavour of it in translation while adhering closely and faithfully to the Arabic text – thus presenting what may be thought to constitute a small anthology in English of the poetry of and relating to the imā’ al-shawā‘ir. Some of the material is grossly salacious, but is reproduced faithfully in translation, the salaciousness being an integral part of the poetry and of the scene.

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CHAPTER ONE

THE SOCIAL SCENE

Slavery in Islam Slavery was practised in the Middle East long before the dawn of Islam. Slaves were mostly the booty of wars and tribal raids. The three monotheistic religions – Jewish, Christian and Muslim – accepted slavery as normal, simply like owning property. They acknowledged that slaves had souls, but that was not regarded as a religious or ethical bar to accepting or even promoting their social and legal status as slaves. Thus, slavery continued to be practised under Islam, but with a general exhortation to be kind to the slaves. There is a Qur’ānic injunction against ill-treating them:1 the Prophet exhorted his people to invoke Allāh’s protection by showing kindness to the weak, being slaves and women.2 The Prophet also referred to the slaves as brothers:3 ‘Your brothers are your servants whom Allāh had subjugated to you. He who has dominion over his brother should give him to eat what he eats and be clothed with what he wears.’ While Islam sanctions slavery it yet considers the manumission of a slave an act of piety, commonly undertaken as thanksgiving or by way of expiation for a sin. A slave may enter into a contract (mukātaba) with his master whereby he will secure his release in return for a sum of money which he, as freedman or client (mawlā), will then pay over a period of time, a practice not unlike peculium in Roman law. The mukātaba, notwithstanding the term (literally, ‘a written contract’) can also be effectively established orally, provided this is done in the presence of

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competent witnesses, that is two men or one man and two women. The proscription of usury facilitates the fulfilment of the obligation by the slave to pay the price. A client remains subject to obligations of fealty to his former master: if he dies without leaving issue his estate is inherited by his former master, subject to the untrammelled right of the former slave specifically to bequeath one third of its net value. If the former slave is survived by minors, the former master becomes their custodian.4 The Prophet was reported as saying:5 ‘Let none of you say my man slave and my woman slave, rather let it be said my boy, my girl and my lad.’ However, the terms ‘abd (man slave) and ama (woman slave) were very common in everyday usage. Even to-day, with slavery no longer practised, the terms ‘abd and ‘abda continue to be used among some speakers as referring simply to a black man and a black woman, but with no connotation of slavery. The status of slaves under Islamic law is close to that of chattels.6 They can be bought, hired out and sold; they can be shared by more than one master, and can be mortgaged. Further, slaves are in general terms heritable assets, being passed on as slaves to the heirs, and then often sold by auction in the normal course of the administration of the estate. The progeny of a slave mother and a slave father are themselves slaves, the property of the woman’s master. He may sell them individually subject only to the proviso that no child under the age of seven is to be separated from his or her mother. A child born by a woman slave to a free man is a free person. When a woman slave gives birth to a child by a free man she acquires the status of umm walad (mother of child). She may no longer be sold, given away as a gift, or bequeathed. She remains in the possession and dominion of her master in his lifetime, and becomes a free woman on his death.7 That said, it remains that the slave is a person with recognised obligations and rights: he can marry, can be punished for committing a crime, and can carry out procuration in business matters. A slave man might marry up to two slave women; a slave woman might marry a free man who was not her owner, but only with the latter’s consent. The great Arab conquests produced a vast number of slaves, who were often marketed wholesale for as little as one or two dirhams a head. They were divided among the soldiers who captured them, subject to

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the payment of one-fifth of their value to the treasury (bayt al-māl) to answer to the claims of ‘the Orphan, the Poor and the Follower of the Way’.8 In addition, slaves were often received as tribute from nonMuslims, and that continued to be the practice long after the end of the great conquests.9 Under Islamic law an ama (female slave)is defined as a woman who has been taken as war booty, or born of parents both slaves, or bought. The following is an interesting episode, told as part of the hagiography of ‘Alī b. Abī Tālib. It was in the reign of ‘Umar when the daughters of Khosroes were taken as war booty and conveyed to Medina, where ‘Umar ordered them to be auctioned. It was the custom of the noble women of Persia to cover their faces, and when the auctioneer pulled the veil off the face of one of them, she slapped him for his insolence. He reported her to ‘Umar, who was minded to have her and her sisters scourged. But ‘Alī intervened, citing a saying of the Prophet: ‘Respect the honourable among the people brought low, and the rich among the people reduced to penury’, and adding that the daughters of kings were not to be auctioned. He paid their prices, and gave them as brides to his son Hasan, to Muhammad b. Abī Bakr and to ‘Abdallāh b.‘Umar respectively. They were to give birth to three of the most eminent Arabs, namely ‘Alī b. Hasan, otherwise known as Zayn al-‘Ābidīn, Qāsim b. Muhammad and Sālim b.‘Abdallāh. When the great conquests came to an end, the supply of slaves as war booty dried up, but the demand for them did not abate – the economy as well as the social and cultural life of the nation had become dependent on slavery. The conquests had been rapid, and resulted in what had been a relatively small nation becoming the custodian and beneficiary of a vast empire, which required a large number of slaves to service. Lands of the conquered people were expropriated and distributed to members of the armed forces, to civil servants, and to those rendering special services to the caliph. The lands of the Sassanians were lotted and thus disposed of by the caliph ‘Umar on the grounds that they were no longer owned by anyone:10 ‘Because such land has the status of property that belonged to no owner nor inheritor so that it is permissible for the Imām to bestow it on whosoever exerted himself in the service of Islam.’

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There were also special grants made of the lands classified as waste, i.e. unproductive. The grantee would have it for life on condition that he revived it. This was based on a Prophetic saying that whosoever revived dead land shall own it (ihyā’ al-mawāt, literally ‘land revival’); it may have required no more than the digging of a well to fulfil the condition. Grants could also be made heritable, subject only to the liability to pay a tithe.11 In order to farm the revenue of the new empire, the Arabs could rely on the indigenous clients . At the same time, the slaves who were acquired as war booty provided a plentiful supply of labour, both domestic and for use in all manner of commercial enterprises.12 The supply was used in a way which, once established, required a further steady supply. The drying-up of the source of slaves as war booty left a serious gap, which was filled by the use of a thriving international trade in slaves. There was in the Abbasid period a slave market in every major city. There was a market for the fair-skinned Europeans and those from Western Asia, collectively referred to as saqāliba,13 and for the Atrāk of central Asia. The slave market of Samarkand had one of the largest turnovers, mirrored by markets in North Africa for the supply of Berbers and Nubians, and by the East African trade in black slaves collectively referred to as habash (Abyssinians) and zanj (sub-Saharan blacks). There had existed before Islam an active international slave trade in Hijaz, with established slave markets in different centres, chief among which were Mecca and ‘Ukāz.14 But it was in the Abbasid period, as a result of the vast revenues of the far-flung empire, that slaves in very great numbers entered Arab society.15 This is illustrated by the following numbers quoted by al-Isfahānī: al-Rashīd and his wife Zubayda were said to be the owners of about 1,000 slave-girls each;16 about the same number was owned by each of al-Amīn, al-Ma’mūn,17 al-Wāthiq and al-Mu‘tasim,18 while al-Mutawakkil was said to have 4,000.19

Female slaves The slaves in the Abbasid period may be conveniently considered to fall into two main categories, namely as domestic and as labouring slaves. Leaving the latter aside, the domestic females may be further

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subdivided into two sub-categories: the ‘domestics’, in the strict meaning of the word, i.e. those (commonly Indians and black Africans) who were employed in the kitchens and to attend to other domestic tasks; and those acquired and retained for their ‘entertainment’ value (sex, music, poetic productions), the more physically favoured among them being reserved for the bed chamber. This last category can be further subdivided into those that remained the sole private property of the male master (concubines who might or might not be able to sing or compose poetry and songs), and the others, the typical qiyān, who entertained in the public domain, even though privately owned. This public exposure is what gave the latter their power, their fame, and their notoriety as carnal and domineering in love. Most in demand were the European saqāliba. They were sought out when very young by the slave traders so that in time they spoke Arabic without a foreign accent. Their families would sell them, or simply give them away because they could not afford to keep them; for the slaves in this category there was additionally the lure of improving their prospects through slavery. For the few, chosen for good looks and keen intelligence, there would follow intensive education and training, extending over several years, to fit them for what high society in Baghdad and other Abbasid centres desired in a slave girl. In the course of this training they would acquire the attributes of entertainment (tarab) and culture (adab). The latter encompassed knowledge of the Qur’ān and of poetry, as well as the ability in varying degrees to compose it, a good singing voice, and the ability to play the ‘ūd (lute). So equipped the qayna could hold court in a public or semi-public majlis belonging to her master (in exceptional cases to her mistress), while she was often left to manage her own venue bearing her own name. In that capacity the qayna bore some resemblance to the courtesan (hetaira, pl. hetairai) of Ancient Greece who used rhetorical arts to spar wittily with the educated men of her time, and who might even have run her own symposium;20 but of course there remained a major difference between the two – the qayna was also a slave. A description is provided by one Abū ‘Uthmān al-Dallāl (the broker) as to the ideal method of ‘finishing’ the jāriya21:

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Assuming good stock for a start, the ideal would be to get hold of her in her ninth year, then make her spend three years in Medina followed by three more in Mecca. She will then arrive as a 15-year-old in Iraq, having by then added to her good looks the appearance of the women of Medina, the tenderness of the women of Mecca and the sophistication of the Iraqi women. Such a slave girl will then be worthy to be hidden under one’s eyelids, ever so close to one’s eye. ‘Abd al-Malik b. Marwān was reported as saying that the best among the slave women were the Berbers for procreation, the Byzantines for service and the Persians for good behaviour.22 To Mūsā al-Kāzim, the qiyān were to be favoured for their acuity, which was superior to that of the majority of the free-born.23

Auction catalogue of female slaves The above description relates to the ‘moral’ qualities resulting from education and general upbringing, and is of general application. As regards physical attributes the marketing assessment took in the diverse national characteristics of the merchandise coming to the market. One finds such an assessment made by Ibn Butlān,24 in what was in fact an auction catalogue of slaves by reference to the general characteristics of the women of different nationalities, of which the following is an extract: Indians

Those of Medina Meccans Those of Tā’if Berbers

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Good figure, swarthy complexion, great beauty, clear yellowish skin, sweet breath, delicacy but tending to early ageing, faithfulness and amiability. Swarthiness, well-proportioned, combination of good speech and good figure, charm and flirtation. Softness and femininity, soft wrists, white complexion tinged with brown. Golden swarthiness, braided hair, exceeding lightheartedness, pleasantry and fun-loving. Mostly of black complexion, but some of paler hue; obedience, fidelity and energy.

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Yemenis

Like the Berber or Medinese and combining the femininity of the Meccans; generally with pretty faces. Many faults: the blacker the uglier, the sharper the Zanj25 teeth, and the less desirable. Abyssinians Mostly slender and soft, some close to being consumptive, useless for singing or dancing. Nubians Resemblance to the blacks; self indulgence and delicacy. Turkic Combination of beauty with white skin; charming eyes despite their smallness; tendency to sullenness. Byzantines Straight blond hair, blue eyes; obedience and amiability. Armenians Would be pleasing were it not for their monstrous legs; enjoying rude health and strength. The slave of Medina, Mecca, Tā’if and Yemen referred to above must have been non-Muslim. Further, the artifice of the slave merchant was often added to what nature and nurture had bestowed:26 How often was the dark and dismal sold as golden bright, the flat bottom as heavy buttocks, the fat belly as a slender waist, the malodorous mouth as with sweet breath! And how often they turned the blue eyes kohl-dark, the sallow cheeks glowing pink, the emaciated face rounded, the thin lips voluptuous and the cheeks free of hair! And turned the blond hair black, the frizzy straight and the receding profuse! And removed the tattoos, the pock marks, the freckles and the scars!

Shades of colour In general, and applicable to all women, the tendency was to prefer a white, fresh complexion. As part of her make-up the woman would use ghumra, a cream or paste made with saffron as a main ingredient, to whiten the complexion and add colour to it, particularly if it was sallow.27 But some preferred black women: Danānīr, the black woman slave of the Barmakīs, was highly admired, famously by al-Rashīd. Further, the sought-after qualities were characterised by al-Jāhiz as moderation, neither too thin nor too fat, and congruity of features, such as not having narrow eyes atop a prominent nose.28 Al-Jāhiz

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observed that the slave women of Basra were the most valuable, instancing Mutayyam, Badhl, ‘Arīb and Shāriya.29 He further compared the jawārī to pigeons – the saqāliba to white pigeons and the zanj to black.30 The comparison with pigeons is interesting. Racing, or rather city sporting pigeons flown in flocks off the roofs of houses, were very popular for sport and, as with the qiyān, the choicest were very valuable (500 dinārs for one pigeon),31 The main point of the sport was to inveigle some pigeons belonging to a a rival flock to break ranks in flight and to join one’s own flock. There is to this day a pigeon market, sūq al-ghazil, close to what was the site of the Abbasid palace on the Rusāfa side of Baghdad. The trade in slaves was very extensive, producing vast profits, such that the government appointed a special office of Supervisor of Slaves whose job was to regulate the market.32 The most celebrated and successful slave merchants were Ibrāhīm al-Mawsilī and his son Ishāq. They were among the most remarkable characters of the early Abbasid period. Ibrāhīm was a great musician, composer and poet; and at the same time a singer and a teacher of music. His house can be regarded as the music academy of the period. His son, Ishāq, was an excellent composer of music and had a reasonably good voice. Two other notable slave traders of the period were Duhmān the singer33 and Yazīd Hawrā’.34 Ibrāhīm al-Mawsilī formed a business partnership with the latter to deal in slaves.35 Upgrading slaves was a serious business in the ancient world, perhaps the most dynamic segment of the economy.36 Ibrāhīm and Ishāq specialised in buying young slave-girls. They would teach them the principles of singing as well as generally improving them so as to fit them for life in palaces and great houses. They would also take in other people’s slave girls to be ‘finished’. According to Ishāq, his father was the first to favour those slave-girls who were white or of light tan complexion. He avoided altogether the yellow-skinned Chinese, the dark-brown Indians and Sindis, and the black Africans.37 Many slave women attained positions of prominence and influence in Abbasid society. Some rose so high as to be concubines and mothers of caliphs. Some safeguard against the abuse of the influence which they were in a position to exert in high places was that they usually had

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no family ties. Al-Mansūr,38 in particular, was wary of associating with women slaves who had family ties. When Khayzurān was brought to Mecca to be marketed as a slave, she was offered to him. He examined her, asking where she came from: from Mecca, she said, but brought up in Jerash. According to al-Heitty,39 she was a Greek from Jerash in the Yemen and moved as a slave to Mecca. The caliph then asked her if she was related to anyone: ‘None but Allāh,’ she replied, ‘my mother begat no other.’ Satisfied with that answer, al-Mansūr sent her to his son al-Mahdī, advising him that the girl was suitable as a concubine; al-Mahdī was much taken with her. After she had given birth to two sons by him, Mūsā and Hārūn, she was bold enough to confess that in fact she did have a family in Jerash, consisting of mother, brothers and two sisters, Asmā’ and Salsal.40 Al-Mahdī sent for the two girls: Ja‘far b. al-Mansūr then married Salsal, who gave birth to Zubayda, whom al-Rashīd was in turn to marry. Al-Mahdī manumitted Khayzurān, saying: ‘You have given me two sons whom I have nominated as successors. I do not want you to remain a slave.’ A collateral effect of the manumission was that it improved the status of the two sons.

Naming slaves Since the slaves lacked a proper genealogy they were identified by being given slave names descriptive of beauty, desire and value, such as Mahbūba (the loved one), Murād (the desired one) and Amal (hope), generally avoiding the traditional names associated with high-born Arab women such as Fātima, Khadīja and Hind. To a reader coming upon such a descriptive name, this is a pointer to the fact that the person is a slave. Sometimes, and for better identification, the owner’s name or the name of his family is used in conjunction with the given slave-name, as in Danānīr al-Barmakiyya and Mutayyam al-Hishāmiyya.

Hajīn (mixed parentage) The high-born pure Arabs continued to look down on those of mixed parentage, the hajīn – that is, born of an Arab father and a slave mother,

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or of a non-Arab mawlā mother. When al-Mansūr berated his sons for their excesses, one of them said to him: ‘Blame yourself, for you did not choose for our mothers wise women of the Arabs, as your father had chosen for you. Instead, you went after the concubines and made their wombs vessels for your seeds.’ Al-Mansūr was favourably impressed by those words, and not a little flattered, in that his mother, the Berber Sallāma, had herself been a freedwoman of Basra.41 On the same theme, the ‘Alīd, Muhammad b. ‘Abdallāh b. Hasan, known as al-Nafs al-Zakiyya and boasting direct descent from Abū Tālib, uncle of the Prophet, wrote to al-Mansūr reminding him of his inferior status as a hajīn:42 ‘And know ye that I am not one of the sons of the divorced, nor one of the sons of the accursed, nor was I carried in the wombs of slaves, nor hatched by an umm walad ’ Al-Nafs al-Zakiyya did not acknowledge the accession of al-Mansūr to the caliphate, nor that of al-Saffāh before him: his father and brother had been tortured to death by order of al-Mansūr. In Medina, Al-Nafs al-Zakiyya rose up, and was declared a rival caliph. Al-Mansūr sent him an ultimatum which he rebuffed, using the passage quoted above. This was followed by the suppression of the Medina rising, and the killing of al-Nafs al-Zakiyya.43 On the same theme, al-Jāhiz relates an exchange involving ‘Ubayd al-Kilābī who was indigent. He was asked if it would please him to be a hajīn and with it the owner of a thousand knapsacks. He replied that he would not accept baseness at any price. His interlocutor then pointed out that the Prince of the Faithful was the son of a slave mother. Ubayd answered: ‘Shame on whoever obeys him!’ There is also the story of al-Hajjāj b.Yūsuf boasting to ‘Abd al-Malik b. Marwān: ‘If ever there was a man of pure gold, I would be that man!’ ‘How come?’ inquired ‘Abd al-Malik. ‘Because I was not born of a slave woman,’ retorted al-Hajjāj, ‘and in my lineage all the way down from Adam there was no slave woman except Hagar.’ This was met by the crushing rejoinder: ‘Were it not for Hagar you would be a cur among curs.’ But as more and more of the men took the jawārī as concubines and mothers of their children, so the gene pool of the aristocratic Banū Hāshim became mixed with the multi-national, multi-racial genes of the slave women. Of al-Rashīd’s 11 children only one, al-Amīn, was born to a free-born wife (Zubayda, herself the daughter of a

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slave mother). Of the 12 caliphs who followed al-Amīn, down to alMuqtadir,44 not one had parents who were both Arab.45

A new civilisation Abbasid society differed markedly from that which had preceded it. A sophisticated, metropolitan, multi-racial society succeeded what had been mainly rural and provincial Arab communities superimposed on the conquered non-Arab nations. The great conquests created a vast empire within a short period of time. What then sustained that empire were the freedmen or clients (mawālī) who converted to Islam and adopted the language, culture and ways of the ruler nation. The position of the client being precarious, the route to integration in the Arab nation and to sharing in its benefits was through adherence to and association with one of the Arab tribes and families – and, in the case of an ambitious and talented client, aspiring to be associated with one of the aristocratic families of the Banū Hāshim. But the clients, no matter how talented, remained in thrall to their Arab rulers, though with decreasing intensity as the extent of their integration increased over the generations. The mawālī came particularly into their own with the rise of the Abbasid dynasty. The founding of Baghdad as the new city of al-Mansūr (145/762–149/766) signified that the new Abbasid dynasty was by then on solid foundations.46 The completion of the new capital at Baghdad was an outward mark of al-Mansūr’s success in pacifying the caliphate ... and firmly establishing Abbasid rule.’ It marked a break with Damascus, seat of the Umayyad dynasty, and the shifting of the political and social centre of gravity nearer to the Muslim east, and towards Persia in particular. In many respects Abbasid society – from the beginning of the reign of al-Rashīd in 170/786 onwards – while Arab in appearance, was in reality more Persian. The impact of Persia was visible in the influence exerted by Persian courtiers and administrators, the Barmakīs being the most prominent (their apogee was at the time of the accession of Hārūn al-Rashīd to the caliphate47) and in the importance that the army of Khurāsān played in upholding the new regime and settling dynastic

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disputes: it was the principal instrument used in the overthrow of the Umayyad caliphate and the founding of the Abbasid, and later played a vital role in the civil war between al-Amīn and al-Ma’mūn.48 The impact of Persia was further demonstrated by the poets of Persian origin who were at the forefront of the intellectual classes and of whom the most celebrated was Abū Nuwās.49 Another important factor was that, by the time of al-Rashīd, the genetic pool of the Banū Hāshim had become so mixed through marriage and concubinage with those of women slaves of all races and nationalities that it was no longer a pure Arab stock. This was also reflected in the loosening of earlier tribal and communal loyalties, as well as of the traditional cultural and moral constraints that these had imposed.50 To some, the new cultural tendencies marked an age of enlightenment. To many, however, it was the dawn of a permissive society straining against the strict religious observances and the traditional constraints of shame and honour. Those tendencies often took the form of heresy (zandaqa) (more precisely in those days Manichean tendencies), a challenge to Arabism (shu‘ūbiyya), dissolute behaviour (mujūn); and often a combination of all three.

Zandaqa (heresy/Manicheism) Abū Nuwās declared his heresy openly in verse:51 O you who look into religion, why waste your time there is no divine decree nor pre-destination Of all that you mention I find only true death and the grave He acted in this way time and again, until near the end of his life, but that he always did so in verse is important, for one could say things in verse that one would find it difficult to say in prose; and poets were not expected always to be truthful in their poems. Hence one cannot tell how serious Abū Nuwās may have been in his heretical statements. It is said that his last composition was some verses written on a piece of paper found under his pillow, in which he prayed for absolution while affirming his Muslim faith: ‘O Lord, great that my sins are your

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forgiveness is greater still.’52 To the cultural avant-garde, secularism and materialism were indicative of modernism, and it became fashionable to abjure religious faith. One finds an example of this tendency in Ibn Munādhir53 upbraiding Muhammad b. Ziyād al-Khārakī for pretending to be a heretic:54 O son of Ziyād, O Abū Ja‘far you have revealed a faith other than what you hide Outwardly a free-thinker in what you say while inwardly a pious Muslim lad You are not a heretic but it is that you sought to acquire the mark of elegance In fact al-Khārakī, the most elegant and well-dressed of people, became proverbial as ‘the heretic’ for combining heresy and elegance – ‘more elegant than the heretic’.55

Shu‘ūbiyya (challenge to Arabism) With respect to shu‘ūbiyya, this took two forms. The more moderate of these was to assert, following a Prophetic tradition (hadīth) , that an Arab was no better than a non-Arab convert unless he was more pious. One accepted and conformed to the ways of the Arabs without repudiating one’s origin. When Bashshār b. Burd56 first came before al-Mahdī he was asked: ‘To whom do you belong?’ He replied: ‘Tongue and dress Arab, ancestry Persian.’57 The other form of shu‘ūbiyya mocked the Arabs and considered them inferior. This was a typical reaction of a conquered people – all the more so in the case of the Persians, who boasted an old and highly sophisticated civilisation:58 The Shu‘ubiyya were a faction of non-Arab Muslims, mostly Persians, who protested against Arab privilege and superiority in the Islamic empire, and objected to the central position accorded to Arabic culture. A characteristic form of Shu‘ubi polemic was to laud the achievements and capacities of their own peoples, and decry those of the Arabs.

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But the above tells only half the story. The effects of the great Arab conquests were not entirely negative for the conquered nations. As with all empires there would initially have been oppression, humiliation and the undermining of the pre-existing social order. But in time the beneficent effects of being a part of rich and powerful conglomerate would have been felt, particularly by those fortunate enough to be at its political centre. That said, it should not be surprising that in the case of a client, even one who was socially and politically favoured, there remained a feeling of resentment at having to conform to the ways of the ruler nation, even to the extent of adopting its religion, language and names as the price of being admitted to its benefits. One finds a strong manifestation of this in Abū Nuwās, who can in no way be considered disadvantaged by his association with the Arab aristocracy of Abbasid Baghdad, yet he is to be heard time and again mocking the ways of the Arabs, and in the process using terms of vulgar abuse which is only mitigated by its being in lofty verse. But this has to be qualified by the fact that the target of the mockery and abuse is specifically the Bedouin ways of which many Arabs were proud, as their ‘heritage’, although the leading Arabs were of course wholly urbanised. As a further qualification, one notes that the satire refers always to the past, and is aimed at socio/economic rather than racial features:59 Do not try to emulate the Bedouin Arabs in merry-making or their way of life for their life is arid Let the milk be only drunk by those for whom the refined life is alien and again: If the milk curdles, piss in it do not feel embarrassed for there is no sin in that thus comparing the indigent life of the Bedouin drinking milk to the good life of leisure, wine and the grandeur that was Persia: That is the good life not the tents of the desert and that is the good life not the milk

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What worlds apart the Bedouins and the palace of Chosroes and what worlds apart the cattle pens and the courtyards! In the same vein Abū Nuwās makes fun of the eminent Arab tribes, mocking what he regards as their sentimental remembrances of encampments past, effaced by the sands, and of tent pegs:60 The wretch stopped at an abode posing it questions while I stopped to enquire for the town’s tavern May Allāh not assuage the eyes of him who weeps over stones nor requite the passion of him who looks for tent pegs They said that you recalled the homes of the quarter of Asad woe to you, tell me who are the Asad people And who Tamīm and who Qays and who their brothers? to Allāh, the Arabs are nobodies So let that be, confound you, and drink it aged yellow midway betwixt water and cream Abū Nuwās thus mocks the convention in the classical Arabic trope of nostalgia for past abodes and past passions, while one observes that all the above names are of prominent Northern Arabian tribes, Abū Nuwās being a client of the South Arabian tribe of Hakam. Abū Nuwas’s shu‘ūbiyya is disputed by some eminent scholars, notably Wagner61 and Arazi, who suggest that his defence of Southern Arabian tribes provides a more plausible explanation for his mockery of the Northern.62 Arazi further posits that what can be taken as personal shu’ūbī pronouncements may have been no more than a general reflection of what was socially current at the time, so that the references to the historical opulence of the Persian court in the context of a wine song (khamriyya) may have been used simply to describe opulence generally, as a conventional (i.e. neutral) motif, rather than to denigrate the Arabs by comparison.63 But while one may be able to find some justification for that view in the context of some wine verses such as those quoted below (‘A house from which some companions had departed’), it is difficult to regard the above verses to be other than a general denigration of Bedouin Arabs and, by way of comparison, praise of things Persian.

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Dissolute behaviour Dissolute behaviour went hand in hand with hedonism. The houses of the common qiyān (the majority no better than brothels) and drinking establishments were numerous in Baghdad and Kufa, added to which were widespread monasteries used as bingeing retreats. Al-Isfahānī makes several references to some of the drinking establishments, notably the house of Ibn Rāmīn and that of Abū l-Khattā b al-Nahhā s, both in Kufa. There were many such in Kufa because of its proximity to the old city of Hīra, where the drinking houses were popular in pre-Islamic times. Ibn Rāmīn was the son of the Persian Bisyārdiram – a name made up of two words: bisyār (plenty) and diram (dirham).64 One finds an interesting anecdote in Aghānī concerning Abū Hayya al-Numayrī. He went drinking in Hīra, and after he had spent all his money he asked the woman innkeeper if she would let him have some more ‘on tick’:65 If you would let me have a jug on tick then write what you will on the wall Thus if you give me ought on credit you let me have the goods then (you will be so lucky) wait for what I promised References are also made in Aghānī to other Hīran innkeepers such as Dawma66 and Bint ‘Afzar.67 They are commonly referred to, expressly or by implication, as Christians. Ibn Rāmīn’s was a favoured qiyān house; it offered singing, carousing, wenching and accommodation for the night. In its heyday this house included three popular qiyān, namely Sallāma al-Zarqā’, Sa‘da and Rubayha, noted for beauty, grace and fine singing voices. Their charms were celebrated by some of their clients in verses which would have served as good publicity for the house of their master. Thus, Muhammad Ibn al-Ash‘ath declares his love-sickness for Sallāma:68 Because of Sallāma al-Zarqā’ there is in my heart a fracture that will last for ever and ever The artifice of the people cannot mend it and how can lovesickness in the heart be made whole?

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Ismā‘īl b.‘Ammār also sang the praises of the house of Ibn Rāmīn, as in the following example. This is a poem with a more obvious aim to publicise the establishment – the name ‘Ibn Rāmīn’ is introduced and repeated; the facilities of the house, and its charming women and vintage wine are described; and the mention of the throng of clients testifies to the house’s popularity:69 O Lord, why is it that Ibn Rāmīn has women with bewitching eyes, whilst all we have are nags? O Sa‘da the white qayna you are a joy to us since you are in the house of Ibn Rāmīn But that Rubayha was in the mood for dalliance my spirit would have inclined to you, the two of you made of the same cast I did not forget Sa‘da and the Zarqā’ – their day filled with a throng of people – radiant (and inviting) over the shops We are given to drink wine that ‘Imrān70 ages which renders the sober the like of the mad If after excess of it we did remember the time for prayer we rose to it with neither mind nor religion

Houses of pleasure The house of Zurayq b. Manīh, himself a slave of ‘Īsā b. Mūsā, competed with Ibn Rāmīn for the better class of patrons. When Ibn alAsh‘ath transferred his patronage to Ibn Manīh’s, Ibn Rāmīn tried in vain to get his custom back. Ibn al-Ash‘ath stated his position in a poem which again can be taken to serve as publicity for the house of Ibn Manīh, whose name is used as rhyme, reinforced by a favourable comparison with the rival house of Ibn Rāmīn:71 O Ibn Rāmīn I have stated clearly my love for Suhayqa of Ibn Manīh (She) a fine qayna (he) a good mawlā and a boon companion of the pure of heart

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The poet then moves on to praise of Ibn Manīh through the conventional image of a man buying praise and a good reputation by his generous deeds. But in this case the acts of generosity are qualified – they are profitable for the one who performs them: A cultured and generous fellow who buys praise with profitable deeds He gives us contentment in all that the souls desire what of delectation and good life In the care of people of Hāshim as well as the singing of fair gazelles Installed in pleasantness and ease we felt safe from every infamy So get over [losing] us as we got over you for verily I am not taking leave of my heart and soul I keep all that you lost by disobeying my advice As against the revulsion that you get from me gladly would I give my appreciation to the desired one Another competing qiyān house was that of al-Qarātīsī. It was a feather in the cap of the proprietor of a house of entertainment to have famous people as patrons, who would repay his hospitality by publicly praising his house. Al-Qarātīsī’s house was frequented by poets, notably Abū Nuwās, Abū l-‘Atāhiya and Muslim. One day as they were debating where to go, al-Qarātīsī pleaded with them:72 Arise and go the lot of you to the house of al-Qarātīsī A handsome and comely lad has got the house ready for us and got ready beakers of the land of Bilqīs And a variety of poultry and a variety of camels and qiyān of the houris the like of peahens Ibn Rāmīn made a stir when, probably thinking of retirement, he went on the hajj with his jawārī. Muhammad b. Sulaymān who was in the Hijaz at the time, bought Sallāma al-Zarqā’ for 100,000 dirhams.

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According to another report, Ibn Rāmīn, in the course of the same trip, sold all three jawārī to private buyers – Sallāma al-Zarqā’ for 80,000 dirhams, Rubayha for 100,000 and Sa‘da for 90,000. Their loss was bemoaned by Ismā‘īl b.‘Ammār:73 What state O Ibn Rāmīn is the state of the wretched lovers? You left them as living dead you made them swallow two bitter things You went on a hajj to the house of Allāh looking to be pious but had no compassion for the broken-hearted Other regular and notable customers of Ibn Rāmīn, who rated a mention by al-Isfahānī, were Yahyā b. Ziyād al-Hārithī, Mutī‘ b. Iyās, ‘Abdallāh b. al-‘Abbās al-Maftūn, ‘Awn al-‘Ibādī of Hīra, Muhammad b. al-Ash‘ath al-Zuhrī the singer and Shurā‘a b. al-Zandabūdh.74 There was also the slave merchant, Harb al-Thaqafī, who possessed a much admired singing slave-girl. The celebrated poet Ashja‘ composed verses praising her while excoriating her master:75 A slave-girl with wobbling buttocks filling the anklet and the bangles I moan to God for what ailed me from the love of her and the loathing of her master From the loathing of her master and from the love of her I sickened between loathing and love They convulsed in my breast until they were in parity and thus shared my heart May God hasten my recovery by her and hasten my illness to Harb The inns and qiyān houses were not simply places for the consumption of wine – they were also venues for merrymaking which encompassed all manner of licentious pleasures. The contemporary poetic works in praise of wine, notably those of Abū Nuwās, are full of references to dalliance between the customers and the house denizens of both sexes. Further, they were resorted to by all classes of men. Thus

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one finds that ‘Alī b. al-Jahm,76 a friend of the great jurist Ahmad b. Hanbal,77 was not above consorting with fun-loving youths (fityān), frequenting in their company the qiyān house of one al-Mufaddal, in the Karkh quarter of Baghdad. The Karkh, being the right bank of the Tigris river in Baghdad, was the area for entertainment, away from the caliph’s palace in the Rusāfa, the opposite bank.78 Ibn al-Jahm gives a good account of such a visit, in which he invokes God’s favours to be bestowed on what was in effect the red-light district of Baghdad, even as he pleads for the illicit pleasures to be had there:79 We alighted upon some beauties of al-Mufaddal’s qiyān at the best of houses in Bāb al-Karkh For there Ibn Surayj, al-Gharīd and Ma‘bad produced marvels, unchanged, in our ears Ladies who neither show embarrassment towards the guest nor is their master a venerable honourable man80 He is pleased the more the shyness of the guest is abated and does not intrude on him while not being inattentive And he piles criticism on solemnity and the solemn if the guest did not enjoy himself and behave in a vulgar way Nor does he suspiciously fend off the roving hands if he gained ought of clothes and victuals And he inclines his head, unself-consciously, out of respect so as to give free rein to the roving glances of the onlookers Motion with a hand and wink with an eye and fear not an onlooker so long as you are not miserly And shun the lamp and seek out the like of it81 so that as the light of the lamp goes out you may approach and kiss Ask and you will not be refused, speak and you will not be told to keep quiet and sleep without fear and rise unhurriedly The house is yours so long as your gifts are aplenty and you are replete with the honeyed wine

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Surayj, Gharīd and Ma‘bad were celebrated composers and singers at the dawn of Islam, the being ‘unchanged in our ears’ meaning in the context that what was heard sounded like those famous singers.82 Next comes the main contemplative part of the poem dealing with the timeless theme of the impermanence of youth and the brevity of life: So embark on the days of youth for they will pass and fade away with temptation lifted Pay no heed to people saying so-and-so wasted his money and is now regressing and not progressing What is time but a night the ends of which had cast us into a fleeting day of pleasure This last verse is an arresting metaphor conveying an image of the light which is life being but a fleeting moment in a universal gloom, a short day with night before and night after. The metaphor confronts the reader with a conundrum. One would expect the ends to be those of the day of pleasure casting one into night, but here the order is reversed; this can be explained by imagining time/night to be allenveloping, like a sheet with the two ends leaving a small gap for the fleeting day of pleasure. And yet there is God in that universal night, whose favours are now invoked: May God send rain83 to Bāb al-Karkh, that fine pleasureground to the house of Waddāh thence to the pool of Zalzal84 Where trail the trains of the qiyān and the beautiful ones parade and is the abode of the much-blamed profligacy ‘Alī b. al-Jahm ploughed many a long furrow to get to this juncture in the poem; but as he nears the end he falls back on a classical allusion to reveal his true sexual proclivities: If Imru’ al-Qays b. Hujr had alighted here he would have desisted from talking of Dakhūl and Hawmal

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Rather he would have thought to bestow his affection on a buck that lifts the train of his cloak and not spread it out If night should bring me to lie close to him he will not say ‘you have hocked my camel O Imru’ al-Qays – so get off’.85

Brothels and monasteries The brothels were identified as well as advertised by the display of house flags, which testifies to a general social and state toleration of the oldest profession, a practice alluded to in the following verses of Abū l-Hindī, describing an inn called Kūy-i-Ziyān which he patronised:86 The folk are fixed on their banners and Abū l-Hindī in Kūy-i-Ziyān An abode which stands on no ceremony for whoever alights there where wine and whoring are permissible The good life is a tender maiden and my reclining in a tavern I drink the wine and obey not him who forbids the pursuit of wine and the beautiful white ones In my life there is a pleasure that diverts me but when I die then that is the end of time In addition to the inns and the houses of qiyān there were the monasteries, where drinking and homosexual pleasures could be enjoyed at a more leisurely pace and in pleasant rural surroundings. Those of Dayr Hannah and Dayr Bahrādhān were the resorts of poets, including Abū Nuwās, who composed many verses concerning them. Thus, of the former:87 O Dayr Hannah of al-Ukayrāh88 whoever may leave you sober I will not be sober I saw at your place hornless deer that play with our hearts and souls

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and of the latter:89 In Dayr Bahrādhān I have a majlis and a pleasure-ground amidst its groves There I resorted in the company of youths which we visited on Palm Sunday Ruinous to every pleasure-seeker who puts the world before his religion Until we arrived at a spot for us to sit where the colours of its various aromatic herbs are joyous The abundant narcissus is in bloom the blossom surrounded by musk rose The vat was brought to us on a hoist the seal of the infidel in its clay The arm-vein of our vat was let out that gushed out coloured red A comely youth came round offering us the cup so tender he would bleed at mere touch The radiance of his cheeks such as to almost blind by its glare There we dwelt served with drink and playing with him and began to revel in earnest Until the drinker in his drunken stupour at times could be taken for dead One often finds references to aromatic herbs, e.g. basil and saffron, in wine poetry – as in the above example and others below, pointing to the fact that such were habitually added to the wine. The wine merchant was traditionally a Christian, the infidel in the above poem. The ‘letting out’ of the ‘arm-vein’ of the vat or wine skin is an obvious allusion to blood-letting.

Wine and its symbolism A whole body of symbolism revolves round wine; there are some examples in the above, and others below. It is associated with hospitability, generosity and companionship. It is the blood of the vine so that when

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drunk it is mixed with that of the drinker, thus colouring his face. But at the heart of the symbolism is the feminine imagery; this is facilitated by the fact that khamr is feminine. Thus she is the daughter of the vine, a bride with water (mā’, masculine) as her mate, to whom she submits even as she is vexed by his virility; she is a maiden whose inviolability is represented by the seal of the wine-skin or amphora, the piercing of which invokes the image of her deflowering.90 But perhaps one should not carry such symbolism too far: in the absence of a post-Freudian, sexually-charged imagination one could also see in the act of unsealing a new wine skin, as in the above example, the expectation of a good carousal, where the vintner offers a full, fresh (not stale) supply of wine to a party of clients, and in the further expectation that most if not all of it would be consumed in one sitting. Abū Nuwās celebrated the social scene in his wine songs and his homoerotic, as well as heteroerotic, poetry. The wine songs were often mixed with shu‘ūbiyya, of which the following may be taken as an example. The poem is in two parts: the first describes a drinking scene, but with some of the details foreshadowing what may arguably be taken as the theme of challenge to Arabism in the second part:91 A house from which some boon companions had departed leaving within it evening traces of theirs [some] new and [others] faded Marks of wine-skins drawn on the ground and bunches of basil fresh and dry There I confined my companions and renewed their friendship92 and it is just such [people] that I’d confine Nor knew I who they were other than was witnessed by the deserted houses to the east of Sabat93 There we dwelt for a day, and a day, and a third and a day [added] to which the day of departure was a fifth A shift of scenery appears at this juncture, the wine scene in the first appropriately brought to a close by the ‘departure’ on the fifth day. What follows next is on the theme of the glory of Persia, but this had

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already been hinted at in the first part of the poem: first, by the naming of the Persian town of Sabat, but secondly, and more importantly, by the fact that the earlier drinking scene is invested with details which are reminiscent of, and intended to contrast with, the use in classical Arabic poetry of the conventional scene where past homes and passions are recalled by stumbling over the sand-blown traces of earlier encampments. The details in Abū Nuwās’s poem consist of the house no longer occupied by the friends; the friendship recalled by the traces of ‘wineskins drawn on the ground’ and by the ‘bunches of basil fresh and dry’; and the reference to the deserted houses. ‘Those are the traces of my ruins (atlāl),’ Abū Nuwās is saying, not the stones and the tent pegs in the desert, but the traces of a great carousal. And in doing so, Abū Nuwās, while using a wine-drinking convention, can also be said, subject to the qualification adverted to by Wagner and Arazi, to be setting the scene for introducing to great effect the shu‘ūbiyya part of the poem: The wine is passed around for us in a golden goblet which Persia adorned with various pictures At the bottom is Chosroes and on the sides are antelopes which horsemen waylay with arrows Of wine is that which the collars are fastened on and of water that which is capped by the hoods The object that is described in those last three lines is not just any goblet or cup, but a magnificent golden goblet or bowl from which the assembled people take sips in turn. This defines it as a ‘loving cup’, and its gold material suggests a courtly vessel. That it is Persian and adorned with multi-coloured pictures of living beings emphasises, if such was necessary, that a pre-Islamic scene is depicted; the pictures convey a courtly hunting scene presided over by Chosroes. To the magnificence of the goblet is added munificence: the goblet is generously filled with wine right up to the level of the huntsmen’s collars. It is next topped by a modest measure of water covering the rounded base of the hoods in the picture. The poem may be read as a restatement of Abū Nuwās’s shu‘ūbiyya, or anti-Bedouin sentiment, that one sees in his ‘The wretch stopped at an abode posing it questions’.

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While to Abū Nuwās, on this occasion, a good drink is wine diluted with but little water, Muslim on one occasion goes further by saying that it is sacrilegious to have it diluted at all – invoking, whether intentionally or not, the idea of wine as ‘daughter’ of the vine in association with the well-being and joy derived from its blood sacrifice:94 If you wish to give me wine to drink then do not kill it, for (to consume the dead)95 is taboo We mixed blood from a vine with our blood so that one blood coloured the other Abū l-Hindī likewise avowed a life-long love of the cup:96 When I shall die one day let my shroud be the vine leaves and the wine press my grave Bury me and bury the wine with me and set the cups around the grave I pray to God to-morrow good absolution but [only] after drinking the wine The wine theme is often mixed with the erotic, and in the verses of Muslim b. al-Walīd the one is used as metaphor for the other:97 If you would give me the essence of wine to drink then let me have to delight me a cup from your mouth that would revive me Your eyes are my wine, and my sweet basil are your talk to me and the colour of your cheek is the colour of the rose which contents me In the above examples one sees a social scene which is far removed from the austere and morally restrained society of the Umayyads, which was carried through to the start of the Abbasid rule and survived for a period while the new dynasty was engaged in laying down a firm new east-facing foundation, with the support and under the influence of the Persian nations. The poetical slave-girls and singing slave-girls played, as entertainers, an important part in the new social

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scene; and this scene of moral laxity and dissolute behaviour was to continue unabated well into the 4th century of Islam, as Abū Hayyān al-Tawhīdī testified98 – he claimed that in the Karkh quarter alone he counted, in houses of ill repute, 460 qiyān, 120 harā’ir and 95 boys.99 They catered to all manner of tastes and appetites: everything was on offer so long as one could pay.

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CHAPTER T WO

IMĀ’ SHAWĀ‘IR AND QIYĀN

Parsimony and excess The first two Abbasid caliphs, Abū l-‘Abbās al-Saffāh and al-Mansūr, had little interest in entertainment: they were parsimonious, and occupied in consolidating their new regime. The stinginess of al-Mansūr was proverbial – nicknamed Abū al-Dawānīq (father of farthings, the dānaq being the smallest coin), it was said of him that he would reward a panegyric with a dirham, then regret it and ask for it back. Al-Mahdī, the third Abbasid caliph, was the first to be partial to music: he liked to have musical gatherings in his palace attended by boon companions (nudamā’) and female slaves. Islamic propriety was still observed to the extent that he did not permit the consumption of alcohol, and on one occasion committed Ibrāhīm al-Mawsilī to prison for drinking.1 Al-Mahdī was also the first of what we should now call the big spenders. It was in his day that the slave merchants no longer dealt in slave girls chosen merely for their looks, but turned their houses into institutes of etiquette to produce cultivated ones in the way the caliph and his ministers favoured.2 By then the new order was securely established, and with the growth of the new city of al-Mansūr as the metropolitan centre of the Islamic world in the east, and with it the close linkage of the Arab and Persian nations, Abbasid society had both the means and the inclination to indulge in social leisure activities, with the qiyān at their centre. References to some have survived

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mostly through the compilations in al-Isfahānī’s Kitāb al-Aghānī and al-Imā’ al-shawā‘ir, in which they are treated differently. While they are presented in the former essentially as singers and songwriters, those in the latter are included as the authors of poems.3 In considering the literary merits of al-Imā’ al-Shawā‘ir one has to bear in mind that the references in it and in the Aghānī were to individuals and events that had taken place more than a century earlier, and were based on what had survived orally or as secondary and tertiary reproduction in writing. Yet a further caveat is called for: what has survived is rarely a poem. More commonly it consists of anecdotes and snatches of poetic exchanges at certain social gatherings, which were particularly interesting and memorable. By the same token, the women’s ability to compose poetry is not to be judged simply by what transpired at such gatherings, since the setting dictated the product. Theirs was an occasional poetry, and this may have been true of all pre-modern Arabic poetry. But the verses of the slave women were of a special kind: added to the special feature that it was as attractive, fragrant and playful women in a male assembly that they exchanged banter, often in explicitly sexual language, theirs was social or salon poetry, in which what were looked for and particularly admired were quick wit, a play on words, the double entendre, the cut and thrust of clever exchanges, extemporaneous repartee in verse where the last letter of the first speaker’s verse is used by the second speaker as the rhyme ending (qāfiya) of his or her response. That may be categorised as brilliant virtuosity embellishing poetry of generally limited content – but it is no less interesting for that. The introduction of multinational slave-girls in large numbers into Abbasid society was a contributory factor in the advancement of social sophistication, elegance and fashion, as well as an enduring change in the moral climate which drew several disparaging observations. Thus, one finds as an example the following comment made by al-Tawhīdī, criticising the sexual excesses of his day, and by way of contrast painting a rosy picture of the traditional virtues of the past:4 ‘They [in the past] used to engage in courtship without suspicion. A man would openly call, converse with those in the house then take his leave. Now nothing will satisfy them except carnal intercourse.’

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A worldly temptress This mirrors and extends al-Jāhiz’s statement that the virtuous women used to sit down to converse with men without embarrassment; which was not considered amiss, whether in the pre-Islamic period or under Islam.5 Disparaging observations apart, the change in the moral climate had a serious effect on the social condition of the free women. The men’s reaction to the public presence of the female slaves was to have the free woman sequestered in the anonymity of the veil for her face and the walls for her home6. Among the slave-girls, the greater pressure towards moral laxity was exerted by the qiyān, as professional entertainers. The qayna was trained to use her wiles to attract and ensnare men, in turn to secure a material advantage for her master and herself. This was particularly the case with those employed in the inns and houses of ill repute. A good description of the character and wiles of the qayna is given by al-Jāhiz:7 The qayna can hardly ever be faithful in her love nor true in her friendship for by nature and training she is made to set her nets and traps for those who come near so that, unwary, they dash into her snare. If a man looked at her she would reciprocate with a glance, flirt with a smile, woo him with a variety of songs, flatter his opinions, be quick to join him in a drink, demonstrate a desire for him to stay long, desire his early return and show sadness at the parting from him. As she felt that her charm had captivated him she would delude him into believing that she was more in love with him than he with her. She would follow that by writing to him complaining of the pangs of her loving him. An even more emphatic warning against being involved with the qiyān is made by l- Washshā’:8 And know ye that no worse a calamity befell a decent, educated, elegant and cultured man nor a worse affliction beset the wellbrought up youth than the love of jawārī, for their love is false, their passion adulterated and their desire tends to transience and inconsistency, whose object is greed and worldliness, so that their

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love is displayed before those who appear well-off and rich, soon to be transferred away at the sight of penury and hardship. Al-Washshā’ then goes on to give a detailed account of the art used by the qiyān to achieve their ends: The clearest sign of their wickedness is that if one of them espies in a gathering a young man who is rich, with abundant means, ease and opulence she inclines towards him to beguile him and make him smitten by her. She favours him with a glance and a wink, motions to him with her hand, sings as he chases one cup by another, sidles over to pleasure him, drinks the remnant of his cup, leans over to kiss his head – until the poor wretch falls into her snares, is overborn by her wiles and surrenders his heart to her. She tempts him by her closeness, envelops him in her flattery and captures him with her great plausibility, craftiness, deception, her seeking intimacy and her affected moaning at the arrival of the time of parting and her affected sadness at his going. She follows that by sending him missives accusing him of perfidy, informing him of her sleeplessness, confiding her thoughts, complaining to him of her anxiety driving sleep away. She sends him her ring, a tress of her hair, a cutting of her nail, a sliver of her meat-bone, a morsel of her pie and a mouthful as substitute for a kiss, a chew to inform him of her breath, a book decorated by her nail and perfumed by the imprint of the palm of her hand, taped in a string of her lute, and on which she would let fall some tear drops ... But once she had captured his heart and is assured of his advances and of his true devotion and knows that he is drowning in the sea of calamity, then she will embark on the demands of presents. What follows is an interesting list of the types of superior gifts that the temptress would secure, though it is outside the ambit of this study; suffice it to say that the author provides there a historical record of all kinds of luxuries of the period: superior diverse articles of clothing, with their provenances – dresses from Aden, cloaks from Nīsāpūr, turbans from Sūs; an assortment of articles of personal adornment; the choicest of foods and drinks.

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In each of the above qotations one finds a reference to the use of the billet doux as part of the armoury of the woman bent on seduction. That testifies to the education that she would have received preparatory to her coming out as a qayna. It also alludes to the sort of man who is the object of the seduction, generally referred to by al-Washshā’ as ‘educated, elegant and cultured’, typically a bureaucrat (kātib) or other member of a good family. The expansion of the bureaucracy and of general literacy was facilitated by the introduction of paper as a new material for written documents. Until the early Abbasid period documents were produced on papyrus from Egypt, while books were written on parchment.9 The practice of the qiyān enticing their admirers with billets doux is further alluded to by Yūsuf b. al-Hajjāj b. al-Sayqal, in the following verses of warning against such women:10 Beware, may I be your ransom as long as you live the snares of the dissembling women Through them the youth is rendered penniless and how good they are at bankrupting people! Woe to the one who besotted receives their sealed billets doux The notes which they send to him are written missives of whores And if they send messengers they are such as are practised at pimping They devastate the bags of wealth what with maintenance and gifts Analogous to an infidel digging a watercourse in dead land11 Those words received wide circulation, repeated on every tongue to excoriate the qiyān – such that whenever a qayna tripped up in a song she would exclaim: ‘Wretched Yūsuf!’12 In the same vein, Fadl, herself a celebrated slave woman and poet, cautioned her lover against the wiles and worldliness of the gold-digging qiyān:13 You of high beauty and low manners you have grown old but still a lad when it comes to pleasure

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Woe to you, the qiyān are like a snare set between gullibility and ruin They do not set their snares to the poor but seek only the gold mines Al-Washshā’ further observes that a man, be he so ugly, old and decrepit as to be hateful in the eyes of the qayna, will yet be borne with equanimity so long as he is rich. He illustrates this by a witty exchange:14 She boasted to me of her beauty and loveliness saying to me: You are deluded O old man Old penniless and [of] gross ugliness and would you [presume to] desire us? Your desire shall fail you! I interrupted her: Penury shall be cured by wealth and the grey hair will disappear in the brilliant dye She rejoined quickly: Yet to the ugliness of the visage is a remedy albeit that ugliness is incurable Right she is! How much more persuasive would be my plea had there been a payer to put paid to my ugliness The plea will persuade and the ugliness be in remission only as long as the money lasts, as in the following example, in which the imagery of the ever-green basil bush being stripped bare is used as metaphor for a lover becoming denuded of all his worldly goods:15 My friend, the qiyān are to the naive and incautious like nets set to capture by flattery They love this one and moan to that other of the pangs of love while they cast a [roving] eye on yet another Until having captivated a stupid one recklessly seeking affection They would empty him and skin him utterly by fragrant coquetry and refinement So that he becomes like an ever-green basil bush stripped clean to the last leaf

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Just so stripping him clean then saying we made him white as cotton

The qayna as sexual predator A common theme that runs through the general body of the criticism of the qiyān is their inconstancy and their voracious appetite for lovers, and a variety of them, which can be taken to resonate with their wordliness and greed for money:16 O you who in your ignorance love the qiyān you might as well be an ass Will you be satisfied in the love of one who will not be content with savouring two thousand intimates Abū Nuwās takes up the same theme, emphasising the dual concern about their worldliness and their greed, as well as the challenge of their sexual prowess, using an arresting imagery of an overcrowded heart and a Qur’ānic allusion17 to the Israelites out of Egypt complaining to Moses at having only manna for sustenance in the wilderness:18 And there is that one who shows amiability to God’s creatures and meets one with greeting and welcome I made my way to her heart to plead to it and lo! I could not reach it for the throng O thou who is not content with one lover nor with a thousand lovers a year Methink you are a remanant of the tribe of Moses for they could not endure one kind of food only On the same theme one finds al-‘Abbās b. al-Ahnaf castigating his lover Fawz, whom he had given up after discovering her infidelity, in the process also using the metaphor of a variety of dishes for sexual desires and inconstancy:19 She wrote complaining and longing for a visit from me saying: You are no longer true to our love I answered with eyes brimming with tears

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streaming freely down both cheeks O Fawz I did not leave you because I tired of you nor for the telltale of a jealous informer It is that I put you to the test and found out that you are not content with one dish The story of ‘Abbās b. al-Ahnaf and his lover Fawz presents a good illustration of the difficulty of disentangling in the reports the historical truth from the mass of conflicting reports, variations and distortions. Al-‘Abbās is mostly associated with two names as lovers, Fawz and Zalūm, but which were likely to be pseudonyms of the same highborn married free woman whose identity remains unknown. He is also associated with other women, including Dhalfā’, Diyā’, Sihr and Khunuth, the last-named three also said to have been the slave-girls of Hārūn al-Rashīd mentioned in an epigram attributed to the caliph, but possibly composed by al-‘Abbās.20

Ambivalent attitude towards the qiyān A distinction has to be made between, on the one hand, the general body of slave-girls who acted as hostesses, entertainers and purveyors of sex in low-class inns and in houses of ill repute, of whom there were large numbers in the Karkh quarter of Baghdad; and, on the other, the refined qiyān who graced high society and charmed by their wit, beauty and cultural attributes as well as by their lavish hospitality, lulling the rich patron into a fantasy world of idealised desires. Abbasid society’s attitude to the qiyān is ambivalent: they are desired even as the perils are feared of falling under their sway. This ambivalence can be summed up in a quotation which al-Washshā’ attributes to an unnamed man expressing the sentiment in a linkage of passion and death:21 I am content with what Juml decreed even though it exposes me to disaster and death Al-Washshā’ quotes some other man alluding to that ambivalence, as well as to not knowing where one stood in one’s dealings with the qiyān:22

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To me the singing girls are a paradise [but] like the wind blowing hither and thither If they swear they are the worst perjurers and the most charming liars The same ambivalent attitude is demonstrated by the large body of poetry composed by poets, courtiers and caliphs celebrating certain qiyān. Al-Jāhiz categorises the love of qiyān as a plague, even as he lists and admires their physical attractions, if not their moral calibre – in two words, they please! They offer a combination of pleasures that are not to be found in anything else on earth. They satisfy the three faculties of sight, hearing and touch by their looks, by their singing and by allowing themselves to be touched.23 While some see a social disease in the fact that men are bewitched by them, to the extent of preferring them over the free-born, al-Jāhiz points out that this is not surprising: before a man buys a slave-girl he has the benefit of seeing all there is to see in her. By contrast, a man will not see a potential wife in a free woman before marrying her. Instead, he has to rely on the judgment and reports of his womenfolk. The above references testify to the ambivalent attitude of men towards the qiyān. One is largely left to guess at the attitude of free-born women towards them, and likewise involving a degree of ambivalence. They would inevitably resent the qiyān as interlopers capturing the hearts of the men and relieving them of their money, as well as feel concern at the challenge they posed as sexual rivals. It is interesting to note that in the similar circumstances that obtained in the Ottoman seraglio hundreds of years later, the Venetian ambassador was to observe that to curry favour with the Sultanas the governors of Egypt would send slave-girls to serve them who were ill-favoured in looks – the more ugly and deformed the more esteemed.24 In the case of the Abbāsid qiyān there would also have been at the same time a degree of admiration by the free woman for the qayna as a leader of fashion, and as having the ability to conduct herself in many important respects more like a free woman than the free woman herself. The present-day Arab feminist’s view of the qiyān may provide a pointer to how they may have been viewed by some of their contemporary free women.

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A modern feminist view of the qiyān Fatima Mernissi, as she inveighs against the unhappy condition of women in present-day Arab societies, lays the blame for it at the door of the qiyān, or rather at the historical phenomenon of their introduction into Arab society towards the end of the Umayyad dynasty, followed in much larger numbers under the Abbasids. Mernissi postulates that the caliphs, and by extension men generally, observed the qayna and liked what they saw – not so much, or at all, for her looks, acuity, deportment and sexual allure, but for her obedience. They then required and imposed the same duty of obedience on the hurra, which has to this day kept much of the feminine half of the Arab world in thrall to the other half. The qiyān cannot of course be blamed for this, to Mernissi they were not predators but victims:25 Their status as slaves kept them in a precarious position. Their status as favourites, which was by definition ephemeral, made it impossible for them to make any demands. Their privileges were also unstable. They had to build a life upon seduction, cunning and diplomacy. They acquitted themselves with great brio in their roles as subordinates, making submission to the caliph’s whim their very raison d’ être. And so they handed down to us an image, which we know today in the Thousand and One Nights, in which love, seduction and enslavement are forever linked in our imagination. From this point on, on the political stage, women were no longer anything but courtesans. At the same time – paradoxically, and across 12 centuries of civilisation – Mernissi, as spokesperson for the Arab woman, seems barely to conceal her resentment of the qayna as an interloper and rival in the sexual stakes: The arrival of jawari in enormous numbers changed the ways of the court. Whereas the first caliphs were proud of their wives, who came, like them, from aristocratic stock, soon the opposite was true and the princes were under the spell of the jawari. ‘There was no caliph and no figure possessing similar power or means who did not have by him a slavegirl to drive away flies

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and fan him, whilst another served him, and all this before the public.’26 Yet, they were not content to use these girls merely for their labour and for entertainment, but raised them to the ranks of wives and mothers. Mernissi has a political case to make, and uses hyperbole to put it across. She takes Ahmad Amīn to task for claiming that foreign women were more beautiful than their Arab sisters, and for forgetting that ‘beauty is ideologically determined’, by which she seems to suggest that beauty is not absolute but depends at any given time on the balance of political and social ascendancy. By way of example, Mernissi instances the case of the cultured and ambitious Moroccan Arab man in colonial times preferring a French woman, and the readjustment in favour of a local Arab woman after independence. Further, Mernissi dismisses the suggestion that the success of the qiyān can be put down to their exoticism, arriving from the four corners of the world (‘the only women to elude the Muslim Empire were American Indians’) and bringing with them their foreign culture and new models of refinement. She allows that: ‘The sexual experience of the jawari and their musical talents were, assuredly, important factors’, but adds: ‘We know from the historical documents that Sakina [sic] Bint al-Hussein and Ā‘isha Bint Talha were peerless lovers with their husbands.’ Thus, she refines all the claims and arguments into one single factor which is to be the foundation of her case:27 ‘The obvious reason for the jāriya’s success, which none of the authors I have mentioned lights upon, is easily explained: with her, the man was by definition superior. She was merely his slave.’ Based on that premise the author closes her case by concluding that therein lies the cause for what she sees as the subjugation of the present day Arab woman: The caliphs preferred the jawari because they obeyed more readily than a hurra (free woman). Obeying was the jariya’s function. That was what she was brought [‘bought’] for. And those who argue, in the name of the Muslim tradition, that our role in the political arena is to obey, not to lead, draw for this on a very precise period in Muslim history, the Golden Age, the age of despotism.

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Mernissi, having in mind the qayna in particular, exclaims: ‘We are still being called on to play the role of jariya.’ It is interesting to note in this last passage how the case of an Arab woman is transformed into that of a Muslim woman; and this points to one of the fault lines that run through Mernissi’s argument. The qiyān were a discrete phenomenon limited in time to about 75 years, and, in any significant numbers, confined to Iraq, mostly Baghdad and Basra; and then in much smaller numbers to Andalusia after the collapse of the qiyān world in the East. Yet what Mernissi rightly complains of is woman’s lot throughout the Muslim world: and for this one has to look for reasons other than the importation of slave-girls into Iraq in the 3rd/9th century and the imposition then of the hijāb on the free woman. And Mernissi fails to see where her ‘beauty is ideologically determined’ proposition leads to in relation to the qayna. That Ismā‘īl b. ‘Ammār could be heard to exclaim in 3rd/9th-century Baghdad:28 O Lord, why is it that Ibn Rāmīn has women with bewitching eyes, whilst all we have are nags owed nothing to the disparity of political and social status between, say a young Circassian girl from the slave market and a woman member of the Banū Hāshim.

The hijāb question Mernissi may well be right in categorising what she refers to as the recent hijāb campaign by Khomeini and the Saudis as an attack on the democratic aspirations of the masses – one may prefer to categorise it as a reaction to stem the tide of nascent liberal tendencies. But in neither case does it follow that the introduction of the hijāb 12 centuries ago was motivated by a desire to oppress women. It was just as likely intended to protect the free woman from unwelcome attention and molestation resulting from her being mistaken for a woman slave in streets crowded with jawārī – how else is one to explain the fact that at the same time the jawārī were forbidden to cover their faces? One recalls that the noble women of Persia covered their faces; and

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that when the daughters of Khosroes were taken prisoner one of them slapped the auctioneer for his insolence in pulling away the veil to uncover her face. And this may not have been limited to Persia: there is also a suggestion that respectable women in ancient Greece appeared outside the house only if heavily covered under a veil; and thus that most of the women shown on Greek vases in the company of men were prostitutes or courtesans. Addressing the question of what he referred to as ‘Oriental seclusion’, Llewellyn-Jones writes:29 A number of texts seem to conjure up a vision of ancient Greece which looks less like Europe and more like Islam, women kept well out of the sight of men to whom they are not related, appearing outside the house only if heavily shrouded and under the veil, embarrassed even to have their names voiced in public. An important (so-called ‘historical’) premise to Mernissi’s case is that the political ‘enslavement’ of the free women dated from the arrival of the slave girls on the scene, displacing them politically; this resulted first in the retinue of female disciples (including the wives of the Prophet), then aristocratic women, gradually leaving the political stage. In support of her case Mernissi author points to the liberated spirit of the pre-qiyān free woman as exemplified by Sukayna bt. al-Husayn and ‘Ā’isha bt. Talha whom she describes as the first wave of women ‘feminists’. But these two ladies could hardly be considered representatives of the womanhood of their age, or indeed of any other, as Mernissi does acknowledge. Another criticism that can be levelled against Mernissi’s case is that it is only focused on Arab and, by extension, Muslim societies: it takes no account of what has been going on elsewhere. Many of the disadvantages of the Arab or Muslim woman are shared by her sisters throughout the world, and in places where the qiyān or their ilk are unheard of. Such disadvantages have existed, and exist still, throughout patriarchal societies everywhere. At the time that the slave girls walked the streets of 3rd/9th-century Baghdad the prevailing view in Western Europe was that women had no souls;30 while on the other side of the globe the disadvantaged condition of women was observed

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by François Caron when he visited Japan with the Dutch East India Company in 1639:31 One Man hath but one Wife, though as many concubines as he can keep; and if the Wife do not please him, he may put her away, provided he dismiss her in a civil and honourable way. Any Man may lie with a Whore, or common Woman, although he be married, with impunitie; but the Wife may not so much as speak in private with another Man, without hazarding her life. And it is a sobering thought that in England, a country steeped in liberal and democratic traditions and the home of Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights, a married woman had to wait until 1883 to be allowed in law32 to be the owner of her own property; and that Spanish and French women only won the parliamentary vote in 1931 and 1944 respectively. Mernissi starts her argument by going to the primary Islamic source. She states that the Qur’ān defines the role of the sexes very clearly indeed; and she cites the following as its most eloquent formulations: ... and men are a degree above them (the women). Allāh is Mighty, Wise (ii, 28) Men are in charge of women, because Allāh hath made the one of them to excel the other ... So the good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allāh hath guarded (iv, 34) But significantly she does not attempt a reconciliation of the above with her Sukayna and ‘Ā’isha model. Thus, while one shares with Mernissi her concerns for the Muslim woman’s cry of anguish and demands for justice and equality, one may well feel that in ascribing the same anguish and sense of injustice to some foreign slave women in 3rd/9th-century Iraq, Mernissi chooses a soft and questionable target, missing in the process some more appropriate – and much more challenging – targets.

Qiyān and catamites It is interesting to note that while free-born women were at a disadvantage in the sexual stakes compared to the qiyān, a serious challenge

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to the latter was mounted by the catamites – some indication of the moral laxity of the time, and of the widespread and open practice of homosexuality. Thus, one finds Yūsuf b. al-Hajjāj b. al-Sayqal cautioning against associating with the qiyān, then going on to declare:33 This sodomy is a religion in the eyes of the asāwira34 They do justice to it by amiability In that regard one bears in mind that there is a distinction in Arab culture between being an active homosexual partner and a passive one. The latter, as penetrated, is looked down upon; not so the former – at least in a literary context.35 Al-Jāhiz devotes a whole risāla36 to the respective merits claimed for slave-girls and catamites. Faced with competition from boys, the women sometimes tried to resemble them; so that preference was shown to the tomboy type of woman, with hair cut short and a manly stride.37

The constant slave-woman In criticising the general moral quality of the qayna, poet and/or singer, one has to take into account some mitigating factors which tell in her favour. For a start, there are limitations inherent in her status. As a slave-girl she would have been removed, as often was the case, from her family when very young, and transported as a slave to a different part of the world. Thereafter, she has no ancestry whose praises to sing, no father or brother whose death to elegise, no ancestral home over whose ruins to weep. The ties of the master and his household are some substitute, but these are overshadowed by impermanence. She may be sold at any time during her master’s lifetime, and may be sold or auctioned after his death. Her life is precarious. No matter what the degree of social acclaim accorded to her, she is still a chattel with few civic rights. She has to please all the time. Her stock in trade is her amiability and the praise that she showers on her master and on those in a position to bestow largesse on her. Yet in praising some, she has to be guarded in satirising others, since the times are uncertain and

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the fortunes of men could be turned upside down overnight. A caliph or master might not think ill of her for what she had composed and/ or recited or sung in praise of his predecessor; this was normal. Taking sides in a conflict, by not only praising one party but also criticising the other, would be seen quite differently. In Abbasid society religious and dynastic conflicts were rife, while court intrigues were such that the accession of caliphs was mostly achieved by violent means. It was important for the new caliph to consolidate his rule by demonstrating that his accession was received with universal acquiescence, if not enthusiastic acclaim. As part of that exercise he would hold court and require the retinue of the former caliph, his slave-girls, singers and poets, to join in celebrating the new rule. Most would readily comply. But there are a sufficient number of anecdotes to establish a theme of those who demurred out of love and loyalty to the departed. The following are three of these tales. Danānīr was the slave-girl of Yahyā b. Khālid al-Barmakī. A chapter is devoted to her by al-Isfahānī.38 She is described as a beautiful blonde, a cultured qayna who excelled in singing and reciting poetry. After the fall of the Barmakīs she refused to sing for al-Rashīd, saying that she had sworn never again to sing after the death of her master. At the order of al-Rashīd, she was slapped, forced up to her feet and handed a ‘ūd. She sang:39 When I beheld that the houses were obliterated I knew for certain that the good life will not return Farīda the younger was a slave-girl and a favourite of al-Wāthiq. As she played the ‘ūd he kicked her violently even while besotted with her – because he could not bear the thought that al-Mutawakkil might succeed him and have her after him. Al-Mutawakkil did indeed succeed to the caliphate, and Farīda was ordered to play the ‘ūd for him. She refused and tore the strings from the instrument out of loyalty to the memory of al-Wāthiq. As she was being whipped to death for her disobedience, she recited defiantly:40 Beware for to every youth shall come death at night or in the morn

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This verse, incidentally, is also attributed to the blind Abū Zakkār, who it is said41 sang it together with two other verses to Ja‘far b. Yahyā al-Barmakī the moment that al-Rashīd’s man, Masrūr, arrived to kill him, the additional verses being: And to every good fortune inevitably will come a day that however long it lasted will yet be reduced to nought And if ought can be ransomed from calamities I’d have ransomed you with newly acquired wealth and my patrimony Mahbūba was the slave-girl of al-Mutawakkil. When in grief for the slaying of her master, and paraded in front of the coup leader, Wasīf, she refused to join in the celebration of the new reign. Instead, she lamented her dead master:42 What pleasure is left for me in a life without Ja‘far? (Stigelbauer observes that Mahbūba’s behaviour is enshrined in popular memory as constituting the 352nd of the Thousand and One Nights.43) The above examples may have been the exceptions that prove the general inconstancy and perfidy of the qiyān. That, at least, was the view of Ashja‘, a notable poet at the court of al- Rashīd and much patronised by the Barāmika, who loved his slave-girl Rīm dearly. She swore that if she survived him she would not be another man’s. He received this with scepticism:44 The grief of women will not long last but the griefs of men will endure If you will not have me to look at nor my wealth to enrich you and if you heard me not, nor heard you I Then you will forget me and if there should be some weeping, the most that you’ll weep is four45 Rare, by the Lord of the Ka‘ba, O Rīm, that I see a girl who is content with him that death had seized

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The qiyān, by dint of their education and training, their public exposure as entertainers and the attendant fame and notoriety, all adding up to ‘entertainment value’, occupied a privileged position in an Abbasid society which set them apart from the general body of female slaves. To that extent the term ‘singing slave-girls’, and likewise the term ‘slave-women poets’, may be misleading in that the corresponding English terms of ‘slave’ coupled with ‘girl’ or ‘woman’ do not do justice to their true elevated status and role.46 Yet, their social and political position was inferior to the lowliest of the client nation. However much they were admired, sought after, flattered by patrons and indulged by their owners as prized possessions, their status before manumission remained that of slaves. Of course the term corresponding to ‘female slave’ in any language has different practical connotations. She could be well treated and remain in the ownership of one man or one family for life, while she reciprocated with loyalty and devotion . Conversely one can think of the example of the qayna ‘Inān, who was highly admired and whose market value was so great that her master al-Nātifī refused al-Rashīd’s offer to buy her, thinking it too low; but yet she could be whipped by the same master for refusing his order to entertain a guest. Further, an unemancipated qayna was always liable to be sold in the lifetime of her master or as part of his estate after his death, and one thinks again of ‘Inān who on the death of al-Nātifī was auctioned publicly to discharge her dead master’s debts. By the same token the qayna’s loyalties were transient in that they could only be given to whoever was her owner at any given time.

Qayna and hetaira One may draw a closer analogy between the world of the qiyān and that of courtesanship defined roughly as:47 The social phenomenon whereby women engage in relatively exclusive exchanges of artistic graces, elevated conversation, and sexual favours with male patrons ... their traffic in intellectual and artistic commerce understood in their own cultural contexts to be wholly interdependent with their commerce in sex.

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It can also be said of the qayna, as has been said of the hetaira of ancient Greece,48 that in her men’s myths find their most seductive embodiment; she is beyond all others flesh and spirit, idol, inspiration, muse ... she will feed the dreams of poets; in her the intellectual will explore the treasures of feminine ‘intuition’. It is easier for her than for the matron to be intelligent because she is less set in hypocrisy Yet the qayna remains distinguishable from the courtesan and the hetaira by the fundamental fact of her slavery. Of the 33 women mentioned in the Imā’ al-Shawā‘ir, four deserve special mention: ‘Inān, Fadl, ‘Arīb and Sakan; they are the subject of the next chapter.

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CHAPTER THR EE

FOUR SLAVE-WOMEN POETS

In his introduction to Imā’ al-Shawā‘ir, al-Isfahānī gives an account of the background to his compilation of the work. Al-Hasan b. Muhammad b. Hārūn (291/903–352/963),1 otherwise known as ‘al-Wazīr al-Muhallabī’ and a courtier and notable poet, was kātib, or chief minister and vizier, to the Buyid emir of Iraq, Mu‘izz al-Dawla.2 The latter debated with him as to who among the women slaves composed poetry; and asked him to compile what was known of them in the Umayyad and the Abbasid eras respectively. Al-Isfahānī could not find any in the Umayyad period worth a mention, whereas there were many who became well known in the Abbasid. He then made a note of what he had learned, and compiled the reports of them and of their poetry in their order of merit as poets and of how they were regarded in their time. He begins, so he explains, with ‘Inān because she was the most celebrated in her time and surpassed all others.3

‘Inān ‘Inān was born a muwallada, that is of Arab father and slave mother. She received her training in Yamāma and was brought to Baghdad by her master, Abū Khālid al-Nātifī (his name perhaps referred to a seller of a type of sweetmeat known as nātif or nutāfī). She enlivened literary

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society during the reign of al-Rashīd, charming her listeners by her eloquence, quick wit and acute intelligence. Her salon at the house of al-Nātifī was frequented by the celebrated poets and men of letters of the time, including Abū Nuwās, Di‘bil al-Khuzā‘ī,4 Marwān b. Abī Hafsa,5 al-‘Abbās b. al-Ahnaf6 and al-Ma’mūn’s tutor al-Yazīdī al-Himyarī, among a host of others, one of the attractions being that her master was devoid of jealousy and tolerated the ease with which she bestowed her favours. The exchanges with poets were often in coarse, sexually explicit language which passed for amatory advances and pleasantry. ‘Inān was particularly clever at the repartee. This was generally the hallmark of the slave-women poets – the cut and thrust of virtuosity, a kind of salon party-game. In a setting such as this, the listener would admire their mental agility, mastery of words and poetic forms, rather than looking for a literary theme redolent of challenging thought or deep emotion. Their craft was a component of a general dilettante scene which featured cultural and social salons and the growing influence of the well-to-do class of kutāb: bureaucrats, chancery clerks or scribes, who were mostly of non-Arab stock and who, together with others of the ruling elite, emerged as a class of dilettante poets vying with traditional poets – and to whom the composing and trading of verses, mostly epigrams, was a mark of wit, culture and gracefulness:7 Arab poetry is in general characterised by having a purpose, such as to boast, praise, satirize or describe, and the concept of poetry as “pure art” and social grace only emerged in the Abbasid period among the dilettante poets of the ruling elite. Al-Nātifī, exploiting ‘Inān’s celebrated wit and her talent for repartee, would tempt his clients and guests to his house with the promise of engaging her in poetical jousting. On one occasion Ahmad b. Mu‘āwiya challenged her with two verses:8 My heart became enamoured of the sweet white ones yet9 perchance it fell in love with the sweet bronze ones of the people of Abyssinia I wept for one of their bronze women once such weeping as rendered me bleary-eyed

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The reference is clearly to slave-girls. The ‘white ones’, who were generally favoured for their looks, were predominantly the Byzantines and others from European lands, the saqāliba. The slave-girls of Abyssinia were also favoured for their slender and soft bodies. ‘Inān met the challenge with: I wept for her for my heart loves her such that my heart is aflutter as if with two wings You came to barter poetry with us so there you are, take it back bested, O father of Hanash! The opening two verses by which ‘Inān was tested presented her with a deal of difficulty since it had a shīn rhyme-ending, which is uncommon in Arabic poetry. However, Ahmad b. Mu‘āwiya’s pseudonym of ‘Abū Hanash’ came in handy for the occasion. The interlocutor may almost certainly have tested ‘Inān with a shīn ending on purpose, to see if she would have the presence of mind to think of his pseudonym and make use of it. She met the challenge successfully, hence the triumphant note at the end. On another occasion ‘Inān was asked if she would respond to the following verse, found in a book:10 He continued to suffer the travails of love until I thought him sighing or speaking from his heart She responded with: He weeps and so I weep out of compassion for his weeping so that whenever he weeps tears I weep blood for him Until everyone stricken [by love] pities me and those who are fancy free turn away from me in boredom On another occasion ‘Inān refused to comply with her master’s order to receive a guest. (al-Isfahānī refers to the guest in his report as Marwān b. Abī Hafsa;11 but the guest appears as Abū Nuwās in the latter’s Dīwān.12) ‘Inān, who was indisposed, said she was too busy to meet the guest. On hearing this her master al-Nātifī whipped her.

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When he then invited his guest in, the latter, seeing tears running down her cheeks, broke into verse: ‘Inān wept so that her tears flowed as pearls slip off the string to which ‘Inān responded without pause: May it wither on the whip the right hand of him who struck her unjustly This last episode is an illuminating example of a slave-girl being abused physically by her master even while she is highly prized by him as a valuable asset. Very little is known about al-Nātifī, but what is clear is that he ill-treated her even as he exploited her. In return, her feelings towards him may be gathered from the following anecdote. She had attracted the amorous attention of Abū Nādir who wrote to her:13 I have a need so what think you of it may my soul ransom you from all ills It is not such that I can entrust to another to convey to you nor that I can put in a letter ‘Inān’s response offered availability and encouragement: I am pre-occupied by one whom I do not love and my heart is curtained from him So if you wish for ought, then convey it covertly not in writing The clandestine billet doux The above sheds light on the use of the clandestine billet doux, of which there are many references in connection with the qiyān; and of the attendant risks of discovery by accident or through betrayal. It also points to the use of the only other available alternative – a trusted gobetween to promote amatory intrigues. But there is a paradox in the situation which is described here: the poem makes it quite clear what

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the man wanted, even though he said he could not say it or write it; and yet he expresses his feelings in a letter. ‘Inān’s reputation as mistress of repartee was well known, while the use of the ijāza was popular. On one occasion al-Rashīd came by some verses of Jarīr in a book and said that he would reward anyone who could suitably add to them:14 The verses were: They exhausted their own tears and said to me behold what you have suffered from love and what we have suffered One servant said that he could, and went to ‘Inān for help. She offered: You have awakened by your words an ache in my heart which yet lies hid Its fruits have ripened in their due season so that we were given to drink from the stream of love and had our fill They lied who allege, O sire, that if the hearts fell in love they would be stilled The response that ‘Inān came up with was fully equal to the occasion. At the same time it can be said to demonstrate the gap between the consummate skill of the great poet Jarīr and the clever but affected response of the slave-girl. There is a unified structure in Jarīr’s verses, albeit that they form part of a traditional trope. They make a statement, universally understood and felt, of the pains of separation and the sense of loss. One finds economy as well as integrity in the expressions that Jarīr uses to reflect these emotions above: in a few words, the poet evokes the picture of the parting (as with the decamping of the lover’s tribe); the shedding of tears; and foreboding at the end of the affair, with the lasting sense of loss. All these elements are prersented in a unity of time, space and subject-matter. By contrast, ‘Inān makes use in her response of some admirable poetical devices relating to two principal themes, but these are unrelated to each other. Thus she starts with the arresting metaphor of the seed of love lying buried in the soil,

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and awakened by the words; she extends this by implication to the time when after several seasons the fruit of the tree which had grown from that seed has ripened, even while the seed itself has remained hidden in the soil. What follows is a quite different and fairly commonplace image of love as a stream from which the lovers drink their fill. This is capped by the statement that one cannot have enough of love – the drinkers are never satiated, even after drinking their fill. On another occasion ‘Inān was challenged by another verse by Jarīr:15 I continued to conceal from my two companions what passion I felt tongue-tied that I was by overwhelming love for you ‘Inān’s immediate response demonstrated a high degree of perspicacity and virtuosity: If fear should tie the tongue the eye will speak volumes of its secrets One notes in the above exchange the use of two companions, which reflects a certain convention in old Arabic poetry whereby the interlocutor is said to have two companions on a journey; a celebrated example is the opening of Imru’ al-Qays’s mu‘allaqa. A further example is quoted below.16 There was an occasion when a poet came visiting, and al-Nātifī told ‘Inān to impress him. She starts with:17 May God bless Baghdad which I see no town inhabited by people that resembles it The guest responds, teasingly: As though it were silver-plated which the forger had just finished plating implying tha it was not of solid silver, contrary to its outward appearance. ‘Inān reasserts her defence of Baghdad, which this time silences him:

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[Nay], security and ease of living – nor, compared with its delight is there a land more comfortable or opulent In al-Isfahānī’s report of this last anecdote, the guest is simply referred to as ‘some poet’.18 However, the compiler of Abū Nuwās’s Dīwān identifies the latter as the guest. That may well have been the case, such teasing being a characteristic of his. That said, it is remarkable how many akhbār (reports) one comes across with mixed attributions involving Abū Nuwās. He was so notorious a figure at the heart of a world of unorthodox, irreverent and engaging anecdotes that an interlocutor or rāwī who was uncertain of an authorship would be tempted to attribute it to him. The anecdote is also interesting for another reason. One notes that the exchange is initiated by ‘Inān addressing the opening verse to the guest. This is unusual in that in nearly all the examples in question the opening verse or couplet is addressed by the man to the girl by way of putting her to the test. Rarely would the girl initiate the exchange, since that would be seen as discourteous and might cause embarrassment to a patron or guest who is unprepared for it. This last observation is demonstrated by the following anecdote.19 Al-Salūlī called on ‘Inān one day and found her with another caller, a Bedouin. She turned to al-Salūlī for help, saying that the Bedouin was asking her to compose some verse so that he, the Bedouin, would respond to it by way of repartee. One notes in this regard the special circumstances justifying the reversal of the normal order of the exchange: first, the other person involved in the exchange is not a sophisticated and refined person but a Bedouin; and secondly, it is he who invites ‘Inān to compose, merely to show off his own skill. ‘Inān, who was used to responding rather than initiating repartee, explained to al-Salūlī that she did not know how to begin, and asked him to start the ball rolling. Al-Salūlī rose to the occasion, declaiming: Grave was the parting and I was at my wit’s end the evening the caravan was bridled for leaving The Bedouin responded:

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I observed the last of them in the morn as they departed to the land of Syria ‘Inān then capped the exchange with: I hid your love in my chest but the tears betrayed me The merit in this last exchange is in its cohesion. Al-Salūlī’s opening verse is concerned with the caravan making ready in the evening to depart, and the Bedouin’s with the actual departure before sunrise, while ‘Inān’s alludes to the pains of separation. Promiscuity and gross discourse What has come down to us concerning ‘Inān demonstrates, as regards her moral character, a high degree of promiscuity and grossness of discourse. These characteristics would have given her a particular form of notoriety and kept her in the public eye. The poet and kātib Hasan b. Wahb b. Sa‘īd, describing a visit to ‘Inān, related a boastful story while pretending it to be against himself. It may have been completely made up, but even so it would have reflected the general notoriety in which ‘Inān was held. They partook of food and wine, and she sang, which Hasan rated as not up to the standard of her poetry. In all, they consumed six measures of wine and made love five times. That left ‘Inān still unsatisfied. Hasan then asked her to sing a popular song of the time:20 O my two companions, lovers with no hearts and a beloved who does not sin O host of lovers how execrable is love if the beloved will not meet the lover ‘Inān sang a variation to express her dissatisfaction and to shame him: O my two companions lovers have no cocks and there is no pleasure in a lover who is unattainable O host of lovers how execrable is love if there is flabbiness in the lover’s prick

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‘Inān and Abū Nuwā s A large proportion of the anecdotes relating to ‘Inān consists of exchanges with Abū Nuwās. Some of these exchanges were meant teasingly, as in the anecdote above referring to silver-plated Baghdad. The following are further examples of the ‘tease exchange’: Abū Nuwās:21 The Merciful has put a qibla in your face so grant me to pray in your face and a kiss ‘Inān: Come and look ye in a mirror to see a comprehensive ugliness Is it with such a face that you crave a kiss from the fair of face? The above exchange is also an example of poetic licence to subvert religious concepts and expressions. Abū Nuwās associates ‘Inān’s face with the Ka‘ba, in the direction of which (qibla) Muslims turn to pray, and seeks to kiss it as the devout pilgrim would aspire to kiss the Ka‘ba. There are other examples of such subversion below. One day Abū Nuwās sees ‘Inān holding a bunch of daffodils. He asks her to give it to him, but she refuses. He says: ‘Woe to you, how unbecoming is meanness.’ She replies: ‘Worse than meanness is a penniless man’, probably alluding to a popular saying put in the mouth of a pre-marriage maiden: ‘Give him to me penniless, do not send him to me mean’, but here declaring mockingly that the reverse is true. Abū Nuwās then comes up, without a pause, with the following verses, referring to ‘Inan as a citronella and alluding to its sour taste:22 I said to her one day as she went past ‘A citronella with daffodils in the palm of her hand’ How ugly is meanness so grant us that which revives the spirit She roared with laughter and told us a penniless lover is worse than that

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There is charm in the above exchange which can be taken to be praise (madīh) in blame (‘itāb). ‘Inān mocks Abū Nuwās for being a penniless man, consistent with his proclivities for carousing and pleasure-seeking. But to ‘Inān he is still her lover. Other exchanges, as in the following, were in the nature of a literary party-game meant to demonstrate ‘Inān’s acuity:23 Abū Nuwās: Every day of new daisies the earth is laughing from the weeping of the sky. ‘Inān compares the field of daisies to an embroidered gown: It is like the embroidery in a bridal gown which traders had brought from San’ā’ Other exchanges with Abū Nuwās were not only meant to demonstrate ‘Inan’s mental agility but also to flatter her in her own salon and to publicise her merits. Abū Nuwās enters the house of al-Nātifī and finds it full of people – some eyeing ‘Inān with longing, others looking with admiration, and yet others seeking to benefit from what they hear. He invites ‘Inān to cap the following verse:24 I beheld the stars of the night which seemed as if they were made of twenty-four carat red gold ‘Inān replies: So I compared them to the lanterns at night of a hermit who dons worn-out and shrunken raiment This is a curious response. In Abū Nuwās’s verse the stars are beheld in the evening, when they appear golden-red, refracted in the fading rays of the setting sun. ‘Inān’s response compares them to lanterns, and the ‘darkening’ sky in the evening to the ‘shrunken’ black habit of the hermit that fails to cover him entirely. Qawālis (shrunken) may have been simply used fortuitously, necessitated by the difficulty of finding on the spot a word to rhyme with the rhyme-word khālis. But

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it fits with ‘Inān criticising penniless Abū Nuwās for being profligate, thereby contrasting him with the poor but ascetic hermit. The contrast between wealth coupled with meanness and poverty coupled with contentment is also alluded to in the ‘twenty-four carat gold’ and the ‘shrunken raiment’. Salacious exchanges and publicity Abū Nuwās then produces another verse, this time with an obvious sexual allusion:25 What I desire from a darling lover is some dalliance from him and a mounting ‘Inān replied in kind: I give him my saliva to drink and I drink his thus it is that my cry of joy and his will have no end The following further anecdote displays ‘Inān’s erudition no less than her quick wit, and is also a clear example of poetical subversion of religious expressions. (It is not easy to translate.) Abū Nuwās calls on al-Nātifī and finds ‘Inān in tears after a beating from her master. Asked by al-Nātifī to put her to the test, Abū Nuwās starts the exchange:26 O ‘Inān if you be good to me then I shall in my life long be in āmana l-Rasūlu bi-mā (the Prophet trusted in what) The allusion is to a sentence at the conclusion of the Qur’ānic sūra (chapter) of al-Baqara: āmana l- Rasūlu bi-mā unzila ilayhi min rabbihi (‘the Prophet put his trust in what was brought down to him from his Lord’).27 The main point here is that al-Baqara is the longest sūra in the Koran so that the inference is that Abū Nuwās is enticing ‘Inān with the offer of a “long” love-making or, more likely, long penis. ‘Inan was acute enough to see the point and replied: But if it extended and you did not endeavour to hold it back from me then I would be as those that were closed

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‘Closed’ alludes to the khatm, the end of the long recitation of the whole of the Qur’ān. It has also the alternative meaning of ‘seal’ so one may perceive a double entendre whereby the reply is taken to refer to the vagina denying the “it” penetration. The above examples, or some of them, may be taken to be publicity material offered by Abū Nuwās to ‘Inān – on some occasions to repay her hospitality – and that of her master, as he had called as a guest – and on some other occasions as a favour by one professional to another. The last-mentioned bawdy exchange would have served particularly to titillate, as would others on a similar theme which will be mentioned below. But it would be too cynical to view the relationship between ‘Inan and Abū Nuwās as being predominantly commercial: they were lovers, even if the course of their love did not run smoothly. But there is no reason to doubt that for a time Abū Nuwās felt true affection for ‘Inān. On one occasion, after ‘Inān had broken up with him, he composed the following to declare his love as well as to celebrate her peerless beauty:28 O ‘Inān who resembles the wide-eyed oryxes you blame me for love of you Your beauty is like no other that I know it has left people besotted The following verses also demonstrate that love, and no less convincingly, even as Abū Nuwās fears that ‘Inān may be no more trustworthy than any other qayna:29 I have said it once but listen to it again from me and respond to it O ‘Inān I am in love with you but am a coward keeping myself at a distance because of my knowledge of betrayal by the qiyān They dally falsely with whom they dally winking with an eye and bantering with a tongue I shall not seek intimacy with you unless you swear that you will not betray me and will keep faith by me Else leave me and [go] give your dalliance to some idiot who will suffer humiliation through jealousy over you

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But the majority of the exchanges between ‘Inān and Abū Nuwās are characterised by salaciousness, with no restraint shown by either party in the use of extremely gross language excoriating the moral characters of each other. They are worth referring to as representative of the salaciousness in verse which in general occupied a substantial part of the exchanges involving the qiyān. Abū Nuwās and ‘Inān were public figures in their time, while the former has been and remains a household name as a great poet and a wit. Those anecdotes in which the two trade insults with each other in memorable turns of phrase can be said to owe their enduring interest to their very salaciousness. Further, one wonders whether some of these exchanges, in particular those that are only moderately salacious, may not have been deliberately composed in such terms as gross publicity material to shock – in the knowledge that they would be told and retold in inns, coffeehouses, the market place and qiyān houses, as well as so-called polite society, and with a view to attracting popular attention and keeping the names of both interlocutors in the public eye. And in that connection one bears in mind that the exchanges must have been made on public and semi-public occasions. The following serves to illustrate this last observation: it is a bawdy exchange which resonates with one cited above, including the reference to ‘if it extended’ and khatm. There are different versions of it to be found in Aghānī, Imā’ and Abū Nuwās’s Dīwān. It is reasonable to infer that the differences are the result of a wide circulation of the exchange giving rise to the variations in the retelling. Abū Nuwās meets ‘Inān one day, and greets her with:30 I have a mischievous prick its colour resembling the chestnut If it saw a cleft in the air it would copulate to death Or if it saw it atop a roof it would transform into a spider Or if it saw it in the bottom of an ocean it would be a whale of an erection31 ‘Inān replies:

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Marry that thing with a mate methink the mate would sustain [it] I fear for it that if it extended it would die Attend to what has befallen the wretch lest it expires Before the illness shall have abated and so will no longer be ardent The following is a further exchange in a similar vein:32 Abū Nuwās: What’s your wish from an ardent lover who wants a little drop from you? In the context, sabb (‘ardent lover’) has the alternative meaning of ‘flow’, while qatayra ‘drop’ may probably be taken to refer to kissing and sucking saliva; and equally probable, to a more intimate secretion in conjunction with flow – hence the reaction that the verse provoked: ‘Inān: You are telling me that? go wank yourself! Abū Nuwās: I’d like that but fear that you would be jealous of my hand ‘Inān replies: ‘Perish you! And perish whosever shall be jealous on your account’, adding: ‘Go fuck your mother, she is a hag!’ It is thought that ‘Inān fell out with Abū Nuwās because of the following incident involving her maid.33 ‘Inān sent the maid to him with a note inviting him to a meal:

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Visit us to dine with us and keep not yourself distant from us For we have decided to have a party in the morn and thus we met Abū Nuwās read the invitation but his attention was fixed on the maid and her good looks. He beguiled her and had his way with her. He then returned the note with the girl to ‘Inān after adding a postscript: We fucked ‘Inān’s messenger and it was good what we did It was bread with salt that we had before the roast I pulled her and she swayed like a bending tree branch I said: It’s not thus (and no more) that we part she said: So why blame me? You have tarried too long fuck us and let’s go The girl, who presumably could not read, took the note back to her mistress. ‘Inān became angry as she read the postscript. The girl may have denied what happened for ‘Inān exclaimed that if it was true then Abū Nuwās was an adulterer. She left him and refused to accept his apology and to be reconciled. This was followed by ‘Inān attacking him in abusive terms, calling him names and shaming him for his homosexuality. On hearing this, Abū Nuwās composed the following verses, seemingly still hoping to mollify her and to make it up with her:34 By my father I’d ransom the one who at mention of me called me effeminate and a catamite If they had asked her the real reason for calling me abusive names she would have said that it was that she loved me Aye, to the day of resurrection and judgment aye, I love her until I am wrapped up in my shroud

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Loudly I declare and openly let who will censure me O people harken to what I say the friend of ‘Inān is Hasan Abū Nuwās, also named Hasan b. l-Hāni’, was notorious for his homosexual proclivities, which he indulged unashamedly, and which he copiously and luridly mentioned in his Dīwān. These homo-erotic verses were expurgated from the ‘clean’ editions, while they changed hands privately. They have since been put together and published; the collection is entitled al-nusūs al-muharrama (the forbidden texts’); which are also to be found in the Dīwān edition by Ewald Wagner. After the falling-out ‘Inān satirised him by referring to his passive homosexuality:35 A wonder to think of a catamite known to be rooted in sodomy If he made his way to a house with a consenting fawn He who knows knows whose face is on the mat The ‘wonder’ is that he professes to be a ‘penetrator’ homosexual (lūtī) while being in fact a passively ‘penetrated’ (halaqī). And she further excoriated his sexual deviation:36 Abū Nuwās is fondly in love with his own disease mocking and deluding himself For excessive appetite for lambs’ heads he has become well known among the people but his arena is their nether parts Abū Nuwās in turn attacked ‘Inān for her loose morals, suggesting that she was no better than a whore:37 Inān of al-Nātif is a slave girl whose cunt has become a public concourse for fucking None will buy her but if he be the son of a whore or a pimp whosoever he may be

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These verses received wide circulation, and the report of them upset Hārūn al-Rashīd, who was interested in buying ‘Inān: ‘God’s curse on Abū Nuwās who may forever be ugly. He has spoilt the pleasure I would have had in buying her.’ According to one report38 Abū Nuwās composed these verses at the prompting of al-Rashīd’s wife Zubayda in order to put her husband off buying ‘Inān, which left the latter sorely disappointed. In the following verses she gives vent to her bitterness:39 O Nuwāsī the dross of God’s creatures through me you have attained eminence and glory You may die content (since I celebrated you in verse) and drag the tail of your cloak (thawb) in pride alluding, one surmises, to the racy and memorable exchanges between them which added to their fame and notoriety. ‘Inān then goes on to berate him for seeking to add to his reputation by besmirching those of others: Many a one has had one’s robe of honour (hulla).impregnated by the smell of the excrement of your words while dishonour and evil dwell in you40 and berating his ingratitude: There is many a boon companion who offered you to drink a cup of wine only for you to leave dung in the cup41 and his lies: If you want to thank God for what affliction [He visited] and graciously entrusted to you [to inflict] Let that be with your inner mind and by means of intimation42 and not by taking the name of God in vain: Your talk is but a fart and he who extols God by farting shall have a sin and error as his reward

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Thus in the Dīwān.43 But in Imā’ the word tafsuq (‘you act immorally’) is given as substitute for tafsū (‘you fart’), and zawra (‘false’) for wizra (‘sin’) – so that the last line would translate as: ‘You are immoral in all you say, and he who wallows in immorality utters that which is sinful and false.’ One has in that variation a good example of how a statement or passage can easily be distorted in the retelling. ‘Inān concludes with the incantation: You should thank God that you are not charged with an offence may God place a prohibition between your jaws If you see him it is the bird of ill omen and if you listen to him then what you hear is obscenity The word ‘prohibition’ here is a translation of hajrā, which may be taken as a misreading of hajara (‘stone’). In the Dīwān44 the word dubrā (‘arse’) is given. ‘Inān and al-Rashī d When al-Rashīd received reports of the beauty and vivacity of ‘Inān, he was keen to buy her and asked her master for her. ‘Inān was even more keen to move from the ownership of al- Nātifī and life in his house to the ownership of al-Rashīd and life as a member of the caliphal establishment. Al-Nātifī stipulated 100,000 dīnārs as the price. Al-Rashīd said he would pay that price provided the payment was in dirhams, calculated at a rate of exchange of seven dirhams to the dīnār, which was excessively to the advantage of al-Rashīd – the historical rate would have been multiples of that – and the offer was hence rejected by al-Nātifī. The dīnār was a small gold coin about one centimetre in diameter and weighing 4.25 grams (mithqāl); the dirham was a thin silver coin slightly over two centimetres in diametre and weighing about three grams. Their values were in the metal content, so the rate of exchange depended on the prices then current of gold and silver respectively.45 Judging by the range of prices in modern times, the market price of gold can be as much as 60 times that of silver.

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‘Inān was then brought before al-Rashīd to be examined. On seeing her al-Rashīd said: Woe to you, your master refused my offer.’ She replied: ‘What’s stopping you paying what he wants? Al-Rashīd replied that it was too much. And yet there may have been other reasons for l-Rashīd’s reluctance to buy her – the circulation of Abū Nuwās’s words that none will buy her other than the son of a whore or a pimp, as well as the above-mentioned report of Zubayda being exercised over the mooted purchase. The meeting between al-Rashīd and ‘Inan may have been as a result of her entreating Ja‘far al-Barmakī and his father Yahyā to mention her to the caliph. A good way for a panegyrist to contact a patron was to approach an honourable individual who had access to him and thus was better equipped to intervene on the poet’s behalf.46 ‘Inān’s entreating of Ja‘far was in the form of a plea inscribed in a qasīda, an intercessionary poem requesting the recipient to ask his father – vizier and confidant of the caliph – to persuade al-Rashīd to buy her.47 It starts (vv. 1–4) with the ‘blame’ device or convention often used in panegyric poetry. This consists of the following elements: (a) the invocation of a virtual person who is imagined as blaming the poet for the positive feeling (in this case passion) that the poet feels for the person being lauded; (b) the rejection of the blame as groundless, and as made in ignorance; and (c) the affirmation by the poet that no such blame shall ever alienate her true feelings. By such a device or convention the eulogy is reinforced. Further, the opening of the poem is a conventional introduction or trope (nasīb) on the theme of love and passion. In a ‘favour panegyric’, convention apart, it reflects the tradition of not coming straight to the point, as if one needs to engage the attention of the listener before coming round to the delicate part of asking a favour: In praise of the Barmakīs O you who blame me in your ignorance will you not desist who is there who can bear the heat of passion with fortitude? Do not blame me for drinking passion neat it’s the mixing of passions that makes one drunk Love has surrounded me – for behind me it has

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a sea and in front of me [further] seas Death flutters from the standards of love above me and I am beset all round by its host The same to me whether he who criticises me for loving moderates or intensifies his criticism There is no disguising the preciosity of the expressions used above – the poet vowing love for the one and only object of her affection, surrounded, island-like, by measureless oceans of passion, and assailed from all directions by deadly desires from which there is no escape. She does not identify in terms the object of her love, nor make an offer of love. What she does as a supplicant is to play the part of a woman in the throes of passion for the person being praised and thereby put him in the right frame of mind as she moves away from her fictitious critic to the next section of the poem. The ‘mixing of passions that makes one drunk’ alludes to the often-used metaphor of the mixing of wines making one drunk, of which an example is that (doubtfully) attributed to ‘Ulayya bint al-Mahdī.48 The next section (v. 6) represents a transition between the opening trope and the actual eulogy. It identifies the subject of the praise, addressed in the second person singular as she repeats his first name Ja‘far with its lexical meaning of ‘brook’, befitting the imagery that is to follow of a steady flow of generosity: You are the pure one of the family of Barmak O Ja‘far of munificence O Ja‘far As the author then proceeds with the main body of the eulogy, she switches from the second person to the third. Such a switch is a common device in Arabic poetry, serving several purposes: it is consistent with an oral tradition according to which the poem is declaimed in public so that one has the impression of the poet virtually addressing more than one of the assembled people in turn. Of course, it was often the case that the panegyric was actually declaimed in a majlis by the author or some talented transmitter (rāwī) on his behalf; or, if the poem had been sent in writing to the patron, by some other rāwī present at the majlis. Another reason for addressing a person in the third

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person singular is that in the right context it connotes respect and deference as, by way of illustration: ‘If it pleases his Majesty to grant me a boon.’ Further, the shift alerts the listener to the fact that the poem is then moving from one section or theme to another. Thus it is that after identifying the person being praised (v. 6), the author makes the switch to the third person (v. 7), thereby signalling the next shift to the main section of the poem, which is the praise of the patron’s virtues – and, by the use of the third person, giving the impression of broadcasting those virtues abroad: He who describes him will yet be unable to describe what excellence there is and is encompassed within him and one can visualise the assembled men, real or imagined, nodding the heads in approval. Having prepared the ground, the poet then introduces by degrees (vv. 8–10) the theme of generosity: However much some may amass honour through parting with their wealth yet Ja‘far’s honour is more abundant The elegance of majesty is in his face and in his hands the rain-shedding cloud Out of his two hands gushes a steady flow from which red gold cascades Rain is commonly used as a symbol of prosperity and munificence,49 while the imagery of the rainflow slaking the thirst of the parched land leads (v. 11) to the image of green fingers reviving even the stone: If his two palms but wiped a boulder green shoots will sprout from it This part of the main section leads to a general statement (v. 12) signalling the conclusion of the theme of generosity before moving on to the next: None will attain full glory but a young man who perseveres in generosity as he does

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The reference to Ja‘far as a youth may be taken to open the door (v. 13) to the subtle inferential reference to his father Yahyā and to the clever imagery of the majesty of the great vizier resting on the head of the father as he nods in approval of the son’s gravity and wisdom. Alternatively, the reference is not to the father – the tāj (‘crown’) and the minbar (‘pulpit’) being an allusion to worldly power and religion: The crown of majesty sways above him in pride, and proud and radiant is the pulpit under him There next follows the nearest thing to physical praise – the poet using the imagery of moon, whiteness and brightness (vv. 14–15): The full moon is his likeness whenever he appears and the whiteness gleams in his face By God I cannot tell: is that the full moon of the night in his face or is it that his face is brighter? There is a play on words in the above: badr is the full moon, while ghurra refers to its first appearance; and there is also the conceit of the ‘light of virtue’ that guides the faithful, protecting them from evil as it prevents them from being tempted to a fall.50 Further, while the comparison of the face to the moon coupled with the reference to it as gleaming white is used allegorically, it must have corresponded to the actual white complexion of the patron; otherwise it would have been a solecism, or even a mocking reference to the non-white or black colour of the person being praised, of which one has an example in the way that al-Mutanabbī mischievously played on the name of the black Kāfūr (‘white camphor’),51 and for which one also finds a precedent in Alf layla wa-layla (‘53th–54th nights’).52 The author concludes the poem (v. 16) by reverting back to the second person and to the imagery of wealth falling like rain, and addressing Ja‘far as a munificent and gracious host who had welcomed her and listened to her entreaty: Your wealth falls rain-like on your guests while to the guests you are ever welcoming

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‘Inān’s further direct plea to Yahyā al-Barmakī was also in the form of a poem composed to thank him for his kindness towards her two sisters in introducing them to al-Rashīd, who had bought them, and to ask him to intercede for her in like manner. Typically, the bulk of the poem consists of lauding Yahyā and his illustrious family, with the plea coming at the very end. This poem, like the one addressed to Ja‘far, uses the motif of white face as guiding light, and of munificence and kindness flowing from one’s hands – to which is added the motif of the celestial bodies. The central theme is of the vizier being to the caliph as important as the hand is to the arm.53 The first verse constitutes a very short introductory trope: Composing my qasīdas has driven sleep from my eyes as have hopes whose object remains unfulfilled The choice of ‘my qasīdas (qasāidī)’ would have been inspired by its rhyming with ‘Ibn Khālidī’ (Yahyā’s patronymic), and fortuitous in allowing ‘Inān to boast that she was a composer of the lofty qasīda and not just the slave-girl’s usual epigrams. In fact the composition of qasā’id would have been unusual even for a free woman. Even in the general context of classical Arabic literature most of the poetic compositions by women do not exceed a few verses, so the greater part of their poetical production is represented by short poems (qitā‘, s.g. qit‘a) rather than extending to the full-length qasīda.54 The next two verses announce the subject of the praise and his great office of state. They form a bridge between the opening trope and the eulogy; the sleeplessness of the opening verse, induced by the labours of poesy and failed expectations, being warded off by invoking the name of the patron in the second: Whenever a long night banishes sleep from me I ward it off with the name of Yahyā b. Khālid The vizier of the Prince of the Faithful of whom there are two kinds of good traits to be praised – the one ‘purchased’, the others inherited That leads to the eulogy proper, which is expressed in a succession of themes. The first of these (vv. 4–5) compares the white faces of the

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Barmakīs to guiding lights, which dispel the gloom while outshining all other lights: One of the Barmakīs whose faces are as lanterns whose light outshines all that’s lit On the face of Yahyā is a whiteness that guides one as the night traveller is guided by the two bright stars of the Ursa Minor The next theme (vv. 6–8) would have been seen as a topical statement, referring to the subject of the eulogy as a reformer who righted past wrongs and injustices. That may possibly have been perceived (a rare example of a slave-girl making a political statement) as an unflattering reference to the Barmakīs’ predecessors in the vizierate. Al-Fadl b. al-Rabī‘ (138/757–207/822–3) was a bitter political enemy of the Barmakīs. His father, al-Rabī‘ b.Yūnus, had played a prominent part as vizier to the two caliphs a-Mansūr and al-Mahdī. When Hārūn on his accession gave preferment to the Barmakīs, al-Fadl felt slighted and became filled with hatred and jealousy. On the death of Hārūn’s mother Khayzurān in 173/789–90 (she had championed the Barmakīs) he was appointed vizier and filled that office till 178/794–5, when Yahyā b. Khālid al-Barmakī took his place, and thereafter exercised unparalleled power and influence for a vizier. Al-Fadl then did his best to bring about the fall of the Barmakīs, succeeding once more in obtaining the vizierate, which he retained under Hārūn’s son and successor al-Amīn55: Used to good deeds he reformed a bad one and Yahyā will ever be a reformer of all that is bad There were necks of some men which were unadorned which Yahyā decked with the noblest chains of office Out of his hands gushes munificence to every being while his reports are praised in every public setting Many are the pools (hiyād) of his kindness to the people some coming to and others returning from them56 This introduces the main motif (vv. 9-11), alluding to the office of Yahyā as grand vizier, as indispensable to the caliph as the hand is to the arm:

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Praised be your deed and gracious your palm and light is your face whose brightness shall not fade You have attained that which no other people have attained for as the hand is to every arm just so is your worth With the section of the eulogy proper concluded, the poet moves on to the last section of the poem – the traditional wish prayer (du‘ā’) for the wellbeing of the subject of the praise (v.12): So please God add to his munificence and grace to the fury of his enemies and to silence the detractors It is only at this stage, having come to the end of the eulogy and the wish prayer, that ‘Inān switches from Yahyā in the third person to append a direct appeal to him (vv. 13–14): You bestowed kindness on my two sisters which dispelled for them what hardship they had endured Would that you favour me with what you favoured them may God guard you from all fell intrigues It is reported57 that Yahyā did raise ‘Inān’s plea with al-Rashīd, but that the latter refused to buy her on account of her immoral reputation and, even more, the obloquy that would be directed at his own person on account of the notoriety that ‘Inān had acquired through the salacious references made to her by Abū Nuwās – in particular the saying that no one would buy her but the son of a whore or a common pimp; that, coupled with the fact that Zubayda was actively opposed to the prospect of ‘Inān having a share in the caliph’s bed and affections. But one notes that when ‘Inān asked al-Rashīd why he did not buy her, the only reason he gave was the high price. Was this a case of the great caliph trying to spare the feelings of the slave-girl? Did she take that to be so, that there was more to it than the price, hence the bitterness that she gave vent to against Abū Nuwās, blaming him for losing her the opportunity of a better life, and further demonstrated in the following bitter letter which she sent to al-Rashīd?:58

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I thrived in the shade of your love secure with you and fearing not your rejection Then the slanderers came between us and it pleased you to gladden the eyes of the slanderers at my expense By my life that was less fitting of you in justice – may I ever be your ransom When al-Nātifī died, al-Rashīd had still not got over his disappointment at not acquiring ‘Inān. On his orders, his man-servant Masrūr got hold of her, had her placed on a bed or bench at Bāb alKarkh and announced that she was being auctioned to discharge her dead master’s debts. There was symbolism in placing her in that spot, the implication being to transform ‘Inān, one of the most sought-after qiyān, into a low-class jāriya, the Karkh being then the red-light district of Baghdad. As Masrūr invited the bids, ‘Inān cried out: ‘May Allāh shame him who shamed me, and humiliate him who humiliated me.’ As the bids appeared to stop at 200,000 dirhams, a man acting on al-Rashīd’s behalf stepped forward and secured ‘Inān by adding a further 25,000.59 It is said – and this testifies to ‘Inān’s matchless beauty – that she was so free of physical foibles that they deliberately caused some nick in her little toe60 to ward off the evil eye. ‘Inān bore al-Rashīd two boys, both of whom died in infancy. He took her with him to Khurāsān where he died, followed by her not long after.61

Fad.l Fadl (d. 257/871) was born in Basra, the daughter of a slave-woman. Her master had her educated, trained and sold, after which she was prsented as a gift to al-Mutawakkil. According to another report her father was a mawlā who died when she was still in her mother’s womb, and his sons then sold her into slavery. In yet another account (such being the uncertainty surrounding these reports) she was born in the lifetime of her father, who brought her up and educated her. On his death his sons sold her to the eminent bureaucrat Muhammad b. al-Faraj al-Rukhkhajī who gave her to the Mutawakil as a gift.62 Commonly known as Fadl

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the poet, she was admired for her eloquence, urbanity and good poetry. According to a report by Ibn al-Mu‘tazz she was the epitome of beauty and perfection.63 Al-Isfahānī describes her as having a swarthy complexion, a beautiful face and a good figure; as being endowed with culture, eloquence, presence of mind and sharp wit; and as being an accomplished poet, surpassing in poetry all other women of her generation.64 She was in good standing with the leaders of society and wielded a substantial political influence, particularly through her association with Sa‘īd b. Humayd, scribe, epistolographer and poet. Sa‘īd held the position of kātib to Ahmad b. Khasīb, who was a vizier to al-Muntasir: ‘He was less of a career administrator, comparing the government to a bath-house: if you are inside, you want out, and if you are outside, you want to get in’.65 Fadl had been brought up as a fervent partisan of the Shī‘a, whereas Sa‘īd was equally fervent in his advocacy of the anti-‘Alīd cause. As Fadl fell in love with him she was converted to his cause. Poetry as qualification text When first before al-Mutawakkil he asked her: ‘Are you a poet?’ ‘So allege those who sold me and bought me,’ she replied. He laughed and asked her to recite some of her poetry. That was a common form of exchange by which the slave-girl with poetical pretensions would be put to the test by a potential buyer. Fadl, who no doubt came prepared for the test, then declaimed66: The Imām of righteousness succeeded to the throne in the year thirty-three [meaning the year 233 AH] A caliphate that came to Ja‘far when he was twenty-seven We pray, O Imām of righteousness that you rule the people for eighty May God bless not one who does not respond to my plea for you by saying: Amen Al-Mutawakkil was well pleased. He rewarded Fadl and ordered ‘Arīb to set the words to song. There would be many instances to follow in which the verses of Fadl were sung by ‘Arīb.

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Fadl as court poet Fadl was also commonly known as ‘Fadl of al-Mutawakkil’. Her position in relation to al-Mutawakkil was more that of a court poet than just a slave-girl. She had her own house and would attend the caliph’s majālis when required.67 She would then be seen exchanging epigrams with poets and other guests in his presence. She was also not above flirting and exchanging amatory notes with them. One regular guest, suspecting correctly that he had caught her fancy, wrote to her:68 I wonder if you remember me for my memory of you is dear to me May I aspire to a firm part of your affection the like to the part belonging to you in my heart? I am not so close to you that I might benefit by a visit yet the spirit cannot be happy when it despairs of you Fadl replied: Yeah, by God, I desire you do you (may you be spared) reciprocate? Of that which you plead, its likeness is in the heart and in the eye, aye, fixed in the eye, when you are absent So be assured of an affection that’s mirrored in what you declare for in me there is a sickness of which you are the physician The theme of that exchange is the reciprocity of affection in equal measure. This is produced by consummate technical skill, and reflected, stylistically, by the repetition of key words to produce a mirror effect. Thus, taking the first line of the man’s, one finds tadhkurīnī in the first hemistich mirrored by dhikruki in the second; while nasīb in the first hemistich of the second line is repeated in the second hemistich. The mirror effect is produced more subtly in the third line: the words yahyā and tatīb while of different roots having the secondary meaning of recovery and revival. In her response, Fadl produces the mirror effect not by repetition but by the choice of words and expressions of reciprocity as in muthīb and the mirror words musawwar (pictured) and

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mithlihi (its likeness). The last word ending used by Fadl, tabīb, (physician) is chosen deliberately, not only because it rhymes with tatīb but because it also fits in with the secondary meaning of tatīb (feel better). Further, Fadl’s response ‘mirrors’ the first poem by using the same metre and rhyme. The second line echoes with fu’ād and nusb. Banān, another slave-woman poet, described an occasion when alMutawakkil was promenading between her and Fadl and holding their hands. He asked them to ‘chase’ his verse:69 I learned the ways of pleasing for fear of her reproach and my love of her taught her how to anger Fadl followed this with: She rebuffs while I zealously approach her with love and she distances herself from attachment while I draw near Banān then followed her: And I favour her in every case assuredly nor will I desist from doing so Al-Mutawakkil related an occasion when he had arranged to meet Fadl. While he waited for her he drank to excess and fell asleep. Fadl arrived and found him in that state. Hard as she tried, no words nor any shaking and pinching would wake him. She gave up the effort and left on his pillow a note in which she wrote:70 Your likeness has appeared O Sire to drive away the gloom Arise that we may fulfil the requirements of the engagement and the kissing Before we are exposed by the return of the spirits of those who slumber In those lines Fadl uses an arresting imagery of two worlds, one of sleep and the other of waking. She arrives expecting a tryst. She finds the caliph fast asleep, and it is his ‘sleep spirit’ that greets her. While she and the man are alone she feels as though the sleep spirits

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are keeping watch to see what she may get up to. She calls upon the man to wake up, thereby banishing the sleep spirits, and so that in the land of the waking, and there being no one else present, they would consummate their love unobserved by the prying eyes of either people or shadows. There was an occasion when ‘Alī b. al-Jahm and Fadl were both present at a caliphal majlis. Al-Mutawakkil, in order to show Fadl’s celebrated power of repartee, asked Ibn al-Jahm to compose a verse so that Fadl could follow it.71 ‘Alī started with: He had recourse to her with a plaint but found no relief This confronted Fadl with a difficult rhyme in that a “dh” rhyme is rare in Arabic poetry. She pondered it for a little while then came up with: Yet he did not desist from abnegating himself before her with tears shed spray-like from his eyelids They criticised him but that only made him more ardent thus he died of love – so what?! Odes composed on another’s behalf When al-Mutawakkil fell out with his favourite concubine Qabīha, she turned to Fadl as the court poet to placate him with a poem to be delivered as a peace offering on her behalf. Fadl went to al-Mutawakkil as Qabīha’s mouthpiece with this plea:72 I shall conceal the anguish that’s in the heart until I die when no one will know of it It will not be said: The lover complained to the one he loves for to complain to him that one loves is the very despair Nor will I disclose that which I had concealed as the cup goes round at the meeting ‘Well done,’ said al-Mutawakkil to Fadl, and ordered her a reward of 20,000 dirhams before getting up to go to make it up with Qabīha.

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This is a good example of the poet as mouthpiece, of the public function of poetry, and of the universal truth that if one needs an emissary then it behoves one to choose well. Qabīha went to greet al-Mutawakkil on the day of Nawrūz, the Persian spring festival linked to natural order and the theme of life’s renewal;73 its adoption by the Abbasids, as well as that of another Persian festival, Mihragan, encouraged its use in praise poetry, associating the spring and the garden with the life-giving powers of the caliph.74 She held in her hand a clear drink in a crystal cup. She offered it to him saying: ‘This is my present to you on this day, may God bestow his blessing on you.’ He then noticed that his name, Ja‘far, was written on her cheek in musk. The caliph took the drink and kissed her cheek. Fadl who was present, described the scene of the wine being presented to the caliph, ‘a man more fearsome than Hāshim’, declaiming: The choicest of wine brilliant as the moon in a cup as radiant as the star Passed round by a fawn like the full moon of the night above a slim and dazzling stem To a man more fearsome than Hāshim like to the sharp cutting sword Al-Mutawakkil resolved one year to transfer his court to al-Qātūl75 for the winter. Many of his courtiers were dismayed at the upheaval that it would cause them, and it was left to Fadl and ‘Arīb to raise the general concern to the caliph, and to do so with delicacy. Fadl composed the words which ‘Arīb sang when they judged the caliph to be in a good mood after he had had a drink:76 They told us that our winter will be in Qātūl and we look ahead to what God our Lord has in store for us The folk are debating what the future has in store and every day God brings forth the unexpected For God’s majesty is seen to be above the king of the whole world and his dominion above that of any sultan

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The women had judged his mood well – al-Mutawakkil responded benignly, and revoked the transfer order, saying: ‘If you dislike it then I shall not like it.’ Fadl was relied upon to compose commission verses to express the feelings of others, as in the above examples involving Qabīha. Another example concerned the caliph al-Mu‘tamid. During the caliphate of alMutawakkil, al-Mu‘tamid, then a young man, was offered a beautiful slave-girl who captured his heart, but he could not afford the price. He was still thinking of her when he acceded to the caliphate. He then enquired after her and was told that she had been sold to another, who had got her with child. Al-Mu‘tamid, in order to console himself for the loss, asked Fadl to compose something appropriate to express his own feelings. The girl’s name was ‘alam al-husn (‘alam of loveliness), ‘alam having the meaning of ‘flag’/beacon’ or ‘peak’; derived from the classical meaning ‘waymark’ for guidance, such being the function of a beacon which classical meaning is more readily recognisable when set next to the modern use of ‘alāma meaning label or mark. Fadl started the poem with an address to the girl: [You] ‘alam al-jamāl (peak of beauty):77 You have left me in love O peak of beauty more exposed to view than the waymark And you have set me up O my heart’s desire a prey to suspicion and accusations You departed from me after being close and [only] remained with me as a dream If my soul had parted from my body for loss of you it would not have been blamed What would have ailed you if you had kept in touch so as to lessen the ache that’s in my heart With the favour of a letter or a visit under [the cloak of] darkness Or else as an apparition in a dream [say] at least a short visit For the beloved to keep in touch with the lover is, God knows, a boon

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Those engaging verses contain memorable expressions and imagery: the desired girl, who by then was no more than a memory, addressed as a ‘peak of beauty’; the loss of contact and the passage of time leaving the interlocutor a prey to suspicion and jealousy as to what the lost love may have turned into in the meantime; and the epigram encapsulates a universal feeling expressed by the saying that the greatest regret at the end of one’s life is for the loves that were unconsummated. But the most remarkable part of the epigram is the reference to the absence of a letter: ‘Why did you not write!’ This is so commonplace that it jolts one from the lofty poetical expressions and clever imagery and abstractions present in the rest of the poem. But it is precisely that odd note, the commonplace expression of an everyday theme, that adds to the attraction of the poem. It gives it an immediacy of feeling in the sense that it leaves one with the impression that the sincere feeling expressed reflects that of the poet for herself and not as a mouthpiece. The impact that ode must have had on the social and literary circle in which Fadl moved is illustrated by the following exchange alluding to it, related second-hand by al-Isfahānī. Ahmad b. Abī Tāhir addressed Fadl:78 You peak of beauty have left me in love of you more exposed to view than the waymark Fadl replied, taking the allusion further: You sanctioned, O sire, an incurable illness And you left me a prey – may you be spared – to reproaches and accusations For the beloved to keep in touch with the lover is, God knows, a boon Like so many imā’ shawā‘ir the distinctive feature of Fadl’s poetry is the epigram, and particularly the repartee for which she became celebrated, inviting many challenges. Abū Dulaf al-Q.āsim b. ‘Īsā al-‘Ijlī (d. 225/840–226/842) was an Arab military commander, poet and musician, intelligent and very

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generous. He challenged her with two lines which are often quoted and attributed to others:79 They said: You have fallen in love with a young one I answered them: The most desirable riding animal to me is that which had not been mounted How great the difference between a pearl that is pierced and a pearl that is not pierced to which Fadl replied: There’s no pleasure in riding a mount if it had not been broken and bridled first And the pearls are of no benefit to their users until they are pierced with a borer so that they may be properly strung Most of these exchanges may be regarded as party games, or simply as flirtations. ‘Alī b. al-Jahm spoke of an occasion when Fadl caught him glancing at her with interest.80 She said: Do I espy a pleasing beau who makes a pass without letting on that it is intended for me? ‘Alī replied: What lad is not smitten by your look and what resolve however firm not shaken by it? Fadl laughed and said: ‘Go on, pull the other one!’ The purpose of many of these exchanges was to flatter; and they were meant for publication, to advertise the charms of the recipient. One may so conclude, and with more confidence in the instances in which the name is woven into the verses. A prime example of this is found in the following four verses, in which the name Fadl occurs twice:81 I became solitary besotted by a gazelle with a beautiful figure

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My heart is worn away by long acquaintance with it and it being distant from me and from intimacy with me My heart’s desire in my passion for Fadl is for God to join us together I love you Fadl with pure love nothing shall distract my heart away from you In the medium of publicity the above could be taken as a pure copy. Fadl replied: Patience is running out while lovesickness is growing the house is near but you are far away Should I complain about you, or complain to you for these are the only things possible for one who is at the limit of one’s endeavour I seek relief in your love through my inviolability so that none who envy me may have their way with you The first two of the above verses are also thought to have been addressed to Fadl’s long-term lover Sa‘īd b. Humayd,82 and it seems likely that all three were addressed to him. Fadl and Sa‘ī d b. Humayd As a woman and a poet Fadl is best remembered for her association with Sa‘īd. One finds in the exchanges between them some of the best examples of the erotico-elegiac poetry of their particular period. Sa‘īd was highly respected as a bureaucrat, a cultured man, well connected to the court, and an accomplished poet. A chapter is devoted to him in Aghānī.83 In a social scene of qiyān and their patrons in which lust masqueraded as love, friendship was transitory and worldliness the order of the day, the relationship between Sa‘īd and Fadl while it endured was one of true love. It is in the exchanges between them that the lyrical quality of Fadl’s poetry is best demonstrated. It ranges over love, lovesickness, reproaches, falling out, reconciliation and separation. When addressed to Sa‘īd the tenderness shines through:84

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You spread your love in my body and soul so it composed in them desire and despair to which Sa‘īd replied: May God spare us the evil of despair for loathing of despair I dislike all those who grieve Fadl was conscious of the ambiguity of her position as a slavewoman in the upper reaches of Abbasid society. She wrote to Sa‘īd to declare her tender feelings for him while drawing a line between true love and that which masquerades as it:85 By your life, had I declared your name as a lover then I would have forfeited things both in jest and in earnest Therefore shall I show my amiability to such and such while to you alone give disclosure and passion Lest we be betrayed by the tales of a malicious enemy who strives to turn intimacy into a rebuff Fearing one day that Sa‘īd might be tiring of her, Fadl sent him a note seeking reassurance:86 May I be your ransom! Long has been the time that passed during which I received from you promises of meetings, mollifying words and broken promises And God knows I am sleepless on your account and my eyes shed gleaming tears because of it and in timeless words, fearing the end of the affair yet hoping that it might not be the end, went on to affirm and offer her abiding love and concern for her lover even as she reproached him: If it is that you betrayed my trust, then it is a pity but you will get little trouble and anxiety from me But if it’s that you have replaced me with another who betrayed me yet by God in his majesty there’s to me no substitute for you

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Sa‘īd replied with words of reassurance: O you describer of passion: that which I feel is more than you feel a flood of tears and a throbbing heart So have confidence in me just as trustingly I have confidence in all that you describe On another occasion, Fadl, still seeking assurance, said that she had better die so that Sa‘īd would be free of her. Sa‘īd protested:87 May you not die before me but that we shall both live and that I may not be alive the day that you die Rather let’s live in our love and have faith in it and may God spite by us those who telltale against us Until the Merciful shall determine that we die and be overtaken by that which cannot be avoided We will expire together as two branches of a withered plant after we had for a spell been green and moist Then peace will be upon us in our resting-place until we return to the Scales of our Maker On another occasion Fadl suspected that Sa‘īd was consorting with another woman, and sent him a note accusing him of perfidy:88 You betrayed my trust which is ingrate you of glib tongue and nasty deeds You have replaced me by another may you not be devastated by your choice of replacement Upon receiving the note, Sa‘īd sought to still her anxiety and to assure her of his constancy by adding a postscript to it, which he then returned to her: You think that I have replaced you by another some suspicion is a sin and an abomination As my heart is a pledge in your hands how can I finish and desert?

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The course of love between Sa‘īd and Fadl did not run smoothly. After they had fallen out and kept apart for days, Sa‘īd sent her a poem as a peace offering:89 Come let us renew the time of our contentment and forgive in love what had passed [between us] So that we would proceed in the way of lovers and affirm our contentment the one to the other Each giving generously of his and her love and be constant in the offer of love And submit slave-like to abnegation to a dear master if he shuns For in the face of this persistent blame it is as if [I feel] firebrands in my entrails After a reconciliation Fadl wrote to Sa‘īd:90 The beloved is back in favour and I forgive all that had passed After through his estrangement the envious ones waxed in gloating The hateful one has become disappointed while still meddling in our falling out Say I erred, and I did not err yet if I erred I’ll make you amends A characteristic of such epigrams is the reference to ‘the envious ones’, their ‘gloating’, ‘the wāshī’ (slanderer, embroiderer, mischiefmaker). These are references to stereotypical figures of ghazal verse (courtship poetry),91 platonic as well as erotic; but conventional as they are, they are not necessarily unrealistic and shed light on a social scene in which the qiyān gave each other no quarter in competing for the attention, friendship, patronage and intimacy of men of substance. Marking a bleeding with gifts When Sa‘īd underwent a bleeding Fadl called on him in the company of ‘Arīb. Fadl then sent him many gifts. They included, so it is said,

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1,000 kids and lambs, 1,000 choice chickens and 1,000 trays of herbs and fruits, in addition to abundant quantities of perfume, drinks and other presents. If this was only partly true then it suggests that Sa‘īd was in possession of an extensive estate with a large number of slaves, servants in his retinue, and tenants who would benefit from the gifts. Sa‘īd acknowledged the latter by a note in which he declared that his happiness would not be complete except in Fadl’s presence. She called on him late in the afternoon. Fadl and Banān As they sat drinking, his young servant Banān asked for permission to join them. The permission was granted, and Banān took Fadl’s breath away. He was then a callow youth with a handsome face and a good voice, elegantly dressed, courtly and flirtatious. Fadl could not take her eyes off him and engaged him in conversation while ignoring his master. This upset Sa’īd, who showed his displeasure; Banān sensed the reason, and left. Sa‘īd spent the next hour blaming Fadl and haranguing her. She then wrote to him to placate him:92 O thou on whose face I have long fixed my eyes and my breath I would ransom you, O flirtatious youth, (one) with an overwhelming conceit Say I did wrong, and I didn’t yea, I admit I did wrong You made me swear not to cast a furtive glance where I sat I cast an inappropriate glance which I followed by looking more intently Thus I forgot my oath what retribution shall be imposed on one who forgets? The above also appears in the Imā’, but with the addition of two further verses:93 O thou whose semblance is the jasmine and the sweet scent of the daffodil

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Forgive your slave’s transgression in casting the furtive glance This did not stop Fadl from pursuing Banān, taking him as a young lover and becoming besotted with him. One day she found him angry, accusing her of some misbehaviour. She apologised; but as he would not accept her apology, she gave vent to her feelings by addressing herself, blaming the estrangement on the ‘liar’, another reference to the wāshī: Patience, O Fadl, it is the death of me swallowed by the liar and the truthful Banān thought that I was unfaithful to him let my soul then part from my body Berating al-Mutawakkil Fadl confided her love for Banān to al-Mutawakkil before it became general knowledge. One day she was sitting openly, as she often did, in the caliph’s majlis, and in the presence of his drinking companions, including ‘Alī b. Yahyā al-Munajjim, and with Banān also present.94 The caliph turned to Fadl and asked her to sing her love-song to Banān. She said that she did not have such a song. Al-Mutawakkil then turned to Banān and asked him to sing her love-song celebrating him. Banān sang words which had formed part of a qasīda of Salm al-Khāsir: Listen or relate to us O deserted houses My heart is in hock to you for that which you know Fadl resented the episode, thinking it a public betrayal of her confidence by al-Mutawakkil, and a cheapening of her relationship with her lover. Later she confided her resentment to ‘Alī b. Yahyā, expressed in verses which she put in the mouth of al-Mutawakkil: Banān has sung to me ‘Listen or relate to us’

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And I drank the wine felt at ease as it made me feel mawkish I then revealed among my boon companions what was meant to be a close secret At this point Fadl switches from words spoken as if by the caliph to addressing her listener personally, asking him in turn to address words to the caliph virtually expressing her own resentiment: Tell my lord and fear not and say it openly Many a pleasing voice has put horns on heads You are a noble pimp O Prince of the Faithful When Fadl took up with Banān and left Sa‘īd, the latter took it very badly. He gave up drinking and avoided the company of his friends. After a while he sought solace in the company of another qayna. When Fadl learned of this, there was still in her a residue of the old flame. She sent him a note cautioning against getting too involved, and at the same time revealing not a little sense of jealousy:95 O you elderly man with bad manners you have grown old but are still boyish when it comes to pleasure Woe to you! The qiyān are like a snare set between gullability and ruin They do not set their snares to the poor but seek only the gold mines

‘Arīb ‘Arīb was by general consent the most prominent among the qiyān of her day; she had no peer in the influence she exerted. She was reputed to be the daughter of Ja‘far b. Yahyā al-Barmakī.96 She combined qualities unmatched by the slave-girls of caliphs. In addition to good looks

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she composed songs and had a fine singing voice. There is no better testimony to this than what is attributed to Hammād b. Ishāq al-Mawsilī,97 reporting what he was told by his father. Ishāq judged ‘Arīb to be unsurpassed as a lute-player and composer of songs, in looks and vivacity, in speech and presence of mind, as a player of chess and backgammon, nor in any other womanly trait. She was also a good rider in her young days. While best known as a songstress, one also thinks of ‘Arīb as a poet because of her vast knowledge of poetry and for being herself a good poet and eloquent in speech and recitation. She can certainly be classed among the singing slave-girls. By general consent she was regarded as among the top four singers of her generation. Yet al-Isfahānī placed her among the imā’ al-shawā‘ir (slave-girl poets). She certainly qualifies as a poet, and, if nothing else, her authorship of the Shāhak qasīda, mentioned below, would be considered a sufficient justification. This is particularly so in that it was uncommon for women generally to compose lofty poems, let alone a slave-girl.98 In fact one finds only three other qasā’id in the whole of Imā’ al-shawā‘ir. According to al-Isfahānī, ‘Arīb lived to the ripe old age of 96 years (181/797–277/890-91) during which she captured the hearts of a number of Abbasid caliphs,99 starting with al- Amīn, then in succession al-Ma’mūn, al-Mu‘tasim, al-Wāthiq, al-Mutawakkil and al-Mu‘tazz; as well as sons of caliphs such as Abū ‘Īsā b. al-Rashīd and Ja‘far b. al-Ma’mūn. She had a catholic taste in men, not restricting her favours to the high-born. She excelled in her panegyric of the caliphs and their progeny, yet a great deal of her known love-poetry and songs were composed to celebrate her passion for two commoners, namely al-Khāqānī, one of the officers of the army of Khurāsān, and Sālih b. al-Mundhirī who was a mere servant. ‘Arīb made her mark not only by the quality of her singing and poetry but also by her larger-than-life personality, which saw her at the centre of cultural life in the courts of successive rulers. She was a proficient networker, and no one who was anybody was a stranger to her. Her lasting popularity was due in the first place to her longevity and secondly as much to her social impact as to her skills as a singer, composer and poet. She was spirited, bold and challenging without being

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offensive, sociable without seeming worldly, and one whose flattery was expansive without turning to smarminess. She enjoyed life. While good at networking in high society and at self promotion, she was yet capable at times of actively seeking and accepting relationships for themselves even if they were a hindrance to social and material advancement. In later life she had her own household and retinue of several qiyān, among them Bid‘a and Tuhfa, noted entertainers in their own right. Claiming a Barmakī connection In many respects ’Arīb behaved less as a slave than a free-born, even high-born, liberated woman. This reflected an uncertain report that she was the product of a union between Ja‘far b.Yahyā and a slave-girl, Fātima, who was a housekeeper to the mother of ‘Abdallāh b. Yahyā b. Khālid. Ja‘far fell in love with her, but his father enjoined him against marrying her: ‘Would you marry one of unknown parentage? Buy yourself a hundred100 slave-girls and get rid of her!’ In defiance of his father, Ja‘far married Fātima in secret and had her installed in a love nest, concealing the fact from his father. ‘Arīb was a child of this marriage, her mother dying not long after her birth. Ja‘far then entrusted her to a Christian woman who nursed her. When the calamity befell the Barmakīs, ‘Arīb fell into the hands of a slave merchant who sold her to ‘Abdallāh b. Ismā‘īl al-Marākibī (‘the boatman’), so-called for being in charge of al-Rashīd’s boats. Al-Marākibī had her educated and ‘finished’ in Basra, in reading and writing, composing and reciting poetry, and in singing.101 Unsurprisingly, ‘Arīb missed no opportunity to claim the Barmakī connection, referring to Fadl b. Yahyā al-Barmakī as ‘Uncle al-Fadl’; nor did her flatterers miss a chance to support the claim to the extent of likening her feet to those of the departed Ja‘far b. Yahyā.102 There is a report on the theme of the fall of the Barmakī house, by way of illustration of ‘Arīb’s efforts to promote her claim to a Barmakī origin. ‘Arīb relates that al-Rashīd sent an emissary to her people (i.e. the Barmakīs) to enquire how they were, ordering him not to disclose on whose behalf he was approaching them. This was after al-Rashīd had turned against them, and the inference intended to be drawn from the anecdote is that the caliph may have been affected by remorse for the

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calamity that he had visited upon those who had once been his favourite family. According to ‘Arīb, the caliph’s emissary made his way to her ‘uncle’ al-Fadl and asked him how they were. Al-Fadl replied:103 They asked about our state: How are you? what can be expected of ones whose star had fallen? We are a people afflicted by the hardship of the time so we have remained submissive to its misfortune ‘Arīb set those verses in song. Al-Isfahānī points out that ‘Arīb was mistaken in attributing those verses to al-Fadl, adding that the authorship without doubt was that of al-Husayn b. l- Dahhāk elegising al-Amīn: We are a people afflicted by the vicissitude of the time so we have remained submissive to its misfortune We long every day for the return of al-Amīn but what chance do we have of seeing al-Amīn? And ‘Arīb may have had the fall of the Barmakīs in mind when she composed the following verses on the vicissitudes of life:104 He who befriends Time cannot laud unquestionably what its conduct brings about for Time possesses things sweet and bitter And everything no matter how long it lasts is inevitably cut short when its end comes There are uncertainties and confusions concerning the sequence of events in the biography of ‘Arīb, though one might attempt the following. While a slave in the household of al-Marākibī, ‘Arīb’s independent spirit was demonstrated by falling in love and eloping with a guest of her master, one Muhammad b. Hāmid al-Khāqānī al-Khashin (‘the rough one’), an officer in the army of Khurāsān. He was fair-skinned with blue eyes, which she celebrated in verse:105 With my father I’d ransom every blue-eyed Fair-skinned and blond man

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My heart is besotted by him and my being besotted is not blameworthy Normally, blue eyes were taken to connote the evil eye, an association likely to have been with the historical enemies, the blue-eyed Byzantines. The elopement was described in verses which became widely known. They were apparently composed by none other than al-Marākibī’s son, ‘Īsa b. Zaynab, satirising his own father:106 May God strike ‘Arīb dead she did an amazing thing She rode in the darkness of the night a difficult and awful enterprise Rising to touch the stars or get close to them She waited until sleep overtook the watchman And left in the bed clothes what would be taken for her [So] left behind a likeness of herself that would not answer to a call And went carried like a branch on a sandhill Egg-yoke wan that with any movement you would fear she would melt She lowered herself down to be met by a lover Exultant that in life he gained a life’s good fortune O you the gazelle whose eyes enchant the hearts Parts of which devour each other in beauty and charm You were a spoil for wolves for you were made a repast to a wolf Thus so [the fate of] the ewe if its shepherd be not alert

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Careless of ill while the pasture is lush For ‘Abdallāh has become a robbed cuckold He ceaselessly slapped the face and tore the pockets And tears were shed by him that moistened the dyed beard There are some interesting metaphors in the above poem which call for attention. The metaphor of riding a markab (a boat) in ‘she rode ... a difficult and awful enterprise’ appears to allude to the girl’s master, al-Marākibī; but may also be taken to allude to a sexual liaison (as the ‘awful entrerprise’) with the lover (the rough one). Comparing the girl to a ‘branch on a sandhill’ is a metaphor for slender upper body and waist on (the generally desirable) ample hips and bottom. The tearing of the pockets in the expression ‘He ceaselessly slapped the face and tore the pockets’ alludes both to the act of tearing the pockets (juyūb) at the loss of the ‘valuable slave-girl, and to the tearing the top of the shirt or other garment (an alternative meaning of juyūb) in grief at a bereavement. Uncertain biography After a while ‘Arīb tired of her lover. She deserted him and went to earn a living as a songster in Baghdad. According to another report ‘Arīb eloped with Hātim b.‘Adī, then tired of him and deserted him. Hātim felt her loss no less grievously than had al-Marākibī, which testifies to her superior qualities as one young slave-girl among a multitude of others. There were many verses attributed to Hātim bemoaning her loss, including the following, also on the theme of bereavement and funeral rites:107 Sprinkle water on my face and lament ‘slain by ‘Arīb and not victim of wars’ then changing to the second person singular, addressing ‘Arīb:

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Would that you hastened to kill me if you would [only] be my lot in the hereafter Al-Marākibī, still smarting from her loss, discovered her whereabouts, seized her and scourged her, she all the while calling out: ‘O you, why do you beat me! I am a free woman, but if I be a slave then sell me.’ One may take the words ‘I am a free woman, but if I be a slave’ to be an expression of the sense of pride, self-esteem and determination characterising the qiyān, and to illustrate what may be regarded as the lesser type of bondage in which the qiyān were held.108 But it is more likely to be an allusion to ‘Arīb’s claim of ancestry, as well as to the indeterminate social status of being the presumed daughter of Ja‘far al-Barmakī, hence in law free-born, and also of having been sold and bought as a slave.109 News of ‘Arīb reached the caliph al-Amīn. He sent for her and her master, and examined her as a singer in the presence of his uncle, the celebrated musician Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī. She sang:110 In every nation there are competing jewels but you are the epitome of the gentle and beautiful ones The ‘you’ in the above is in the feminine, which would have been taken to refer to ‘Arib herself, since by a poetical convention a lover of either sex was referred to in the masculine; this was to be one of many examples of ‘Arīb’s self-publicising. Al-Amīn had his favourable opinion of her confirmed by his uncle, who thought her a fine singer whose voice would become even better as she matured. Al-Amīn agreed to buy her, but was killed before he had paid the price. Her master, al-Marākibī, then broke into al-Amīn’s house and recovered her.111 Zubayda, meanwhile, was inconsolable at the tragic end of her son al-Amīn. She complained to the new caliph, her stepson al-Ma’mūn, saying that it would have been hard for Harūn, her husband and the father of al-Amīn and al-Ma’mūn, to bear what had happened to her, adding that the worst thing after the killing of her son was al-Marākibī breaking into her house and removing ‘Arīb. But according to another account, this time by Hammād b. Ishāq al-Mawsilī (quoting his father112), when al-Amīn was killed ‘Arīb herself fled from

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Qasr al-khuld (the caliphal ‘palace of timelessness’) by climbing down a rope and making her way to the house of Hātim b ‘Adī. Taken at face value this was the second time that ‘Arīb had climbed down a rope to elope, the other occasion being from the house of al-Marākibī. But given the uncertainty surrounding all these akhbār it is more than likely that the one occasion was confused with the other. Al-Marākibī protested that he had done no wrong: ‘I only took my property because he did not pay me the price.’ Al-Ma’mūn then bought ‘Arīb for 50,000 dirhams, and became so besotted with her that at times he kissed her feet. When al-Ma’mūn died his successor al-Mu‘tasim bought her from his estate for 100,000 dirhams and manumitted her.113 ‘Arīb and her lovers By all accounts ‘Arīb was a passionate woman. She liked the company of men and felt no embarrassment in giving vent to carnal desires, nor constraint in referring to their consummation. Yet one is not left with the impression that her amatory adventures were cheap, nor that her general character was base. She managed to avoid such impressions by the fact that in all her relationships she was sociable, generous, hospitable and amiable. With her, lust was but a short step to being refined into love. There is a charming anecdote about ‘Arīb the report of which is attributed to the great singer ‘Allawayh and which demonstrates the presence in her of all the above qualities. ‘Allawayh and other singers were ordered by al-Ma’mūn to attend upon him at daybreak. On the way to the palace he was met by al-Marākibī, who said to him: ‘O you cruel and unjust man, will you show no pity, no mercy and no shame? ‘Arīb dreams of you three times a night.’ At that, ‘Allawayh exclaimed: ‘Blow the mother of the caliphate!’ He would go to visit ‘Arīb and cared nothing for the consequences. When he got to al-Marākibī’s house he found ‘Arīb sitting on a chair; with in front of her three pots of cooked chickens. As soon ‘Arīb saw him she leapt to her feet to embrace him and cover him in kisses. She said: ‘Which of these pans would you like to have, or would you rather have something else cooked for you?’ ‘Allawayh was happy with what was before him. They

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sat down together to eat, and drank wine until they became inebriated. ‘Arīb, then a young girl and deferring to the eminent singer, told him that the day before she had set to song a certain verse which she hoped he would help her to polish. The verse was by Abū l-‘Atāhiya:114 Who will intercede for me with a being, who if I avoided him will not be a sincere friend pleased with me, nor if I submitted to him My wish is for the closeness of a friend who will enchant and be true even if I were angry with him The two of them continued to work on the tune until it was perfect – when their session was brought to an abrupt end by the caliph’s chamberlains breaking down the door and leading ‘Allawayh to the palace. The following anecdote is another example of an older ‘Arīb’s sociability and hospitality, as well as her talent for networking.115 The report is attributed to ‘Alī b.Yahyā al-Munajjim. He said that one day he paid ‘Arīb a social visit, and no sooner had he sat down than it started to rain heavily. ‘Arīb persuaded him to stay and be entertained by her singing and the singing of her jawā rī, adding that her guest could send for any of his friends to come and join them. She asked him for news of the caliphal majlis which he had attended the day before: what singers were there and what was the best he had heard. ‘Alī told her that the caliph sang a tune which had been composed by Banān: She turns away whereupon shall close the eyelids laden with sleeplessness And one in the throes of passion cried alarmed as the travelling folk departed He became troubled by anxiety he who before was carefree His ribs in danger of being consumed by the fire of passion ‘Arīb then sent for Banān and as he arrived drenched with rain she had him slip into a robe of honour, and had fine food set before

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him. He partook of their food and drink, and at ‘Arīb’s request sang the same tune. ‘Arīb then called for a pad on which she penned some verses expressing the happy party spirit of the occasion: Answered the heavy downpour and ‘drowning’ cried the daffodil And [there’s] Banān who sang to us ‘eyelids laden with sleeplessness’ Bring forth the cup brimful with beaded bubbles winking at the rim While still a jāriya of al-Ma’mūn, ‘Arīb carried on a clandestine love affair with Muhammad b. Hāmid, who got her with child. This exposed them to the perils of discovery, and fearing retribution Muhammad wrote to her counselling caution. ‘I fear for myself,’ he wrote. ‘Arīb, bold as ever, replied:116 If you fear what you fear and plead that you lack courage Then what benefits me to be constant in my love while the day of meeting you is unattainable There is in the Aghānī a report of an anecdote attributed to Hamdūn.117 He was in the camp of al-Ma’mūn during the latter’s’ Byzantine campaign. Al-Ma’mūn asked him to ride to the camp of al-Mu‘tasim to bring him a message. It was a dark and stormy night, and on the way he met another rider coming from the opposite direction. Just then a flash of lightning illumined the face of ‘Arīb. Hamdūn called out: ‘‘Arīb?’ She replied: ‘Yes – is that you, Hamdūn?’ He asked where she had been, and when she said she had been at Muhammad b. Hāmid’s, he asked what she had been doing there. She replied: ‘Are you serious? There’s ‘Arīb returning from Muhammad b. Hāmid back to the encampment of the caliph, and you ask her what she had been up to? Prayed the tarāwīh [nightly prayers during the month of Ramadan]? Or recited some passages of the Qur’ān to him? Or debated theology with him? O you imbecile! We moaned to each other, we talked, we made it up, we played, we drank, we sang, we

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fucked, then we parted.’ When al-Ma’mūn discovered what ‘Arīb had been up to, he had her locked up in a dark privy with nothing but water, salt and bread passed to her under the door. When let out a month later she is said to have retained her defiance, which she showed by singing:118 They hid him from my eyes but his presence was in the heart, enveloped but not concealed At this al-Ma’mūn accepted that ‘Arīb was beyond correction. According to some reports he manumitted her and allowed her to marry her lover. ‘Arīb further declared her love and fidelity to Muhammad b. Hāmid:119 Woe to me of you and from you you have sown doubt in [what is the] truth You alleged that I was unfaithful and [so alleged] unjustly and sinfully If what you have alleged be true or if I had intended to desert Then may God replace what’s in me of love’s humility with abstinence The course of love between ‘Arīb and Muhammad b. Hāmid did not run smoothly. He complained in a letter of some misconduct. She apologised, but he refused to accept the apology. She wrote to him:120 You considered my apology and did not forgive you distressed my body unfeelingly You became used to feeling contentment while you only left me with tears [flowing] freely from the eyes She wrote further to her lover, in the same plaintive vein:121 My plaint is to God for the grief that I suffer I confide myself to the Almighty while complaining to no one Where is the time that I flourished in its shade by the support that I had from you?

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I pray to God for one day of yours to gladden me for the eyelids have become kohl-black with sleeplessness For yearning for you, while you are oblivious of what the soul felt on account of you nor of what grief there is in the heart On one occasion, ‘Arīb visited Muhammad b. Hāmid and he met her with criticism, saying she had done this and done that. ‘Arīb got up and went to him saying: ‘You impotent! Do with us what we want to be done, and what we came for. Let my trousers be my halter, and link my anklets to my ear-rings. And when it is the morrow, then send me your criticism written in one page and in return I shall send to you my apologies filling three.122 During the reign of al-Mutawakkil, ‘Arīb fell in love with Sālih al-Mundhirī, one of al-Mutawakkil’s servants. According to a report based on a story circulating among some jawārī,123 ‘Arīb married al-Mundhirī in secret. When al-Mutawakkil sent him far away on a mission, ‘Arīb missed him; this she expressed in verses that she composed and sang:124 As for the lover he went away in spite of and against my will I erred in being separated from one for whom I have found no substitute Because of his absence from my sight I have become tired of life Sexual orientation One day ‘Arīb sang those words before al-Mutawakkil. He liked the song and asked her to repeat it several times. She did that while the caliph’s other jawārī present winked and giggled. Then away from the eyes and ears of al-Mutawakkil, ‘Arīb said to the jawārī: ‘You lesbians, that [her love affair] is better than what you get up to!’ It was also reported by one of al-Mutawakkil’s jawārī that as she called on ‘Arīb one day the latter said to her:’ Come here, woe to you, and kiss this place [indicating the side of her neck] for you will then smell the

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perfume of Paradise.’ When the jāriya asked ‘Arīb what that meant, ‘Arīb replied that Sālih al-Mundhirī had just kissed her on that spot.125 The above are isolated episodes which peer behind the veil on another aspect of sexual orientation and behaviour in a Abbasid world of jawārī and cloistered wives:126 When these two reports are read one after the other, they suggest that the line between heterosexual and homosexual behaviour is not easy to draw, as ‘Arīb’s indignant outburst at the slave-girls would imply. ‘Arīb and Ibn al-Mudabbir Another long-term relationship was with Ibrāhīm b. al-Mudabbir. She broke off with al-Fadl b. al-‘Abbās b. al-Ma’mūn to be his lover, and thereafter to do all she could to promote his career and urge his suit in court.127 This was no servant or lowly functionary, but a leading intellectual of the time. He was a poet, a high-ranking kātib in charge of important offices of state. A favourite of al-Mutawakkil, he took precedence over other functionaries. Al-Isfahānī cites several poems composed by Ibn al-Mudabbir celebrating his love of ‘Arīb,128 as well as the text of correspondence between the two of them. It is refreshing to see the latter written in the more formal medium of prose, which, if ‘Arib truly had indeed contributed to it, would reaffirm the high level of education and ‘finish’ that the reports ascribe to her. But authorship apart, this prose correspondence, more matter of fact and discursive than the epigrams, sheds light on the surrounding historical circumstances and contemporary every-day concerns. Further, it gives the appearance of a deferential attitude on ‘Arīb’s part, as if she were addressing a patron and not just a lover. That, no doubt, reflected the eminence of Ibn al-Mudabbir as an intellectual, a kātib and a courtier. It may also be due to the fact that the letters appear to have been mostly written when he was ill, and that prose is a more suitable medium than poetry for formal address. When ‘Arīb learned that he was fasting on the day of ‘Āshūrā , being the tenth day of Muharram and the last day of the battle of Karbala in which Imām Husain was slain, she wrote to him:129

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May God accept your fasting and reward it with what you requested. How are you feeling – may I be your ransom – and why did you vex your body in August? May God see you through it in health, for it is rough and tough, and you are in fever. Feeding ten of the poor is more than you need for absolution. If I had known I would have fasted to share your fasting and to aid you without taking a share of the reward for the alms that you gave, since my intention in fasting is false. The above citation may suggest that Ibn al-Mudabbir was a partisan of the ‘Alīd cause; but this is not necessarily so, as it is recommended that the day be kept by the devout of the entire Muslim world. ‘Arīb wrote to Ibn al-Mudabbir again to offer a prayer for his well-being in the month of Ramadān: May I ransom you by my hearing and sight and by (the lives of) my mother and father and by all who know me and are known by me: how do you feel? May you be spared all ill. May God blind your slanderer and strike him, this being my plea which will be answered, God willing. And how do you find the fasting? May God show you his blessing and help you to obey Him, and I pray that you will be saved from every mishap by God’s power and majesty. I long for you and desire you, may God restore you to the best of what you are used to, and that no enemy nor an envious one shall have satisfaction in my losing you. One observes in the use of the prose medium in the exchanges that ‘Arīb had with Ibn al-Mudabbir a relationship which is on a different level from that demonstrated by the erotic poems that ‘Arīb had used in addressing and expressing her love for other lovers, such as Hātim b. ‘Adī, Muhammad b. Hāmid and al-Mundhirī. The letters to Ibn al-Mudabbir are formal, respectful and free from grossness. The expressions of love are measured. They suggest that ‘Arīb was almost in awe of Ibn al-Mudabbir, as much for his intellectual eminence as for the influence that he exerted as a courtier. To ‘Arīb’s letters expressing solicitude for his physical infirmity, Ibn al-Mudabbir

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would answer in verse which also displays a measure of formality in the relationship:130 You asked him how he was and that matter is not difficult to state Ask not after his heart for you have it rather ask after a body left behind It is also worth noting that the main impression conveyed by such of their exchanges as have come down to us is more of a physical separation than their coming together as lovers. Thus, one finds ‘Arīb sending her jawārī Bid‘a and Tuhfa with a note to Ibn al-Mudabbir comparing his good nature to a fine summer’s day:131 May I ransom you by my hearing and my sight, and that were but little for you. We have a pleasant day to-day (may God grant you an agreeable life) for its skies are overcast and gentle are its breezes and its felicity has become complete. It is as if the day is yourself what in your gentleness of nature and the goodness of you when present and the reports of you when absent, may I never miss that of you ever. Yet the beauty and delight of the day have evoked in me neither energy nor pleasure due to some matters which prevented me from having them; which I am loath to disclose lest the disclosure would spoil the happiness that I wish for you. I am sending you Bid‘a and Tuhfa to entertain you and to please you – may God grant you happiness and grant me happiness in you Ibn al-Mudabbir replied: What pleasure [is there] while you are distant from me – and what pleasure allowed me When you are absent, the good life becomes absent the comforts cease and the griefs become pressing Upon receiving this, ‘Arīb went to meet him. He received her with bare feet and led her riding a donkey to his reception hall, not minding that the donkey was treading on the carpet and whatever else was on the floor. The significance of treading on a carpet by a person who

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is shod, let alone by a donkey, is that it is uncommon in a Muslim household since the carpet or rug may be used for prayer. ‘Arīb could also be very coarse in referring to sexual matters. At least this is the case insofar as the stories of her sexual exploits can be taken to have any factual basis, and if one bears in mind the ease with which such stories can be embroidered, or transposed from one person to another; or just invented. Ibn al-Mu‘tazz cites the following anecdote which he says was related to him by Ibn al-Mudabbir.132 But one may speculate that this person, a young soldier of al-Ma’mūn not above social daredevilry, may have grown up to become the grave and influential Ibrāhīm b. al-Mudabbir, kātib of al-Mutawakkil, mentioned above, or may be a different Ibn al-Mudabbir, or even some other unknown whose exploit was to be ascribed to Ibn al-Mudabbir. According to the interlocutor he joined the army of al-Ma’mūn in one of the latter’s Byzantine campaigns. As they came out of Raqqa, he was walking with friends when they saw a group of women in howdahs mounted on camels. One of the men said: ‘ ‘Arīb is in one of them. The interlocutor then made a bet that he would go among the howdahs to recite the poem of ‘Īsā b. Zaynab: “May God strike ‘Arīb dead / she did an amazing thing”.’ As he declaimed the poem a woman put her head out and called out: ‘Hey lad, have you forgotten the best and most pleasing verse? Have you forgotten him saying: “ ‘Arīb has wet labia she has been fucked in many different ways”?’ ‘Arīb was to claim in old age that of all her lovers among the Banū Hāshim – caliphs and their issue – she only truly loved Abū ‘Īsā b. al-Rashīd, saying that the latter’s good looks were inherited by al-Amīn and Abū ‘Īsā; and that she had never heard a better singing voice than Abū ‘Īsā’s, nor seen a better countenance. She brought tears to the eyes of al-Ma’mūn as she lamented his death. Of her love affairs with the caliphs, she said that she slept with eight but did not desire any of them except al-Mu‘tazz, who reminded her of Abū ‘Īsā.133 That such statements, taken at face value, do not strike one as offensive is due to the absence at the same time of self-consciousness and prurience, in addition to the fact that they would have been within the

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parameters of contemporary public taste in the world of qiyān. Asked what she looked for in sex, ‘Arīb said that her two essential requirements were a hard prick and a sweet breath. If in addition the lover was good-looking then that was a bonus.134 Al-Isfahānī cites another anecdote related to him by Abū l-‘Ubays (otherwise Abū l-‘Abbās) b. Hamdūn. ‘Arīb was cross with one of her slave-girls. Abū l-‘Ubays interceded in the girl’s favour, and asked ‘Arīb to forgive her. She said: ‘O Abū al-‘Ubays, if you would really want to know the extent of my whoring, my shamelessness and what big mischiefs I dared in my young days, then look at this girl and hear what she is like.’135 In that anecdote one finds the essence and charm and the explanation for the long-lasting popularity of ‘Arīb. It demonstrates irrepressive vitality, good humour, and a benign attitude as displayed towards the errant slave-girl even as she criticised her; and, in a more general context, it reinforces the public image of her kind of woman. ‘Arīb and the court ‘Arīb consolidated her position as the virtual doyenne of court and high society entertainers during the reign of several Abbasid caliphs in succession, becoming materially and politically secure. She had a retinue of several qiyān who served her and followed her example. According to her jāriya Tuhfa, she was prone to have colds, and to ward them off she washed her hair every Friday with sixty mithqāls (one mithqāl equals 4.37 grams) of musk and amber. The wash would then be saved in jars and shared out between her jawārī.136 As a singer, instrumentalist, poet and wit ‘Arīb was in demand and had ready access to the court and the private majālis of the caliphs. She also marked special events and state occasions by suitable offerings of her art; thus on the occasion of al-Mutawakkil falling ill she offered the following verses, which included a formal and conventional wish-prayer:137 They came and told me that the Caliph is ill I said while the fire of longing was kindled in my breast Would that Caliph Ja‘far’s fever might be in me so that the fever were in me while he had my reward

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Enough of woe that when they said he was in fever I did not die of grief – but after that I must be strong May I be a ransom for Caliph Ja‘far and that’s but little gratitude to the Caliph The metaphor in the second verse above is of ‘Arīb sacrificing her health to redeem the good health of the caliph. This was followed by her celebrating in song the caliph’s recovery from the illness: We praised Him who cured Caliph Ja‘far in spite of the followers of the deviation from what is right and of unbelief He was but like a full moon affected by a little eclipse which passed away from the full moon His safety is strength and power of religion his illness is a calamity to religion The references to ‘deviation from what is right’ and to the caliph’s illness being ‘a calamity to religion’ signal a rare political statement by a female slave. Al-Mutawakkil became controversial when he abolished the Inquisition (mihna) which had been instituted by the Mu‘taziliteleaning al Ma’mūn. Hence, ‘followers of the deviation (dalāla) ... and of unbelief (kufr)’ may be taken as referring to the followers of the Mu‘tazilite doctrine. There is also the implication that the illness could have been caused by the ill-wishes of those others, just as the recovery was hastened by the prayers of those of good will. A present-day audience listening to the above statements might well regard them as state propaganda; and they might equally well have been so regarded in their own day. ‘Arīb follows the above by switching from the third person to the second as she turns to address the caliph, actually or metaphorically: You fell ill, and thus made the whole of humanity ill and the eyes became darkened from excess of fear But when the people saw you recover they recovered after they had been walking on embers The well-being of our world is in the well-being of Ja‘far

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may he remain in good health and safe to the end of time138 He rose to spread justice and devoutness among the people ever holding close to piety and shunning sin These last verses reinforce the general theme of the illness and recovery of the caliph. They signify more than praise and flattery. On one level the illness is of political significance in that it might lead to a change at the very head of the state, and with it changes in the balance of power lower down. The declaration in verse of the caliph’s recovery serves the political purpose of dispelling any doubts about the continuity and stability of the existing order. On a more lofty level the poem resonates with the sacral ‘life-giving’ nature of the ruler, according to which his illness and recovery affects everyone: ‘You fell ill, and thus made the whole of humanity ill.’139 Al-Mutawakkil built himself a superb new palace, sparing no expense, in a locality known as Shabdāz. ‘Arīb celebrated its inauguration with a song addressed to the caliph:140 In good fortune and prosperity dwell in the Palace of Shabdāz you have taken residence in it with felicities and glory So praise him whose munificence was fulfilled in you that its construction was completed with ease and in good time If Darius had wanted that, he would have been unable to attain it and king Parvez would [likewise] have fallen short of doing so The Darius mentioned above is used as a collective name for the several Persian emperors of that name who reigned at the height of Persian imperial power: Darius I (r. 521–486 BC) unified Persia after conquering Babylon and Media, but was defeated by the Greeks at Marathon in 490 BC; Darius II (r. 424–04 BC); and Darius III (r. 335–30 BC), who was defeated by Alexander and assassinated by his officers.141 One notes in passing that given the classical conventions regarding the theme of praise poetry, and while the praise of an inanimate object is generally uncommon, praise with respect to palaces and other buildings is well-attested over a long time in the classical tradition;142 but such praise transcends the inanimate – the magnificence of an edifice makes

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a statement about the wealth, glory, power and good taste of the owner.143 It is commonly the first thing that a new ambassador would note and report back on to his master. Thus, ‘Arīb praises the new palace by declaring that it is so magnificent that it surpasses whatever Imperial Persia had produced – or could have produced – even in its heyday. There is in that praise an acknowledgment and a boast, with an antishu‘ūbī subtext – that the new Arab empire that had emerged from tribal Arabia with nothing, compared with the great palaces of Darius and Parvez, had now, under al-Mutawakkil, managed first to catch up with and then to surpass the glory that was Persia. It is worth mentioning that the name Shabdāz was chosen for the palace because it was the name of a place that was itself named after a famous horse belonging to the Sasanid emperor Chosroes.144 To that praise, more of the man than of the buiding, is added the du‘ā, which comprises several strands. There is one wishing the caliph good fortune and prosperity, more specifically that he finds them in his new palace – this is a conventional wish commonly offered to one moving into a new house. The sub-text is the wish that the new dwelling should prove to be ‘lucky’, to have an ‘atabat khayr (‘lucky threshold’), founded on the superstitious belief in houses being lucky or unlucky. The following is an example of a celebratory poem offered to alMutawakkil to mark the first day of the month of Muharram, the caliph then residing at Q.ātūl and at the time engaged in drinking at Zaww:145 A year and a month mirrored in happiness the face of the Caliph – hence he is happy Drink for a kingdom that brings you without stint what you wish for every day May the year be set to extend to ninety during which the reins of your rule shall be tightly secured ‘Arīb then cleverly concludes with a little self-publicity, which she often did on such occasions: The best view is at Zaww and Q.ātūl and there is no equal to the singing of ‘Arīb

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‘Arīb composed a poem to celebrate the magnificent wedding of al-Ma’mūn and Būrān in 221/836. The bride was the daughter of al-Hasan b. Sahl, who had been al-Ma’mūn’s agent in Iraq during the civil war with al-Amīn. The poem is particularly cheeky in that while it is nominally addressed to the caliph, the praise is showered on the bride:146 Prosper – may the vicissitudes of ruins pass you by – by the closeness of Būrān for ever and ever A pearl of the boudoir whose star shall ever go hand in hand with that of al-Ma’mūn Until the majesty shall settle in her lap blessed be such a lap ‘Arīb then comes up with a tease, of a kind that would not come amiss today at a stag or hen party: O Sire, forget not what you promised me I ask for nothing other than what you know! Al-Ma’mūn read the poem to Būrān and said to her: ‘Do you understand what the harlot means?’ Būrān replied: ‘Yes, by God, Sire; but she pleased me with her note to you all the same.’ As a court and society poet and songster ‘Arīb was in demand to be commissioned to compose poems and songs. When Qabīha, al-Mutawakkil’s favourite, fell ill, he asked ‘Arīb to compose a poem on his behalf to present to her. ‘Arīb came up with:147 Qabīha has set her fire in my heart and replaced sleep in my eyes with sleeplessness It was only because of her suffering that my heart feels compassion, out of pity, for every sufferer She is like a white flower that has wilted or a daffodil touched by delicately scented, fragrant musk For my love of her – may she be spared from all ills – I feel compassion, O people, for all who love When ‘Arīb sang this to Qabīha, the latter in turn asked her to compose a reply on her behalf. ‘Arīb then composed and sang to al-Mutawakkil:

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Sire, you have burdened me with sleeplessness and it is you who taught my love ecstasy and passion But for you I would not have minded any illness ever but it is that you so much filled my heart that it caught fire Then comes a shift from the second person to the third, as though Qabīha is broadcasting what follows to the whole world: If I complain my passion to him he will not believe me but if he complains then my heart, afeared, will say it is true A measure of the general standing of ‘Arīb, particularly with al-Ma’mūn (she is commonly known as ‘Arīb al-Ma’mūniyya), was an occasion when he heard Ibn Hamdūn reciting a poem which could be taken to satirise ‘Arīb for her immorality and promiscuity. Al-Ma’mūn asked him to lower his voice, lest ‘Arīb heard and lost her temper.148 Further, ‘Arīb had a reserve of diplomatic skills that helped to smooth over troubled waters. She fell out with al-Ma’mūn on one occasion, and he shunned her, but later visited her when she was ill. He asked her: ‘How have you found the taste of desertion?’, to which she replied: ‘O Prince of the Faithful, were it not for the bitterness of desertion I would not have savoured the sweet taste of resumed closeness; and he who is criticised at the onset of anger is more worthy of praise after the reconciliation.’149 On another occasion ‘Arīb was vexed at something that al-Ma’mūn had said, and she kept away from him for some days. Al-Ma’mūn then sent Ahmad b. Abī Du’ād to her, as an emissary, charging him to mediate between the two of them. ‘Arīb said that she had no need for the emissary to mediate, nor to busy himself with her relationship with the caliph, adding by way of emphasis, and no doubt expecting Ibn Abī Du’ād to make a full report of it to al-Ma’mūn:150 You mix separation with friendship and none shall intercede between us ‘Arīb even survived the wrath of al-Mu‘tasim and his son al-Wāthiq for what (if true) was a treasonable statement, whether or not it was intended to be taken seriously. This was in a letter to ‘Abbās b. al-Ma’mūn that fell into their hands and in which she had written:

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‘You kill the infidel [al-Mu‘tasim] and I’ll likewise do the one-eyed one [al-Wāthiq] this very night.151 ‘Arīb the singer ‘Arīb was a prolific composer of songs: her output exceeded 1,000.152 They were of variable quality. Abū al-‘Abbās b. Hamdūn had a low opinion of them, which he judged to contain many errors and to display an ingenuous technique.153 Abū ‘Abdallāh al-Hishāmī,154 who had a grudge against her, referred to her repertoire as one thousand songs in one.155 The master musician Ishāq al-Mawsilī, however, showered her with praise. Al-Isfahānī defends the reputation of ‘Arīb as a composer of songs while at the same time, and by implication, acknowledging that some of them were of poor quality. He says that one should not be looking for perfection in what she composed, nor criticise her for some of the imperfections any more than one would have criticised Ibrāhīm al-Mawsilī of whom his son Ishāq said that he was the author of six hundred songs, one third of which were perfect, one third middling and the rest falsiyya, that is of little worth (the fils being the smallest coin).156 In the controversy between the traditionalists in songs, led by Ishāq al-Mawsilī, and the modernists led by Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī, ‘Arīb stood out as the most conservative of singers, rendering a song just as had been sung in the past, and without affectation.157 This contrasted with the new school of modernists criticised by the Mawsilī school for being too free in their singing of the words, such as drawing out the last syllable, thus reproducing ‘alaynā as ‘alaynāāā ... ā. Of the other notable qiyān, Shāriya and Rayyiq were followers of Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī, while ‘Arīb’s jawārī followed her traditionalist example. The qiyān Rayyiq and Khishf once debated what was the best that they had heard from songsters. Their consensus opinion was that Mutayyam was the best for content and ‘Arīb the most prolific, while Shāriya and Farīda the Junior were the best technically.158 Singing was a useful social tool, which ‘Arīb used to advantage in networking with the aristocratic Banū Hāshim, the bureaucrats and the intellectuals and artists of the day. She would sing her own

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compositions to them, set their poems to music, sing their own compositions and join them in singing and as an instrumentalist. She said that her happiest day was the one which saw her at ‘Ulayya bt. al-Mahdī’s, with ‘Ulayya’s half brothers Ibrāhīm and Ya‘qūb present. ‘Ulayya started to sing, followed by Ibrāhīm and by ‘Arīb singing and making music, with Ya‘qūb accompanying them on the mizmār (a reed pipe resembling an oboe).159 ‘Arīb the poet It is not easy to judge ‘Arīb’s talent as a poet by the short epigrams, mostly composed specifically to be sung, so that the composition of the words had to fit the tune rather than the other way round. Even where she resorted to the poems and epigrams of others to turn into songs, her choice would have also been dictated by the exigencies of the vocal rendering and the tune. That said, and glossing over whatever doubts there may be as to true attribution, there is enough in the epigrams to demonstrate great literary skill, just as the prose letters sent to her lover Ibn al-Mudabbir testify to a high level of erudition. But for an example of the best of ‘Arīb’s poetry one may point to the following qasīda, which has as its theme the garden of Shāhak, the eunuch who served as al-Musta‘īn’s harem-guard and treasurer. It is a remarkable poem, demonstrating the poet’s consummate descriptive skills, using the garden theme as an allegory for the state of the nation, and making a rare political statement in praise of the rulers of the day.160 The historical background to the poem is that by the time of the reign of al-Musta‘īn, real power had slipped to the leaders of the Turkish palace guards. The caliph was nominally the Prince of the Faithful and the Imām of the nation, yet succeeded to the office only with their approval, if not by their direct intervention, and hung on to it only so long as it suited them. A popular saying at the time was that he was:161 A caliph in a cage between Wasīf and Bughā162 He says what they tell him much like a parrot

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Wasīf and Bughā were two eminent Turkish generals. The Bughā mentioned here is Bughā al-Saghīr (the younger), not to be confused with Bughā al-Kabīr (the elder), also a general. The succession of al-Musta‘īn itself was the result of the assassination of al-Mutawakkil, according to al-Mas‘ūdī at the prompting of Bughā al-Saghīr, followed soon after by the killing of al-Muntasir. The poem is full of symbolism, the garden itself serving as a potent symbol of the continuity of a felicitous interdependence of man, nature and God; as an emblem of the court in its reference to the men of power who uphold caliph and caliphate; and as an earthly reflection of the heavenly garden.163 It consists of 21 verses. The first two take the place of a traditional nasīb, and are reminiscent of Bacchic poetry – an invitation to drink and enjoy ‘aysh (‘the good life’). What follows is a description of the garden representing a microcosm of nature – the fruits of the earth, the game birds and the sea creatures – all proceeding in good order and under control. This picture sets the scene for the explicit political statement contained in the last three verses. The opening of the poem: O ye who are calling at early dawn come to us in the morning for the good life is in the morn while a general statement and an aphorism, can yet be taken to be a metaphor for the beginning of the new reign. The second verse: Fear not the vicissitudes of the Time what have the vicissitudes of the Time to do with the free being likewise a general statement, outwardly reassuring by depicting a ‘laid-back’ attitude, would yet have been taken as an allusion to the political upheaval that had gone before and a reassurance that the nation was then entering a period of tranquility and peace. The third verse serves, together with the fourth, as the bridge between the sections, marked by the shift from second person plural ‘O ye who are calling’ to a statement or declaration in the third person. It identifies the subject of the praise, and refers to the caliph as having God’s protection as a neighbour, while he is in turn a guardian of others:

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Verily al-Musta‘īn is God’s neighbour and in God he enjoys the most glorious protection thereby implying that the caliph has a direct covenant with God. The fourth uses a conventional form of praise, laying stress on sovereignty and excellence, as well as alluding to the caliph’s fresh complexion: A king on whose forehead is the flash of lightning and a light surpassing all lights Further, there are several conceits implicit in that verse: the ‘light on the forehead’ as a good omen; the ‘flash’ as betokening power, with ‘light’ itself connoting virtue. In addition, there is a further sub-text: the caliph’s white, fresh complexion, which would not have escaped notice in a colour-conscious society; as Lewis says: The same association of light with good is shown in the Muslim hagiographic literature which depicts the Prophet himself as of light reddish colour. Similar descriptions are given to his wife ‘Ā’isha, his son-in-law ‘Alī and his descendants, and even his predecessors Abraham, Moses and Jesus.164 Next comes the main body of the poem, where the garden is introduced (vv. 5–6), the fragrant garden in particular165 being a constant theme in Abbasid praise poetry: In the garden of Shāhak dwells the bird of good omen in the face of the all-seeing Imām A garden on which may God bestow anew all felicities in an undulating landscape There follows a succession of references to a garden brimful with the fruits of the earth – flowers, herbs and fruit, and the game to be found on the earth, in the air and in the sea. Visitors are invited to rest awhile in that happy landscape and to enjoy its offerings as well as some entertaining conversations and (not to let an opportunity for selfpublicity go by) the singing of ‘Arīb and her playing of the lute: The mass of daffodils come into view beckoning us between trees and rivers

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Abide with us [addressing the callers at early dawn] we have uninterrupted pleasure and good and entertaining conversation There’s the flower that is the violet swaying with the rose interspersed with daisies And the citron plants facing the apple trees the big bent (as if in prayer) over the small And the singing of ‘Arīb, when pearls are scattered as she chants accompanied by strings And you shall see the shining face of the earth laughing amidst the blossom on the trees Game you will find therein – what of bustard, partridge and the coot caught by the falcon Gazelles for you to hunt at will and large fish to catch inside a palace Wherein you shall find the lizards, the sea creatures the mariners and those who chant behind the caravan urging on the camels A meeting place for caravan and ships a haven in land as it is on sea A perfection beyond the skill of the devils crossing through pure water in the midst of water-courses This is a a panygeric on a caliph whose garden-world speaks of the reach of his realm, his wealth, discernment and good taste. This part of the poem is concluded (v. 13) by praise of his person: We have never seen the like of a sayyid who so much combined excellence of design and discernment The political statement comes towards the end (vv. 19–20): As long as Wasīf and Bughā live for mankind the kingdom is on a solid foundation For they are the protectors of the Imām his two swords and upholders That is capped by the conventional wish prayer (v. 21):

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Long may that endure and become more so for our lord in spite of the envy of the evil ones One frequently comes by this last or a similar expression: ‘in spite of the envious one’, ‘of the evil one’ or ‘of the ill-wisher’, qualifying a panegyric or a prayer wish. At one level such expressions may be taken to allude to the ‘evil eye’.

Sakan Devotion to her slave-master Sakan, the concubine-slave of Mahmūd al-Warrāq, was described by Ibn al-Mu‘tazz as being among the best in demeanour, culture, sweet singing, and making poetry with a good motif and fine expression.166 Further, and unlike so many other qiyān, she was free of coarseness; nor was she known for loose moral behaviour. What is best known about her was her devotion to her master al-Warrāq. He himself was a minor though prolific poet167 whose financial state often verged on penury. On one occasion, in order to ease his problems, Sakan sent a note to al-Mu‘tasim inviting him to buy her. The approach was rebuffed, al-Mu‘tasim tearing up her note. When this was reported back to Sakan she wrote to him again, this time reproaching him for his discourtesy and cruelty. She did this in the form of a qasīda, in which she employed some striking, and strikingly brutal, imagery – in addition to the deftness of touch that the occasion called for. Her Bābak qasīda The poem, in the generally accepted version, consists of nineteen verses in three parts.168 A praise poem, it is also remarkable in that it does not follow the traditional form of madīh in a qasīda. It is as if the strong emotion resulting from the embarrassment of an offer rebuffed, and signalled by the disdainful act of tearing up the note, was more than could be contained in a conventional framework. Thus one notes the absence both of the traditional introduction and of the usual link with the praise proper. That said, one also notes that it is very rare for a

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qasīda produced by a woman to be polythematic – the hallmark of the qasā’id composed by male poets.169 In fact, seeing the qasīda as a whole, the praise appears to occupy but a minor part in a large and intricate canvas. The three parts of the poem reflect three distinct phases, of which a serene middle phase containing the eulogy is preceded by one of high emotion and outrage, followed by violent imagery in the third. The first section or phase consists of four verses which demonstrate the ebb and flow of strong emotions, a current that runs through the poem. The poet launches her reproach (‘itāb) in the very first line addressing al-Mu‘tasim directly but without naming him: Wherefore did your messenger bring me despair you responded to a request with cruel disdain In that first verse one finds the full purport of the poem. One can almost sense the rush of blood to the head of the woman as she reacts to the insult. She complains of the cruel rebuff marked by the tearing-up of the note which was reported to her by the caliph’s messenger; this may well have been what it was intended she should feel. The tearing-up of the note went beyond declining the offer – it implied that the caliph questioned her motive and her character. One does not need to be too astute to see a reason for the rebuff and the manner of it; and which may not have escaped Sakan. The caliph would have considered it improper for a slave-girl to make a direct approach to him offering herself for sale, and seemingly doing so behind the back of her master. Hence one may also well assume that Sakan is anxious to clear herself from the charge of impropriety, even as her room for doing so is limited: she may well in fact have made the approach without the knowledge of her master; she would not want to disclose her own true motive for making it, thereby implying that she might have been less than anxious to be owned by the caliph; nor would she want to cause embarrassment to her master by revealing his parlous financial situation. All she is left with is to say in her defence that her approach was no more than a request that was misjudged: Suppose you had, in your injustice, charged me with an offence yet why were you moved to tear up my note?

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The reference to the act of tearing up the note is an early pointer to the theme of violence, which is a very strong feature of the poem. Having thus unburdened herself, and fearing that she may have gone too far, Sakan steps back in the third verse to show that she means no disrespect nor disobedience: O thou who adds one injustice to another170 do what you will yet with body and soul shall I be content [with you] The fourth verse reverts back to the defence of motive: I love you with a pure love and not for any sin171 and there is nothing wrong with love in the eyes of God and one discerns the barely-concealed reproach in the protestation of ‘pure love’. These four initial verses contain the full personal message of the qasīda, and nothing of that message would have been lost if it had ended there. But having unburdened herself, Sakan goes on to use the occasion to flatter the caliph. It is also an occasion for the spurned slave-woman to show her superior intellectual acuity and skill as a poet, thus demonstrating to the caliph what he had missed by not buying her. But here too one finds that the madīh does not fit the traditional pattern. The caliph is not praised directly, nor is he identified as the object of the praise. In fact, after the first four lines, mostly reproach, he is not addressed directly at all. This perhaps reflects the delicacy of the situation. Having had her initial approach met by a cruel rebuff, with the caliph thinking ill of her motive, and having protested at his discourtesy and injustice, the poet would have judged it inappropriate, and may also have felt disinclined, to address him in the second person and sing his praises to his face. Instead, she offers indirect praise by describing in positive terms the civic and military achievements of his reign. This is found in the second part of the poem, a serene picture of hospitality, sociability and wellbeing. There is a reference (vv. 5–6) to the founding of the new city of Samarra in 220/834–5, which became for a period the seat of the Abbasid dynasty and was to become al-Musta‘īn’s lasting legacy:

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Tell him who shares in the pleasures of its owner and, addicted to drink, sips from the cup of the drinker If the Imām favours a country he will add to it civilization and sociability The meaning conveyed by the last two verses is that whatever pleases the Imām is good for his subjects. This leads next (vv. 7–9) to the statement that Samarra has already become well-established as the new capital of the caliphate. This is produced by the use of the theme of planting and a garden to illustrate the founding and growth of the new city and to testify to the sovereign power, achievement and discernment of the caliphate who has moved to it from Baghdad: Do you not see that the planting has yielded its first growth and the shoots of the seeds are dressed in leaf So that Samarra has become an abode of sovereign power laid out according to plan between rivers and plantations The ‘rivers’ allude to the Tigris and canals. Samarra was initially constructed along the eastern bank of the Tigris, though later some suburbs were established on the opposite bank.172 From this brief phase of serenity and peace one is introduced in the next verse to the violent third phase by the unusual imagery of ‘flowers worthy to be plucked’: O thou who planted the myrtle and the rose worthy to be plucked what the Imām planted is other than the rose and myrtle What is most remarkable about the poem is its complexity: the attack in the first two verses, the retreat in the third, the declaration of love in the fourth, which in reality is all reproach – the poet reciprocating the disdain shown to her by not addressing the caliph by name, and seeking to repair her injured dignity by demonstrating her exceptional erudition. But the undercurrent to all those complex emotions which runs throughout the poem is one of unhappiness spilling into violence – indicated, first by the act of tearing up the note, secondly by

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‘the myrtle and the rose worthy to be plucked’, preparing the ground for the description of the caliph’s own ‘planting’ and ‘snatching’ which is to follow. That brings one to the last, and chilling, part of the qasīda, all the more so in that the caliph’s brutal ‘planting’ is set in stark relief against the preceding description of the serene garden scene of myrtle and rose. The Imām is a landscape gardener, planting the body parts of his enemies, insurgents and Byzantines. The historical background to this was the serious Khurramī rebellion led by Bābak, which for a time defied attempts to suppress it and threatened the stability of the state.173 An expeditionary force commanded by Bughā the Elder was defeated, but eventually the rebellion was put down by another force, led by Afshīn. Bābak was brought to Samarra where he was killed with much cruelty. His body was left crucified in a quarter of the town which thereafter bore his name: His planting is of every despicable tyrant heavy-handed, oppressive and obstinate The likes of Bābak and his brother as he raised for them a cutting blade that snatched limbs and necks There is that one erected by the bridge for all to see and that other in Samarra on a high pole firmly fixed Just so what we always knew to be the planting of the caliphs, sons of ‘Abbās Those two174 rebelled against the faith and were confounded in their ignorance by a troop of men celebrated in war and for bravery They tried calumny against the sovereignty of the Imām while lions of the thicket – well they knew – stood as wards to the state In the shadow of a believer in the faith holding firmly to the truth a victor in battle and a devouring lion And in defence of him go forth those who torment the foe to breaking point such as Afshīn (to be congratulated) and Ashnās

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Do you not see Bābak raised in the air on a stake fashioned by an axe Between heaven and earth his abode standing sitting – a headless body The bridge mentioned in the third verse above was the bridge over the Tigris in Baghdad;175 for maximum effect one of the insurgent leaders was crucified in Samarra, and the other in Baghdad. The victorious caliph, son of the non-Arab concubine Mārida, is pointedly lauded as a descendant of ‘Abbās b. ‘Abd al-Muttalib, the Prophet’s uncle. The caliph is equally pointedly described as mu‘taqidun bi-ldīn (believer in the faith) which would have been likely to be understood to refer to the Mu ‘tazilite doctrine introduced by al-Ma’mūn and enforcd by the Inquisition (mihna); and which was in fact continued by al-Mu‘tasim. That said, mu‘taqidun may have been used as simply a variant of Mu‘tasim. While the triumph is formally accorded to the caliph, the laurels go to the two commanders Afshīn and Ashnās, who were in fact honoured and rewarded for suppressing the Khurramī uprising, as well as for victories over the Byzantines.176 Ullmann cites a version of the poem which has a further eight lines added to the end.177 While the main poem presented a theme of cruelty and violence interspersed with a minor theme of serenity, these additional lines are the stuff of nightmare, blending the normal with the abnormal, the benign with the horrific, leaving the reader floundering in a welter of possible interpretations: When the clouds express the teats of [heaven’s] udder they start with him to give him to drink before anyone else There is horror in this verse: the clouds are favouring with the milk of heavenly kindness the abject crucified body that had sustained the ultimate cruelty, while evoking a surrealist picture of a mother suckling a headless child. One finds lions bewildered round the lofty tree what with expectation and what by fear and despair

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And the birds are settled in flocks on his head as if they were a delegation to a wedding feast The lions are bewildered because they cannot get at the corpse, so that one has the horrific picture of the wedding guests – birds picking and feasting on the human flesh while the nightmarish lions are gathered at the foot of the cross wondering if they will have an opportunity to get their share. The east wind sang him a tune which was answered by the warbling and whispering west wind If aught could have delighted and pleased him he would have been delighted and pleased And there is the horrific picture of the crucified body overlaid by the further horrific surrealist vision of the suckling headless child being comforted with lullabies. Thus in these lines the poet adds mockery to the humiliation of the mutilated victim. The mockery is extended in the next three verses by reference to the man as the leader in death of Byzantine elites who stood crucified around him, and perhaps with an allusion to the Passion, central to Christian faith: Around him are followers of the Byzantine elite covered in wounds that will not be staunched As if he was a monk atop a hermitage with arms extended in fear and awe While they stood with croziers in hands an assortment of priests, archbishops and deacons One may take the crucified followers of the Byzantine elite to be the product of the war that Ashnās waged successfully against the Greeks. But as regards the supposed allusion to the Passion one has to add a caveat: Christ’s crucifixion is not admitted by Muslims, and so is not a common motif. That said, there are many aspects of the poem that make it uncommon. Ullmann gives a further three-verse epigram by Sakan referring to Bābak, and in which the probable allusion to the Christian Passion is

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carried further – and concluded with the mirror images of a wedding and a funeral:178 His back is on a rough conveyance tarrying long and slow to depart The wolves and the limping hyenas remain at the foot [of the cross] envious of the birds His nether parts a funeral feast for the lions his head a wedding feast for the birds This is a remarkable poem in every respect. The caliph is portrayed as a skilled ‘gardener’ defending realm and faith against enemies and rebels. One may question whether a barbed intention is implicit in the ruthlessness with which this was undertaken; but this is uncertain. Glory can be made to sit comfortably with cruelty, as one finds in the example of Abū Tammām’s poem on the fall of Amorium at the hands of al-Mu‘tasim,179 which glorifies a victory of extraordinary violence; also his praise-poem of al-Ma’mūn.180 Nothing else of substance has survived of Sakan’s poetry. But if she had produced no more than this poem she would still be acknowledged as among the most accomplished slave-women poets of her age. Love makes light of penury Ibn al-Mu‘tazz gives another example of Sakan’s loyalty to al-Warrāq and of the affection they had for each other.181 It was a time when al-Warrāq found himself in one of his periodic desperate financial straits, and could see no way out. He pointed this out to Sakan, adding that he did not mind suffering hardship for himself but did not want her to share his suffering. He suggested offering her for sale so that she might have a better life. She replied that this was up to him. He then put her up for sale, and there were several bidders. One was a member of the wealthy Tāhirid dynasty, a line of Persian governors for the Abbasid caliphs in Khurāsān who flourished in the 3rd/9th century.182 The Tāhirī came along with 100,000 dirhams in ready money; he handed the money to al-Warrāq, who accepted it eagerly as he ordered Sakan to get dressed and come out. She did so, emerging in all her finery, bright as the new

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moon. She shed tears while reproaching her master: ‘Oh, Mahmūd, has it come to this between us that you prefer 100,000 to me?’ He said: ‘Would you rather live in penury and hardship?’ She replied: ‘Yes, I would! It’s you who can’t endure it.’ Mahmūd then said, addressing the bidders: ‘You bear witness that from this moment she is a free woman before Allāh. And I make her a sadaqa (benefaction, in the context as dowry) of my house which is all that I own: it cost me 50,000.’ Thus al-Warrāq was manumitting his woman-slave, marrying her as a free woman and using the house as bride-money. Al-Warrāq added, addressing al-Tāhirī: ‘Take your money, and may Allāh’s blessing be on it for you.’ Impressed by what he heard, al-Tāhirī would not take his money back, leaving it for al-Warrāq and Sakan to enjoy together. The above story tells us as much about the character of Al-Warrāq as it does about the slave-girl. It is a good example of the universal fact that while slavery is evil as an institution many a slave-master can be benign and caring in his treatment of his slaves, which is reciprocated by loyalty and love. That said, one cannot tell whether and to what extent the anecdote is based on fact, a qualification which applies to all the reports. It forms part of a group of anecdotes with a similar literary theme.183 There is another anecdote illustrating al-Warrāq’s attitude towards his jawārī and what they felt for him: it concerns his slave-girl Nashwa. Al-Mu‘tasim, who had spurned Sakan’s offer, was attracted to Nashwa and offered the princely sum of 7,000 dinars for her. Al-Warrāq who loved her dearly, refused the offer. When he died, Nashwa was put up for sale and al-Mu‘tasim secured her for 700 dinars. When first brought to him as her new master, al-Mu‘tasim preened himself, saying: ‘What do you think then? I put off buying you until I got you for 700 instead of 7,000.’ The girl replied with a crushing put-down: ‘Aye, if the Caliph could bear to wait to satisfy his desire out of a dead man’s estate, then I am rather worth no more than 70.’184

Summary As composers of epigrams at private majālis, there is little to distinguish ‘Inān, Fadl and ‘Arīb one from the others, whether in wit and acuity or knowledge of poetry and literary allusions. The main

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distinction is to be found in their respective social skills and the influences that they exerted as prominent figures in the contemporary literary and artistic scene. This distinction arises from the fact that each had a different status as a woman and a slave, and this was reflected in the sobriquet that each acquired. ‘Inān was known as ‘al-Nātifiyya’, the reference being to her slave master al-Nātifī, a commoner lacking in refinement. Fadl, known as ‘the Poet’, was connected with the Abbasid mandarinate class – cultured, refined and influential. ‘Arīb, ‘al-Ma’mūniyya’ was a social institution, a larger-than-life personage, a member of the inner circle of caliphs and aristocrats, mixing freely with them and members of their families. As a poet, ‘Inān is best remembered for racy, erotic and often salacious exchanges with men poets. In that she can be said to have started a popular genre of populist erotic poetry produced by a woman; and which would circulate – the more salacious the more widely-spoken in the street, market place and tavern. Fadl’s is a different kind of erotic poetry – more passionate love poetry addressed to and exchanged with lovers, in the case of her long-term lover Sa‘īd b. Humayd a man of substance, poet, cultured and influential. One may think of Fadl’s poetry as an advance on that of ‘Inān’s – the erotic/pornographic nature of the one contrasting with the erotic love of the other. One thinks of ‘Arīb as a songster rather than a poet, a slave-girl who bestrode the social and artistic scene of the qiyān like a colossus. She was the nearest thing to a present-day diva, with enormous influence on the development of erotic poetry and singing. But her greatest contribution was in helping to make erotic poetry socially acceptable.185 Not a great deal is known about Sakan. Such as is known does not fit in with the lives and works of ‘Inān, Fadl and ‘Arīb. In character she more resembled the harā’ir while the social status that she enjoyed was akin to that of a courtesan, sequestered as the faithful slave-girl of only one slave master, who by all accounts was a kind man and lover. This may account for the paucity of poetical output that has come down from her. In fact, that output consists of one great qasīda that emerges as if from nowhere, to make a big splash as it breaks the surface, leaving one with a sense of awe – and with a sense of loss for what other output could have existed or even might have existed.

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CHAPTER FOUR

SOME OTHER SLAVEGIRL POETS: SHORT BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

Tuhfa al-Zāhida Tuhfa was a slave-girl of a Baghdadi merchant, and otherwise hardly anything is known about her. Ibn Khallikān1 cites al-Khatīb al-Baghdādī2 who in turn cites al-Tanūkhī, who refers to one Tuhfa al-qawwāla (‘the garrulous’, who may be a different Tuhfa) reciting some lines (not her own) in an anecdote set in 326/938. She is said to be the jāriya of Abū ‘Abdallāh Ibn ‘Umar al-Bāzyār. The Tuhfa in the text, whoever she may be, composed poetry and had a good singing voice. She then turned to piety, abjured the life of a qayna and started to compose spiritual poetry. She was thought insane and was confined in al-Māristān, also known as Bīmāristān, from the Persian bīmār (sick) and istān (place) – hence hospital or lunatic asylum. In the following verses she complains at her treatment and declares her love of God, using spiritually allegorical imagery:3 O people I have not gone mad but I am drunk while my heart is sober Why did you have me manacled since I am guilty of no offence other than my zeal in His love and being found out I am besotted by the love of a Lover

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from whose door I do not wish to depart What you allege to be my well-being was my undoing and what you allege to be my undoing is my welfare He who loves the Lord of lords and espouses him is guiltless She was later discharged from the mental institution and her master manumitted her. She spent the rest of her life in Mecca.

Tatrīf, also known as Tazayyuf (One of these two names must be a misreading. Judging by their meanings, Tatrīf seems the more apposite version.) She was the slave-girl of al-Ma’mūn, an accomplished poet and a native of Basra, which was at the time a provincial city of culture where several notable qiyān, including ‘Arīb, Badhl, Mutayyam and Fadl received their education. She was noted for beauty and elegance, and it was said that al-Ma’mūn favoured her above all his other concubines. She was inconsolable at his death and mourned him in many poems, of which the following is an example:4 Oh sire, I have not forgotten him he who announces his death announces the death of the good life By Allāh, if it were capable of a ransom I would have ransomed him with my own blood She was also the author of verses describing life’s vicissitudes:5 Time has caused us to drink after sweetness draughts of its bitterness to quench our thirst At times it showed us a side of it that made us laugh then turned at other times and made us cry

Taymā’ Taymā’ was a native of Medina, a slave of Khuzayma b. Khāzim al-Nahshalī, one of the generals of al-Rashīd, who appointed him

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governor of Basra; he also served under al-Amīn and al-Ma’mūn.6 When her master left for Syria she wrote to him expressing concern for his welfare, and giving vent to her own sense of insecurity and concern lest the time and distance of the separation would turn her master’s affection elsewhere:7 May my soul be your ransom from any ill that you are heeding for you are her happiness, her ears and her eyes As you depart you’ll leave me a sadness besides which no pleasure remains for me to savour Do you still – while absent – remember our time together just as care, grief and remembrance have emaciated me?

Danānīr This Danānīr was the slave-girl of Yahyā b. Khālid al-Barmakī. A chapter is devoted to her in Aghānī.8 She is described as a beautiful and cultured blonde, one who excelled in singing and reciting poetry. After the fall of the Barmakīs she refused to sing for al-Rashīd, saying that she had sworn never to sing again. At al-Rashīd’s order she was slapped, forced to her feet and handed a lute. She then recited while shedding tears:9 When I beheld that the houses were obliterated then I knew for certain that the good life will not return She was noted as both singer and poet, and was the author of a famous book of songs.10

Nasīm She was a slave of Ahmad b. Yūsuf al-Kātib, otherwise known as Ibn Kunāsa (d. 213/828), a pious and noble man, also a great stylist and a minor poet, referred to as one of the best of those who taught their own slave-girls.11 He headed the correspondence department of al-Rashīd, hence his sobriquet of ‘al-Kātib’: ‘[he] impressed every

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meeting by his erudition, eloquence and culture’.12 On one occasion her master reproached her, unfairly she thought, so she addressed him thus:13 You lost your temper unfairly for no offence of mine and it is you who snubs, turns away and shuns With the might of your rule you subdued an obedient being and but for the submission of slavery I would not bear it If you would reflect on what you did apologies are called for or else be unjust and you’ll be forgiven The essence of the above verses is a plaint addressed to her lover by a woman in love. Even though they are from a slave-girl to her master, and notwithstanding the references to the obedience, subjugation and submission of slavery, the overwhelming emotion is contained in the first line – demonstrating the woman’s hurt at being scorned by a lover who snubs, turns away and betrays. When Ibn Kunāsa died Nasīm was inconsolable:14 If the whole of mankind felt what I feel for you they would have wished themselves dead To humans is but one death in time I suffer many deaths in my sadness and grief

‘Ārim She was brought up by the slave merchant Zalbahda who sold her to a kātib in Baghdad. Al-Isfahānī may well have included her in Imā’ for her vulgarity and as an example of a seamy side of the entertainment world of the time. The poet al-Khārakī, otherwise known as Ahmad b. Ishāq,15 related that one day he came by ‘Ārim when he was the worse for drink. He called out to her. She asked him what he wanted, and he replied:16 What say you to a cock, and my cock is like me that rises in front of me and extends behind me The thinner of its two branches like a mule’s cock

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Those look like one and a half verses, or rather three verses of rajaz (a form of doggerel) with one of them unrhymed. The second line could be made to rhyme if one read (with another version cited by Hātimī)17 qablī (‘in front of me’) instead of khalfī (‘behind me’). This spoils the antithesis but looks more anatomically plausible! ‘Ārim laughed and replied: What say you to a cunt narrower than your mother’s tight and soft inside You’ll die of desire when you see it

Qamar18 Qamar was a native of Baghdad, and provides an example of intenational cultural exchange and trade, and in particular of the emigration from Iraq to Andalusia which resulted from the decline of the tradition of qiyān towards the end of the 3rd/9th century; this is discussed below in Chapter 12. Her reputation for fine poetry and singing, beauty, culture and eloquence reached the ears of the Emir of Seville, Ibrāhīm b. Hajjāj al-Lakhmī (r. 286/899–298/911), who bought her and had her brought over to Andalusia. While she composed poetry celebrating her new life and new master, she did not forget Baghdad and often expressed nostalgia for it:19 Oh for her Baghdad and her Iraq and its antelopes and the enchantment in their eyes And their ranging by the Euphrates with faces in which new moons are displayed as neck-bands Swaggering in bliss as if chaste love was inspired by their mien May my soul be their ransom for what amenities will shine forth from their radiance The eyes of the mahā (antelopes) are proverbial for their beauty and often used as a simile for the eyes of women – as in the celebrated words of ‘Alī b. Jahm: ‘The eyes of the mahā between the Rusāfa and Karkh have brought us love from hither and thither.’

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Hasnā’ also known as Khansā’ Named Hasnā’ in Aghānī but Khansā’ in Imā’,20 she is identified in both versions as a charming slave-girl of the Barmakīs, with whom poets exchanged riddles, at which she was particularly adept. The following anecdote is an example of the double entendre which was part of the stock-in-trade of the slave-girl poet.21 One day Sa‘īd b. Wahb called on Hasnā’/Khansā’ and after a long discourse addressed her in verse in the presence of her master: Here’s22 a riddle O Khansā’ in a sort of verse What has the span of a palm or may be more than the span of a palm It has a hole at its head running with a flow of dew If dried up then it’s of no use to anyone But if it got wet then it brings forth an amazing wonder and magic So answer me, I mean no impropriety, so I swear by the Great Judge Rather I compose verses which envelop a covert meaning23 (‘The Great Judge’ is used to translate the text rabb al-shaf‘ wal-lwatr, literally ‘the Lord of the Even and the Odd’. Nobody knows what exactly this meant.24) At hearing those words the girl’s master coloured in anger and said to Sa‘īd: ‘Do you scandalize my slave-girl by talking obscenities to her?’ But the girl turned to her master and said: ‘Take it easy, he did not mean what you think. He meant the pen!’ That cleared the air and Sa‘īd kept them company for the rest of the day, during which they had their fill of wine and with the slave girl all the while entertaining the men with singing and by engaging them in clever discourse. And for good measure the slave-girl capped the visitor’s riddle with verses of her own, demonstrating her triumph in solving it:

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O Abū ‘Uthmān you posed a riddle in the poem that you spoke To a girl who easily saw through the poem being clear-headed: Outwardly an obscenity but with no obscenity inwardly You meant the slender and delicate [thing] sharpened by the sharpener25 As it runs, it substitutes even as it is silent for that which is spoken That is the pen running with what you will Be it for good or ill benefit or harm

Khuzāmā The slave-girl of the singer al-Dabt, she was herself a fine singer and a good poet. She used to drink with ‘Abdallāh b. al-Mu‘tazz in his younger days. He sent her a succession of letters which remained unanswered, so he reproached her in yet another:26 I have seen you make a show of ascetism and repentance and the wine has lost its good taste after your repentance Hence I made you a gift of roses to make you think of a good life the delights of which Time has denied us She replied: I have received some charming verses, O my Emir, which imitated pearls set between beads27 Have you forsworn visiting me – O son of noble parents – for the tell-tales of the age have made the rebuke clear to me The bloom of youth portended his separation I wish I knew, what plea I can raise!

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Samrā’ and Haylāna28 These were two slave-girl poets and singers who lived during the reign of al-Mu‘tasim, and who belonged to two different slave merchants. Poets would call on them to hear their singing and to while away the time at their houses in the Karkh district of Baghdad, the locality suggesting low-class sex trade. They would receive many men of letters and scribes who would spend money on them, and they competed with each other for their custom. Each had some poets who regularly patronised her, lauded her in verse and supported her in her rivalry with the other; as well as enjoying the woman’s hospitality and favours in return. One such poet was the satirist and lampoonist Abū l-Shibl, who patronised both and benefited from playing on their rivalry. There is an account of a visit, presumably following a set pattern, which he made one day to both of them. He called first on Samrā’ – as he always did, she being the better-looking. After conversing for an hour he asked her to respond to a verse of Abū l-Mustahill, a poet of the court of al-Mu‘tasim, composed to celebrate the conquest of Amorium (otherwise known as Amorion or ‘Ammūriya), a Byzantine military stronghold and the site of a celebrated battle and Arab triumph ending in its capture by the forces of al-Mu‘tasim in 223/838:29 The Imām raised the beacon of the true faith and silenced the church bells of Amorium Samrā’ responded: His majesty has robed me in his djellabas30 mantles which he made to be trimmed with sable-fur The pride that I derive from them31 has raised my rank and their splendour caused it to flourish Samrā’ then called for food, and after they had eaten, Abū al-Shibl left to visit Haylāna. As he arrived, Haylāna asked him where he had come from. When he told her, she remarked: I knew you would go to her first. As for food I appreciate that I cannot prevail on you since I know that she would not have let you go without eating. So what say

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you to something to drink? Abū al-Shibl was only too happy to accept. After plying him with drink Haylāna asked him what had gone on between him and Samrā’. He recounted the exchange, including the reference to the sable cloak. This drew from Haylāna the sarcastic remark: ‘That wretched woman feels the cold and her house likewise needs a sable cloak.’ She asked whether Samrā’ could not have said: Auspicious was the augury in the morn and the fire drill of passion was fired Abū al-Shibl said to Haylāna, hoping no doubt that it would not go back to Samra’ (but it assuredly did!): ‘By God, you are a better poet than her, nay by God, and God knows, you are a better poet than all your contemporaries.’

Ghusn She is so named in Imā’ and further identified as the slave-girl of Ibn al-Ahdab al-Nakhkhās (a slave merchant).32 But in Aghānī she is simply referred to as a nameless slave-girl.33 In neither case does the name seem to matter. She did not belong to nor was she associated with any person of social standing. She was owned by either a slave trader or a social nobody. She is mentioned in an anecdote which gives a good description of the course of a commercial transaction for sexual services. One Ibn Di‘bil34 was sitting one day at Bāb al-Karkh when he saw a girl go past who was better-looking than anything he had seen before. She swayed as she walked and had roving eyes, her uncovered face identifying her as a slave while the swaying and the roving eyes intimated her profession. He accosted her saying as he kept in step with her:35 The tears of my eyes are becoming profuse while sleep is contracting in my eyes She replied without hesitation: That’s but little for one afflicted by the glance of the langorous eyes

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The man was amazed by this reply, and addressed her further: Would my mistress have kindness of heart and that for one dying in his entrails Again she replied without hesitation: If you desire our intimacy intimacy in our religion is recompense In other words it had to be paid for. At hearing this, Di‘bil was overjoyed, and said : Do you think that time could gladden us by intercourse joining the desirous to the one he desires? She again answered without hesitation: What business is it of Time to arbitrate between us you are the Time so gladden us with intimacy The storyteller continues: ‘I went ahead of her pointing her in the direction of the house of Muslim b. al-Walīd’ (and one implies from what follows he took her to his friend’s house because he did not have the money). ‘When we got there Muslim told me he was short of money; so he gave me a handkerchief and told me to go sell it and bring back what we needed out of the proceeds. I went off quickly. When I returned I discovered that Muslim had in the meantime had his way with the woman in the cellar and concluded the transaction. As he heard me he leapt towards me and said: “May God recompense you, O Abū ‘Alī, for what you did, and He may grant you His reward and make it the best outcome for you.” His talk and his irony angered me and I began to ponder what to do to him. But before I could do or say anything he went on: “By my life, O Abū ‘Alī, tell me who it was who said: I slept in her chemise36 while my companion slept with impure heart but chaste parts” I replied:

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“He who has a thousand horns in his mother’s cunt which rose as high as a mountain” I kept on berating him and cursing him and he responded: “O imbecile! You entered my home, you sold my handkerchief, you kept my money, so what are you cross about, you fool, you pimp?” I answered: “Whatever things you lied about, the two things that you told true are being a fool and a pimp.” ’

Mahbūba Mahbūba (‘the loved one’), the slave-girl of al-Mutawakkil, was a poet and musician, celebrated for beauty and virtue, and another native of Basra. As a poet she is rated highly by al-Isfahānī, who considers her the equal of Fadl in that respect, while more beautiful and more virtuous.37 She was educated and trained by ‘Abdallāh b. Tāhir of Tā’if, who made a gift of her in a virginal state to al-Mutawakkil (it is said as one of 400 slave-girls) upon his accession to the caliphate. She had a special place in his affections, and exerted much influence in his court. He was so attached to her that whenever he sat down for a drinking session he had her sitting curtained behind him so that he would push his head behind the curtain from time to time to converse with her.38 Her singing was described as mediocre,39 but she excelled in looks, culture and refinement. ‘Alī b. al-Jahm was a close confidant of al-Mutawakkil. One day the latter told him that he had entered the bed chamber of Mahbūba and saw that she had written his name on her cheek with a ghāliya (a perfumed paste with musk and saffron as main ingredients). Al-Mutawakkil added that he had never seen anything more charming than the contrast produced by the black musk of the ghāliya on her white cheek. He asked ‘Alī b. al-Jahm to compose some verses to mark the event. The latter called for writing materials but while he was pondering what to compose, Mahbūba herself, sitting as usual behind the curtain, rose to the task and declaimed:40 One who wrote ‘Ja‘far’ with musk on her cheek with my life [I’d buy] the impression of the tracing of the musk

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While she wrote a line with her hand on the cheek she deposited many lines of love on my heart Oh, what a slave she is, who to the sovereignty of his right hand is obedient in that which is hidden and that which is revealed41 And you whom Ja‘far desired in bed may God give to Ja‘far to drink from the stream of your praise It is to be noted that the word ja‘far means a brook, and this adds a further dimension to the imagery of drinking from a flow or stream of praise. Mahbūba made good use of poetry and perfume to turn the head of her master. On one occasion al-Mutawakkil passed her an apple covered in musk. Apples were commonly used in amatory exchanges as gifts and as bearers of messages; indeed, they were used so frequently that they came to have a metaphorical meaning.42 The apples in question would probably have been of a light yellowish-green variety, on which the messages would have been either traced or etched by applying pressure, with the etching turning dark after ripening and so becoming legible against the lighter background. Mahbūba received the apple and used it as the centre-piece of a love poem:43 O a perfumed apple with which I secluded myself that kindles the fire of passion on my heart I weep to it and moan my heart-sickness and the heavy sadness that I suffer If an apple could cry it would have cried – this one in my hand – in pity for me If you [addressing the apple] do not know what trouble my soul has endured, the proof of that is in my body If you examine it attentively you’ll discover that no creature can resist it On one occasion, after al-Mutawakkil had fallen out with Mahbūba, he dreamt that he made it up with her. Come the morning, a lady-inwaiting confided to him that Mahbūba was distraught and was heard singing in her chamber. He went to investigate and heard her sing:44

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I wander in the palace seeing no one to whom I can moan or who will talk to me As if I had committed a transgression from which no repentance will absolve me Will anyone intercede for me with a king who visited me in my sleep and made it up with me But when morning broke unto us he again deserted me? After al-Mutawakkil was slain in the palace coup mounted by the Turkish praetorian palace-guards his slave-women were dispersed. Some of them, including Mahbūba, were taken by Wasīf, the Turkish leader of the coup that had assassinated al-Mutawakkil and brought al-Muntasir to be the new caliph. One morning Wasīf ordered all the slave-women of al-Mutawakkil to be presented to him. They were brought along wearing brightly-coloured clothes and decked in jewellery and other ornaments. They were made up and perfumed. The exception was Mahbūba – in mourning for al-Mutawakkil, she appeared without make-up, wearing a plain white shift which for the Abbasids was the colour of mourning. The other slave-girls took part in celebrating their new state by singing and joining in drinking. Wasīf asked Mahbūba to pick up a lute and sing. She shed tears as she sang:45 What pleasure is left for me in a life without Ja‘far A king whom my eyes saw prostrate and covered in dust Wasīf was upset, and was about to have her killed, when Bughā (‘ox’ in Turkish) the Younger, another army commander who had taken part in the coup, intervened and had her given to him as a gift; after which he manumitted her.

Nīrān Nīrān was a slave-girl belonging to one of the slave merchants; she was described as remarkably beautiful, witty and articulate. She exchanged

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verses with Muhammad b. Ja‘far b. Mūsā al-Hādī, who fell head over heels in love with her, as was widely known. One day he made her angry and she shunned him. In order to mollify her, Muhammad sent her a note by the hand of his friend ‘Amr b. Bāna:46 You forswore your pledge to a youth who has kept his pledge to you and wonder it is that he kept his faith and you repudiated yours That you found a way to capture his heart was due to your pretty face and not your pretty deed Nīrān laughed as she read the note and composed some verses in reply: Yet you keep on resisting me and beguiling me into a fall and [then] deserting me until you became adept at desertion And you sever my ties and ignore my friendship so, my master, how can you expect me to be patient in love? I’ve so become that I don’t know if my putting up with the desertion patiently is desperation – nor know I if it’s truly wise to do so ‘Umar b. Bāna took the note back to Muhammad b. Ja‘far, then went home and set parts of the exchange to song. Afterwards he related the anecdote to Sālih b. al-Rashīd and sang to him what he had composed. Salih called for the horses to be saddled, rode with ‘Umar to the house of the slave merchant, owner of Nīrān, bought her for 3,000 dinars, and presented her as a gift to Muhammad b. Ja‘far.

Anon Abū Nuwās addressed the following to an unnamed qayna:47 I saw you in my sleep as though you quenched my thirst with the cold saliva of your mouth And it was as if your palm was in my hand, and as though we slept together in one bed

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Then I woke up and lo! both your wrists were in my right hand while my arm was in your left The qayna replied: You saw well and all you desired you’ll receive from me in spite of the envious ones Be intimate with the one you desire and ignore the talk of an envious one for envy does not promote passion O you who criticise lovers for their love can it [love] mend the heart of an evil one The Merciful did not create a better sight than two lovers on a single bed Embracing, clothed in the full suits of passion supported by wrist and arm It is my wish that you sleep with me and spend the night atop my ample breasts And that you be in the midst of ankles and bracelets tucked away in blankets and between rugs So that we would spend the night as the happiest of lovers exchanging the most delectable of talk without fear of an onlooker The above, as with so many of the erotic exchanges, can equally well be taken, given the characters involved, as true invitation or as mere verbal sparring. A wider question relates to the place that the poetry of the qiyān holds in the general body of classical Arabic poetry. One way of attempting an answer to that question is to consider how that poetry relates to the main themes of praise, lamentation and satire.

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CHAPTER FIVE

AL-IMĀ’ AL-SHAWĀ‘IR AS EULOGISTS

The term madīh (panegyric) covers a range of speech forms, with praise at one end and flattery at the other. The latter has connotations of subservience or affected deference to secure an advantage. As to be expected the poetry of the slave-girl poets gravitates towards the latter category. It requires no justification nor measured discrimination. The objectives in each case are simply to please and flatter, and to be rewarded. That said, it would be wrong to condemn this form of praise as insincere or artificial, as some modern scholars seem to suggest:1 Panegyric poetry, especially in post-Jāhilī phase, has generally been poorly regarded by modern scholars. Its emergence has been posited as the historical marker for the rise of professional poetry whereby the poet uses his skills to earn a living, as opposed to an implicit notion of the poet as creative, genuine, and free artist. In short, panegyric poetry is seen as a reflection of the sycophantism of the poet towards figures of authority, and of the debasing of poetry for material reward. But, when ‘Arīb addresses al-Mutawakkil:2 The pulpits of Allah gleamed in the face of his trustee, Ja‘far through which their light is broadcast throughout the land

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she is doing the same as countless poets and singers have done over the years, and are doing still, wending their way on public occasions to palace, broadcasting station and mudīf (reception hall) to render a public tribute in verse and song to prince, statesman and tribal chief – not as an affirmation of their true virtues but as an acknowledgment of their majesty, dominion, power and influence. The public tribute, particularly at or close to the time of one’s accession to the caliphate or appointment to a new office of state, also confers legitimacy on the person who is praised – an important factor when one considers that the accession of every Abbasid caliph was accompanied by controversy, and in most cases the shedding of blood; just as the appointments to the vizierate were normally accompanied by court mischief and political intrigues. In fact the presentation of a laudatory poem to those in position of influence and power was almost the expected way for the literati to secure employment or obtain rewards or favours. The eulogy, however gross, is accepted in that spirit and rewarded accordingly. To condemn it as artificial and insincere is to disregard its true nature:3 The high proportion of panegyric poetry has been one of the major obstacles to full appreciation of the latter by the average Western reader, who tends traditionally to be concerned with criteria of ‘sincerity’, ‘criticism of life’ and ‘seriousness of purpose’. Such lack of sympathy ignores the fact that virtually all pre-modern Arabic poetry had to be written, for socio-economic reasons, under patronage or to commission. The free women seldom composed panegyric poetry.4 As for the rest of the poets, one would not necessarily see a debasement in the nature of the transaction by which the poet offers a panegyric to a patron for reward. The panegyric poem could be seen less as a concession to authority and more as an equal exchange of gifts between poet and patron, where the value of the poem is commensurate with the value of the rewards.5

Classification By convention, there are several types of madīh recognised as such in classical Arabic, and it would be wrong to confine them to flattery.

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Thus, it can in addition take the form of advice and exhortation, criticism, direct reproach (‘itāb) and warning.6 At the same time, it can be said to be systemic in the sense of requiring the application of certain rules which, left to themselves, do not encourage diversification of treatment or of imagery. Qudāma, otherwise known as Ibn Ja‘far al-Kātib, was a philologist and historian, and one of the first scholars to introduce the systemic study of the figures of speech in Arabic literature; and more importantly he was the first to write a proper ‘poetics’ of Arabic poetry.7 According to him, only ‘moral’ qualities might be praised; and all these (in men) are subsumed under the categories or virtues of intelligence, courage, justice and modesty (‘iffa). That is the theory, often departed from in the case of eulogy and even more so in the case of invective (hijā’). Those four categories are also recognisable as the four Platonic cardinal virtues. But the rigidity of the system is circumvented by a process of literary fiction which draws several derivative qualities from each category. Thus, intelligence would fit the man who is politic, knowledgeable, mild and moderate. Bravery covers such sub-categories as protection of others or partisanship, defending one’s neighbour, devastating the enemy. Justice encompasses such qualities as responding to a plea, showing compassion to the weak, treating rich and poor alike, being amiable of face and mild of manner. Generosity can be said to be derived from justice because the generous man is he who shuns the excesses of pleasure. One of the cardinal tenents of Islam requires one to give to the poor 2.5 per cent of what is left after meeting all one’s normal needs; in other words of one’s net savings – hence the less extravagant one is in spending on oneself the more the residue and the sadaqa (benefactions, alms). This is carried out to the extent that ‘generosity’, in the right context, is treated as synonymous with justice. ‘Iffa covers a range of good qualities that add up to ‘clean living’. One wonders whether a classification system such as Qudāma’s can be said to have a significant application to anyone other than a philologist. The line of derivatives can be stretched to such an extent that the link with the primary category becomes so tenuous as to become unrecognisable except by convention. It is difficult to conceive of any form of good behaviour that is not capable of being assigned through the

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literary fiction to one or more, or all, of Qudāma’s four categories. By the same token one may conflate all four into one category answering simply to ‘good behaviour’. In fairness to Qudāma, and on closer examination, this is not very different from what he postulates. His proposition is not that there are ‘moral’ qualities that fall outside the range of his four categories – rather that every moral quality is subsumed under one or more of them. The proposition cannot be faulted in logic. It is its usefulness, other than as a checklist for the would-be critic, that one is entitled to question. Another generally-accepted convention relating to panegyric. , which corresponds to what in present-day Western culture is known as proportionality, is that the qualities praised should be appropriate to the rank and function of the person praised: courage in a military man, fairness in a judge, wisdom in a kātib (chancery clerk, bureaucrat) and modesty in a cleric. Conversely, and with no less importance, one should not be praised for qualities which do not fit one’s station. One should not refer to a bureaucrat as brave, nor to a judge as passionate, nor describe a king in the same way as an underling, nor use imagery representing whiteness if the person being praised is black.8 Subject to that condition, more than one praiseworthy characteristic may be attributed to a person. To a monarch would be ascribed all the virtues. Different literary forms or themes were traditionally used for the panegyric. They included the formal poem (qasīda), the felicitation (tahni’a) – commonly a shorter poem – and the epigram (qit‘a).9 The long madīh in qasīda form characteristically combined eulogy with at least one other theme, such as bacchic verse (khamriyya).10 But whatever the form, Ibn Rashīq exhorts that the praise should be measured and concise. He cites Jarīr addressing his grandson: ‘Son, if you do praise, then let it be brief, else the beginning is forgotten and the ending not remembered’.11 This is the theory. However, praise poems are often very long, as in Ibn al-Rūmī. In considering and analising the conventions concerning eulogy, Qudāma puts the poems in praise of women in a category outside the conventional, classifying it as erotic. From that point of view, it is applicable to praise of women generally, a fortiori the jawārī and qiyān.

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This viewpoint is in line with the prejudice of a misogynistic society that regards women as the property of the man, as an object to whom considerations of ‘moral’ qualities do not fully apply, disregarding all evidence to the contrary. In such prejudice, the woman is seen as not above a child in intelligence – not for her to be sitting in judgment, nor to don the garb of a warrior. Fāri‘a bt. Tarīf’s is a case in point: she rode to battle to avenge the killing of her khārijī brother. The leader of the expedition that killed him, who was of the same tribe, slapped the haunch of her mount and chased her away, saying that she was disgracing the tribe.12 Even a woman’s honour is not her own, but belongs to father, brother, cousin and husband – and in that order. As regards form, the panegyric poetry of the qiyān consists mostly of epigrams. There are very few to be found in qasīda form, identified as such by their length, polythematic structure and fairly frequently by the rhyming of the hemistichs of the first verse. It is said that there was ever only one polythematic qasīda composed by a woman, which was the bā’iyya’(that is ending with a ‘bā’ rhyme) of Layla al-Akhyailiyya.13 The construction of the qasīda generally follows a conventional structure. It typically opens with a trope (nasīb), which presents pleasing images drawn from a conventional repertoire, e.g. a lover’s complaints (mughāzalāt), carousals (khamriyyāt) or hunting scenes. The nasīb concludes with a line or two forming a transition or bridge which, while identifying the subject of praise, leads to the main section of the poem, the eulogy proper. This is also commonly followed by a bridge passage, consisting perhaps of an aphorism, leading to the final section – the du‘ā’ for the long life and well-being of the patron.14 These general characteristics serve as a model or check list. There are not many qasā’id attributed to the jawārī. One would single out the two qasā’id of ‘Inān and that of ‘Arīb in al-Imā’ al-shawā‘ir. All these three are panegyric poems conforming to the conventional configuration of nasīb, bridge, madīh, bridge, du‘ā’. One can say as a general proposition in relation to classical Arabic poetry that for it to be regarded as well-composed a qasīda would need to conform to that configuration. A rare exception to that is a qasīda such as that of Sakan, which, while departing from the conventional form, produces a heightened impact through the exceptional, consummate skill of the author.

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Eulogy in epigrams As against those few qasā’id there is a preponderance of epigrams used by the jawārī in praise of men, and vice-versa. That was a common feature of the dilettante salon style of poetry which emerged in the early part of the Abbasid period. After that, poetry took on a lighter form, including topics such as wine and love – licentious and descriptive poetry, in contrast to the ceremonial genre, longer and more complex, which was the domain of professionals. Further, by the third century of the Hijra, the poets no longer spoke as members of a tribal community but as city-dwelling professionals, emerging at the forefront of social and cultural life, and pitting their dilettante poetry, lighter and shorter in form, against the traditional poets.15 The addition of this dilettante poetry to the innovative muhdath style inaugurated by Bashshār b. Burd and Muslim b. Walīd16 contributed to the widening of the gulf between professional and dilettante, in that it rendered the composition of the ceremonial genres, which relied strongly on classical precedent, very difficult to adapt to the dilettante style. If one has to consider the type of poetry produced by the jawārī in the context of the traditional classification of the four primary categories of panegyric postulated by Qudāma., one would notice that while the quality of courage is present in some form or other in the qasā’id, it is all but absent in the epigram addressed by the qayna to a patron at a private sitting or in a note. Of the other ‘moral’ qualities, there is no precise English equivalent to ‘iffa. Its nearest equivalents are ‘decency’, ‘being virtuous’ and ‘clean living’, as illustrated in the following verses of ‘Arīb addressed to al-Mutawakkil, in which ‘iffa is combined with justice:17 No sovereign upholder of the faith who came after the Prophet was more‘afīf than you nor a better keeper of obligations and then switching to the third person, as if addressing the assembly: He unceasingly enveloped the people with justice ever close to piety and distant from falsehood Of the other ‘moral’ qualities, intelligence and generosity are given prominence, the two often combined with each other and with some

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other theme, say that of wine-drinking, as in the following epigram addressed by the slave-girl Rābi‘a to her master Ishāq b. Ibrāhīm b. Mus‘ab:18 Tell the Emir al-Mus‘abī19 brother of noble and munificent deeds He who buys the superior praise by that which is priceless Pass round the wine in the morn and drink with a pleasing countenance And delay not in gaining your pleasure before baleful events should intervene But if you should not take on board what I have here said, who will? The good life for a lad is to drink the wine and forsake care The second verse alludes to a common theme in which praise is either inherited or acquired through one’s own good deeds, and by giving away priceless things to others. This last epigram is an illustration of an advice or exhortation form of eulogy in the form of advice or exhortation. It is also an example of a ‘message’ poem, introduced with qul (tell) . That does not necessarily mean that it was actually conveyed to the patron through the agency of another. The qul is part of the exhortation, as if the poet, in the presence of the patron, is praying others in aid to add their voices to the exhortation.

‘Itāb-madīh (reproach-praise) Of particular importance in the poetry under consideration is the slave-girl’s laudatory epigram in the sub-praise category of reproach (‘itāb). It is a medium through which are expressed the gamut of feelings particularly associated with the travails of amatory relationships: unrequited love, anxiety, suspicion, betrayal, jealousy and desertion. The Imā’ al-shawā‘ir is a rich source of this type of epigram. Some are addressed, not to a lover, but to a patron, as in the following example,

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which is typical open praise coupled with open reproach inspired by jealousy. It is by ‘Arīb addressing al-Mu‘tamid and complaining at his favouring a rival:20 O thou who resemble the bright full moon in perfection and the cousin of the true guiding Prophet Wherefore, my sire and master, did you make my enemy gloat at my misery and lower me [in the eyes of] my friend? But most examples of ‘itāb-madīh are addressed to the woman’s lover. Fadl is the author of several lover’s plaints to her long-term lover Sa‘īd b. Humayd, as in the examples referred to in the relevant subsection in Chapter Three above. Sa‘īd was an intellectual and an influential courtier, sociable and much in demand in the literary salons of the period. Time and again Fadl would write to him expressing anxiety at the prospect of losing him, and reproaching him for straying. Implied in all these reproaches are her love for him and her recognition that he was sought-after by other women. Thus, reproaching him for staying away:21 Patience is running out and sickness is growing the house is near yet you’re far away Shall I complain about you or shall I complain to you for anything else is a vain endeavour and in a stronger tone, going on to ask how could he have left her for another who was in no wise as loving and faithful as herself. There is a charming anecdote involving Sakan, this one the slave of Tāhir b. Husayn. He was a Khurāsānī aristocrat and one of the most prominent officers of the army of al-Ma’mūn, who led his army to final victory in the war between the brothers al-Amīn and al-Ma’mūn.22 Sakan was described as fair-complexioned and as no mean poet, in addition to having a good singing voice as testified to by Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī and Ibrāhīm al-Mawsilī. It is said that when the latter heard her sing as a girl, he exclaimed: ‘I wonder for whom this sword will be sharpened!’23 She was strong in the affections of her master until he acquired another slave-girl, who became his favourite. Sakan wrote to him:24

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To the blessed (‘double right-handed’) Emir of all beneficence – Tāhir b. al-Husayn You were mine for a long time but now I have to share you with one who is undeserving We have held back from you twice what we complained at in your aversion, for the more that’s said the more the hurt The word used in the text to describe the Emir is dhū l-yamīn (‘auspicious’) which is almost certainly wrong. The correct word, so assumed in the translation, is dhū l-yamīnayn (‘he of the two right hands’), which was the customary honorific title of Tāhir, referring to his military power as well as to his civil ascendancy as Governor of Khurāsān. Tāhir b. al-Husayn, having kept away from Sakan for a time, was passing her bed-chamber when she leapt towards him and kissed his hand. Abashed, he promised to spend the night with her. She made preparations to receive him, put on fine clothes and perfumed herself. But Tāhir forgot his promise and spent the night elsewhere. Sakan then charmed him and regained his affection by the following note of reproach:25 O thou the gallant master to your command is submission and to you we look to be cared for We desired the tryst and waited but there was nought but that – so that’s that with an implied twist in the concluding ‘wa l-salām’ which is the normal ending of a letter – as in ‘Best wishes’ or ‘Sincerely’. A very good illustration of the lovers’ reproach relates to the qayna ‘Āmil, the slave of Zaynab bt. Ibrāhīm al-Hāshimiyya. She was an accomplished woman who composed poetry and sang with a good voice. She fell in love with Ibrāhīm b. al-‘Abbās otherwise known as al-Sūlī (d. 234/857),26 one of her patrons, and forsook all other men. When Ibrāhīm left her for another woman she wrote to him accusing him of being duplicitous in love:27 By God, you betrayer of trusts, whom after you can we trust of those we love?

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For shame! Don’t you feel ashamed, ever, when lovers mention those they love? No well-mannered scribe ever deluded me nor any honey-tongued cultured charmer Yet with that tongue of yours you beguiled me for ages – nor knew I that it was false! That is a clear case of praise in reproach, of a woman besotted with a man. Even as she attacks him, she flatters him with allusions to ‘well-mannered scribe’ and ‘honey-tongued cultured charmer’. She does not so much berate his inconstancy as blame herself for falling in love with him, even as she bemoans his loss and wants him back. That the reproach was followed by Ibrāhīm going back to her confirms that he took it in that sense, which served as a means to their making it up. Even where the reproach takes the form of a protest by a slave-girl against the unfairness of her master and his oppressive behaviour, one often sees through it the complaint of a woman enslaved by love, or wanting to appear so, as she fears the loss of favour; and otherwise as reflecting public taste for hearing these things, of which one saw an example in the verses of the slave-girl Nasīm reproaching her master Ahmad b.Yūsuf:28 The above are examples of praise implied in reproach. Conversely, the following is an example of reproach implied in praise. It involves Danānīr, the slave-girl of Ibn Kunāsa. She was both a poet and a singer. Her master had a friend called Abū al-Sha‘thā’, who was given to pleasantry. He would listen to Danānīr as she sang and tell her that he loved her, but would go no further. She composed the following verses, outwardly in praise of his virtue but with an implied reproach for not being bold enough:29 Abū al-Sha‘thā’ has a concealed30 love which is above suspicion O my heart do forsake him and Oh foolish love, be in turmoil for him His bewitching talk pleased me and so did the words of his billets doux

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and praising yet bemoaning the fact that he was too virtuous to be a sexual predator: A hunter of whom the gazelles are trusting as trusting as the gazelles of the holy sanctuary ‘the holy sanctuary’ corresponds to al-Haramayn in the text, that is the two sanctuaries of Mecca and Medina where hunting is forbidden. The girl then switches from the third person to address Abū al- Sha‘thā’, ironically promising to reward him with a rendezvous in paradise, since she despairs of a tryst with him in this life: Pray to God if you wish to get your reward O Abū al- Sha‘thā’ and fast Then your rendez-vous in the day of Resurrection is in the eternal Paradise (God is compassionate) where I shall meet you, a growing strapping lad in whom all good things are combined It is to be a double rendez-vous: with one’s Maker as well as with the girl, and there is a barely concealed reproach in the last line implying that Abū al- Sha‘thā’ has some distance to go in this life before attaining full manhood, since he will still be a ‘growing strapping lad’ in the next. Alternatively, the allusion may be to the belief that in Paradise everyone is young again (the age of 33 often being assumed as ideal).

Praising physical features To Qudāma the physical attributes of a person are not suitable subjects of praise: praising a man for his looks and elegance he regards as both wrong and shameful.31 This is on the grounds that all that is not spiritual or moral is vain, and there is no morality in what physical features one is endowed with. Ibn Rashīq, on the other hand, would allow praise of physical attributes in certain cases. The concept of vanity is well illustrated by the often-related anecdote concerning Sulaymān b. ‘Abd al-Malik. As he came out of the hammām (he was then a caliph) he looked in the mirror, was pleased with what he saw and said, tempting

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fate: ‘I’m the young king’ (or ‘I’m the young lad’). He was then met by one of the women bath attendants, and said to her, full of pride: ‘What think you of me?’ She replied with the oft quoted words:32 From what appears to us there is no foible such that people would see as foible, except that you are mortal You are perfection personified if only you would last but verily no person will last So the story goes, Sulaymān was much affected by those words; he returned home, caught a fever and died that very night. When Qudāma says that a person’s physical attributes are not suitable subjects of praise he is presumably thinking of a man praising another man. As one would expect, the conventional constraints are more relaxed in the case of a woman praising a man. First, because to the extent that the praise is used in an amatory or erotic context, it would be dismissed as being outside the classical conventional rules; and secondly because it is less shameful coming from a woman, and not at all in the mouth of a slave-girl. But there remain, in addition, literary and aesthetic constraints: the matter does not turn simply on questions of what is moral and what is vain. A description of a man in anything but general terms debases him, and a detailed description of the different parts of the body is fit only for the slave market. It is hardly suitable for expressing respect, admiraton and appreciation, the basic components of eulogy. Accordingly, one finds in relation to the jāriya that her praise of a patron, insofar as it deals with physical features, is made in general terms. Further, this is often done by the use of an allegorical device, relying almost exclusively on three themes: light and darkness; the celestial bodies; and the perfumed garden. That said, the allegorical device is not exclusive to the poetry of women slaves. Thus, the metaphor of light, and the comparisons with sun, moon and stars, are ubiquitous in panegyric poetry.

Light and darkness The theme of light and darkness is a major one running through the praise poetry of the women slaves, as it does in any eulogy throughout

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the centuries. The light, symbolising as it did to the Greek philosophers the goodness and knowledge towards which human beings aspired, is likewise equated with happiness, righteousness and justice; while darkness equates to uncertainty and injustice. The patron is himself the light of virtue, guiding the faithful as it dispels the gloom and restores happiness. ‘Light’ here is used simply as metaphor. ‘Inān to al-Mutawakkil:33 Your likeness, O Sire, appeared to dispel the gloom ‘Arīb to al-Mutawakkil celebrating his recovery from illness:34 With your light the happiness of the time is restored and: With the light of his rule the darkness of injustice is lifted from us and:35 By Ja‘far the ways of righteousness are illumined In all the above examples light is used purely in a metaphorical sense. But in the following two examples it is attributed to a body part of the patron, that is the face in the one and the forehead in the other. It is reasonable to infer an intended fusion of the physical with the metaphorical, the physical alluding to the man’s fair complexion:36 The pulpit of Allāh gleamed in the face of his trustee, Ja‘far through which their light is broadcast throughout the land and:37 A king in the lightening of whose forehead we are enveloped as well as in his brightness exceeding all lights

The celestial bodies There is a precedent for the imagery of the moon and stars in pre-Islamic desert poetry, e.g. Imru’ al-Qays’s mu‘allaqa describing the night

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sky and the Pleiades.38 This is a stirring sight for the night traveller in the vast expanse of arid land. A similar feeling would have touched the inhabitants of Abbasid Baghdad. Then as now they would have spent the clear summer nights sleeping in the open air on flat roof-tops and terraces as relief from the stifling heat. In the absence of presentday air and light pollution, the moon and the stars would have shone brightly and have felt very close. In Arabic, unlike some European languages, the moon is masculine, the sun feminine; hence there is no solecism in praising the man by comparing him to the moon as well as to the sun. The Arabic equivalent of the French Roi Soleil would be al-malik al-badr (‘Moon King’). But despite the grammatical gender, shams (sun) is often used for men e.g. Shams al-Dawla, while both sun and moon can be used to describe a man e.g. al-Mutanabbi’s panegyric of Sayf al-Dawla: uhibbuka yā shams al-zamāni wa badruhu (‘I love you, O Sun and full Moon of the age’).39 Further, while the sun is venerated in colder climates, and particularly in agricultural communities, as a giver of life, the poetry of and relating to the slave-girls was composed in a metropolitan society and a hot climate. Accordingly, one finds many examples comparing the male subject of the praise to the full moon: ‘Inān praising Ja‘far al-Barmakī:40 The full moon is his likeness as it appears Is that the full moon of the night in his face or is it that his face is brighter ‘Arīb comparing the illness of al-Mutawakkil to the eclipse of the moon:41 He was just like a full moon affected by a minor eclipse which then cleared away from the full moon and using the same metaphor:42 They came and told me Ja‘far is ill I said to them perchance the full moon is in eclipse and in praise of al-Musta‘īn:43

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He appeared to us the day allegiance was pledged to him of bright light as though the moon and in praise of al-Mu‘tamid:44 By the two moons the world is illumined and tribulation warded off the people The moon of the sky and the face of Ahmad for he has attained the ultimate in beauty Further, the moon is associated with beauty and serenity. Accordingly, one finds the image of the moon also used in relation to women; but the comparison in such a case is usually made, specifically or by implication, to the face, the Arabic word for which is masculine gender. This point is illustrated by the following verses, in which Zamyā’ specifically pleads tolerance of her freckles:45 No antelope with all its beauty ever was spared imperfection nor the proverbial full moon The antelope is snub-nosed while the full moon has the obvious speck The point is even more clearly illustrated in the following verses, attributed to Abū Nuwās and describing his favourite jāriya, Jinān, as he sees her coming away from a lamentation in Basra. He almost compliments the lamentation for its bringing out the full moon, and it is clear from the context that the moon here is not the girl but specifically her face, while the eyes are compared to daffodils, the tears to pearls running down rosy cheeks:46 O moon that a mourning brought out lamenting grievously among its peers It cries and it is pearls shed from daffodils and roses slapped by jujube On the same topic, the following is a revealing anecdote. When the slave-girl Rayyā was offered to al-Mutawakkil for sale, he examined her by asking her to extemporise some verses concerning his army

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commander al-Fath b. Khāqān. This called for a delicate exercise of judgement, in simultaneously praising the caliph and the power behind the throne. She came up with this, using the poetical device of tajāhul al-‘ārif (‘feigned ignorance’):47 I say, having seen the visage of Ja‘far the Imām of righteousness and that of the mighty and glorious al-Fath Is the morning sun or its likeness in Ja‘far’s face? and is Fath the full moon in the sky or its likeness? This particular use of the imagery of sun and moon may be taken to be a deliberate reversal of the roles of the king and the general. If the poet had simply been eulogising al-Mutawakkil in a social setting, she would have been likely to compare him to the moon. But in conjunction with his mighty general, she tactfully acknowledged the formal precedence in authority by comparing the caliph’s face to the sun, with its association of power, while comparing the real power behind the throne to the calm and serene moon. This also mirrored the central and fixed position of the sun in the firmament illumining all around it, in relation to its satellite the moon. The paramountcy of the patron or caliph is never lost sight of – he is the sun whose radiance illuminates the ‘full moons’ of courtiers and boon companions,48 the polar axis round whom revolves the Islamic umma.49 Further, comparisons with the celestial bodies are not only made because of their luminosity, beauty and loftiness, but because they belong to the realm of unchanging, perfect things which one would associate with the divine, unlike the potential corruption of the sub-lunar world.50

The perfumed garden A lesser theme running through the panegyric is the imagery of a perfumed garden, largely an innovation of the Abbasid period at the start of the Persian phase, under al-Rashīd.51 The reference to the man as fragrant shows that it was customary for the men, particularly refined men, to use perfume. Here is Fadl addressing her lover Sa‘īd b. Humayd:52

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O you whom imitates the jasmine and the perfumed scent of the daffodil One may also cite the following description of Rashīd b. Ishāq by the qayna Jullanār, to illustrate the favouring of a fresh, fair complexion, commonly referred to as ‘reddish’:53 If the flowers should disappear in a garden yet the rose will not disappear from his cheeks as well as the following verses of Fadl in praise of Qabīha, who was indisposed, describing her as both pale white and fragrant:54 She is like a withering white flower or a daffodil touched by pleasing and fragrant musk Qabīha (‘the ugly one’) was the favourite slave-girl of al-Mutawakkil and mother of the future caliph al-Mu‘tazz. It was common to give girls disagreeable names – perhaps to draw attention to their beauty by way of contrast or, much more likely, to ward off the evil eye. The orchard with its abundant offering of fruit fits neatly as imagery for the generosity and munificence of the patron, as used in the following example of ‘Arīb praising al-Mutawakkil:55 With your light the delight of the days has returned and swaying are the plants of the garden of generosity and munificence The imageries of light, celestial bodies and the perfumed garden are also extensively used by established male poets in praise of the qiyān. One sees this in the above example of Abū Nuwās describing Jinān coming away from a lamentation, and in which he uses the mixed metaphors of face and full moon, tears and pearls. The following is another example of mixed imagery composed by the celebrated man of letters and mukhadram al-dawlatayn, that is one who straddled the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties, Mutī‘b. Iyās. Rated as a minor poet, he was non-conformist and reputed to associate with zandaqa (heresy or Manichaeism); he is described by al-Isfahānī as zarīf (‘witty’), khalī‘

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(‘depraved’) and mājin (‘a libertine’).56 He refers to his slave-girl Jawhar (‘jewel’) as a priceless pearl, while using the metaphor of the paramount sun, and comparing the transports of physically possessing her to the garden of Eden:57 O Jawhar, to me you are a jewel equal to the celebrated pearls Or like the sun as it shone in her house casting sparks in every heart It’s as if I taste sugar every time I kiss her mouth And as though when I have a tryst with her I’m the possessor of the luxuriant paradise While the expression ‘celebrated pearls’ is used to describe the superior physical qualities of the gem that is Jawhar, it is noteworthy that she was one of the slave-girls of the ‘madame’ Barbar, who used to send her charges to the camp of al-Mahdī to entertain the soldiers. Hence, in referring to Jawhar as a sun in its abode casting a spark in every heart, Mutī‘ in fact alludes to her profession as a girl of pleasure.

Other quai-panegyric themes A subsidiary theme of praise with reference to physical qualities relates to hair turning grey with age, which may also be taken as an example of the paradox of tahsīn al-qabīh (‘the uncomely made more acceptable’).58 But this should perhaps be regarded as a substitute for what Qudāma considers to be the pre-eminent ‘moral’ quality of intelligence improved by experience. At the same time, celebratory poems and those wishing one a long life are considered by Ibn Rashīq to fall outside the scope of madīh: They are mere wishes and expressions of personal affection and loyalty.59 One sees an example of that in the address of Fadl to al-Mutawakkil when she first came before him, which would have been suitable celebratory and wish poetry to be offered to the caliph on the occasion of a religious festival, celebrating his rule and wishing for it to be long (the duration is set at 80 years).

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The point is further illustrated in the following poem of Nabat, the slave-girl of Mikhfarānah. addressing al-Mu‘tamid:60 Happy the Caliph whose face has seen a felicitous year and month O best of caliphs may what pleases you endure in spite of the envious ones A year whose account is set at ninety while the reign of your rule shall firmly hold control The ‘set at ninety’ may imply a pre-ordained duration. The only other explanation appears to be that tis‘īn (90) is wrong, a corruption of sab‘īn (70) – hence referring to the year 270 (al-Mu‘tamid reigned from 256/870 to 279/892). The expression ‘felicitous year and month’ suggests that the verses may have been addressed to the caliph on the occasion of a religious festival falling one month after the anniversary of his accession. But the poet may have simply intended to mean that the present year and the present month are favourable. One also finds in the following an example of wish poetry combined with grey hair as denoting experience and wisdom. It is a charming discourse between al-Mu‘tadid and Bid‘a, the slave-girl of ‘Arīb. Upon his return from the campaign of Wasīf, Bid‘a called on him. She said, ‘Sire, your trip has turned your hair grey’, to which he replied that his hair would have turned grey by far less than he had been through: as a prince he had led a military campaign against the zanj. Later, as caliph, he maintained close relations with the army, leading it in person and spending most of his reign on campaigns.61 Bid‘a later composed and sang:62 What though your hair has turned grey, O lord of the people, by affairs and grave matters that vexed you Yet your grey hair has added to your comeliness the beginning of greying hair is the perfection of wisdom She also said to him: ‘May Allāh grant you a long life such that you will see the hairs of your grand-sons turn grey.’ She added, using the

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traditional moon imagery to describe the warrior-caliph, that with his grey hair he looked better than the moon. Another quasi-panegyric theme that one finds in Imā’ expresses longing for the presence of the master and sadness at his absence, as illustrated by the slave-girl Murād bemoaning the departure of her master:63 May my soul and my heart be a ransom for him who departed away from us and went to dwell in the mountains Happiness left us and became distant the day that he bade us farewell and left worry in us instead In one sense this may be regarded as a form of praise, alluding by implication to the ‘moral’ quality of justice, which according to Qudāma, encompasses gentleness, fair treatment and responsiveness to need. But it is more than praise: the separation from the master is a cause for real anxiety, given the precarious situation of the slavewoman. With a steady supply of fresh talent from the slave markets, separation from the master, even for a short period, is bound to cause insecurity.

Praise and public celebrations It is worth noting in passing that the anniversaries of accession to the caliphate or throne did not form part of traditional Arab culture. The state celebrations with poetry and music were confined to feast days and mawlūd (literally ‘born’) celebrating the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet. There are recorded instances of certain free-born, highborn women being allowed to attend such celebrations to join the rank of poets offering praise and celebratory poems. Al-Isfahānī singles out al-Hajnā’ bt. Nusayb mentioned further down in chapter eight, who attended the court of al-Mahdī.64 Likewise, al-Tanūkhī mentions two women, ‘Ābida al-Juhaniyya and ‘Ātika al-Makhzūmiyya, being present together with other male poets at the majālis of ‘Adud al-Dawla on the day of ‘Īd al-Fitr, which celebrated the breaking of the fast at the end of the month of Ramadān in the year 367/978 each reciting a poem

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in his praise.65 But there is nothing to indicate that the slave-women poets participated in such formal sessions. This leaves one to speculate whether it was deemed socially unseemly for them to be jostling and vying with the ‘establishment’ male poets and free women, and in the presence of the ‘ulamā’ and other dignitaries, rendering homage to caliphs and princes on formal state occasions. That is hardly surprising – even such an intellectual luminary as Ishāq al-Mawsilī had to work very hard to be admitted to the formal audiences of al-Ma’mūn, with the writers, intellectuals and clerics, rather than with mere singers.66 The one exception that one finds in the Imā’ al-shawa‘ir of a slave-girl participating in such celebrations is of Fadl being involved in the celebration of Nawrūz by al-Mutawakkil and his slave concubine Qabīha. But this was a domestic, non-ceremonial scene.67 As a poetical genre the panegyric holds a very exalted position in Arabic literature generally. It has been so widespread that only a few poets, e.g. Abū al-‘Atāhiya, prided themselves on not using it at all, or on using it only sparingly. The public poetry of the Abbasid court was largely praise poetry, recited in the great assemblies when both courtiers and a wider public would appear before the caliph. For the world of the qiyān, the madīh was its life blood. The very mention of qiyān evokes images of flattery of the patrons, while the composition of poems on the theme of praise was an essential tool of their trade. This, particularly in the case of epigrams, tended to follow set patterns, so that one suspects that many of the epigrams were pre-composed for use time and again, with minor variations, whenever there was occasion to impress and flatter a new patron. This was mirrored by stereotyped poetry written by establishment male poets, often publicity poems composed, on commission, in praise of the charms of particular qiyān and their respective houses, and mixed with expressions of carnal desire and pleas for sexual favours, which in turn tended towards the growth of the erotic poetry that featured so significantly as a component of the Abbasid era’s cultural legacy.

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CHAPTER SIX

AL-IMĀ’ AL-SHAWĀ‘IR AS MOURNERS

Historical reference The term qayna is generally taken to be derived from qayn, meaning blacksmith or craftsman.1 Apparently this is not unique to Arabic:2 ‘The musician represents the spiritual world. He is the “blacksmith” of song and in West Africa he sometimes wears a costume not unlike that of a smith.’ But it is probable that the word relates to the oldest function of a qayna as a professional mourner. It has been argued that the term goes back to the Biblical Hebrew qīna (‘lamentation’), which seems to have survived in the expression yiqra qīna (‘he recites qīna’) used to this day in the Baghdadi Jewish dialect to describe a person pejoritively as a ‘moaner’.3 There is a suggestion4 that the term hudā’ (camel driver’s song) was developed out of the bikā’ (‘lament’) of the women, out of which came the term nawh (‘elegy’). The word qayna appears to be used in the sense of a mourner by Būrān eulogising her husband al-Ma’mūn:5 Support me in weeping and spread the news after the Imām is no more I have become a qayna to grief I was mistress of the Time but when he died Time became my master The lamentation (marthiya) occupies a position of importance in Arabic literature, on account of both its volume and its content. One

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notes the dominance of the monothematic lamentation in women’s poetry.6 It is traditionally the function of women to lament a male member of the group:7 It was customary for the mother, a sister or a daughter of the deceased, originally perhaps with the intention of appeasing his soul, and in any event as a means of perpetuating his renown, to commemorate his noble qualities and exploits and to express the grief of the family and the tribal group, in a short piece composed in sadj‘, normalisation in verse form being of a later development. In the transition from sadj‘ to verse, it seems that women retained their role in the lamentation and celebration of the deceased.

Lamentation by men over women Lamentations by men over women are unusual. Where they exist, they are mostly addressed to a wife or concubine, rarely to a mother, and very exceptionally to anyone who does not fall within one or other of these categories of women. A typical elegy combines two principal components: an expression of grief for the loss of the deceased, and a celebration of the latter’s life and achievements. Ibn Rashīq, in his ‘Umda, considered the lamentation to be comparable to the panegyric in the sense that it is the celebration of the life of one or several individuals. The eulogy component of an elegy can take two forms: conventional and special. The conventional (or ceremonial) can be used in relation to any death. It is commonly used by professional mourners and expressed, in its barest commercial form, in such formulas as ‘X is not dead whose son is Y, and the youth Z is the epitome of youth’. As for the special form, it addresses the particular exploits and public virtues of the departed. Ibn Rashīq has this in mind when he observes:8 ‘There is no difference between lamentation and eulogy, other than that one adds to the lamentation an expression to indicate that it is addressed to one who is deceased.’ In what follows, it is in this latter, that is the special form, that eulogy as a component of the lamentation is considered. It sits

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uncomfortably in a lamentation for the death of a woman who, being a woman, occupies a lowly social profile. Not for her the exploits; and virtuous though she may be, her virtues are rarely public. When Jarīr elegised his wife Khālida he was rebuked by al-Farazdaq for mourning the passing of a mere woman. In his marāthī, Ibn al-Rūmī9 in effect lamented his wife only as part of a whole family, which included mother, brother and sons. Such limitation of scope in mourning for women is illustrated by the verses of Muhammad b. Kunāsa on the death of his slave-girl Danānīr:10 Praise to God who has no partner11 would that what befell me because of you had not happened If the words spoken about you are few it’s only that I am tongue-tied by the depth of grief The grief may be deeply felt; but it is not difficult to see other reasons for the paucity of the words. The departed being a woman and a slave, there are no great and famous exploits of hers to celebrate; while an expression of passionate intensity for her loss would have been seen as a weakness in a man and a slave-master. Of course that did not stop some men from expressing their deepfelt grief for the loss of a woman and even a slave-girl. There is Shājī, the singing slave-girl of ‘Ubaydallāh b. ‘Abdallāh b. Tāhir, whom he had educated and who excelled in setting verses to music. According to al-Isfahānī,12 al-Mu‘tadid much admired her singing, and every time he came by some verses that he liked he would send them to her to set to song. Because of that link with the Palace, her craft was generally known as Ghinā’ al-Dār (‘palace singing’). When she died her master mourned her, he himself being then seriously ill:13 [I swear] a true oath that had I been afflicted by her loss while there was [still] in me a vein for life or was no longer at death’s door I would have killed this my soul before letting myself be separated from her but she died while my soul had already departed

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There is no element of praise in those verses, in the sense of specifically lauding the qualities of the deceased. Further, the master’s weakness in mourning a slave-girl in such hyperbolical form is masked by his own severe debility. In fact what one might understand his words to demonstrate is that his illness is bearing more heavily on him than the death of his favourite jāriya. He seems to be saying, out of self-pity: ‘There is no need for me nearly to kill myself to join her in death – I am dead already.’ A rare example in classical poetry of a man using praise in mourning a woman unrelated to him is found in al-Mutanabbī lamenting the mother of Sayf al-Dawla.14 But this praise may be regarded as conventional/ceremonial.

Lamentation as a womanly function According to Ibn Rashīq the fact that the lamentation is mainly the function of women is due to their low capacity for endurance, making them able to express their grief unreservedly. This low capacity is said to give their compositions a passionate note of intensity and spontaneity. Yet in the case of a lamentation by a slave-woman the spontaneity of the rithā’ tends generally not to be accompanied by the component of praise. Just as praise tends to be absent from the lamentation for the death of a woman, so, for a different reason, it tends to be absent in the case of a lamentation by the woman slave of the death of her master. That this is so is a reflection of the special personal relationship that binds them – an exclusive personal relationship of the slave with the master, his household, family and social group; but this lasts only as long as the slave remains in the ownership of the master. There is not even an expectation that on his death she would necessarily be retained in the bosom of the master’s immediate family as part of their inheritance. Hence the tendency is for the lamentation of the slave-woman to be confined to the expression of grief, and not to overlay it with praise of the departed master’s public persona. As the slave-woman laments the passing of her master she contemplates the prospects of being the slave of another. Another factor which would account for the absence of madīh in such lamentations is the wide social gulf that exists between slave and master. The benefit that the subject of the praise gets from

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the eulogy depends on the social status of the one who is offering the praise – approval coming from a superior, appreciation from a peer and deference from a subordinate; in all these aspects there is to various extents an implied exercise of judgement, without which the praise would be hollow; but the status of a slave, a fortiori a slave-girl, lamenting a master, is lower even than a subordinate, being no better than a chattel. It is not for her to judge and express an opinion. It may even seem presumptuous to laud the public virtues of the departed master in other than conventional and general terms.

‘Addādāt (professional mourners) Here is an instructive description of a scene of lamentation over the death of the senior army commander ‘Alī b. Hishām, who, after holding a very high position fell into disfavour, was condemned for abuse of power, was executed. The women of the household came together to mourn, and professional mourners (‘addādāt, sg.‘addāda) were also in attendance, as was normal. Their function as ‘addādāt was to ‘addid (‘enumerate’) the achievements of the departed. Mutayyam and Murād were two accomplished qiyān of the household, and as such it was expected of them to make a significant contribution to mourning their dead master. Murād composed lamentations in verse which Mutayyam set to dirges. The women of the household raised their voices, weeping and wailing, and responding chorus-like to the dirges:15 Oh eye, shed tears profusely with wailing for calamities not for obliterated atlāl For ‘Alī, Ahmad and Husain also for Nasr and after him al-Khalīl and:16 Is there anyone who would help me in weeping [shedding] a tear or blood And that’s too little for noble sayyids

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I mourn them in the morn with deep sorrow and in the eve It is unclear from the text who the named persons were, whether members of the family or others who may have shared the fate of ‘Alī b. Hishām. One may see in those verses an emotion which goes beyond a slave’s concern for her future after her owner’s death.17 The emotion may well have been present, strong and true. But those lamentations, with the classical allusion to atlāl and the use of such expressions as ‘abratin wa-dimā’(a tear and drop of blood), rhyming with li-l-sādati al-nujabā’ (noble lords), as well as the restriction of the praise element to the reference to ‘noble sayyids’, may also strike one as basically conventional/ ceremonial. Absent are the tones of personal, passionate intensity and spontaneity. The reference to atlāl is also significant for another stylistic reason: lamentation over the remains of an abandoned encampment was a common trope in classical poetry, usually part of, or combined with, the nasīb part of the qasīda.18 Ibn Rashīq observes that it is virtually unknown for poets to introduce the rithā’ by a nasīb, and he points to the elegy of Durayd b. al-Simma as an exception.19 There is an echo of that in the words of Murād. Do not shed tears for obliterated atlāl, says the slave-girl, there is no place for this when it is time for real tears to be shed. Yet this perhaps calls for a qualification: even as they call for tears to be shed for the dead and not for obliterated atlāl, the grieving women can contemplate their own ruin – the real and imminent risk of the break-up of their small community, and the loss of hearth, home and close human associations. But that is to come later: the more immediate event is the loss of the men whose deaths they are gathered to lament. More significant in the circumstances is the absence of any special praise for the deceased in the jawārī’s dirges. It may not have been felt to be their place, as jawārī, to enumerate the virtues and achievements of the deceased: this was left to the ‘addādāt, whose function it was.

Harem intrigue explanation of a statesman’s fall But leaving aside the conventions relating to rithā’, there can be no doubt of the deep loss felt by the household at the downfall and killing

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of ‘Alī b. Hishām. The event was of cataclysmic dimensions for those involved. Ibn Hishām had held a powerful position as a senior commander in the army of al-Ma’mūn, and as leader of the expedition against the rebel Bābak. He was then charged with oppressive conduct and corruption. Al-Ma’mūn had him killed, and his estates confiscated.20 Another explanation has been suggested for his fall: according to Ibn al-Mu‘tazz, cited by al-Isfahānī, al-Ma’mūn admired Mutayyam and asked ‘Alī b. Hishām to make him a gift of her. ‘Alī prevaricated, and got the girl pregnant to put him off. If that is a true story then it makes more poignant the fact that Mutayyam took a leading part in the lamentation of her master. But that latter explanation is more likely to be apocryphal: in the world of rumours and story-telling the popular tendency is to find the explanation for an act of state in what Hugh Kennedy categorises as the ‘harem intrigue explanation of historical events’21 rather than in the convoluted intricacies of realpolitik. It is interesting to find in the Aghānī a variant of the second verse of the last-quoted dirge above:22 And that for the loss of a friend of noble sayyids This variant may have been an acknowledgment of the arrival of Rayyiq, jāriya of Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī. And one has there another interesting detail: from being the holder of high office, and a bosom friend of the great and the good, ‘Alī b. Hishām was now struck down and his family laid low. A purged statesman has few friends. Hence the poignancy of the question whether there were any left who would help his grieving household. Rayyiq did call. She was only a slave-girl. But her attendance would have been taken to be representing her master. Accordingly, there was at least one ‘noble sayyid’ signalling delicately and cautiously through the attendance of his favourite jāriya that he acknowledged the memory of the deceased as a friend. It is interesting to note in that respect that when al-Ma’mūn turned against ‘Alī b. Hishām and had him imprisoned Mutayyam pleaded for mercy for her master through Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī who, acting as a go-between, carried her plea to the caliph: but to no avail.23

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Lamentation a duty Praise, in the sense indicated above – that is lauding the qualities of the public persona – is also absent from ‘Inān’s lamentation over her former slave-master, al-Nātifī. After her emancipation she emigrated to Egypt where she was to spend the rest of her life. When years later she received news of his death she responded with what may be categorised as conventional lamentation:24 O Fate! You have annihilated centuries nor were you sated until you shot al-Nātifī with your arrow And O Nātifī! – now departed from us – you were not the first to be called who responded to the call This also follows another poetical tradition, rooted in fatalism, according to which one commonly includes in the lamentation the observation that nothing can escape that which is fated: what is written cannot be erased:25 ‘Many poets remembering the widespread, nay universal, belief of the ancient Arabs in fatalism, embellish their poems with descriptions to show that nothing can escape inevitable fate’ In the case of the qiyān who are members of the deceased’s household their contribution to the lamentation in verse or dirge, or both, is a duty. Further, particularly in relation to the deaths of high-ranking men, one finds examples of qiyān taking part in the mourning process however tenuous their connection with the deceased and his household may have been; some such participation would have meant no more than the discharge of a social duty or rite. Such was the case of Danānīr, slave-girl of Muhammad b. Kunāsa, who on seeing that a guest of her master’s was sad, and learning that he had just come back from burying his brother, felt the need to console him as a social duty:26 You wept for a brother of yours from Quraysh so your weeping made us weep, O Alī, We had no report of him but the purity [of heart] of [his] friends is plain for all to see

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meaning that the true grief of those who knew him so testified to the goodness of the deceased as to bring tears to the eyes of the slave-girl in sympathy. One can find several examples of lamentations by qiyān which express personal loss and grief, but which are at the same time devoid of praise. There is Nasīm lamenting her master Ahmad b. Yūsuf al-Kātib, otherwise known as Abū Kunāsa:27 Would that my soul was your ransom! If in all the people were what’s in me because of you they would have wished to be dead For mankind one death is fated but to me are given many deaths through care and grief

Theme of fatalism in elegies The following further composition of Nasīm’s mourning for her master can be said not to fit the usual pattern in that it is not only devoid of personal grief; but is at first sight all eulogy for bravery. Yet on closer examination one sees that the case is less one of eulogy than of the theme of fatalism and of the impossibility of avoiding death:28 If Death had ever feared a living being before him it would not have come to him or would have approached him with awe And if Perdition had ever feared a living being before him surely the earth could not have gained him In the next example one finds Tatrīf29 lamenting the death of al-Ma’mūn in a basically ceremonial, dry style, also referring to the ‘fated’ death, devoid alike of all expressions of personal loss and grief, and of any references to the particular virtues of the departed caliph:30 Oh my Sire,31 I do not forget to mourn whoever announces [his] death, announces the death of good life itself

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By God, I did not think that I would be standing to mourn him among those that weep By God if fate could be persuaded I would have ransomed him with my soul

Lamentation by qiyān There is real grief, but no praise, in the lamentation over Ja‘far alMutawakkil by his favourite concubine, Mahbūba. When in grief for the slaying of her master, and paraded before his successor, she refused to join in the celebration of the new reign. Instead she defied the new caliph by lamenting her dead master:32 What pleasure is left for me in a life without Ja‘far A king whom my eyes saw prostrate and covered in dust Everyone suffering sickness and sadness may be cured Except Mahbūba who if she could find death for sale Would buy it with all her worldly goods so that she would fade away and be buried To one who is grieving death is better than longevity There is sincerity of feeling in the above, demonstrated by the simplicity of the metre and the absence of metaphor. It is a simple, unadorned statement of loss by a woman, as if made to herself while oblivious of the presence of others. To a slave-girl, bereavement is compounded by the change in her personal situation brought about by the death of her master. She no longer has his protection, and there is no telling what the future may hold for her. The more valuable she is the more likely that she would be sold, often by public auction, as part of the administration of the estate. Such was the lot of ‘Inān: when her master al-Nātifī died she was taken to Bāb al-Karkh to be auctioned, it is said at the instigation

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of al-Rashīd, who had always wanted to acquire her. The acute sense of insecurity is evident in the words of Fadl as she contemplates uncertain future events the morning after the palace coup in which the caliph was murdered. The texts are uncertain as to whether the events referred to were the assassination of al-Muntasir or al-Mu‘tazz, or even al-Mutawakkil.33 This is lamentation over an event in which neither grief nor praise is present, only feelings of loss and anxiety:34 The times are exacting a vengeance from us which has caught us heedless and unwary What is it about me that fate [its grudge] should be fixed on me may there never be a cause for a feud between me and the times Further, whatever good fortune might await the slave-girl, one consequence of the death of the master is often her separation from his household, and with that the break-up of whatever close relationships she might have built up over the years with other women, harā’ir and jawārī. She would then have to adjust to a new life and new relationships. Again using the death of ‘Alī b. Hishām as an example, the situation is summed up in the short poem by Mutayyam, displaying the sense of bereavement and loss resulting from the change of circumstances. She composed it some time after the death of her master as she went past his house, which by then was deserted and covered in dust and detritus. She fainted, then recovered to give vent to her feelings:35 Oh home whose ruins have not yet been effaced God forbid that your ruins should disappear I weep not for your ruins but for my life within you which has gone I had love in you for a time whom the dust has covered while still unabated Thus I shed abundant tears for the loss of that love when I think where that love now dwells [But] life has a first call he who grieves must yet be consoled

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One finds unusual linguistic features in the above. As it appears in the text, the word hawā (‘love’) may be intended to stand for two things: as referring to the person of al-Mutawkkil, and as having the ordinary abstract meaning of ‘love’, the latter unabated. The ‘consoled’ in the last line is a translation of yaslā, which can also mean ‘forget’. One observes the absence of praise altogether in relation to the ‘love’ whose loss is felt with such obvious passion. But in addition to the lamentation for the dead master, one now sees tears shed for the ruins of the home which had been her world in better times, and a desire that its memory (atlāl) should not disappear altogether.

Lamentation by women over a brother By way of contrast one may refer to examples of lamentations by freeborn women in which the component of special praise is as prominent as the passionate intensity and spontaneity of the personal grief. There is Fāri‘a bt. Tarīf lamenting her brother al-Walīd, who led a Khārijī uprising during the reign of al-Rashīd. Following a series of brilliant incursions, which spread panic in the suburbs of Baghdad, the insurrection was put down after a ferocious battle in which al-Walīd fought valiantly, and was slain.36 Al-Fāri‘a stood over his grave to lament him:37 In the hill of Nuhākī is the mark of a grave prominent as if it were atop a mountain peak Therein lies the epitome of generosity and [brilliant] achievement The strength of a lion and the judgment of the wise The first three verses constitute the praise component of the lamentation; they are reminiscent of a famous line in the elegy of al-Khansā’38 for her brother Sakhr: The [very] guides look to Sakhr for guidance as if he were a fire atop a mountain peak That verse became a common saying: ashharu min nārin ‘alā ‘alam (‘more prominent than a beacon atop a mountain peak’). Al-Fāri‘a then

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moves on to the grief component of the lamentation, starting with a criticism of nature itself for being indifferent to the loss, and juxtaposing the reality of Walīd being killed in the spring, which is associated with the rebirth of nature, and the death of spring in the eyes of his sister: O trees of Khabūr, wherefore are you in leaf as if not mourning for Ibn Tarīf We lost him and it was like the loss of Spring well could we have ransomed him by our sayyids in their thousands It is worth observing in passing that these lamentations by Bint Tarīf and Khansā’ belong to a specific genre of elegiac poetry – that of a woman mourning her brother, as in the other examples of Bint al-Tāhiriyya elegising her brother Yazīd, as well as Khirniq, responsible for a number of elegies, mostly concerning her brother Tarafa.39 One finds in these elegies a visceral passion of such intensity that it often surpasses what is felt for the loss of a husband or a lover. The brother is bound to the woman poet by blood ties: he represents the vigour, protection, pride and renewal (the Spring) of family and tribe. His death is felt by the sister as a personal loss, and by the family and the tribe as the loss of part of their future. A psychologist may find the passion of the sister to be rooted in a more basic instinct. As contact between the sexes outside wedlock is strictly circumscribed in Arab society, one can well imagine that to a pubescent girl the brother represents all that is admirable in growing manhood, imbuing her with a feeling that once developed is carried into womanhood. It is interesting to hear ‘Alī b. Hishām referring to his slave-girl Mutayyam: ‘She loves me with an intense love surpassing a sister’s love for her brother.’40 Such an observation carries the added poignancy in the special situation of a slave-girl who, removed from the bosom of her family as a child, finds herself deprived of contact with a brother in her formative years, and who, as in the case of Mutayyam, would invest her passion in her master instead.41 The point of distinction between a free-born woman and a slavewoman in mourning for a man can best be illustrated by setting the

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following lamentation by a free-born, high-born woman against the above examples of lamentations by qiyān. It is by Lubāba bt. ‘Alī b. al-Mahdī,42 who had gone through a marriage ceremony with al-Amīn. But before the marriage was consummated al-Amīn was killed in the dénoument of the civil war between him and his halfbrother al-Ma’mūn. Lubāba added her lamentation to that of al-Amīn’s mother Zubayda:43 I weep for you – not for the bliss and happiness but for the glories and the lance and the shield I weep for a knight of whom I am bereaved [a bereavement] that widowed me before the wedding night Oh knight, prostrate in the open field betrayed by his officers and guards Who will be for the orphans as they go hungry and for every one who is needy and for every prisoner And for the wars that you fought whose fires were kindled without a spark? In that poem one finds the expression of personal loss ‘widowed before the wedding night’ combined with reference to al-Amīn as the possessor of qualities traditionally accepted as deserving of praise in a man: courage, represented by ‘the lance and the shield’; justice, in the reference to ‘every prisoner’; generosity, in the reference to the orphans; and intelligence/sagacity in the reference to being involved in wars ‘kindled without a spark’, i.e. without a casus belli attributable to the deceased, thereby seeking perhaps to exonerate him from the charge that he had provoked the war by attempting to deny succession to his half-brother. It is difficult to imagine a qayna bold enough to lament a master by such a mixture of grief and praise, as well as inveighing against an enemy, let alone no lesser an enemy than the caliph himself, who had triumphed over the deceased. ‘Arīb, who of all the qiyān was the most secure socially and politically, appears to provide an exception, but even that in circumstances where the risk of consequences would have been remote. It concerned ‘Abbās b. al-Ma’mūn, who for a time was a pretender to the throne, challenging his uncle, al-Mu‘tasim.

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While he recanted and swore fealty to the caliph, this did not stop his supporters from plotting a palace coup to get rid of al-Mu‘tasim and put him on the throne. The conspiracy was foiled and the conspirators paid with their lives. Although ‘Abbās had taken no active part in the conspiracy he was confined to prison for the rest of his days. When news of his death came out it was rumoured that he had been murdered at the instigation of the caliph. ‘Arīb rallied to the caliph publicly and sought to quash the rumour:44 O you, by whose death Time is filled with pride petty was Time in comparison when you were alive They alleged that you were killed and that they had the proof nay, by God, proof they had not In the above verses ‘Arīb cleverly engages in pure propaganda, and special pleading: She gloats at the fall and death of ‘Abbās; she neither affirms that he was not killed nor that killing him was or would have been wrongful. All she says is that the allegation is unproven. The lamentation occupies an important place in Arabic poetry. Nearly every anthology has a chapter devoted to elegies. As a literary theme it will always hold a special place in Arabic poetry, and pride of place as poetry among the multitudinous forms of lamentation and epitaph. The qayna is generally circumscribed in the praise component of the lamentation since that connotes a judgemental attitude which is incompatible with her status of slave; the full gamut of the lamentation falls to the free woman; while the eulogy component in particular is left to the professional ‘addādāt.

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CHAPTER SEVEN

AL-IMĀ’ AL-SHAWĀ‘IR AS SATIRISTS AND LAMPOONISTS

Satire and invective The Arabic term hijā’ does not quite correspond to the Western meaning of satire. In its general application it corresponds more closely to invective or curse. Goldziher, considering it with reference to its preIslamic use, concluded that in its original form it was an incantation:1 The origins of the hidjā’ are perhaps connected with the old concept according to which the utterance pronounced in solemn circumstances by those who have the mental aptitude and requisite qualities exercises an ineluctable influence upon the persons (also the things) to whom this utterance is addressed. In the primitive hidjā’, the poet thus appears with the magic force of his utterance inspired by the djinn. The statements constituting the hija’ may be out of touch with reality, but they fulfil a purpose as invective, ascribing to the satirised or defamed person stupidity, cowardice, injustice and immorality, and thereby acting as a balm to soothe the feelings of anxiety, frustration, anger, fear and outrage of those on the same side as the speaker. Generally speaking, the qualities that are deprecated are the antithesis

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of the conventional primary qualities of intelligence, bravery, justice and ‘iffa that one finds in eulogy. Further, the hijā’, more than other forms of speech, lends itself more naturally to exaggeration and excess:2 To examine the matter more closely, it seems much more difficult to compose credible panegyric than an abusive poem, for it is not necessary to possess much critical sense to discern the extravagance of the eulogy, whereas the more excessive the attacks the more acceptable they appear, at least in the eyes of the poet’s friends, and the hidjā’ seems to some extent to be more appropriate to a milieu where hatred was deeper and more frequent than sincere disinterested friendship But one should not conclude that it is easier to compose a ‘credible’ abusive poem or hijā’ than a credible panegyric. Rather it is that credibility is rarely aimed for in the hijā’ – the slander does not depend on veracity for effect. The ridicule and social opprobrium produced by a colourful imagery and a deft use of verse ascribing to an individual or to a group some base qualities such as cowardice, avarice or stupidity does not depend on the listeners believing that those who are defamed are truly cowardly or avaricious or stupid. That said, a factual basis for the hijā’ can only add to the effect. ‘Cast down your eyes,’ the speaker would say, addressing an adversary, ‘you are only of Numayr, nor have you attained the rank of the tribe of Ka‘b, nor even of Kilāb’.3 That such a statement can be recognised as true and devoid of exaggeration makes it particularly humiliating, and would fill the bosom of the listener with a glow of satisfaction, particularly if he happened to be of the tribe of Kalb or was otherwise resentful of whatever respect the Numayr claimed for themselves. On the other hand, there are many examples of hijā’ which prima facie are no more than fun (mizāh) exchanged between friends. The hijā’ is less subject to social constraint than praise, and was often used with no constraint at all – immoral, coarse, obscene. Classical Arabic literature was particularly rich in this genre of lampoons and invective compared with other ‘polite’ literatures – not because the Arabs or those who used Arabic in the Middle Ages had a natural

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propensity for malign abuse and foul-mouthed scurrility, but because the invective and the lampoon were allowed to be and became accepted as a part of the general body of Arabic literature, including what is commonly called polite literature, and so preserved for posterity.

Scope of invective The status of the slave-girl poets as slaves limited their scope for invective, and doubly so as women. A slave could not satirise let alone lampoon the master class – this would not have been tolerated – and it was very unusual even for the free women to engage in invective poetry.4 The slave would even have to be guarded in lampooning or cursing another slave, lest the words be taken by association as an insult to or an invective against the other slave’s master. There were in any event risks involved in using invective even among the Banū Hāshim, as is illustrated by the following example. ‘Abdallāh b. Muhammad b. Ayyūb al-Taymī, in order to curry favour, not only praised the caliph al-Amīn but at the same time criticised his half- brother and his adversary in the civil war which had settled their rival claims to the caliphate. He had to use all his ingenuity and poetical skill to extricate himself when al-Ma’mūn succeeded to the caliphate.5 The risks involved in the use of hijā’ were such that some poets hesitated to make use of it.6 To the qayna, it would have been particularly inappropriate and dangerous to engage in social and political satire. Another limitation was that as a slave she was on the margin of society. She lived and worked as part of Abbasid society without being of it. Hers was not to engage in collective hijā’, to sing the praises of her own tribe while casting aspersions on others’. What then is left for her was a particular form of satire, or rather lampooning, traded with rival professional poets and entertainers. An important, if not the most important, stock in trade of the Abbasid qayna was the repartee. The salons of the qiyān and their masters were open, not only to the men of wealth and influence; aristocrats, courtiers, army officers and chancery clerks, but also to the leading poets and men of letters of the day. This openness was good for publicity: it allowed the qayna and her salon the opportunity to become popular. It was also necessary for the cut and thrust of clever

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repartee, which often took the form of coarse lampoons, enlivening the proceedings without giving offence since it was an exchange between members of the demi-monde. The arrangement benefited both sides. The guest poets enjoyed the hospitality on offer, and shared the benefits of the publicity with the qayna. A trading of insults or provocations in quotable expressions, however gross they might be – or even because of their grossness – kept one’s name in the public eye; while the literary form of hijā’ being very supple, it allowed the use of generally simple language.7 This style is particularly suited to the extempore repartee, the salacious allusions and the informal setting of a salon. The following is an example of such a memorable and quotable exchange, ascribing to the ones on the receiving end qualities that are the antithesis of the ‘moral’ virtues traditionally identified in panegyric. Here is Abū Nuwās making a devastating attack on ‘Inān:8 ‘Inān of al-Nātif is a slave-girl whose cunt has become a public concourse for fucking None will buy her but if he be the son of a whore or a pimp whosoever he may be What is particularly devastating in these verses is that they not only refer to ‘Inān’s sexual promiscuity but also affect her marketability and value, by targeting her would-be buyers. The circulation of the words on people’s lips was cause enough to put al-Rashīd off buying her. ‘Inān responded in kind, addressing Abū Nuwās by using the nisba Nuwāsī derogatively, while casting doubt on his public standing as a poet by alleging that he had attained his eminence through his association with her, berating him for slandering others and for his abuse of hospitality, his perfidy and his base character.9 And for an example of meanness (the antithesis of generosity) as a topic of mild hijā’ one would refer to the humorous exchange between Abū Nuwās and ‘Inān as he asked her for the bunch of daffodils which she held in her hand.10

Invective by association While the collective or tribal invective is absent, whether by or against the slave-girls, the following is an example of invective by association.

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It is a feud, a salacious saga, involving Khansā’, the slave of Hishām al-Makfūf (‘the blind’). The very same anecdote is ascribed to Khansā’, a slave-girl of Hāshim al-Nahwī (‘the grammarian’). She and Fadl were social rivals, and exchanged ribald verses. Fadl was championed by a poet, Abū l-Shibl ‘Āsim b. Wahb, a celebrated humorist and lampoonist11 who satirised Khansā’. The latter had two other poets as supporters, al-Qasīdī and al-Hafsī, who in turn attacked Fadl. The hallmark of these exchanges is the use of expressions which are devoid of artistry and of such unrestrained salaciousness that they barely rise above the bawdy language of a brothel. One such exchange was started by Abū al-Shibl12: Fly with two wings, O Khansā’, for now you have two base men as lovers While some other loves one lover you desire two lovers There is that Qasīdī and then that Hafsī lad who called on you one after the other You thrived on the one and on the other as the pig thrives on two privies Al-Khansā’ response was addressed to Fadl herself: That’s not you talking, O Fadl, rather it’s the talk of two pigs in turn His kunya [sobriquet] is ‘father of a lion cub’ but if ever his eyes saw a lion he’ll shit twelve arseloads One observes that in her response, al-Khansā’ did not confine herself to attacking Fadl for absence of ‘iffa (decency), but added to it the cowering (antithesis of courage) of her supporter while making fun of his name, Abū l-Shibl. Salaciousness apart, the two parts of that exchange illustrate the simple, unadorned, conversational style in verse which marks the many exchanges involving qiyān. On another occasion al-Khansā’ and Abū l-Shibl castigated each other’s verses, alleging them to be inferior to their own with Khansā’ even claiming credit for

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using restraint in the vile language which she hurled at Fadl: ‘Would that I knew what you have to show off for. By God, I am a better poet than you, and if I had wanted to, I would so satirise you as to cover you in disgrace.’ Abū l-Shibl replied in verse, redolent of sarcasm and coining some quality satire. Khansā’ is addressed here as Hasnā’ (‘beautiful woman’) which, if not due to some clerical or editorial error, would have been intended to reinforce the sarcasm with mockery:13 Hasnā’ has gone too far against us so that we have no one to fend her off! She bragged to us about her poetry as though Jarīr had fucked her and she was thereby infected by Jarīr’s satirical art – he was one of the most eminent poets of the Umayyad period, and particularly noted for his acerbic satire. Further, Fadl mocked the quality of al-Khansā’s conversation and poetry:14 Verily Hasnā’ – may I not be her ransom – al-Kassār15 bought her from her master She has a breath such that those facing her would say is that her talk or her fart In turn, al-Khansā’ said this of Fadl and Abū l-Shibl, while extending her attack to besmirch Abū al-Shibl’s mother in the process:16 Fadl would say to him as she feared riding the ugliest baseness in seeking a lover’s union No cunt of a youth’s mother ever suffered in love I said to her: except the cunt of Abū l-Shibl’s mother And al-Khansā’ further mocked Abū l-Shibl as lamb dressed as lion, thus causing nature itself to quake in amazement: I never stop thinking and long have I wondered at a ewe whose sobriquet is Abū l-Shibl The rams played with its bottom and its arse and it bridled as a ram would bridle

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then turning to address him directly: When you were given that sobriquet so that baseness was dignified as virtue We almost felt the earth sway in the morning17 and almost saw the sky dissolve into liquid pitch18 This was a feud which included mother and master within the range of its artillery. Thus we find Abū l-Shibl attacking Hishām and castigating his house as a shameless bordello:19 The choicest resort for the celibate is the house of Hishām as the whore-master of veils casts off the veil20 While one may desire to be pleasured by a lover and to get one’s pleasure under the cover of darkness At Hishām’s the [light of] day and the darkness of the night are equal [the one to the other]. Bless Hishām! That cunt of his ink-well will never be free from the piercing of the quills While hijā’ forms an important part of Arabic literature, satire in the Classical and Western tradition of Juvenal, Horace and Pope is all but absent in the world of the qiyān. What one finds instead are exchanges in lampoon forms using vulgar and obscene language. They are worth a mention, not for their intrinsic quality but for the light that they shed on an aspect of the cultural life of the early Abbasid period, and in general on the mores of the qiyān.

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CHAPTER EIGHT

NOTABLE FREE WOMEN

The paucity of the poetical output of the free-born women during the period under consideration cannot be gainsaid. But that which is extant, having seen the light of day and survived to this day, accounts almost certainly for only a part of the general output of the period. The following are prime examples.

al-Fāri‘a (also known as Laylā) bt. Tarīf Al-Fāri‘a was an Abbasid warrior poet of pure Arab stock, belonging to the tribe of Banū Shaybān. Her poetry is family- and tribe-based. She was the sister of the Khārijī rebel al-Walīd b. Tarīf, and became celebrated for the odes that she composed lamenting his death in battle at the hands of an expedition raised against him by al-Rashīd, under the command of Yazīd b. Mazyad, who also hailed from the Banū Shaybān. When the news of his death reached his sister, she mounted her horse and charged the army of Yazīd seeking revenge. Yazīd chased her away, striking the hind quarters of her horse with the flat of his sword, saying: ‘Be gone, you have disgraced our tribe!’ Fāri‘a used the traditional classical themes of mourning, including pride in family and tribe as well as revenge, which owe nothing to the cosmopolitan scene of the period. One finds snatches of the poems in several sources.1 After standing at her brother’s grave on the hill of Nuhākī and criticising the trees of Khābūr for being in leaf as if not

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mourning for Ibn Tarīf, al-Fāri‘a turns to address the slain brother; to console him for losing the battle and his life: ‘There is no shame in that for there is no escaping death no matter how brave and noble one is’: So grieve not O Ibn Tarīf for verily I see that death befalls every nobleman We lost you2 and it was like the loss of Spring well could we have spared you by our fityān [lads]3 in their thousands then switching to the third person singular to point out that the cause of her brother’s death was that fate took pity on an enemy who, unequal to her brother in battle, pleaded for it: And thus he remained until death extinguished his life in pity for an enemy and [in response to] the importuning of the weak The poet then turns to praise her brother as the epitome of generosity, for whom there can be no substitute: An ally of liberality of whom generosity approved while he lived while after his death generosity would not be content with any ally Then, solicitous of the honour of the tribe as well as of her deceased brother, al-Fāri‘a goes on to speculate, and by implication to wish, that Walīd’s death came about honourably at the hands of no less a personage than Yazīd, the commander of the expedition himself and an eminent member of their own tribe, thereby implying that while the tribe suffered loss by the killing, it was not humiliated since the killer was a member of the same tribe – and that only after al-Walīd had wreaked mayhem among the ordinary foot soldiers and cavalry: If it be that it was Yazīd b. Mazyad who killed him perchance he scattered horses and serried ranks

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Al-Fāri‘a then moves on from personal grief to bemoan the loss to family and tribe and, continuing the theme of the reversal of the natural order, as in the death of Spring, she compares the death of her brother to the very firmament descending into chaos: Alack and woe to my people for the calamities and ruin and for the baleful time that is cruel to the noble And for the full moon as it founders amidst the stars followed by the sun reduced to eclipse And for the lion which they carry upon a bier towards an accursed hole and palm leaves In a seemingly later poem al-Fāri‘a recalls her loss, and the loss to the tribe although it was not shamed, but this time calling for the settling of accounts:4 I recalled al-Walīd and his days for the earth is a wasteland without him I went to seek him in the sky the like of one who looks for his cut-off nose The ‘cut-off nose’ connotes humiliation – it was what was done to certain captives, hence giving rise to the conceit of clinging evil and calamity.5 The conceit survives in the current Iraqi colloquial usage of ascribing to khashm (‘nose’) the secondary meaning of pride: Your khashm is raised high as a million as though you have lent a load of the yellow jingling ones to your Lord6 as well as in the expression yaksir khashmah (‘may his nose be broken’) to mean ‘may he be humiliated’. Hence the meaning of the text: the like of him who seeks to get over his humiliation. And in order to get over the humiliation and to recover her pride, al-Fāri‘a then calls for the life of al-Walīd to be paid for by the life of an enemy: Your people lost you so let them demand to be requited by the like of what they lost If the swords whose sharp edges

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struck you knew what they were doing They would have recoiled from you in awe and been blunted by dread of your assault

Zubayda bt. Ja‘far al-Mansūr An eminent example of an aristocratic, cultured woman, Zubayda (d. 216/831) was brought up in the heart of the caliphal family, and wielded immense influence as wife and dowager while amassing a vast fortune. ‘Zubayda’ was a sobriquet, her real name being Amat al-‘Azīz. She was buxom as a child and her father liked to see her dance while calling out to her: O Zubayda, you’re a zubayda (lump of butter), which stuck.7 As wife of Hārūn al-Rashīd she became a patron of poets and singers, advancing the careers of those whom she particularly favoured in court such as Ashja‘ and Salm al-Khāsir.8 Al-Isfahānī cites an incident involving Abū l-‘Atāhiya turning to her for succour.9 Al-Qāsim b. al-Rashīd, a most arrogant man, was riding in a procession past where Abū l-‘Atāhiya was sitting with others by the roadside. They all got to their feet to show respect, standing still until the procession had passed by. Al-Qāsim did not deign to acknowledge Abū l-‘Atāhiya, who was heard to say: The son of Adam is lost in his delusion as though the mills of death will not grind him There is a clever turn of phrase in ‘the son of Adam’. The son of al-Rashīd may not deign to acknowledge Abū l-‘Atāhiya, while the latter will only acknowledge the haughty prince as a man and a mortal like all others. This was reported to al-Qāsim who caused Abū l-‘Atāhiya to be brought before him, scourged by 100 lashes and incarcerated. Abū l-‘Atāhiya appealed to Zubayda from prison, and added for good measure: How long shall the arrogant be [set] in his delusion may God set him straight and cured Those who are arrogant will be lost in their ignorance they die even as they are haughty

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To him who wishes to preserve his glory verily a man’s glory is in his God-fearingness No creatures can aspire to God’s protection if they did not plead to Him and fear Him The word translated as ‘delusion’ is tīh, originally a trackless desert with nothing to guide one. It carries the further meaning of ‘arrogance’. Zubayda raised the matter with al-Rashīd, adding her own plea for Abū l-‘Atāhiya. Al-Rashīd responded by sending for him and making him an award, as well as forcing al-Qāsim to apologise. Zubayda was capable of producing poetry of a high standard. Her profound love for her son al-Amīn inspired her to compose tender verses about him. When his wife died and he was plunged into deep depression, Zubayda rushed to him, grieving at his grief, and comforting him:10 Would that I be your ransom lest you be carried away by grief for your continued being is a substitute for what has gone You were granted Mūsā [his son], a substitute to soothe every calamity after Mūsā there’s no regret for [the life of] she who is lost When al-Amīn was killed at the end of the civil war between him and his half-brother al-Ma’mūn, Zubayda was distraught as she meditated over her loss, addressing the opening line to herself, thereby heightening the sense of deep and personal grief of a mother lamenting the loss of her son in her heart:11 That which spares no one has taken away him who was dear to you so let your heart despair for your slain one When I perceived that fates had targeted him they struck him in the innermost part of his heart and head So I spent the nights in the pangs of sadness scanning the stars for him thinking of his conduct in life as a bright sheet in the night Death closed in on him and grief was ever his mate

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until it gave him to drink that which carried him away But he who died shall not be restored to us ever until those who passed away before him shall be restored to us I was afflicted by his loss as much as I boasted by him over men for him I had constructed a foundation for the time12 And she wrote to al-Ma’mūn complaining at the shameful way that she had been treated by his commander and agent Tāhir who oversaw the killing of al-Amīn, shamed Zubayda by having her exposed with face uncovered and bareheaded, had her property seized and her houses plundered and burnt. She pleaded for the protection of the new caliph:13 I write with tears welling in my eyes, to you cousin, and flowing from eyelids and cheeks I am afflicted by [the loss] of him who is closest to you in kinship by the void left in my heart which exhausted my fortitude Tāhir oppressed me, may God bless not Tāhir, for Tāhir shall not be purified by what he did He exposed me with face uncovered and bareheaded and robbed my property and set fire to my houses It were hard for Harūn to bear what was meted out to me and what I received from the ill-mannered one-eyed one But if what befell me was by your order then I submit to an order of a most powerful sovereign The above poem can be said to be a peace overture, composed with consummate diplomatic skill, addressed to the victorious al-Ma’mūn. By it Zubayda is assuring him that she would not seek a continuation of the civil war by leading or encouraging a movement to avenge her son. There are three key expressions in the poem. First, by addressing al-Ma’mūn as ‘cousin’ at the start Zubayda invokes his duty to protect the honour and dignity of a kinswoman. This is reinforced by the reference to kinship in the next line, and by further invoking the memory of al-Ma’mūn’s father, her husband. Secondly, she does

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not give vent to her complaint against the person of al-Ma’mūn, but raises it against his general, the one-eyed Tāhir (‘the pure’) who ‘shall not be purified’, thereby implying that the outrage would have been committed without al-Ma’mūn’s sanction. The third key expression is ‘most powerful sovereign’, which shows Zubayda acknowledging the final triumph of al-Ma’mūn and offering submission and fealty. But it is possible that God is intended in the last line rather than al-Ma’mūn, meaning that what happened may have been decreed by God. To al-Ma’mūn this latter construction would have been no less assuring. According to some reports the property mentioned consisted of the various fiefs that had belonged to the Barmakīs and passed to Zubayda upon their fall, and which were then awarded by al-Ma’mūn to Tāhir for services rendered. Al-Ma’mūn accepted Zubayda’s overtures and restored most of her property.14 The reconciliation was complete: Zubayda took a leading part in organising the magnificent wedding of Būrān to al-Ma’mūn. She was the daughter of Hasan b. Sahl, al-Ma’mūn’s commander and political agent during the civil war with al-Amīn.

‘Ulayya bt. al-Mahdī The most remarkable of the harā’ir poets of the period, ‘Ulayya bestrode the worlds of both harā’ir and qiyān. She was the daughter of a caliph, the sister of three others and the aunt of two more, namely her father al-Mahdī, her brothers Mūsā al-Hādī, Hārūn al-Rashīd and Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī, and her nephews al-Amīn and al-Ma’mūn. Her mother was the black Maknūna, one of the most beautiful slavegirls of Medina, whom al-Mahdī bought in his father’s lifetime, it is said for 100,000 dirhams, and who became his favourite.15 His wife Khayzurān was heard to say that no other wife of his posed her a greater challenge. ‘Ulayya was her only child and was brought up acquiring all the accomplishments of a qayna while leading a privileged life in the palace. Her half-brother Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī was a poet and musician. He mixed with other musicians, and was regarded as semi-professional. He became the leading proponent of a new school of singing, which vied with the traditionalists led by Ibrāhīm and

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Ishāq al-Mawsilī. Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī often set his sister’s verses to music. It was said of them that never in Islam was there a better team of brother and sister singers.16 ‘Ulayya was a prolific poet. There was an occasion when ‘Arīb and Khishf (another qayna), in attendance upon al-Mutawakkil, could recall and between them sing 72 of her compositions. Khishf then claimed that there was yet another, a 73rd. She could not recall it at the time but was later reminded of it by a vision of ‘Ulayya in a dream.17 A point of similarity between ‘Ulayya and the qiyān of her day was that her compositions were mostly erotico-elegiac with allusions to drinking:18 I secluded myself with wine in which I confided taking and serving myself with it I had it as a boon companion because I could not find a companion whom it would have pleased me to have him share it with me To ‘Ulayya the wine is a boon companion that helps her to sleep and which brings cheer to the multitude, especially when it is the soulmate of generosity and hospitatality:19 Clothe the water with wine and give it to me to drink until I fall asleep Spread your goodness among the multitude and thus become their Imām May Allāh’s curse be on the miser even if he prays and fasts ‘Ulayya was a contemporary of ‘Arīb and ‘Inān, and one finds through their poetry some similar themes and imagery of passion and love-sickness. ‘Ulayya compares the transports of love to that produced by wine:20 And a little love neat and pure is better for you than much that is mixed This has an echo in ‘Inān’s verse:21

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Do not blame me for drinking love neat it’s the mixing of loves that makes one drunk But while the qiyān, being professional entertainers, aim to dazzle their audiences by clever repartee and racy allusion, ‘Ulayya’s love poetry is contemplative and introspective. Theirs is an ‘exposed’ and direct imagery: ‘What you see is what you get.’ Such is ‘Inān’s, touched and enveloped by the immediacy of love from all directions, leaving no avenue for escape:22 Love has surrounded me so that behind me it has a sea and in front of me [further] seas Death flutters from the standards of love above me and I am beset all round by its host By comparison ‘Ulayya’s imagery is more convoluted and the love that she appeals to stands at a cautious distance, as demonstrated in the following verses, thought to have been composed by her ‘ghost writer’ Abū Hafs al-Shatranjī and sung by her;23 they are otherwise attributed to al-‘Abbās b. Ahnaf:24 Be amorous for love calls for love and many a one living afar is duty bound to call Reflect: if you be told that one who is in love [managed to] escape its clutches then you may hope to be free from love These verses featured in a famous occasion described by ‘Arīb, who said that her best and most pleasant day was when she met up with Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī and his sister ‘Ulayya, and with their brother Ya‘qūb also present. ‘Ulayya started to sing a song of her own composition while Ya‘qūb, who was an accomplished instrumentalist, accompanied her on the zamr (a wind instrument resembling the oboe). When she finished it was the turn of Ibrāhīm to sing, also accompanied by Ya‘qūb, the following verse:25 O my only love, all that I ever get from you when my soul becomes a vassal to your love are care and sadness

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Due to the constraints of her social position, ‘Ulayya could only perform on private family occasions. Abū Ahmad, one of the sons of Hārūn, witnessed one such occasion. He was at his brother’s, the caliph al-Ma’mūn, with two of his uncles, Mansūr and Ibrāhīm. Suddenly al-Ma’mūn turned to Ibrāhīm and said: ‘You may now get up and go if you like.’ Ibrāhīm did so. After a while the curtain on the side of the women’s quarters was raised. There was then heard the most wonderful singing. Al-Ma’mūn explained to Abū Ahmad that what he was hearing was his aunt ‘Ulayya and his uncle Ibrāhīm.26 It is interesting to note the reference to the curtain. ‘Ulayya was performing privately with only brothers and nephew present so that there would have been no social impediment to her doing so in their sight. But more generally, the caliphs and other men of high standing often listened to musical performances with a curtain erected between them and the performers. The object of this practice was not to conceal the performers but rather to allow the listeners to give in to rapture (tarab) unobserved.27 The qiyān generally declared their loves without restraint. Such was ‘Arīb’s celebration of her love for Muhammad b. Hamīd al-Khāqānī:28 With my father I’d ransom every blue-eyed fair-skinned and blond man ‘Ulayya’s social position dictated restraint and caution:29 Our gestures are our pages and most of our messages are in glances For the books can be read while we cannot trust our messenger A recurring theme in her poetry is the use of a cover when referring to a lover:30 I concealed the name of the lover from the world and kept passion away in my heart Would that I were in a desert land that I might call the lover by his name

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Whether ‘Ulayya’s love poetry celebrated real love affairs or was just a poetic affectation is put in doubt by her protestation: ‘May Allāh grant me no absolution if I had committed any obscene act; all I say in verse is but in jest.’31 Be that as it may, there is little doubt that her amorous attention was directed in particular to two palace youths, generally identified as Tall and Rashā’, notwithstanding the devices she used to conceal their identities. Thus, concerning the former:32 Oh cypresses of the grove, long has been my longing shall I find a way in you to zill? with a play on the word zill (‘shade’) used as a cover (in more sense than one) that can be mistaken for Tall (dew): When shall he be met whose coming out is not to be and to whom the one who loves him has no way to enter Please God that we be relieved of our anguish so that woman and man may rejoice in bliss and more explicitly:33 The long that I’ve been burdened by your love, O Tall, was enough Until I came to you, a hurried visitor walking in perdition towards death and she is anguished by the thought that his averting his glance away from her may have been an indication that he was getting tired of her close attentions:34 I made him so many visits that he became bored, for a thing will weary by its excess The misgiving I feel from him is that I still see his glance averted from me when he looks As regards Rashā’, whom she celebrated in many verses, the concealment took the form of using the name of a girl, Zaynab, as a cover, as in the following lines in which the cover itself is confessed, and with ‘Ulayya further confessing unconsummated passion only:35

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The heart has become besotted with Zaynab a strong and exhausting passion Through love of her I have so become as to be seen sick and worn out I used an alias for her name on purpose so that you [her brother al-Rashīd] would not anger Made Zaynab a cover and concealed a wondrous thing She said a tryst is ever so long desired yet I can find no way to attain it By Allāh, you shall sooner catch a star than attain your desire ‘Ulayya further uses fine expressions to describe the unmatched beauty of her lover, addressing the lover as a female, which reinforces the cover since conventionally in Arabic poetry a lover of either sex may be addressed as a male:36 Neither happiness nor sadness takes my mind off you how and how can one forget your beautiful face Neither my heart nor my body is free from you my whole is occupied by and in bondage to your whole O my only love, all that I ever get from you when my soul becomes a vassal to your love are care and sadness A light begat from sun and from moon until it completely took over one’s soul and body A certain slave-girl of Zubayda by the name of Tughyān went about spreading the word that ‘Ulayya’s affections were truly directed towards Rashā’. This drew from ‘Ulayya the following humourously mocking, and racy, verses:37 Tughyān has had a pair of slippers for all of 30 years they are (still) new, not wearing out nor being torn For how can slippers wear out when all the time they are on her feet hanging in the air She did not tear a slipper nor wear away a stocking but it’s her trousers that tore away

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When it became generally known that ‘Ulayya was using the name Zaynab as an alias, she explained:38 The heart is inclined to suspicion O Lord, there’s no shame in that My heart is enslaved so that I can do nought but cry, O He who knows the divine secret, I hid in my verse39 the name of him that I wanted as a hidden object in the pocket Tall and Rashā’ are commonly described as khādims. The normal meaning of khādim is ‘servant’. By the time that the name was used by ‘Ulayya it had acquired the further meaning of ‘eunuch’, and it has been suggested that by choosing a eunuch as a lover, ‘Ulayya could compose love poetry and avoid the breath of scandal.40 The suggestion gives a new meaning to the above-cited verses ‘to whom the one who loves him has no way to enter’ and ‘She said a tryst is ever so desired, yet I can find no way to attain it’. In fact the term khādim is ambiguous. Its ordinary meaning being ‘servant’, it acquired the euphemistic sense of ‘eunuch’, first in Arabic and then in the other languages spoken within the Islamic world.41 Further, it is not to be generally assumed that eunuchs are ‘safe’ with women (in a sexual context). Al-Jāhiz suggests in al-Hayawān that they were more serviceable to women than perhaps was assumed. The qiyān celebrate the pleasures of dalliance and sex. But to ‘Ulayya, love is agony and despair:42 If you will not be consoled by staying away from him you love and not cured by the long tryst Then you are but a temporary custodian of a breath of a soul about to expire In fact ‘Ulayya is attracted to the very agony of passion and submission, if not the humiliation, associated with it:43 Love is founded on tyranny the moderation in it of the beloved renders it unattractive It is not pleasing in the declaration of passion

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for a lover to be adept at making excuses Do not find fault in the submission of a lover the submission of him who loves is the key to relief Further, love is unpredictable and unruly. It is not measured nor guided by advice or ruled by reason:44 The business of love is not an easy business only an experienced person can tell you about it The state of love is not designed by thought nor by syllogism or logic The extent of ‘Ulayya’s poetical works is shrouded in doubt. This is due in no small measure to the uncertainty of attribution. She was not above ‘buying’ authorship. Al-Isfahānī cites several instances, including the following, part of the ‘Tall’ epigrams:45 O Lord, I am displeased by her absence so to you I complain, O Lord, An evil mistress who makes light of her slave how good the lad, how bad the mistress! Tall!46 But I am denied his pleasure and his tryst if God will not help O Lord, if my life be so distressing to me then I do not want life Those last four lines are attributed to ‘Ulayya. But in another part of Aghānī the first, second and fourth lines are attributed to the poet and singer Nabīh;47 and it may be that the third is a later incursion since its meaning is a little opaque. At the same time one is intrigued by ‘I am displeased by her absence’. May the true allusion be to ‘its’ absence in the khādims? Al-Isfahānī mentions a clearer case of false attribution. ‘Ulayya learned of a new song from Ishāq al-Mawsilī, for which she rewarded him with 20,000 dirhams and 20 new suits of honour. She then doubled the reward saying: ‘That’s the price of the song. I am off to the Prince of the Faithful to sing it to him, and to tell him that it is of

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my own composition; and I swear a solemn oath I’ll kill you if you should ever say that you had any part in composing it.’48 There must have come a time when Ishāq, being Ishāq and proverbial for the jealousy with which he guarded his compositions,49 did tell – and survived the telling. Another case of doubtful attribution relates to the following:50 Why do I see the glances disdainful of me not averted from me either way51 People defer not to the afflicted rather people follow the hale O my companions, pray to God for good health for it is that some misfortune struck me after you had gone My master [the lover] was harsh to me after you had gone so that the eye is weeping for his desertion Al-Isfahānī attributes the above to Abū l-‘Atāhiya, adding that Ibn al-Mu‘tazz attributed them to ‘Ulayya. It is relevant in this regard that ‘Ulayya had as part of her retinue the poet Abū Hafs al-Shatranjī, who composed lyrics which were sung by her. Abū Hafs had been brought up by al-Mahdī and treated as one of his children. He acquired the sobriquet al-shatranjī, ‘the chess player’, because he was very keen on the game. After the death of al-Mahdī he became a member of ‘Ulayya’s household, and very close to her;52 he appears to have acted as her ghost-writer. According to al-Isfahānī he composed poetry which ‘Ulayya claimed as her own.53 It is relevant to note that in the 2nd/8th and early 3rd/9th centuries prominent ladies at court had their own palaces. It would seem that a change took place with the return of the court from Samarra to Baghdad in about 278/892. One then finds them accommodated in the harem quarters of the caliphal palace, each occupying her own apartment.54 As regards false attribution there may be some basis for postulating that ‘Ulayya may have been more sinned against than sinner; that her poems were often misattributed to others because she could not perform them publicly herself.55 But that may not be entirely true if she did perform the Tall poem said to be a poem composed and

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sung by her.56 That said, what might support the proposition is the fact that ‘Ulayya’s half brother, Ibrāhīm b.al-Mahdī, was known to compose songs which he attributed to his favourite slave-girl Shāriya, so as to avoid being looked down upon as a song-writer and singer.57 Concerning misattribution generally, it can be seen as due, at least in part, to the custom under the Abbasids of commissioning a poet to compose poetry that could be presented as one’s own.58

Khadīja bt. al-Ma’mūn Two generations later, one finds no coyness in the display of sexual desire imputed to Khadīja bt. al-Ma’mūn as she drools over a youth who has caught her lustful eye:59 By God, tell me (my friends) to whom does this buck belong the one with the heavy buttocks and slender waist He is most charming when sober and most pleasing when drunk He built a pigeon loft for himself wherein he let loose a white pigeon Would that I were one of his pigeons else a sparrow hawk for him to use as he wills There is a sociological significance in the reference to the ‘buck’ as pigeon fancier. The pigeon lofts would probably have been on the flat roofs of houses, as they are commonly to be found to this day. The pigeon fancier is commonly looked upon with resentment and disfavour as a good-for-nothing loafer idling away his days in full view, and vice versa, of the women in the courtyards of the neighbouring houses. Al-Mutawakkil admired the above poem as it was sung to him by the slave-girl Shāriya, and asked her who had composed the lyrics. She replied that all she knew was that it came to her from the house of al-Ma’mūn. Another slave-girl, Malīha, broke in with ‘I know better than anyone’. Pressed to reveal the identity of the author, Malīha said she would disclose it in confidence. ‘This is no place for confidences – I am in the harem,’ said the caliph. The

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girl then disclosed that lyrics and tune were composed by Khadīja bt. al-Ma’mūn, concerning one of her father’s servants. Al-Mutawakkil pondered that for a long time then said: ‘Let no one else hear that from you’ – but no doubt some did. The above examples illumine the path followed by the poetry of free women, their love poetry in particular, starting with pride in and love of kith and kin, then passing through eroticism to end up in lust. In that path one discerns the decline in the Arab spirit of kinship, under the influence of other civilizations and the influx of multi-national slave-girls. One starts with al-Fāri‘a bt.Tarīf expressing deep feelings of passion and pride in brother and tribe. Next one sees Zubayda in the most traumatic circumstances invoking the right of kinship as she addresses her ‘cousin’ who had just prevailed over her own son. There is the obvious kinship between ‘Ulayya and Ibrāhīm, daughter and son of al-Mahdī; but already it is a different kind of kinship from that motivating al-Fāri‘a and Zubayda. One thinks of them not so much as the children of al-Mahdī as the daughter and son of the concubines Maknūna and Shikla respectively; and one perceives that their shared interest in music and poetry provides a no less significant bond than their blood relationship. Next one sees kinship by association in ‘Ulayya’s amatory attention, whether in earnest or in jest, fastening on two youths whose connection with her is that they are members of the palace staff. The theme of kinship is absent altogether in Khadīja bt. al-Ma’mūn. With her, passion and love are replaced by lust for a ‘buck’ whose manly shape catches her eye; it is irrelevant that he may be a nobody, a pigeon fancier and an unknown – ‘Tell me to whom does this buck belong’.

al-Hajnā’ It is not easy to find a natural place for al-Hajnā’ among the various poems of qiyān and free wvomen. She was the daughter of the poet Nusayb al-Asghar al-Habashī, a mawlā of al-Mahdī. Outwardly a ‘begging’ poem it is distinguished by the author pleading with the caliph, addressing him repeatedly as Prince of the Faithful and invoking his generosity as she humbles herself by praying for help over the

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wretched and lowly circumstances of her family – her poverty and that of her sisters, as well as the penury of their father who cannot provide for them. But there is more to it than that. It is an intercession poem in which the ‘begging’ is used manipulatively to provoke an appropriate response on the part of the patron-ruler. This resonates with an old theme of poets seeking the life-giving grace of the patron when times are hard. Thus, in Islam, the role of the sacral, life-giving ruler takes the place of the old tribal chief and patron, who was expected at times of hardship to provide for the poor and the needy of the tribe, and in particular to provide for the women and the orphans when their men could not. Further, this is a plaint to al-Mahdī by the poet, not simply as a subject but also as the daughter of the caliph’s client, who as such could legitimately look to be properly provided for as well as to have his loyalty and services reciprocated by material awards and recognition: ‘Prince of the Faithful! Do you not see us?’.60 Prince of the Faithful! Do you not see us? beetles with big scarabs in our midst Prince of the Faithful! Do you not see us? pitch as the pitch-darkness61 of the night Prince of the Faithful! Do you not see us needy (females) and indigent father? The suffering of his labours have pained us and whatever it slakes, it slakes not us Yet the watering courses of the Caliph are brimful their favours a fixed tradition Prince of the Faithful! You are the rain its abundant downpour falling on everyone By the grace of your munificence the sickly are brought back from the dead and the broken bone is set aright In reviewing the output of women poets in the Abbasid era it is difficult not to bring a moral judgment into play. The majority of present-day Arab critics and commentators tend to impose a cordon sanitaire between the world of the free women and that of the qiyān. They see the poetry of the period as simply divided into two categories:

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one of the virtuous free woman and the other of the shameless qayna. But this is inadequate: there is more than morality in the balance. A distinction can clearly be discerned on the literary level, even when detached from considerations of personal conduct. While the poetry of the qayna is circumscribed by the limitations implicit in her status of slave, as demonstrated in relation to the main themes of panygeric, lamentation and invective, that of the free woman runs in the mainstream of classical Arabic poetry ranging over pride in family, respect for the ties of kinship and rerstraint in expressing one’s amatory desires as a woman – the passion stirring her most strongly reserved for a brother. This, plus an equally discernable anti-shu‘ūbī under-current, explains why the ‘pigeon loft’ poem which scandalised al-Mutawakkil continues to scandalise modern Arab reviewers. They, unlike an uncommitted reader, find it hard to accept that a hurra and daughter of a caliph could have been the author of such a risqué poem. Al-Heitty goes as far as doubting whether it could have been composed by a woman at all.62 Sihām al-Furayyih sees ‘Arīb as a ‘dissipated and spoilt bondmaiden’ whose poetry was debased by her promiscuity – as it was bound to be!63 Al-Shak‘a is exercised by the reports of ‘Ulayya’s wine-drinking and dalliance with some youthful palace servants. He cites her protestation ‘May Allāh grant me no absolution if I had committed any obscene act’, and expresses the hope that it might be true, but adds cautiously: ‘But Allāh knows best!’ Adding belt to braces, he goes on to remark (which resonates with Mernissi64) that in any event ‘Ulayya and her half-brother Ibrāhīm were not pure Banū Hashim – rather more the product of Persian civilization than of true Arab culture.65 Further, while abnegation in the free woman may be desirable as denoting modesty and ‘iffa, she yet has to guard against descending into self-abasement, shameful to the woman and her kin, hence the ambiguity presented by the poem of al-Hajna’ addressed to al-Mahdī – a free woman debasing herself and her people (‘beetles in the midst of scarabs’) as she begs for relief from penury. But then she is the daughter of a mawlā, and the mawālī came in many different guises.

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CHAPTER NINE

AMATORY POETRY

Ghazal Amatory poetry attained new heights in the Abbasid era. The traditional Bedouin attitude towards the passion of love (‘ishq), regarding it as madness brought about by the jinn, and treating a declaration of love for a woman as scandalous and disgraceful to her family, had circumscribed the development of erotic poetry. A change took place in the early part of the Abbasid period as a result chiefly of the appearance of the jawārī on the scene, the choicest among them gracing high society. They arrived from the slave markets in abundance – of all races, colours and nationalities. As qiyān they were exposed unashamedly to men’s gaze, with all their charms – attractive, elegantly dressed, fragrant, making music, singing and reciting poetry; added to which was the fact that in their discourse and in the cut-and-thrust of repartee with patrons and poets they were seldom far above mere ribaldry. One effect was that it became the practice of poets and musicians to compose verses with a view specifically to their being sung by qiyān, and by extension, by and for women generally. One finds many examples of this practice in Aghānī, such as Ibrāhīm al-Mawsilī composing and himself rendering songs in praise of his concubine Dhāt-al-khāl, and Abū Hafs l Shatranjī composing verses which were sung by ‘Ulayya bt. al-Mahdī, a free-born daughter of a slave-concubine. This practice led in turn to the growth of a body of erotic poetry, represented in part

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by that of the imā’ al-shawā‘ir but more so by the poetry composed by male poets and addressed to or dedicated to individual jawārī. Erotic and lyrical poetry went hand in hand. The setting was favourable for their development in that the aristocracy had produced several poets, like al-‘Arjī1, al-Ahwas2 and ‘Umar b. Abī Rabī‘a,3 who celebrated their love affairs in verse. Al-‘Arjī would openly dedicate a love poem to ‘Ātika, a free woman and wife of Turayh b. Ismā‘īl al-Thaqafī; and celebrate the good fortune that brought him the conquest of a Yamāniya, one of the Banū Hārith.4 More chastly, and more lyrically, one finds ‘Umar b. Abī Rabī‘a describing himself as dazzled by the beauty of the virginal bride as she is brought out to be seen in a group of young girls as companions and supporters:5 They brought her out swaying like the oryx between five comely pubescent female friends They then asked: Do you like her? I replied, dazzled by her: aye, the number of drops of rain, of pebbles and of [specks of] dust These verses are an example of ghazal, a new genre of courtship love poetry developed by such poets as Bashshār b. Burd, Mutī‘ b. Iyās and al-‘Abbās b. al-Ahnaf. As lyrical poetry it initially leant itself towards the ‘udhrī (not overtly concerned with the physical and sexual) of which the principal protagonist was al-‘Abbās b. al-Ahnaf6. That led in turn to a new erotico-sexual genre which owed a good deal of its development to ‘Umar b. Abī Rabī‘a, and found its full expression in Abū Nuwās, where one sees the courtly spirit and romantic love subsumed in unashamed naturalism. The cultural setting was eminently suitable for the dilettanti kuttāb, aristocrats, intriguers, characters of doubtful morality, singers and singing girls. As to the origins of ghazal and the factors that gave impetus to its development, both as udhrī (erotico/Platonic) and ibāhī (licentious), one may speculate with Renate Jacobi that one answer is to be found in the remoulding of the pre-Islamic conventional love poetry (nasīb) to accommodate the new genre of urban ghazal.7 The change would have come about with the rise of Islam as a new, vigorous and future-focused

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religion, heralding great economic, social and cultural changes, as well as a radical literary movement in which the poet’s imagination, no longer rooted in the conventions and certainties of the past, is directed towards the future – to the hopes, pleasures and disappointments that it holds in store. A pre-Islamic (jāhilī) poet would use the nasīb trope to talk of a past love that is lost, but that is a description of a past event which, once expressed, the poet treats as over as he moves on to other things. By contrast, the nasīb used in ghazal, while describing a past loss is felt as a current event, as part of the present and in its projection to the future. Since the trope in ghazal is no longer set in the stone of ancient convention it becomes a medium for the expression of the poet’s individual romantic feelings. A Western reader coming upon the identification of Islam’s rise as a liberating force leading to individualism and romanticism is reminded of the parallel phenomenon of the French Revolution, as a political and cultural liberating force giving impetus to the individual-focused Romantic movement and lyrical ballads of 19th-century Europe.

Publicity poetry Since the jawārī are known by the names given to them, mostly descriptive – such as Mahbūba (‘beloved’), Jamīla (‘beautiful’) or Sa‘īda (‘happy’, ‘auspicious’) – they are readily identifiable among the works of the poets of the time. Thus one finds in the collected poetry of Abū Nuwās8 erotic poems dedicated to several jawārī, including Samja, Danānīr, ‘Abda, Janān, Husn, Maknūn, ‘Inān and ‘Arīb. In the collected poetry of the celebrated blind poet Bashshār, a Mukhad. ram al-dawlatayn, one finds references to a large number of young women, including ‘Abda, Fātima, Su‘dā, Hind, Su‘ād and Salmā. The last five names are traditional Arab names which suggest that they may have been free women. One also associates Mutī‘ b. Iyās with a number of qiyān, including Maknūn, Rīm and Jawhar. The erotic poems addressed to or dedicated to the qiyān share some common features: praise of the beauty of the girl, a declaration of abiding love, a complaint at unrequited passion, protestation at the haughty withholding of favours. The multiplicity of the women to whom one made

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the declarations of love calls for a close scrutiny. At one level it would suggest artificiality, a conventional form that lacks depth of feeling. At another it would be taken to demonstrate insincerity in the declaration of love – a mere device for seduction. But to characterise such poetry as artificial and insincere misses the true nature of the genre, which is mostly defined by the background against which the poem is set. As an example one may think of an Abū Nuwās visiting the house of, say, the qayna Husn. There is a party atmosphere with the guests enjoying food and drink while listening to music. The poet, an honoured guest, would make his own contribution by celebrating the virtues of the girl’s husn (‘beauty’):9 The name of Husn is a description of her face nor have I seen the two combined in another Thus as she is called by her name, even so she is described so that the two meanings are contained in the expression I have comfort on the banks of the Sarāt [a tributary of the Tigris] What though some one may manage to vex me [Yet] shall I not deny him [her] anything from that I shall not be turned away The word ‘comfort’ here is a translation of sakan, which is used in this context to convey its double meaning of ‘comfort’ and ‘abode’. Hence the poet is saying that all is agreeableness and comfort at a particular place near the Sarāt, presumably the house of the jāriya. One can readily see that those verses carry the hallmark of publicity. They convey the primary statement that the label ‘beauty’ is not false. It fits the face of the slave-girl, while the ambience in which she holds court offers the guest comfort and serenity. In the same vein Abū Nuwās lauds the same slave-girl,10 now referring not to her looks but to her ‘unique artistry’ as a vocalist or instrumentalist, but leaving room for additional inferences of sexual art:11 Beauty has done a good job on her (and further) Husn has an art that carries the heart away

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Unique among all people as everyone would agree I obeyed my love of her he who is passionately in love can do no other While all the others are in all kinds of state as between being rebellious to [the love of] her or obedient It is not difficult to perceive publicity copy in the above, as the poet not only refers to the girl’s charm and artistry, ‘unique among all people’, but also to the universal acknowledgment of it, ‘as every one would agree’. Further, it is reasonable to postulate that a large number of the poems of contemporary poets singing the praises of the qiyān who were performing publicly or semi-publicly may be of the same genre, that is, the poet is repaying hospitality by publicising the attractions of the qayna and her house. One further suspects that a large number of these epigrams and odes, perhaps the majority, may have been specially commissioned for the purpose by the qayna or her owner. A collateral benefit to the poet is that the circulation of the poem and its being identified as his composition also publicises himself, in general, as a poet, and in particular publicises his services as a composer of that genre of commission poetry. One also notices that in many of these epigrams the name of the qayna is woven in the verses. This serves the dual purpose of flattering her and of publicising her charms. But one may also infer from the practice that a number of such poems may have been ready-made by the commission poet as his stock in trade, with the name of the girl left a blank, to be in filled later as required. Further, one has to bear in mind that some of these epigrams or odes, of uncertain dates and responding to public taste, may have been composed, cannibalised and reattributed a good while later, as legends proliferate. Thus, looking at further examples from Abū Nuwās: on Danānīr:12 God is the Lord of Danānīr and my Lord he sees that both my morn and my eve are hers From the love of her I endured two fires, one

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betwixt the ribs the other in my entrails I guarded my tongue from revealing it so that nought would I express save in a gesture Woe to my people seeing me waste away on the bed knowing not what ails me If your renunciation of worldly pleasures had been like your renunciation of intercourse with me you would assuredly have walked on water One can readily substitute any name for Danānīr as long as it fits the metre. The ‘walking on water’ may be a scriptural reference (Mark 6.48). It is notable that in this poetical genre one often comes up against scriptural allusions, perhaps reflecting the fact that many of the slave-girls had been brought up as Christians, some remaining so. In the following verses concerning ‘Arīb, one finds Abū Nuwās in almost a playful mood as he gives vent to the conventional complaint at the sufferings of being in love before concluding with an approbation of ‘Arīb’s singing:13 Love has affected me strangely for which I blame my censor and her chaperone I turned grey while still a child – and that before due season – it is Love that decreed I should turn grey Help me against Time O stranger even a stranger may help a stranger If I visit her I hear singing that renders my heart whole ‘Arīb was alive during Abū Nuwās’s activity as a poet but only as a young girl, if the report of her date of birth – c. 181/797 – is accepted at face value, some 13 years before the death of Abū Nuwās. Hence a reference to ‘Arīb in the above is doubtful (a misreading of gharīb?) But then, as with many other cases, one cannot be certain of the circumstances in which the verses were composed, or what transformation in the retelling they may have been subjected to; nor of the details

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of life of ‘Arib, while there are also doubts about Abū Nuwās’s own biography.14 The publicity effect produced by weaving the name of the person being praised into the poem is often redoubled by the use of the name as rhyme, as in the following example concerning the slave-girl Samja (‘ugly’), and where she is referred to in the masculine, as is common in referring to a lover of either sex in Arabic poetry:15 Say to a gazelle of beautiful countenance have pity on me [a wretch] because of your deeds that are samij His eye sheds my life blood which is most sinful May God grant me no relief if I should ever pray for relief The beautiful God-given countenance is placed in stark relief against the ugly man-made deeds by the use of the word samij, alluding to the man-given name Samja. The last line presents a paradox of the kind which was often to be exploited later by mystical poets: May God punish me by not granting me relief if ever I should pray for relief. In the following example of Abū Nuwās, concerning and addressed to his favourite Janān, one can perceive sincere feelings along with the device of weaving the name through the verses:16 O thou who softened the iron for his servant David17 Soften the heart of Janān for one passionately in love18 Because of it the soul has become in mortal peril O Janān grant but if you find it too much to grant Then give me respite for that is some relief to the besotted Do you not pity my desire does my sleeplessness not weigh on you Do you not see me weeping

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in every new day Return to a lover [his] pure affection and grant [it to] An ardent lover, distraught relapsed into grief remote rebuffed cast out Ardently calling out the long of the night ‘You the one and only beloved’ So arise for it is through you (may you be ransomed by my life) that my sleeplessness lasted long Fulfil what I was promised and desist from threatening For you have made promises that dissolved like mirages in the desert The poem, notwithstanding its simple form, contains several clever allusions and poetical devices. The rhyming word ma‘mūd (‘distraught, sick with love’) is mirrored in the further rhyming word ‘amīd (‘besotted’). The fourth line contains a rare poetical device, in that ‘O Janān, grant but if you find it too hard to grant’ is not self-contained, but has to be supplemented by the next line. Paronomasia is freely used in the last two lines: maw‘ūdī, wa‘īd, wa‘adtī and mawā‘īd. Another feature of the poem is the use of simple phraseology and a simple metre, suitable for addressing a young, unsophisticated slave-girl. In ‘Do you not pity my longing? Do you not see my sleeplessness? Do you not see my weeping?’ one almost hears the sort of language that is used in everyday discourse, as by a parent chiding a child. This is characteristic of this genre of erotic poetry, perhaps reflecting the fact that many of the slave-girls to whom it is addressed are young and for whom Arabic is a second language. The following is another poem illustrating the use of the name as rhyme. It is attributed to Rabī‘a al-Raqqī:19 My friend I am never sobered from the love of Dāh It became a flint (that love of Dāh)

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[lighting a fire] in my heart which it became lawful to expropriate My heart flew to her for my heart has wings and one notes the use of paronomasia in dāh (finery) and qaddāh (flint), thus heightening the allusion to the girl’s name. Rabī‘a was another poet who composed odes addressed to or celebrating a number of slave-girls beside Dāh, including Rukhās, Ghanma, Laylā, ‘Uthma and Su‘ād. He acknowledged his inconstancy in the following verses, answering Su‘ād who had upbraided him for it:20 She said: Your heart is shared by the white ones [of the boudoir] I have no need for a heart of yours that’s shared You are the one who through ennui replaced me by another you tired of me and bartered honour for baseness One also finds the above-mentioned characteristics of erotic poetry in the poems of the blind poet Bashshār concerning his favourite ‘Abda (sometimes referred to as ‘Ubayda), among others. ‘Abda featured so prominently in his poetry that a chapter is devoted to her personally in Aghānī.21 The following ode is dedicated to her:22 Long has stretched my night for love of her whom I see not near Long as you can see the light of the stars Or long as a qayna sang a poem at a drinking man’s I would have been consoled for loss of ‘Ubayda (‘sweet ‘Abda’) but love has the better of me [for] That other whose love if it were for sale I’d have bought it with my worldly goods Again one is struck by the simple metre, the short verses and the simple phraseology. The same common theme of ‘love sleeplessness’

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is used by Bashshār in the following ode dedicated to Mahbūba, in which one finds the arresting image of passion writhing like mist:23 I was deprived of sleep by a night visitor24 from Hubāba and cares that roamed under the ribs Set in the entrails right up to the throat with a longing [as sharp] as an arrow I said as love writhed in me as did passion above me like mist My heart doubts what you make me desire and my spirit is sad and suspicious And concerning the slave-girl Tayba:25 O Tayba you became good-tempered nor were you improved by perfume which smacks of publicity: playing on the name Tayba (‘delectable’, ‘good-natured’) as well as the multiple puns in one line tayba, tibti (‘cured, improved’, ‘became good-natured’ or ‘good-tempered’), tayyabakī (‘made you tayyiba’), tībū (‘perfume’). And similarly:26 O Tayba you are the same to me as the sweet breath both of you are sweet breath And concerning the slave-girl Hind:27 Long has been my reproach to Hind and my longing and my seeking And my calling every day on false dates Every time I came to a rendez-vous it ended in failure Illusory as one seeks her as illusory as a mirage And concerning Su‘ād – using her name as rhyme:28

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Su‘ād is what I aim to29 so let me be for my heart will not be deflected from Su‘ād30 The proposition that the above examples can be taken to be part of the publicity culture surrounding the professional jawārī receives support from the individual, striking and enticing slogans which the professional jawārī displayed on their person or on their musical instruments, as hallmarks of their trade and by way of self-publicity.31

The pearl as erotic symbol It is remarkable that Bashshār, who was blind from birth, should be the author of so many love poems dedicated to so many women. Women liked his company because he was witty and amusing, while he himself liked them, and was not self-conscious about his blindness:32 A concealed marine pearl that the merchant selected from among the pearls Fātima was amazed about my description of her can the blind be good at describing things ? The specific reference to the pearl as ‘marine’ distinguishes it from the inferior river pearl. The most highly prized of all the natural pearls is the oriental pearl found in the Persian Gulf.33 But the poetical association with the pearl, and thus with the maiden in her boudoir, is intrinsically erotic. The pearl is beauty and perfection personified; an unblemished pearl is one of the most ancient symbols of perfection, distinguished from other jewels by being animal rather than mineral. It is as highly prized as it is difficult and dangerous to obtain. It is pure, luminous, protected (‘concealed’) in the depth of the sea and in its shell. It is sought with passion by the diver. All of this would fit the description of a beautiful, luminous woman of the purest family stock. A different and longer version is cited by Abū Ishāq al-Husrī:34 Fātima was amazed at my description of her can the blind be good at describing things A thirteen year old girl partitioned

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as between white dune and moon [ample body and face] A concealed marine pearl that the merchant selected from among the pearls

In praise of the black Further, Bashshār was catholic in his taste in women – his blindness being a factor, falling in as easily with the black as the white:35 A shiny black girl gentle and mild as water As if moulded for him who acquired her in ambergris kneaded with musk While the general tendency was to prefer the fair-skinned, there were yet several black women celebrated for their beauty. One such was the singing slave-girl Maknūna, whom al-Mahdī bought in his father’s life-time for 100,000 dirhams, and who was to give birth to the distinguished woman poet ‘Ulayya. Abū Hafs al-Shatranjī, a poet member of the household of ‘Ulayya, is also the author of verses in praise of a black woman:36 The musk resembles you and you resemble it standing and sitting in its colour There is no doubt as you are of one colour that you are made of the same clay The fragrance of the girl wafting as she gets up and sits down reminds him of the smell of musk, and as she is black he compares her to the colour of the musk, thus conflating sight with smell. That is reminiscent of the device used by Imru’ al-Qays in his celebrated mu‘allaqa:37 If they [females] rose, the musk would waft from them as gentle breeze carrying the sweet smell of carnation Similarly in praise of the black are the following by al-‘Abbās b. al-Ahnaf:38

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Because of Tuktam I love the black women and due to her I love all that’s black So bring to me what like the musk is of surpassing fragrance and bring to me what like the night is the best for sleep But the general bias towards the fair-skinned is illustrated in the following verses of Ibn Qalāqis. who says that some black women can have a white nature:39 Perchance a black one taken to be white in whom the musk vies with camphor and Abū Tammām al-Hajjām al-Taytalī,40 using the same simile of camphor:41 You were created white, brilliant as camphor but rendered black by the glances fixed on you Almost every one of the fityān, the fashionable, intellectual avantgarde men-about-town, composed and recited odes in praise of slavegirls. Mutī‘ b. Iyās was a standard bearer of the fityān, and the author of several odes. In the following one finds him including the name of the girl in the poem, referring to her as a slave who ruled his heart, and also including his own name as ‘author’s signature’:42 Mutī‘ has become ardent in love sad and seriously ill Free as perceived by the beloved but acknowledging his bondage to the beloved So Rīm cure a burning passion and a besotted heart Favour me with [but] a kiss and that will suffice In the following ode Mutī‘ declares his passion for another slavegirl, Maknūn or Maknūna – whose name is included – using simple expressions like those used in everyday parlance:43

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Lord you know that I am in love with Maknūna That in my love of her I suffer hardship and more The one who spurns by withholding intimacy does so on a false charge Else why should I be shunned and guiltless be denied

Caliphal ghazal The practice of composing love poetry was not confined to those recognised as poets – it apparently extended to caliphs. Al-Rashīd was enamoured of three of his slave-girls, Sihr (‘magic’), Diyā’ (‘brightness’) and Khunuth (‘femininity’). However, the attribution of the poems to al-Rashīd is suspect (the next three poems below are said to have been composed, for the caliph, by Ibn al Ahnaf).44 In the following, al-Rashīd declares that in themselves the three girls faithfully answered to their respective names45: Verily Sihr and Diyā’ and Khunuth are magic brightness and femininity Sihr captured guiltless Two-thirds of my heart and her peers the other third and further declaring: The three ladies hold my reins and fill every part of my heart How come that the whole of mankind obey me while I am ruled by them and they submit not to me It can only be that the sovereignty of love sustaining them is greater than my sovereignty The following poem is also attributed to al-Rashīd, spoken on a certain occasion. But in reality one cannot be certain that there was such an occasion, or whether the verses attributed to al-Rashīd were

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really composed by him. It is said that he sent for Sihr, who pleaded indisposition and offered to go to him the following day. Al-Rashīd, disappointed and feeling slighted, responded in simple language suitable for addressing a young, unsophisticated girl:46 O you who refused my friendship yesterday I’ll not give it you to-day No by Allāh I’ll not give you anything except aversion and blame Although there was in my heart for you what stops me sleeping O you whom I offered a tryst who then asked too much for bride money and price And one finds the same indulgence shown by al-Rashīd to another qayna:47 She displays aversion covering affection the spirit is willing but the eye is angry O you who humbled my cheek as I presented it and that while I have only the Merciful as my superior In similar vein is al-Ma’mūn’s epigram concerning a slave-girl of his:48 In her eyes there are deadly glances by which she kills and revives at will If she angers you see people slain but if she laughs the spirits revive And addressing another girl, invoking her patriotic duty to make it up with him, else he would expire of unrequited love thereby leaving the nation leaderless:49 Do talk for talking will not pain you nor would a greeting harm your charms I am al-Ma’mūn the gallant king yet I am besotted with love of you

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It is your obligation to spare my life else the people will be left without an Imam While the practice of naming the slave-girl in the panegyric serves to publicise her charm and to publicise the connection that the poet has with her and her house, such naming is almost entirely absent from the odes relating to women of the caliphal and aristocratic classes. This is consistent with the sense of propriety and honour and withdrawal from public gaze. It also applies to the upper-class concubines, as demonstrated by the following verses of al-Rashīd apparently addressing, but without naming, his favourite concubine Mārida, mother of al-Mu‘tasim, whom he had left in Raqqa while he returned to Baghdad:50 Greeting to the one living far away from home the greetings of an ardent lover who is pained by it To a gazelle whose pastures are on the Balikh river to the abbey of Zakka and the timbered mansion Woe to one who caused himself grief by voluntarily leaving the one he loved I shall disguise – and disguise is my wont – my longing for the one I love by that which I do not love One notes the reticence that runs throughout the above verses. The caliph avoids naming his lover, referring to her as the one living far from home, as a gazelle, as the one whom he loves. He also avoids naming himself, referring to himself as an ardent lover, as the one who caused himself grief. He does more than this, disguising his longing for his concubine, saying that disguise is his wont. The reason for the reticence and disguise goes back to the ethos of regarding passion as a form of madness, and of regarding the expression of love for a girl to be shaming to her and her family. Yet there is no such disguise, nor any reticence, in al-Rashīd declaring his love for Sihr, Diyā’ and Khunuth. The crucial difference between the two situations arises from the fact that there is an established concubine, an umm walad, in one case and mere jawārī in the other.

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Licentious poetry The preceding review relates to slave-girls chosen from the upper reaches of Abbasid society; and to amatory poetry which, while often risqué, yet generally manages to stay on the right side of grossness. But there is also the seamy side – a scene of low-life entertainment; of houses and inns of ill repute; of slave-girls used in the sex trade. That scene is also illustrated by licentious poetry, often descending into pornography. The chief practitioner of this type of poetry was Mutī‘ b. Iyās, most notorious for taking a lead in libertinism and heresy. Calling at the house of Su‘ād accompanied by his boon companion Hammād ‘Ajrad, he asked the slave-girl for a kiss:51 By God Su‘ād give me a kiss and ask of me (may you be spared) a boon in return By the heavenly Lord were you to say to me ‘Pray to my face’ I would have forthwith made it a qiblah In those verses Mutī‘ commits sacrilege in praying to the face of the girl even as he invokes the name of Allāh in asking her for a kiss. The sacrilege is compounded by the subversion of religious terminology in treating the face as the qiblah, that is the direction of Mecca in which Muslims pray, and punning qiblah with qublah (kiss). This is in the same category as the other example of religious subversion which was seen in relation to the slave-girl Jawhar, one of the girls of the madame Barbar,whom Mutī‘ now addresses:52 Fear the Lord O Barbar for you have corrupted the army You spread vice among the people until vice became manifest Who can restrain the people when Barbar makes her appearance Abū Nuwās is another who combines eroticism with religious subversion. He describes being at the Ka‘ba with his favourite Janān:53 There were two lovers who were cheek to cheek at the kissing of the Black Stone

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They met without transgression as though they were on a rendez-vous Had it not been for the shoving and pushing of the multitude they would not have awoken [from their trance] ever Thus we remained both [respectively] covering the face from the other side by the hand Doing in the mosque that which the pious never did in the mosque And he further describes his physical intimacy with his favourite, right up to a climax, as in the following verses in which he makes it up with her as he entices her to concentrate on the pleasures of the bed54: We are tired of the nagging that goes on and on concentrate on that which fits our mood Leave nagging to some other day and rise without debasing me by your countenance Let the couch profit by you for it is by that that happiness is complete So she laid herself down on the bed covered in bed spreads suffused in perfume and light Thus we forgot our differences and mutually discharged our complaints – and our conscience became clear We no longer thought at all of what had vexed us once the proud gazelle clasped me to her bosom One also finds explicit sexual allusions in Bashshār. This, together with his proclivity for satire and slander caused a scandal – no more so than his long ‘maidenhead’ qasīda, containing a graphic description of his seduction of a virgin and her loss of innocence, of which the opening verse is:55 ‘Umar criticised me concerning my girl friend but anyone else will see that the blame is to no avail Bashshār was one of the most remarkable characters of the period. Handicapped by blindness from birth, he was a great poet, a brilliant

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conversationalist, a trenchant satirist, a scandal-monger and a moral outlaw, as well as tending to Zoroastrianism. He was loved and hated, feared and excoriated in equal measure.56 Those examples demonstrate that the appearance of the jawārī on the cultural scene in the early part of the Abbasid era gave impetus to the development of erotico-sexual poetry, and by extension the development of the lyrical style. There had of course been amatory poetry in the past, but this, rooted in the Arab culture of the desert, was imbued by the spirit of the courtly as it tended towards the ‘udhrī. By contrast, one finds the new genre of love poetry marked by other characteristics including unashamed naturalism often descending into grossness and what would be viewed as an underlying commercial motive, so that one may reasonably conclude that a good part of the compositions of the male poets of and concerning the qiyān was publicity material. The competition for patronage and business between the houses of the qiyān gave further commercial impetus to that new genre of poetry. The services and skills of the male poet would have been in big demand – the better known the more sought after – to sing in verse the charms of the qayna and the pleasures and delectations to be had at her place of business. This new type of erotico-sexual poetry also provides information on the extent of the activities of the qiyān, their establishments and their hangers-on at the heart of a thriving entertainment industry.

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CHAPTER TEN

SINGING

Islam and the awakening of singing The first century of the Islamic era saw an awakening of the art of professional singing, the impetus for which derived from a number of factors. The Great Conquests brought the Arabs into contact with the ancient and more sophisticated cultures of Persia and Byzantium; a popular saying was that in the sum total of civilisation Persia contributed chess, the lute and polo; from Greece came geometry, medicine and astronomy; while the Arab genius lay in grammar, jurisprudence and poetry.1 Al-Jāhiz observed that singing was regarded by the Persians as art, and by the Byzantines as science.2

Pre-Islamic musical instruments As a consequence of having made these contacts, the Arabs adopted new musical practices and new musical instruments, the most important of which was a type of ‘ūd which has remained in use to the present day. (The pre-Islamic Arabs had used an assortment of string instruments which bore some resemblance to the ūd, e.g. the mizhar, qirān and muwattar.3) Furthermore, the profession of singers, which historically had been looked down upon by the Arabs as undignified and unmanly, gained a new impetus by attracting adherents from the new class of non-Arab mawālī. A mawlā singer was implicitly free to frequent any assembly, his function investing him with a certain role,

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largely traditional, which was to amuse people at leisure by singing and other attractions.4 Added to this was the introduction into Arab society of a large number of multi-national qiyān who, as professional entertainers, used singing as a principal tool of their trade. But the most important factor was that the vast revenues of the conquered lands created classes of well-to-do people in an Arab society that was moving gradually from rural and small-town surroundings to a metropolitan life tending towards leisure, ease and the concomitants of the good life, including music and song. According to al-‘Amrūsī, singing as a profession among the Arabs was rare before Islam, and consisted of hudā’ (camel drivers’ singing), which was not regarded as immoral, its subjects being praise, pride and bravery.5 By ‘Arabs’, al-‘Amrūsī seemingly has the inhabitants of Hijaz in mind, but even then he cites no authority in support of his statement, which is too sweeping to be accepted at face value. The hudā’ may have originally been a charm against the jinn of the desert. One can say that at the dawn of Islam there was no opposition to singing, as evidenced by the fact that the Prophet Muhammad himself joined in the toil-song at the digging of the trenches at Mecca. It was only some later reports that ascribed to the four Orthodox Caliphs opposition – more or less – to any indulgence in listening to singing or music.6 That said, one readily accepts the proposition that, as a profession, singing among the Arabs became more sophisticated and more diverse after the Arab nation had become extended over a large part of the civilised world under the banner of Islam.

The mukhannath style of singing According to al-Isfahānī, the first professional singer in Medina at the dawn of Islam was Tuways, who in the course of his career saw the introduction of the Persian lute into Hijaz but had no truck with it, his style being to beat a drum while extemporising among the guests.7 In addition to his lowly status of mawlā Tuways was regarded as one of the ‘effeminate singers’ (mukhannathūn) whose social status was so degraded that they were only just tolerated in the mosque, while the presumption was against the admission of their testimonies in court.8

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The term mukhannath as applied to singing referred to the style and high-pitched tone of the head-voice and not necessarily to the singer, although often applicable to both. Tuways is also said to be the first to sing in the takhnīth style in Medina. While Tuways was making his name in Medina, Sa‘īd b. Misjah, a black mawlā, was making his in Mecca, where he was in the highest rank of singers and is said to have been the first to adapt the Persian style to singing in Arabic. According to Ibn Rashīq the Arabs manipulated the melodies to fit them to the verses, whereas the non-Arabs stretched the words until they fitted the melodies.9 Thus it was said that the Arabs fitted the measured melody to the measured verse, adding a measure to a measure, and less charitably of the Persians that they stretched the words until they fitted the melody, thereby adding to the measured that which was ill-measured. The most celebrated singer in Mecca, however, was Ibn Surayj. He learned his art from Ibn Misjah, going on to surpass him and to excel over all others. He was considered to be the first after Tuways to perfect the professional art of singing in Hijaz.10 He was born during the caliphate of ‘Umar and died in the reign of Hishām. His repute so endured that many years later his superior quality as a vocalist and instrumentalist was recognised by no lesser luminaries than Ibrāhīm al-Mawsilī and his son Ishāq, the latter acknowledging him to be his better as a singer.11 But to put Ishāq’s ‘generous’ acknowledgment in its proper context, one is reminded that Ishāq’s singing voice was generally thought to be mediocre, that being the only department in which he was deficient as a musician.12 Ibn Surayj was not well favoured in looks – he only sang in a face mask – and is referred to as the first to use the Persian lute as an accompaniment to Arabic songs.13 He was another mukhannath; Ishāq al-Mawsilī related that al-Fadl b.Yahyā b. Khālid14 asked his father Ibrāhīm: ‘Who would you say is the best singer of all time?’ ‘Among the men singers or the women?’ enquired Ibrāhīm. ‘The men,’ replied al-Fadl. ‘It’s Ibn Muhriz,’ said Ibrāhīm. ‘And among the women?’ ‘Ibn Surayj!’ came the reply.15 Another celebrated singer who established a school of singing in Medina was Sā’ib Khāthir. Al-Isfahānī describes him as the first to play the lute in Medina as an accompaniment to singing,16 then contradicts this on the next page by saying that he did not play the lute but

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beat the drum with a stick and sang extempore.17 The school of Sā’ib Khāthir produced the eminent singer Jamīla, who set the verses of Imrū’ al-Qays to vocal music,18 and who in turn set up her own school, producing such notable singers and qiyān as Ma‘bad, Ibn ‘Ā’isha and Habāba (who later became celebrated as the favourite of ‘Abd al-Malik who was besotted with her19), Sallāmat al-Qass, ‘Aqīla, Khulayda and Rubayha.20 Jamīla, who on occasion would have as many as 40 women instrumentalists playing behind the curtain, boasted that the whole world sent their slave-girls to her house to learn the art of singing.

The ūd (lute) The ‘ūd is the most important musical instrument of the Islamic peoples from the Atlantic shores to the Persian world, Central Asia and Muslim India. Al-Mas‘ūdī says that it was invented by Lamach, but acknowledges that it was more likely to have been invented by the Greeks.21 Ibn ‘Abd Rabbihi likewise says that its invention was ascribed either to Lamach, son of Adam, who used it to mourn his children, or to Ptolemy.22 Al-Ghuzūlī refers to a tradition according to which the first to use the ‘ūd was Methusalah, and cites a saying that ‘the first to introduce the ‘ūd was Ptolemy, while the line of true musicians ended with Ishāq al-Mawsilī’.23 The zammāra (flute) was the principal instrument in Arabia before the introduction of the ‘ūd. While the zammāra was roundly condemned by the clerics as leading to lasciviousness, the ‘ūd was to become doubly stigmatised, for its association with both drinking and lasciviousness.24 The introduction of the lute into Arabic music meant more than just the addition of another musical instrument. Those who beat the tambourines did so while extemporising among the gathered guests, commonly in the open, on such occasions as festivals, weddings and circumcisions. On the other hand, the lute, which is played cradled in the lap of the player, is more suitable for a party held indoors with seated guests; and suitable for women as instrumentalists. Further, the sound plucked from the strings being softer and more sweet-sounding than the harsher tones produced by percussion, the lute was more suited for, and helped to promote, musical events which were better

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ordered – although less spontaneous – than extemporising with drum (tabl) and tambourine (duff). The main wind instrument was the mizmār, otherwise known by its Persian name nāy (similar to the oboe). It is generally accepted that the Persian lute was introduced into the Arab world in the Umayyad era, more specifically during the reign of Yazīd b. Mu‘āwiya (23/645–61/683). By the close of that era the professional singers of Hijaz were divided into two camps: the more successful were those who perfected the ‘ūd while the lesser camp shunned it, regarding it as a foreign abomination. Yet the ūd continued to gain ascendancy – it was said that serious, proper singing could only be accompanied by the ‘ūd and not by the bass drum; and one finds Abū Hashīsha, an accomplished player of the tambourine, agreeing with Ibrāhīm al-Mawsilī that his instrument had had its day.25 Ibn ‘Ā’isha, a contemporary of the caliph Walīd the Second, knew no other instrument but the ūd.26 By the third century of the Islamic era the ‘ūd had become the master of musical instruments. Using the tambourine as accompaniment to singing could not fit comfortably into the cultural salons of a sophisticated metropolitan Abbasid society. That said, there was no complete break with the past, in that music continued to be subordinated to poetry rather than vice versa.27 The singer introduced the verse in musical venues, thereby establishing and popularising the poets and their poetry.28 Yet the true commercial value was in the person of the singer rather than the poet. The estimated value of the poet Nusayb was 1,000 dinars, while Sallāmat al-Qass, a singer who could not compose poetry, had a market value of 20,000 dinars.29

Ambiguous social attitudes to music In all civilisations throughout the ages, society has tended to have an ambiguous attitude towards music – a case perhaps of desire tempered by caution. Music normally has an important place in celebrations – in the right form and on the right occasions it graces social gatherings and adds to their pleasures. At the same time it can be thought to lead to frivolity and the loosening of social constraints: Yazīd b. al-Walīd enjoined against singing on the grounds that it debased manhood, lowering modesty while intensifying desire, and that it affected the brain as

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if one was under the influence of drink – adding that if one could not do without singing it should at least be kept away from women, since it would lead them into adultery. But basically Arab society does not differ from other societies in the way that it regards music. Ibn ‘Abd Rabbihi, lauding it as the only pleasure to be enjoyed without effort, observes that even the beasts are moved by it and recognise a good tune,30 but also points out that it is disliked by the pious as tending to shameful levity.31 Al-Ghuzūlī cites a number of sayings: If one be sad let him listen to good pleasing tunes: music is for the soul, drink is for the body, pleasure is their progeny; it makes the coward brave, the anxious firm and the miser generous; it can make one mild or stern or angry or weepy; it can lull the infant to sleep. On the negative side it may induce the drinker to excessive drinking and loss of control. Al-Ghuzūlī cites in particular a saying by the great musician Ishāq al-Mawsilī that in addition to good health and being young in years the good life is in singing and playing music, which Ishāq qualifies by adding that the least welcome tunes and their lyrics are the mediocre, because the best please, the worst make one laugh, whereas the mediocre do neither.32

Caliphal patronage Until well into the Umayyad period there was little caliphate patronage of singing. From the days of Mu‘āwiya to those of Hishām b.‘Abd al-Malik no caliph was known for drinking to excess, if at all, or to be interested in singing. Hence society was scandalised by the excessive drinking and moral laxity of al-Walīd b.Yazīd who succeeded Hishām. The Umayyads were occupied by grave matters of state – the establishment of a dynastic rule, rebellions to be dealt with, as well as the expansion of the empire. They had little time or inclination for leisure. It was only gradually that they came to regard the state treasury (bayt al-māl) as their own. Mu‘āwiya seldom listened to music, and thought it shameful of ‘Abdallāh b. Ja‘far to do so. As he was passing by one night he heard music coming from ‘Abdallāh’s house. He stopped to listen for an hour then went away exclaiming: God forbid! God forbid!’33 On another occasion ‘Abdallāh introduced Sā’ib Khāthir to him, with a recommendation that he reward him. ‘What does the fellow do to

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deserve a reward?’ asked Mu‘āwiya. ‘He transmits poetry and does it well,’ replied Ja‘far. ‘And should we reward whoever cares to relate poetry?’ exclaimed Mu‘āwiya34. What is particularly interesting in this exchange is that ‘Abdallāh, conscious of Mu‘āwiya’s attitude towards music, introduces Sā’ib Khāthir not as a singer but as a transmitter of poetry. Some years later, when the Umayyad army sacked Medina during the dynastic conflict with Ibn al-Zubayr, Sā’ib Khāthir was stopped by soldiers. According to al-Isfahānī he explained who he was and sang one of his songs to prove that he was a mere professional singer and not a rebel. They listened to him with rapt attention, told him how much they liked his singing, then killed him. The report of that incident, true or false, shows the Umayyads in a bad light. But one is reminded that al-Isfahānī, whose report it is, was a firm adherent of the ‘Alīd cause, hence naturally prejudiced against the Umayyads. Al-Mahdī was the first Abbasid caliph who liked music. He would have musical gatherings in his palace, attended by boon companions and female slaves. But Islamic propriety was still observed to the extent that he did not permit the consumption of alcohol. On one occasion he had Ibrāhīm al-Mawsilī committed to prison for a few days for a drinking offence. Al-Mahdī was the first of the lavish spenders, and by the time of al-Rashīd the court was Persian in all but name. The singing profession had effectively moved from Mecca and Medina to Baghdad. The last of the noble singers left behind was Hukm al-Wādi, a mukhadram al-dawlatayn. Even he had to succumb to the new lighter style of singing at the dawn of the Abbasid era. He witnessed the gradual decline of the heavy ramal, which Gharīd continued to defend, and the rise to prominence of the hazaj as a new form of singing popularised by Ibn Surayj.35 When Hukm used the hazaj, by now a popular style, he was taken to task by his son: ‘How could you bring yourself in your old age to sing in the style of the mukhannathīn?’ The father replied: ‘Quiet – you are ignorant. For 60 years I sang the heavy ramal, and earned nothing but a pittance. In the last two years I have been singing the hazaj and gained for you more than you could dream of.’36 By then the lot of the professional singer had been so transformed that the princes of the Abbasid house greeted the arrival of a new famous singer with all the enthusiasm of besotted fans.37

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By the early part of the Abbasid era formal singing sessions had become an institution. No longer were singing and music confined to celebratory events, and there were now permanent places of entertainment to cater for all kinds of tastes in drink, music and carnal gratification – and for all classes. As for the upper classes, these establishments took the form of a majlis, at which richly spectacular poetry and music entertainments would often be provided. Al-Tawhīdī describes38 sessions at which the music was performed by a sort of orchestra, consisting of small drum (qarrā‘a), reed pipe (mizmār), drum (tabl), cymbal (sanj) and ‘ūd. They are accompanied by enchanting slave-girls, faces uncovered, brilliantly dressed, fragrant and swaying to the music. There are also references to entertainment being provided by a group of lutists playing in unison, or individually, or more commonly as an accompaniment to a singer or singers. There was one occasion when Ibrāhīm al-Mawsilī, receiving Ibn Jamī‘ as a guest, produced no less than 30 female slaves singing and playing the ūd in unison; and it is said that Ibrāhīm spotted one string out of tune from a total of 180.39 Similarly, there was another occasion when Ishāq al-Mawsilī called on al-Ma’mūn and saw him reclining between female slaves, ten on each side, who were entertaining him by playing the ‘ūd in unison – Ishāq identified one out-of-tune string among the many.40 On yet another occasion Hārūn al-Rashīd set out with a retinue of, it is said, 400 servants to call unannounced on Ibrāhīm al-Mawsilī. The caliph called for singing girls, and Ibrāhīm produced enough to fill the front and sides of the reception hall. Hārūn asked that they play the ‘ūd, two at a time, accompanying a single vocalist.41

Formal and informal majālis There were two kinds of majlis – the formal majlis held in the presence of a patron and the informal held without one. The formal majlis would commonly include boon companions (nudamā’), young male slaves (ghilmān), servants (khuddām) and eunuchs (khisyān), as well as jawārī. The nudama’ included in their ranks the influential and highly educated bureaucrats or chancery scribes and other fityān who were, or were expected to be, possessed of good behaviour and erudition (adab),

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virtue (murū’ā) and, last and not least, refinement (zarf).42 What distinguished the private or informal majlis from the formal was not only the absence of formality, but also the much lesser level of constraints as regards drinking, erotic behaviour and the use of ‘impolite’ or lewd language. The qayna had a central role in the majlis, and exerted considerable influence on cultural life generally. As a slave she was not permitted to cover her face. Thus she provided a public display of the female body in a society which required the hurra to go about in a face mask and be fully enveloped in a loose-fitting cloak. The qayna displayed beauty, glamour and good taste in dress, in adornment and in entertaining guests. And she was possessed of acuity, the result of years of intensive education and training designed to fit her for the company of the great and famous among men. As a singer she sang poems in front of guests,43 unlike the hurra who sang from behind a curtain. According to al-Jāhiz, a successful singing girl had a repertoire of as many as 4,000 songs, comprising 10,000 verses in total, which she knew by heart, as well as having a knowledge of literary sources.44 What was looked for in a musical majlis was the ambiance of tarab (strong, joyful emotion) in the Arab tradition.45

Association with immorality Commonly those present would partake of food and drink, while being entertained with songs by beautiful, fragrant and obliging slave-girls, exposed in all their charm. In such a venue a sentimental and beguiling song with erotic allusions would have been very emotive. It should be added in passing that the harā’ir were not allowed to be present at such a majlis, and one can well imagine that their absence would have contributed to the tarab of the guests: the latter could savour what the slave-girls had to offer, all the more care-free in the knowledge that their harā’ir were not only absent as witnesses from their unrestrained jollity, but also safely ensconced at home with reputation and virtue unsullied. The ambivalent social stance towards singing, approaching it with care and suspicion, is due to the perception that it is associated with immorality. This in turn is linked to the belief that it is unethical – it

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was associated in Arabia with adultery (zinā) and sorcery (sihr) and demonstrated by the popular maxims: ‘song is the talisman of adultery’; ‘keep women away from singing, for it is an invitation to adultery’; ‘three things are accursed: the sorceress, the mourner and she who is unfaithful to her husband’.46 It does not escape one’s attention that it is the female of the species who is in every case the accursed, in which respect Arab patriarchal society is no different from nearly all others. Contrast that with the claim of Ibrāhīm al-Mawsilī that he was inspired by Iblīs (‘the devil’),47 and the similar claim by Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī.48 This Iblīs is not the one of dark satanic powers, the consort of the sorceress; but a different benign devil – one of the lads!

Social status of instrumentalists and vocalists A radical shift in social and moral attitudes had occurred by the time Hārūn al-Rashīd acceded to the caliphate. It heralded the rise of the professional class of entertainers sponsored by rich and generous patrons, the spread of places of entertainment, some no better than brothels, and the appearance in public of a large number of female slaves as entertainers. These changes led in turn to a shift in cultural taste, with lyrical poetry and erotic songs now holding centre stage and supplanting the heroic qasīda and song that had incorporated the typical Arabic trope of the desert journey and the deserted campsite. The Persians had claimed to have discovered the secret of passion (‘ishq) and looked down on the Arabs for their vulgar taste. To the Bedouins, on the other hand, passion was a madness brought about by the jinn, and was so represented in the Arab folklore of the mad lover (majnūn al-hubb). To them, passion was a scandal, and incompatible with marriage. A suitor who declared his passion for a girl disgraced her and her family; he would be driven away, if not slain.49 But by the early part of the Abbasid era, passion as expressed in verse and song had become socially acceptable. There was by now a new permissive society that regarded music and singing with less caution and suspicion. The ‘ifrīt was let out of the bottle, and the fityān found him benign, musical and even inspiring. The new modern taste was favoured by the women, the singers and the fityān; the latter attracted to the musical events by

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the lure of wine, women and song. The fityān, even those who were not mawālī, were the most susceptible to the Persian view of passion.50 The singer, meanwhile, was a leader in fashionable taste and manners and was imitated by the young men of Quraysh, by poets and mawālī. He appealed to women, and the popular and successful versifiers and songsters were those who went out of their way to impress women and knew how to cater to their tastes. Thus it was that the professions of the musician and the singer became respectable, to an extent that the caliphal family itself produced a semi-professional songwriter and singer in Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī. It is interesting to note the gradual process by which he ‘came out’, progress marked by the successive caliphates of Hārūn al-Rashīd, al-Amīn and al-Ma’mūn and in line with the development of the modern, more permissive, social tendencies. At first, Ibrāhīm was too embarrassed to sing in public, limiting himself to doing so in private to his half-brother Hārūn, then to his nephew al-Amīn.51 If he made public a song of his own composition, he ascribed it to his female slaves Shāriya and Rayyiq,52 thus putting a distance between himself and the professional singers: ‘I make songs because it pleases me to do so, and not with a view to profit; I sing for myself and not for others.’53 Later, as he renounced any claim to the caliphate and made amends with al-Ma’mūn, he came out as a semiprofessional singer, competing with Ishāq al-Mawsilī. If reproached, he would say: ‘I am a king and the son of a king. I sing what pleases me.’ The following anecdote further demonstrates the rehabilitation of the status of singers and singing generally. As Abū l-‘Atāhiya was on his death-bed he was asked if there was anything he wanted. He said that he wished that Mukhāriq54 would come and put his mouth to his ear and sing (the words being of Abū l-‘Atāhiya himself):55 The mention of me will be shunned and friendship forgot And to the bosom friend after me will be a bosom friend If my spell in this epoch is ended then the keening of the women mourners is of no avail

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To classify the ‘jawārī entertainers’ as being either poets or singers is to contrive a division which barely existed. A true fundamental classification is that which divided the general body of slave-girls into two classes: there were those, the majority, who were engaged in domestic service and not required to be tutored or be particularly favoured in looks. And there were the others – the entertainers, including the purveyors of sex, whose raison d’être was to please and act as objects of desire. The qiyān were the select class of entertainers – chosen, educated, trained and ‘finished’ with the object of entertaining the better class of people and presenting themselves as objects of desire in refined social and artistic surroundings. Learning to sing and play a musical instrument would have been central to the basic training of most of them. That some of them became adept at composing poetry, mostly clever, entertaining ‘salon’ epigrams, would have been the by-product of their general education. The qiyān were commercial assets: substantial capital would have been invested in their education, and their serious worth was in becoming established as noted singers. Changing hands as novices, their potential as singers and as instrumentalists would often be appraised by professional valuers. As established and celebrated singers they could command very high prices – in some cases more than some established male poets could hope to earn in a lifetime. That said, it was often the case that a prospective buyer would enquire whether the qayna could compose poetry. When a slave

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merchant offered the girl Rayyā for sale to al-Mutawakkil, the latter asked her: ‘Are you a poet?’ ‘So alleges my owner,’ she replied.1 That response, or words to that effect, was a stock reply, part of the sales patter. When Fadl was presented to al-Mutawakkil as a gift, he also asked her if she was a poet, to which she replied: ‘So allege those who sold me and bought me’.2 Such an exchange served a purpose other than to assess the girl’s commercial value by reference to her ability to compose poetry. It also served to assure the would-be buyer that whatever her national origin, the girl, by the time she came to be offered, had become sufficiently arabised, that is to say, not only able to converse in Arabic but also sufficiently instructed in Arab history, Arab culture and the tenets and observances of Islam. In compiling al-Imā’ al-shawā‘ir Al-Isfahānī does contrive some classification of the qiyān as poets and singers respectively. He does this by identifying certain of them as being essentially poets (so as to include them in Imā’), in contrast to the larger body of the mughanniyāt mentioned in Aghānī. The contrivance is not altogether successful. Al-Imā’ al-shawā‘ir is a compilation of anecdotes relating to 33 jawārī and spread over 31 chapters (two of the chapters refer to two women each). But even within that small work the demarcation between poet and singer is blurred. Of those 33 shawā‘ir no fewer than 16 are described as serious songwriters and singers, namely Sakan, Nasīm, Mutayyam, Samrā’, Haylāna, Zalūm, ‘Arīb, ‘Āmil, Mahbūba, Rayyā, Nabat, Bid‘a, Mahā, Sarf, Jullanār and Khansā’, subject to the qualification made by al-Isfahānī concerning Mutayyam: she made poetry that was inferior in quality but good enough for the likes of her,3 while ‘Arīb, a poet, is also generally acknowledged to have been among the top four women singers of her time.4 The other 17 included Taymā’, who turned her own poetry into song,5 Fadl, who denied that she had composed a song to celebrate a lover,6 and Danānīr of whom the author says: ‘It was said that she was a singer, but that is not true.7 This leaves 14, imā’ shawā‘ir, of whom mostly snatches of verse are cited with no mention whether or not they were singers as well.8 It is noteworthy that of all al-Isfahānī’s imā’ shawā‘ir, Fadl is the only one expressly identified as a poet (by being commonly referred to as (‘Fadl the poet’).

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All singing in the Islamic East is basically homophonic, i.e. purely melodic with the singer varying his or her rendition by means of ornaments – for instance by adding special syllables such as ah, yā and lā with a trill at the end.9 All that one knows of the songs contained in Aghānī are the tonal and rhythmic modes in which they were sung. As for the lyrics of the qiyān songs they were in the main either their own compositions or composed by others with a view specifically to having them sung. They were mostly amatory in subject matter, often consisting of no more than one or two verses, of simple composition using repetitive words suitable for singing; as well as simple expressions close to general everyday discourse, as in the following composed by ‘Alī b. Hishām when he felt the presence of visitors weighing heavily on him, and which he addressed to his slave-girl Mutayyam, the latter then converting it to song:10 Do we stay like this, you close to me yet we can’t have a chat because of the visitors So salām to you, not the salām of parting but the salām of a besotted lover or in the following further example, also sung by Mutayyam:11 I’ve made me an enemy God bless my enemy I ransomed her with my kith and my kin and my neighbours Lissom and slender as a bamboo cane thus she twisted and turned She was certain that the heart loved her so she became coquettish As regards the authorship of this last song it may not be without significance that, far from claiming the lyrics to be her own, Mutayyam (according to al-Isfahānī) alleged that the authorship, lyrics and melody belonged to ‘Abdallāh b. l-‘Abbās, probably to enhance its status by association: a composition ascribed to a recognised poet and songwriter rather than to a slave-girl could well be thought to add

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cachet and value to both song and singer. ‘Abdallāh b. l-‘Abbās was a celebrated songwriter and singer, as well as a poet. It was said that there were no better songwriters than ‘Allawayh, ‘Abdallāh b. l-‘Abbās and Mutayyam.12 This is a further illustration of the fact that a purely commercial motive may have lain behind many cases of uncertain attribution. In addition to lyrics being composed specifically to be sung, there were some songs, more lofty in content, which were based on preexisting poetry, such as the following verses of Abū l-‘Atāhiya, sung by Farīda:13 My intimates, grief is in me and you grieve not and no one cares for what ails one’s friend And no lover who receives from his beloved a true love but that he becomes filled with pride Love has made to waste my flesh, my body and my joints14 so that nought remains but the soul and the skeletal body I saw love as live coals in one’s entrails but however hot it is, it is yet pleasing to the chest of him who has it I have been struck by misfortune and playfulness was the beginning of my misfortune so I loved a true love and all misfortunes have a beginning I became besotted by one who in pride looks down on me while I fully reciprocate with humiliation The tradition of declaiming/singing classical odes backed up by musical instruments is represented by the Iraqi maqālāt, which have survived to this day, the best-known example being al-maqāla al-Ibrāhīmiyya, attributed by some to Ibrahīm al-Mawsilī and by others to Ibrāhim b. al-Mahdī.15

Two schools of singing The world of singing in the Baghdad of the third century of Islam was divided into two camps or schools of singing: the traditional, led by

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Ishāq al-Mawsilī, and the modern, championed by Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī. Applying an up-to-date analogy, but allowing for the vast historical differences, the two schools correspond to what we now think of as classical and popular (or rather populist) music. While the traditionalists rendered an old song in the way it had been intended, or as close to that as possible, the modernists sang it, not as they found it but as they variously chose to sing it.16 Thus it was that through repetition different versions would exist at any one time, the link with the original becoming progressively more tenuous. Al-Isfahānī thinks it remarkable that it fell to someone in the position of Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī, an aristocrat and member of the caliphal family, to don a populist mantle that muddied the waters and corrupted the traditional songs under the guise of radical reform of public taste. One may also discern in that statement the sectarian prejudice that animates al-Isfahānī, a dedicated Shī‘ī against the anti-‘Alīd Ibrahim b. al-Mahdī. Ibrāhīm gathered supporters who included his favourite slave-girl Shāriya, the slave woman Rayyiq and her slave-girls Ziryāb, al-Wāthiqiyya and Khishf, other commoners and their slaves, as well as the notable male singer Mukhāriq. As against that group there was ranged the rest of the caliphal and aristocratic circles of musicians, who adhered to the position of the arch-traditionalist Ishāq al-Mawsilī. This latter group included ‘Arīb and her jawārī, al-Qāsim b. Zurzur, Badhl and her followers, the jawārī of ‘Alī b. Hishām and those of the Barmakīs including Danānīr, as well as the retinue of Yahyā b. Mu‘ādh and that of al-Fadl b. al-Rabī‘.17 The populist movement in music championed by Ibn al-Mahdī can be said to have mirrored a general tendency for social permissiveness and unorthodoxy, manifesting itself in the spread of zandaqa and mujūn – as also, on the theological and political level, the rise to prominence of the ‘rational’ Mu‘tazalite doctrine.

Four slave-girls who distinguished themselves as singers Badhl Badhl was by all accounts a remarkable songwriter and singer – prolific, influential both as a courtier and as a teacher and leader of many

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other women singers. A short chapter is devoted to her in Aghānī.18 A native of Medina, and brought up in Basra, she was described as personable with a light complexion, as a good instrumentalist, and as an exceptional songwriter and singer. It was said that her repertoire extended to 30,000 songs. Badhl was acquired as a slave-girl by Ja‘far b. Mūsā al-Hādī. His father, the third Abbasid caliph, attempted during his short reign (169–70/785–6) to secure the succession for him, thereby excluding Mūsā’s brother Hārūn, and in the face of opposition by Yahyā b. Khālid al-Barmakī. But Mūsā died, some say poisoned, before this goal could be achieved.19 Muhammad b. Zubayda took possession of Badhl, it is said tricking Ja‘far by getting him insensible with drink, later supposedly sending him 20 million dirhams as compensation. She remained in the possession of Muhammad b. Zubayda until he was killed; by then he had bestowed on her vast gifts of jewellery, a collection greater than possessed by any other. In later life she maintained herself by selling some of the jewellery as and when she needed to supplement her income, but on her death there was still a large proportion left. The Muhammad b. Zubayda mentioned in the episode being none other than the caliph al-Amīn, it is significant that he is referred to, not by his caliphal name nor even as the son of Hārūn al-Rashīd, but as the son of his mother. It demonstrates contempt for him, regarding him as the spoilt homosexual son of the grande dame Zubayda, who doted on him and promoted his claim to succeed to the caliphate. Al-Isfahānī relates that Badhl remained in the ‘court of Muhammad until he was killed’, not deigning even then to refer to him by his caliphal name. After his death, Badhl was claimed by the children of Ja‘far b. Mūsā al-Hādī as well as by those of al-Amīn,20 with the clear inference that her ownership continued to be disputed on the grounds that al-Amīn had taken possession of her in questionable circumstances. Badhl then passed into the ownership of ‘Alī b. Hishām to be added to his retinue of jawārī, which included Mutayyam and Murād. Upon the fall and execution of Ibn Hishām his estate, including the jawārī, was confiscated and appropriated by al-Ma’mūn. When al-Ma’mūn died, his successor al-Mu‘tasim took possession of all the jawārī, including Badhl, whom he married.21

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Prolific songwriter By all accounts Badhl was a prolific songwriter. It is stated in Aghānī that she had compiled a book containing 12,000 songs, but no further details are given. It is also stated that in response to a challenge and to impress ‘Alī b. Hishām, believing that he had belittled her quality as a songwriter she, in the course of 24 hours, wrote down 12,000 songs. One cannot but feel sceptical of such a report, even if one assumed that each song may have consisted of no more than a few words. To her contemporary, the singer Zurzur, Badhl’s claims to be the owner of such a vast repertoire was outright incredible. Badhl claimed that in the course of her career she had put together a repertoire of 30,000 songs, half of which she forgot after retirement. When this was reported to Zurzur he exclaimed: ‘The whore lies!’22 Badhl was much admired by Ishāq al-Mawsilī. On one occasion she sang to him:23 If you see me emaciated it’s because of lengthy care and grief That which I feared from the one and only beloved would to God it did not exist Ishāq was enthralled and said to her, taking a drink: ‘Well done my girl, I shall drink to every song of yours.’ Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī, another admirer, stopped calling on her in circumstances that suggested to Badhl that he thought her unworthy to be visited. That caused her, affronted, to call on him one day. In order to prove her worth she sang 100 songs in only one mode, one rhythm and one scale. Ibrāhīm did not recognise any. As she finished she laid down the lute and abruptly departed. Thereafter she refused his invitations, while he kept on repeating his requests and entreaties for her to visit him, until she relented.24 ‘Alī b. Hishām loved Badhl. After some temporary estrangement he addressed a poem to her expressing his love and his hurt:25 You have changed after my time and time brings about change you forsook my friendship and just so do kings forsake

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You have openly shunned me while you hid detestation inwardly you promised an early intimacy but did so with a surly tongue What grieves me is that on the day I visited you I was denied access while you entertained my enemies From less than that can a youth infer that his lovers betray him I would be forswearing the religion of love were I to loiter at your door and it were perjury to do so What though my soul should expire for love of you thus so other lovers’ souls have expired If my stars had been lucky we would have had our tryst but ill-fated are the stars of lovers To Badhl goes the credit for teaching Mutayyam to sing,26 and she would also be resorted to as a judge of singing. There was the case of ‘Abdallāh b. l-‘Abbās, who was attached to a young and spirited slave-girl called ‘Asālij. He brought her to Badhl and asked her to look at her, listen to her singing and then tell him what she thought of her. The girl interrupted him: ‘Oh ‘Abdallāh, do you ask for a second opinion about me? By God, I did not seek a second opinion when I became your lover.’ At that, Badhl exclaimed: ‘By God, well said, lass! Had there been nothing good in you, nor any praiseworthy trait, you would still deserve to be cherished for saying those words.’ Then turning to the man: ‘You have not made a bad bargain – keep your friend.’27 Lesbianism The following anecdote reveals another side to Badhl, as well as shedding light on a shady corner of contemporary Abbasid society.28 Al-Ma’mūn was sitting with a cup of wine in his hand as Badhl started to sing. The opening words of the song were: Ah, I find nothing sweeter than the tryst but she caused a shock by rendering them, probably unthinkingly, as:

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Ah, I find nothing sweeter than lesbos Taken aback, al-Ma’mūn laid down the cup, turned to her and said: ‘Nay, O Badhl, fucking is more delectable than lesbianism.’ She was covered in shame and feared the caliph’s wrath. But he picked up the cup and asked her to finish the song. She started again and sang the full song: Ah, I find nothing sweeter than the tryst and my expectation of it even as it should disappoint Or than the inattentiveness of the tell-taler as I come to her or than visiting her abode with none there but me Or than the cry of welcome then the silence both more delectable to me than immortality Mutayyam Mutayyam was commonly known by the full name of Mutayyam al-Hishāmiyya, as being the slave-girl of ‘Alī b. Hishām. A full chapter is devoted to her in Aghānī,29 and she is also given a short chapter in al-Imā’ al-shawā‘ir30 – al-Isfahānī regarded her poetry as mediocre, but sufficient for her to qualify as a poet. As such she could have been placed here among the slave-girl poets, as was the case with ‘Arīb. But she is included among the mughanniyāt instead because there is little of her poetry which is extant, unlike ‘Arīb, whose Shāhak qasīda, one feels, secures her place as a poet. Devotion to ‘Alī b. Hishām Mutayyam was born in Basra where she grew up, was educated and was taught to sing. She then moved to Baghdad, learning the songs of Ibrāhim and Ishāq al-Mawsilī and their peers. She was taken in hand by Badhl, who completed her training and of whom she became a follower. The connection with Badhl appears to be the means by which Mutayyam was introduced to ‘Alī b. Hishām, who bought her for 20,000 dirhams, she being then still of tender years and virginal. Her career as a musician benefited from the contact she made with a number of exalted singers who attended upon her master. She became

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‘Alī b. Hishām’s favourite slave-girl. His love of her was fully reciprocated: he would say: ‘Mutayyam loves me with a passion exceeding a sister’s love of a brother.’31 On one occasion she said something which upset him, so he poked her in the chest. She got up angrily and left his presence. He expressed his contrition in verse which he sent to her in an attempt to mollify her:32 Would that my hand the day after I extended it to you had parted from me – returning with neither palm nor arm If the merciful should restore that which obtained between us I will not repeat it to the very day of resurrection Mutayyam bore ‘Alī b. Hishām several children,33 so that as an umm walad she became a free woman on his death. ‘Alī b. Hishām, Mutayyam and her children were libelled by ‘Alī b. l-Jahm, presumably after the downfall of ‘Alī b. Hishām or more likely on the occasion of his fall, when he was put to death and his estate confiscated:34 Progeny of Mutayyam do you know the true report and how can that which is manifest be concealed I posed you a riddle: Who is your father, you progeny of a whole gang? But to the adulterer is the stoning This alludes to an often-quoted hadīth: al-walad li-l-firāsh wa li-l-‘āhir al-hajar (‘the child belongs to the marriage bed and to the adulterer the stoning’). These verses may have been connected with the rumoured cause of the fall of Ibn Hishām, viz. his ‘tricking’ al-Ma’mūn out of acquiring Mutayyam.35 With this as background, the verses of Ibn l-Jahm would have been calculated to curry favour with al-Ma’mūn. Mutayyam is described as having a light complexion and a beautiful face. It is noteworthy that in those days the slave woman went about with face uncovered, but when she became an umm walad she covered her face, the same as a free woman. Further, the veil was not only imposd on the harā’ir but also on the jawārī of the ‘Abbāsid family and those of their commanders.36 It is in that context that one reads the following report. When Mutayyam was still a young slave-girl in

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Basra (she is so described in the report) she was ordered by the magistrate (qādī) ‘Ubayd-Allāh b. l-Hasan b. Abī l-Hurr to remove her face mask because she was to be examined as a witness. (There is a certain ambiguity here, testifying to how difficult it is to take such reports at face value. That Mutayyam had her face covered by a mask or a full face veil would be consistent with her status as an umm walad or as a member of a caliphal or aristocratic household, but prima facie inconsistent with the express reference to her as a young slave-girl in Basra.) As she lifted the mask, she was seen by ‘Abd l-S.amad Ibn l-Mu‘adhdhal who, impressed by her beauty, marked the episode in verse:37 When Mutayyam lifted the mask al-‘Anbarī was enthralled by her ambergris’s fragrance Ibn ‘Ubayd who is magisterial saw a glance of her judgment fixed on him He had before been of surly visage and sullen but on seeing her uncovered he smiled If the heart of al-‘Anbarī be bewitched just so before him the heart of Yahyā b. Aktham was bewitched by the orphans One notes in the above the reference to the judge as ‘al-‘Anbarī’, since he belonged to the tribe of al-‘Anbar. That is also convenient for producing the pun in the first verse, based on the reference to the ambergris (‘anbar) that wafted from the girl. The Yahyā b. Aktham mentioned in the last verse was a well known faqīh, a pupil of al-Shāfi‘ī. He was also notorious for his love of young boys – hence ‘bewitched by the orphans’.38 Further, the poet is seen in these verses using several poetical devices, including repetition and juxtaposition. He uses the name mutayyam (‘the one who is enthralled’) to describe the reaction of al-‘Anbarī on seeing her; while a pun with Mutayyam is intended by the use of yatāmā (‘orphans’) in the last line. The words yasbū and qalb in the first half of the fourth line are juxtaposed with sabā and qalb in the second half. The qādi is a muhakkam meaning someone who has been made arbiter or judge (hākim). Thus one is shown the image of the grave judge who is examining the young slave-girl juxtaposed

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with that of the young girl who is unembarrassed and fixes the judge with a steady glance as if weighing him up. Best woman singer of her generation Mutayyam was considered one of the best singers of her generation; in the opinion of ‘Abdallāh b. l-‘Abbās al-Rab‘ī, another eminent contemporary singer, these were, in descending order, Ishāq al-Mawsilī, ‘Allawayh, Mutayyam and then himself. She was much admired and praised by Ishāq, even to the extent of saying that she was his equal if not his better. He said to her one day after hearing her sing: ‘You are me, so who am I?’ meaning that she had taken his place.39 The last entry in the book of songs which Ishāq compiled was a song whose authorship he ascribed to Mutayyam by inscribing her name underneath it.40 He also chose one of the 100 songs collated for the caliph al-Wāthiq to be sung by her.41 Mutayyam followed Ishāq’s example in holding firm to the traditional styles of singing and rendering the old songs as true to the original as possible. One day she heard her own jawārī sing one of the traditional 100 songs. The lyrics were composed by ‘Umar b. Abī Rabī‘a and set to music by Ibn Surayj. The lyrics described the exertions of the chestnut mount (kumayt), hence the song was known as the kumayt:42 The chestnut mount complained at how much exertion I put it to in the gallop and seemed as if wanting to complain if it could speak But the jawārī now sang it to a new tune in the modern style. Mutayyam asked: ‘What is this new tune and modern kumayt?’ One of the jawārī said it was composed by ‘Amr b. Bāna. Mutayyam stopped the singing: ‘Stop, stop, enough, enough of this! By God, the broken ass of Hunayn bears a greater resemblance to the true kumayt!’ The ‘broken ass of Hunayn’ is not identifiable as proverbial. It could have been a topical reference; or it could have related to a song by Hunayn b. Abī al-Hīrī, a Christian singer from Hīra; or it may have an association with the battle of Hunayn (7/629), and the broken condition of

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the pagans after this victory, and their acquiescence in the message of the Prophet Muhammad. Plagiarism and disputed authorship Singers and songwriters were always competing with each other for the favours of caliphs and other patrons. In order to succeed one had to keep pace with or outpace others in coming up with offerings of new songs. The circumstances were such that a vast number of songs were being constantly churned out, some consisting of no more than the repetition of a few words. They were mostly unrecorded and often composed and sung extempore. This was a state of affairs in which there was ample scope for disputes as to authorship, and these were often taken before the patron to be resolved, with the claimants reposing their trust as much in their general reputation and standing as in the prescience and fairness of the arbiter. Al-Isfahānī cites several anecdotes which allude to such a situation. That such disputes were rife is further demonstrated by the number of anecdotes which related, not just to cases of actual or attempted expropriation, but also to those within the category of craftiness or practical jokes, of which the following is an example.43 It is related that ‘Alī b. Hishām had received as a gift a pure grey horse of exceptional beauty, which Ishāq al-Mawsilī coveted. One day ‘Alī, in order to entertain his guest Ishāq, sent for Mutayyam, who sang a fine song. Ishāq kept on asking her to repeat it until he had memorised it. He then turned to his host and, enquiring after the condition of the grey, demanded that it be given to him, failing which he would claim that what Mutayyam had just sung was his own composition. To drive the point home he said to his host: ‘Say you claim that the song is Mutayyam’s while I say that it is mine, do you suppose that you will be believed rather than me?’ According to the report ‘Alī b. Hishām acknowledged that Ishāq’s spurious claim would be more likely to be believed, and ceded the horse to him. Eminent though Ishāq was as a musician and a courtier, one cannot accept at face value that ‘Alī b. Hishām, himself one of the most powerful men of the realm, would have parted with the horse by giving in to such blackmail. Rather, the episode amounted to social sparring and play-acting – Ishāq pretending to use blackmail, and ‘Alī pretending

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to succumb to it. The reality behind the pretence was that the host willingly surrendered the horse to please and curry favour with the eminent guest. Al-Isfahānī gives an alternative version according to which the social sparring started by Ishāq saying to ‘Alī: ‘How much would you pay me to buy this song?’ ‘Alī protested: ‘My slave composes this song and you expect me to buy it off you!’ ‘I have learned it now,’ retorted Ishāq, ‘and I say it’s mine; so who’ll be believed?’44 The following is another example on the same theme.45 Mutayyam was at al-Mu‘tasim’s house in Baghdad, with Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī also present. She sang: Zaynab has an apparition that troubles me with her visits at night-fall as the stars show up in succession Ibrāhīm asked her to repeat it. She demurred, saying to the caliph: ‘Sire, Ibrāhīm only wants me to repeat it so that he can learn it and claim it.’ Al-Mu‘tasim told her not to sing it a second time. Some days later Ibrāhīm was passing by Mutayyam’s house and heard her sing the song in an oriel overlooking the street. Ibrāhīm stopped and listened until he had memorised the song. He then knocked on the door, and called out: ‘We have got it now, no thanks to you!’ Such anecdotes show what great value was attributed to the authorship of at least some of the songs – unsurprisingly, given the generous, even extravagant, sums that the caliphs often ordered to be paid out of the state treasury as rewards for new songs presented to them or celebrating them. A leader of fashion Mutayyam also became a leader of fashion. She was the first to tie a belt over her cloak thereby suggesting the female shape underneath, as well as being the first to fix the cloak on her head with a silken head-band.46 She was fond of violets, whose scent she preferred over all others, and would always have her pockets full of them, freshly cut.47 After the death of al-Ma’mūn, his successor al-Mu‘tasim had Mutayyam installed in a house within the royal enclosure in Samarra; she had to seek the caliph’s leave each time she wanted to go to

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Baghdad to visit her children. She never ceased to grieve for ‘Alī b. Hishām, and for the calamity that had befallen his family and entourage when al-Ma’mūn turned against him.The calamity would have borne in all the more heavily on Mutayyam if there was truth in the story that she was the cause of his fall.48 When al-Mu‘tasim and his court returned from Samarra to Baghdad he sent for Mutayyam and asked her to sing.49 She sang the very dirge that she had sung the day that ‘Alī b. Hishām was put to death:50 Is there anyone who would help me in weeping [shedding] a tear or blood This brought tears to the eyes of al-Mu‘tasim, who then asked her to sing something else. She sang again, mournfully: Those are my people who after glory and power were annihilated, so woe to me if my eyes shall not shed tears This again brought tears to the eyes of al-Mu‘tasim, who said to her: ‘Woe to you, do not sing the like of that to me ever again.’ Yet she continued: Do not feel immune from death whether in profane or sacred territory verily death will visit every human being So go along your way at ease and with no care for you’ll receive whatever the ‘Allotter’ had allotted to you At that, al-Mu‘tasim asked that she be taken away, accepting that she wished him no ill but was grieving over her old master, ‘Alī b. Hishām. Mutayyam, Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī and Badhl died in the same short period of time. A slave-girl of al-Mu‘tasim said to him: ‘Sire, I think they are having a wedding in Paradise and they sent for those three to celebrate.’ A few days later a fire broke out in the girl’s room, which consumed all her property. She wept as she told the caliph: ‘Sire, I have lost all that I had.’ He replied: ‘Fear not, your things were not burned – rather they were borrowed by the wedding party.51

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Shāriya Her place with Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī Shāriya was the alter ego of Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī as much as his slave. Their association was of a long duration. He would compose songs and ascribe their authorship to her.52 Unlike Ishāq al-Mawsilī, who jealously guarded his songs even from his jawārī, Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī held nothing back from Shāriya, and her repertoire included all his compositions; she was his closest follower and collaborator in leading the modern populist styles of singing, and thus he treated her as his equal. These facts make it difficult to determine which of the songs in Shāriya’s repertoire were of her own composition and which her master’s. But there is no doubt as to the quality of her singing – it was compared with that of her master, who was reputed to have one of the best voices of his generation. Muhammad b. l-Hārith b. Buskhunnar, responding to an invitation by Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī, arrived to find him sitting on his own with Shāriya behind the curtain. Ibrāhīm told the guest that he had composed a song, which he then sang and which Shāriya picked up. Ibrāhīm and Shāriya having debated between themselves whose was the better version, the guest was asked to adjudicate, Ibrāhīm exhorting him to take his time and not pronounce a verdict until he had heard each of them sing it three times in turn. Master and slave-girl sang the words:53 I begrudge Laylā who is not generous and Laylā is mean in love while I am liberal They sang the words three times in turn, and each time the guest pronounced in favour of Shāriya. Rather than taking offence, Ibrāhīm was more keen to be confirmed in his opinion as to the monetary value of his slave-girl. He asked Muhammad how much he thought Shāriya was worth. Muhammad came up with the not inconsiderable figure of 100,000 dirhams, but this upset Ibrāhīm, who judged it to be such an undervaluation as to constitute an insult. In fact, Ibrāhīm was proud of Shāriya, and far from being jealous of her took care to instruct and improve her. One day he heard her sing, looked at her fixedly, then waited until she came to a pause when he stopped her. He pointed out

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to her that she was using exaggerated modulation as if to imitate the style of Mukhāriq. Shāriya admitted that it was so. Ibrāhīm advised her to desist from doing that, in that it was not possible successfully to imitate Mukhāriq, adding that to do so would bring about failure and shame on oneself.54 Farīda Farīda was in a privileged position as the favourite of the caliph al-Wāthiq. Of the 100 songs that Ishāq al-Mawsilī compiled for al-Wāthiq he, not surprisingly, chose one to be sung by her.55 Not that she was undeserving – one day the slave-girls Rayyiq and Khishf were debating who were the best among the singers of their day. Rayyiq chose Shāriya and Mutayyam, while Khishf preferred ‘Arīb and Farīda. They concluded by way of compromise that Mutayyam was the best as a composer,‘Arīb the most prolific, while Shāriya and Farīda had the best voices and were the most accomplished vocalists.56 Her place with al-Wāthiq Al-Wāthiq was besotted with Farīda until he died. Muhammad b. l-Hārith b. Buskhunnar bears witness to another anecdote which he witnessed while a guest of al-Wāthiq. They were drinking, and Farīda was seated near them on a couch singing and playing the lute. She sang one song after another, and Muhammad joined her in the singing. It was an enchanted evening, interrupted suddenly by the caliph lifting his leg and kicking Farīda violently in the chest, knocking her to the floor, breaking the lute and causing her to run away screaming. Al-Wāthiq then explained to the guest that the reason for his sudden outburst was that he could not bear the thought that his successor to the caliphate, Ja‘far, would one day be sitting where he was sitting and with Farīda singing to him. Al-Wāthiq then sent for Farīda and repeated to her the thought that tormented him. They embraced and made it up, both in tears. Time passed, al-Wāthiq died, and Ja‘far succeeded him in the caliphate as al-Mutawakkil. Muhammad b. l-Hārith b. Buskhunnar now saw the new caliph sitting on the same couch that al-Wāthiq had occupied, and with Farīda before him refusing to sing. Then under coercion she sang dolefully:57

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Your abode is in Majāza of Qanawnā and your people are in the ‘Ujayfir by Thimād May you be spared for to every lad shall come death at night or in the morn Majāza was one of the travellers’ rest houses on the Mecca road, between Māwiya and Yanbu‘; Qanawnā, one of the valleys of Surat extending to the Red Sea to the north of Yemen; Al-Ujayfir, a place at the foot of the Sab‘ān hills in the lands of Qays; and Al-Thimād, a place in the settlements of Banī Tamīm, near al-Mu‘ārawāt.58

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CHAPTER T WELVE

DECLINE AND FALL

The heyday of the Abbasid caliphate The world of the qiyān waxed and eventually waned in line with the fortunes of the Abbasid caliphate. In order to see how the curtain came down on their world as a jawārī qiyān institution (a term used to distinguish it from that of simply female singers) one has to consider the process by which the caliphate itself declined and lost its potency. In its heyday the Abbasid empire was the greatest political dynasty in the Islamic world: its dominion extended from the western border of Egypt to lands beyond the Oxus and as far as the western provinces of China. The present-day Arab who contemplates an uncertain future while facing Western hegemony in science, technology and the arts looks back with nostalgia to the golden age of Arab culture, the halcyon days of Hārūn al-Rashīd and his successors. Hārūn’s reputation has survived, in the West as well as the East, because his name is associated with the romance of the Arabian Nights. But it is the reign of his son al-Ma’mūn that can more deservedly be said to have witnessed the high-water mark of Arab civilisation. Al-Ma’mūn took a personal interest in encouraging scientific research and giving impetus to the translation movement generally associated with the Bayt al-Hikma (‘house of wisdom’). While, viewed historically, the status of the Bayt al-Hikma as an institution

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is debatable,1 it is reasonably certain that there was during the caliphate of al-Ma’mūn a keen interest in a broad range of secular sciences, including astronomy, mathematics and medicine, and in studying and translating Greek scientific and philosophical texts into Arabic:2 Interest in the Greek intellectual heritage and patronage of the translators became one of the most fashionable forms of elite cultural activity. It was one aspect of the culture of the Abbasid court which was to have a profound influence on the culture of the wider Islamic world and Latin Europe, long after the end of the Abbasid power. This secular scientific awakening was mirrored in the theological sphere by the adoption of Mu‘tazilism, the doctrine sponsored by those in power, which allowed the use of human reason to investigate divine mysteries; and in the social sphere by a more liberated attitude to intellectual and artistic pursuits.

Institutional weakness The glory days of the Abbasid caliphate did not last long. One can take it to have been inaugurated under Hārūn al-Rashīd, to have attained its apogee under al-Ma’mūn, and to have then been followed by decline under al-Mutawakkil – the whole, marked at the end by the bloody end of al-Mutawakkil’s reign in 247/861, lasting barely 75 years, during the latter part of which the caliphate was ensconced in Samarra, with the Turkish military first as its upholders then its masters. It was during the reign of al-Mutawakkil that the impetus towards rationalism was checked and then reversed, marked by the abandonment of Mu‘tazilism, the assertion of what was to become orthodox sunni traditions and the resurgence of the clerics’ power as arbiters, not only as regards religious dogma but also in all aspects of social conduct – a power which survives in varying degrees in all Muslim societies to the present day. Those who look for the reform of Islamic institutions may well bemoan these historical events ushered in by the reign of al-Mutawakkil, as a fetter which over more than a millennium has all but prevented Islam from reforming itself.

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A major institutional weakness of the Abbasid caliphate was the absence of rules governing the succession. There was no such thing as primogeniture, nor even a general acceptance that the caliphate should necessarily pass from father to son. It could pass to a brother, an uncle or, in theory at least, to any one of the late caliph’s extended family, or to any one of the Banū Hāshim who would emerge as a new caliph by general acclamation to receive the oaths of allegiance in the mosques. Yet one notes that all the caliphs who succeeded al-Musta‘īn, founder of Samarra, were his descendants. The absence of a set rule for succession, coupled with the fact that the caliph would have several sons, by different wives and concubines, vying with each other to protect and promote their own, meant that there was constant political intrigue during a caliph’s lifetime to secure the nomination of a successor, and the potential for serious mischief on his death. This institutional weakness had its ugliest manifestation during the caliphate of al-Mutawakkil, in the rivalry between his two sons, Muhammad (given the title of al-Muntasir), and ‘Abdallāh, known as al-Mu‘tazz, son of al-Mutawakkil’s favourite concubine Qabīha, and their respective factions. That rivalry culminated in a palace coup, in which al-Mutawakkil and his chief minister, ‘Ubayd Allāh b. Khāqān, were murdered by Turkish palace guards led by Wasīf and Bughā the Younger, followed immediately by the declaration of al-Muntasir as the new caliph.

Turkish praetorial guards in control These events were catastrophic for the long-term future of the Abbasid caliphate,3 and by implication for the well-being of Abbasid institutions, including those devoted to pleasure. The ethos of the Turkish praetorian guards, now the effective rulers, was militaristic – they cared little for what passed as leisure and culture – and there was corruption and mismanagement on a large scale. Thus it was that the period that elapsed between the murder of al-Mutawakkil in 247/861 and the return of the caliphate from Samarra to Baghdad in 279/892 was one of unrest, at times verging on anarchy, insurrection and civil strife. The Turkish officers were continually falling out with each other; the hold that the caliphate had over the outlying provinces weakened;

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there were rebellions in Syria, Jazira, Armenia and Azerbayjan; Egypt all but seceded, the Abbasid-appointed governor Ibn Tūlūn acted as an independent ruler; the Tāhirid power in Khurāsān collapsed; and there was a rebellion by the Zanj in southern Iraq (255/869–269/883) which sapped the resources of the realm. As the central administration lurched from one financial crisis to another, so army mutiny followed army mutiny. And during this period there was also a civil war between two caliphates – that of al-Mu‘tazz, supported by the Turks in Samarra, and that of al-Musta‘īn, supported by the Baghdadi populace.

Impact on the institution of qiyān The cataclysmic events seem to have made little immediate impact on the qiyān and their world. In all the anecdotes relating to them in Aghānī there is hardly a mention of their being concerned or affected by the political events that were convulsing society generally. Given their status as women, slaves and entertainers they were relatively untouched by politics, while proving themselves sufficiently careful and worldly to avoid trouble. Eager to praise, to please and to seek the patronage of a caliph and his faction, they were no less eager to behave in the same way towards a successor and the successor’s faction. ‘Arīb’s story (insofar as can be treated as factual) serves as a good illustration, in that she apparently lived to a ripe old age, in the course of which she had access to the courts of a succession of caliphs, witnessed changes among courtiers, viziers and generals, and sang the praises of all, as if oblivious to the fact that nearly every succession and political change at the top came about drenched in blood. ‘Arīb can almost be regarded as the court poet of al-Mutawakkil and his favourite, Qabīha, and there are many examples of her verses composed and recited in praise of him, and wishing him a long life and reign, as well as of poems commissioned for exchanges between him and Qabīha.4 Not long after he was murdered, however, one finds ‘Arīb singing the praises of al-Musta‘īn, the figurehead caliph put up and maintained on the throne by al-Mutawakkil’s assassins, praising Musta‘īn’s mother and the new palace that was built for her;5 and even

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lauding the strong men behind the throne, the very ones who had led the coup against al-Mutawakkil – which she does in ‘the garden of Shāhak’ qasīda the last three verses in particular.6 They did not long survive – after another upheaval, al-Musta‘īn was forced to abdicate in favour of al-Mu‘tazz before being killed,7 Wasīf was cut down by his own troops clamouring to be paid,8 while Bughā the Younger, who had championed al-Mu‘tazz in the civil conflict with al-Musta‘īn, was killed on the order of the former at the hands of Sa‘īd the Gamekeeper, the latter being rewarded with 5,000 dirhams for his head.9 With al-Mu‘tazz raised to the caliphate, the wheel of fortune had turned full circle for his mother Qabīha. She was now once more in a position to exert political influence as the grande dame of the Abbasid court. She had her own secretaries and her own household, and she amassed a vast fortune.10 It was now her turn and that of her son to be the recipients of praise. There was an occasion when she took offence at something that ‘Arīb might have said or done, then relented and forgave her. ‘Arīb showed her gratitude with hyperbolic praise and homage:11 Praise be to Him who gave ‘Arīb what she wished for in a mistress and master In al-Mu‘tazz he gave you what you desired while the wish was (the same) for the mistress of the world He restored her good opinion and pleasing has God made her countenance The wheel of fortune took another turn in 255/869, when al-Mu‘tazz was arrested, deposed and killed by the very same Turkish commanders who had raised him to the caliphate three years before. The reign of his successor, al-Muhtadī, lasted just one year, ending with what by now had become the normal pattern of the Turkish soldiers clamouring to be paid, and killing the caliph if he would not or, as was more often the case, could not deliver. Al-Muhtadī was replaced by al-Mu‘tamid in 256/870 and ‘Arib lost no time in wending her way to the palace to celebrate the new caliphate and be handsomely rewarded. Thus, while caliphs and army commanders rose, ruled for a while then fell one after

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another, ‘Arīb endured, carried her ‘ūd to the palaces to greet the dawn of one new caliphate and vizierate after another, to sing their praises while they lasted. She called on al-Mu‘tamid one day and found him drinking and in the mood for a binge. Calling for paper and ink, she composed the following verses, which she sang as hazaj:12 My heart is besotted with Ahmad not with the virginal does May you be ransomed by every Ahmad after the Prophet Ahmad [You] the Abtahī clan of Hāshim the rightly guided one of Quraysh Abtahī is used in the context as an epithet for the superior class of Quraysh (after the bathā’, torrent-bed of Mecca), followed by a none too subtle quip directed at the preceding caliph al-Muhtadī (the guided). Not everyone was as fortunate, or as good a survivor, as ‘Arīb. Initially, the take-over of the state by the Turkish military commanders may well have had very little perceptible impact on the business of the qiyān. It may even have given it a temporary boost by pumping more money into the economy: every time there was a change at the top was also an occasion for the treasury to be raided and for money to be paid out to the troops to keep them from becoming restive. The consequential temporary reflation of the economy was not the result of growth of revenue but would have been in the nature of selling the family silver to pay for groceries. There would be a false sense of plenty, of well-being and of raised expectations; but there would be no escaping the hard landing that would follow. Thus, anyone reading al-Imā’ al-shawā‘ir would derive from it a picture of a social scene imbued with feelings of ease, well-being and general prosperity; as well as of financial profligacy in which vast sums of money were expended on qiyān and as rewards for some flattering panegyrics or pleasing new songs. It is difficult to reconcile this scene with what was then the real, parallel world of constant political intrigue and turbulence, commensurate with the absence of continuity at the head of the realm. During a period of 37 years (218–56/833–70) there were a total

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of nine caliphs – an average reign of four years. For a substantial part of that period the treasury was barely capable of meeting the costs of maintaining the army and the civil administration. The only instance that one finds in Imā’ of the real world intruding on the world of the qiyān is in Fadl seen crying the morning after the assassination of al-Muntasir (or perhaps al-Mu‘tazz) and exclaiming:13 The times are exacting a vengeance from us which has caught us heedless and unwary What is it about me that fate should be fixed on me may there never be a cause for a feud between me and the times One notes that the bloody events of the night before appeared to have ‘caught us heedless and unwary’ perhaps suggesting how unconscious the world of the qiyān may normally have been of what was happening in the real world. Traditionally, the state administration had been in the hands of professional chancery clerks, well-trained, erudite and responsible, and normally the heads of the civil service were either Arab or Persian. Now the Turkish generals wanted the administration to be under their control the better to be able to plunder the state treasury and its revenues. They even appointed a Turk, one Utāmish, who held the office and title of grand vizier for a time before he was found wanting, dragged out of the royal palace and disposed of in what had become the traditional manner. Utāmish was illiterate and had to rely on the existing civil service since the Turks could only cope with running the administration by relying on the Arabs and Persians, but that was only the position at the beginning of the Turkish domination. The demands of the Turkish troops for money were insatiable, and they refused to accept that their demands were more than could be met out of state revenues. Now those who did not do their bidding were crushed. The state records were destroyed, and the kuttāb, a source of life blood for the entertainment industry, who stood in the way were beaten, tortured and had their property confiscated. Nor were private citizens spared. As the state revenues were reduced and the treasury all but bare at times, the soldiers turned their rapacity against all those

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who were moneyed or perceived to be so; this marked the end of the secretariat that had provided during the Samarra period a measure of stability in the midst of chaos. It also signalled the end of the cultural impetus and life-blood of patronage that the caliphate and the kuttāb class had provided. The contracting sphere of influence of the caliphate, and the general air of austerity and insecurity, with the risks attendant upon ostentatious behaviour by those who could afford such behaviour – all these factors meant that Abbasid society in Iraq no longer provided an easy milieu for the cultural, artistic and social activities of the jawārī to flourish, let alone for the reception of expensive new talent through the international slave trade.

Qiyān in Iberia Some of the trade appears to have moved on to other centres such as Egypt,14 which enjoyed self-rule under Ibn Tūlūn; to Tunisia where a rival Shī‘ite caliphate was established in 297/909; or to an Umayyad caliphate in Spain and Portugal in 319/931. The requirements that the last of these had for qiyān to add lustre to its opulent palaces and enliven its social gatherings were met by a steady supply being brought over from the Middle East, following in the track of the wealth and opulence, and the patronage of the arts, that had moved to the west. A significant number had had their training as vocalists and instrumentalists in Medina, such that ‘Abd l- Rahmān15 had an annex to his palace named Dār l-Madīniyyāt (‘the house of the ladies of Medina’).16 What is more, it would seem that some ‘redundant’ Baghdadi qiyān also found their way to Spain by way of Medina. One such was Fadl al-Madīniyya who had started as a jāriya of one of al-Rashīd’s daughters, then gone to Medina to complete her training as a musician. She and her contemporary ‘Alam al-Madīniyya were then bought together for the account of ‘Abd al-Rahman. Another qayna was Qalam of Navarre who had started her life as a slave-girl in Andalusia and was sent to Medina to be ‘finished’, then returned to Spain as an accomplished musician as well as a cultured rāwiya (transmitter of poetry), well versed in literature and history. Yet another import from Iraq was the qayna Qamar, a native of Baghdad who was

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acquired by the Emir of Seville Ibrāhīm b. Hajjāj l-Lakhmī.17 Other imports from the East included Uns al-Qulūb, the jāriya of al-Mansūr b. Abī ‘Āmir, and ‘Ābida l-Madaniyya, concubine and umm walad of Habīb b. Walīd l-Marwānī.18 Of course, there continued to be a body of singers and versifiers of both sexes, slaves and free-born, in Iraq. But this was different in scale, quality and influence from the qiyān and imā’ shawā‘ir, as a cultural and social institution, which had flourished in the 3rd/9th century in Baghdad, Samarra and Basra. Of that institution, all that is left are some snatches of episodes recorded a hundred years later, and some historical foot-notes.

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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

EPILOGUE

A present-day Western view of the woman slave is conditioned by the history of the African slave trade in the 17th and 18th centuries, and the perception of the black African woman slave in the plantations of the Caribbean and the American deep South as a wife, mother and grandmother of slaves, as a member of a family of slaves – the slave family together with other slave families constituting a distinct community or nation of slaves. In relation to a sugar or cotton plantation the slave family would have been an efficient economic model, ensuring dependency on the owner and continuity of labour. But the position of the slave woman in Abbasid Iraq, a fortiori a mughanniya and/ or shā‘ira, was different in several fundamental respects. In the eyes of the Banū Hāshim the ideal model for a jāriya was one who came to be acquired without the baggage and complication of relatives. The proscription of enslaving Muslims dictated that most of the jawārī were imported as slaves from outside the Muslim world. They were not compelled to convert to Islam. Thus one sees paraded in the majālis many Byzantine jawārī wearing the cross as a neckless and holding olive and palm tree branches, celebrating Easter (‘Īd al-Sha‘ānīn).1 Further, while a non-Muslim slave who converted to Islam was not thereby, and no more, to be freed, her new status of Muslim would add to her moral claim to be manumitted into the status of a mawlāt. Most importantly, the status of the jāriya as a slave was generally speaking of limited duration. She would be likely to be emancipated if she converted to

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Islam, manumitted when she married a free man, and became potentially emancipated once she acquired the status of umm walad, to be followed by actual emancipation without more ado on the death of the master, father of her child. There was in addition the prospect of her manumission as an act of piety, or as expiation of a sin. There would have been a particularly good prospect of manumission once she got past her prime – her sell-by-date. Lastly, and generally speaking, as the jāriya was not acquired with a view to her becoming a progenitor of slaves by being made to marry another slave, the line of her slavery in any event usually ended with own her life. It is noteworthy that the number of wives that a slave- man is allowed to have, namely two, is half that allowed to the free man. But while the status of slavery in a jāriya was thus of limited duration, that has to be viewed beside the fact that Islam set no limit on the number of concubines that a man could have at any one time. In consequence, society’s requirements for jawārī could only be satisfied by a continuous stream of foreign imports. The effect of this was that while the jāriya was a valuable asset in the ownership and possession of her master, the jawārī, considered collectively, were an economic burden on the nation of Islam. While as qiyān they pleased, entertained and refreshed the genetic pool of the Banū Hāshim, they were not at all productive economically; rather the reverse held true. The cost of importing them on a massive scale, and of their maintenance and oversight by servants and eunuchs, was a very heavy financial burden for an Abbasid dynasty in decline. To take one example, al-Muhtadī justified the regime of austerity which he introduced on his accession by referring to the ten million dirhams of public money that his predecessor’s mother alone had expended every year on slave-girls, eunuchs and hangers-on.2 A substantial part of that expenditure would have found its way to the countries of origin of the jawārī – a case of much of the nation’s revenue being lost to Byzantium and other foreign lands or reverting back to the outer reaches of the empire from whence the money had been received as tribute. One finds in the qaynā the paradox of knowing all there is to know about her public persona and very little about her as a woman. As a public figure she went about with face uncovered and in a figure-

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hugging dress, adorned and fragrant, projecting an image of sophistication and unfading beauty, mixing freely with men, sharing food and drink with the great and powerful, exchanging epigrams with the good and famous, and even conducting her love affairs in a blaze of publicity. But all of that was simply the projection of a public image of a professional entertainer. From all that she tells or is told by others concerning her one gathers very little about her as a woman: how she felt as she grew up as a slave-girl among strangers in a foreign land; how she was affected by being successively traded as a slave; and what she felt as she faced life’s vicissitudes of illness, child-bearing, bereavement, ageing, losing her looks, suffering financial hardship and the loneliness of old age. The fact of the matter is that the public image of the qaynā, a tender thing of beauty, would not countenance her falling ill even while she demonstrated her concern and solicitude for the tender health of her manly and powerful patrons – as exemplified by Fadl’s concern for the indisposition of Sa‘īd b. Humayd undergoing a bleeding; as further demonstrated by ‘Arīb anxious for the minor indisposition of al-Mutawakkil; and her likewise expressing in letter form her solicitude for the health and comfort of Ibrāhīm al-Mudabbir as he suffered the stifling heat of Baghdad in the summer, the letter containg not a hint of her own discomfort. One is told nothing at all about ‘Arīb as a mother, other than the bare statement that she had a clandestine affair with Muhammad b. Hamīd who got her with child; nor of ‘Inān as a mother, other than that she bore al-Rashīd two children who died in infancy; nor of Mutayyam, other than that while installed by al-Musta‘īn in the royal enclosure in Samarra she had to seek the caliph’s leave every time she wanted to go to Baghdad to visit her children. Further, and in relation to most of the jawārī, hardly anything is known about them once they passed their prime and retired as entertainers. One only learns that ‘Inān retired to Egypt after her manumission because of the report of her formal lamentation of her one-time master al-Nātifī when news of his death reached her.3 Another paradox is the effect that the qayna would have had on the free woman. Inevitably there would have been resentment by the latter at the comparison that the men made between the two: ‘why is it that

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Ibn Rāmīn has women with bewitching eyes, whilst all we have are nags!’4 And the free woman would have resented the gifts of money and luxuries that the wily qayna extracted from her man. At the same time one bears in mind that in the house of any man who was anybody the number of jawārī would have exceeded that of free women, the former having arrived mostly from foreign lands, some having undergone an intensive process of education and of ‘finishing’ as society ladies. The concubines would have been likely to feel a certain cultural affinity with the professional qiyān. The free woman would have had a grudging admiration for the liberated qayna, in particulart for her sophistication, social ease and the refined taste in food and dress and general refinement; and it is said that she envied her for having more freedom.5 That said, the net effect of the qayna on the free woman can be said to have been almost certainly negative. The very liberated social attitudes towards the former, and with the line between the two becoming blurred, resulted in a reaction by the men to have the free woman more cloistered and to ensure that the line separating her from the qaynā became more strictly defined, as exemplified by the fact that the free woman was required to cover her face in public, while the slave-girl was forbidden from covering it. With regard to the qayna as an artistic performer, her product was basically an art within a business. The motive of gain was very nearly always present, whether in the repartee intended to impress the patrons or in the unashamed self-publicity, such as that which ‘Arīb used time and again; or in the obvious publicity poems which the qayna would have invited the established poets and men of letters to favour her with; or in the commission poems which she composed for patrons, such as those poems which Fadl was asked to compose as an exchange between al-Mutawakkil and Qabīha, or put in the mouth of al-Mu‘tamid rueing his lost love; or in the qayna praising a man of influence as he is asked to intercede on her behalf, as in the qasīda of ‘Inān addressed to Ja‘far b.Yahyā al-Barmakī, requesting him to use the good offices of his father to persuade al-Rashīd to buy her. And there is the obvious publicity-seeking in the motto or slogan which the professional qayna would have displayed as a trademark, commonly on her head-band, e.g. ‘Inan’s: ‘if you are bold, do what you will!’6

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And the rewards for the qayna, poet and/or singer, were substantial – more than enough to excite jealousy, back-biting, plagiarism, misappropriation and trading of authorship, as in the example of ‘Ulayya buying a song from Ishāq al-Mawsilī and threatening to kill him if he ever disclosed that he had any part in its composition.7 The doyens of the cultural scene for most of the period under consideration were the Mawsilīs, father and son, whose interests were blatantly commercial – trading in slave-girls and carrying on the business of music teachers, composers, singers and instrumentalists. The money motive that runs as an undercurrent throughout the cultural scene of their time is well summed up in the words of Ibrāhīm al-Mawsilī, referring to the Banū Hāshim as patrons: ‘They are rich kings who copy us in singing; so let them make fools of themselves imitating us. They need us while profiting us.’8 Given this pervasive commercial motive it is not surprising that the product was limited to what pleased, by creating a carefree ambiance from which the cares of the world were banished. The favoured media for poetical and musical expressions were eroticism in the one and the light sentimental hazaj in the other. And what is remarkable is that the political and social events which were convulsing the nation left hardly a trace on that product: no mention of the general hardships resulting from the great civil war between the brothers al-Amīn and al-Ma’mūn (196–207/812–22) nor of the yearlong siege of Baghdad in the course of it, nor of the great famine in the second seige of Baghdad (251/865) during the later civil war between al-Musta‘īn and al-Mu‘tazz, nor of the dangers and uncertainties presented by the long-drawn out and dangerous rebellion of the Zanj (255–69/869–83), nor of the perennial Byzantine campaigns. In the Introduction section of thisd book there were highlighted the contradictions that one may perceive in the interplay between the three personae of woman, slave and entertainer, as well as the contradictions within each of those elements. The resolution of those contradictions is in seeing them subsumed in a single entity within a discrete cultural phenomenon during a particular, relatively short phase of Arab civilisation. That phenomenon has obvious similarities with the courtesans of Ancient Greece and the Japanese institution of Geisha: attractive, well-turned-out and sociable women professionally entertaining men

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at leisure. But there the comparison ends: for one thing the Geisha will tell you that they are purely professional artistes, and that their job has nothing to do with sex.9 The phenomenon of the jawārī as professional entertainers was, by comparison, rooted in the very distinctive Muslim religious and cultural rules relating to slavery and concubinage, and with the particular political and economic conditions of the Abbasid dynasty in 3rd/9th-century Baghdad at its centre. This must be seen as a unique historical and cultural phenomenon.

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APPENDIX I: THE ABBASID CALIPHS AND THEIR ACCESSION DATES 749 754 775 785 786 809 813 833 842 847 861 862 866 869 870 892 902 908 932 934 940 944 946 974 991 1031

al-Saffāh al-Mansūr al-Mahdī al-Hādī al-Rashīd al-Amīn al-Ma’mūn al-Mu‘tasim al-Wāthiq al-Mutawakkil al-Muntasir al-Musta‘īn al-Mu‘tazz al-Muhtadī al-Mu‘tamid al-Mu‘tadid al-Muktafī al-Muqtadir al-Qāhir al-Rādī al-Muttaqī al-Mustakfī al-Mutī‘ al-Tā’i‘ al-Qādir al-Qā’im

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APPENDIX II: NON-ARAB MOTHERS OF ABBASID CALIPHS Caliph al-Ma’mūn al-Mu‘tasim al-Wāthiq al-Mutawakkil al-Muntasir al-Musta‘īn al-Mu‘tazz al-Muhtadī al-Mu‘tamid al-Mu‘tadid al-Muktafī al-Muqtadir

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Mother Marājil (Afghan) Mārida (Turk) Qarātīs (Greek) Shujā‘ (Persian) Habashiyya (Abyssinian) Mukhāriq (Slav) Qabīha (Slav) Qurb (Greek) Fityān (Persian) Dirār (Greek) Jijak (Turk) Shāghib (Greek)

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APPENDIX III: SOME 3RD/9TH-CENTURY JAWĀRĪ: POETS, SINGERS, COMPOSERS a = poet, b = singer, c = composer The references for each jāriya are restricted to two sources, denoted as follows: I = Imā’ shawā‘ir and A = Aghānī, followed by volume number (only one Aghānī reference is given for each jāriya). Masālik = Ibn al-Fadl al-‘Umarī, Masālik al-absār Mustazraf = al-Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf min akhbār al-jawārī Wafayāt = Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-a‘yān Nisā’–kh = Ibn al-Sā‘ī, Nisā’ al-khulafā’ Nisā’–sh = ‘Abbūd, Khāzin, Nisā’ shā‘irāt Nisā’–‘Ara = Bustānī, Nisā’ ‘Arabiyyat b ab abc a bc b b b bc a b b

Amal, of the slave merchant Qurayn ‘Āmil of Zaynab bt. Ibrāhīm al-Hāshimiyya ‘Arīb al-Ma’mūniyya ‘Ārim, of Zalbahda the slave merchant ‘Asālij, of ‘Abdallāh b. al-‘Abbās Ātika bt. Shuhda ‘Azza al-Marzūqiyya ‘Azzat al-Maylā’ Badhl, of Ja‘far b. al-Hādī Banān, of al-Mutawakkil Barāqish, of Yahyā b. Khālid Basbas of Abū Nafīs

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I, Masālik I, Mustazraf I, A xxi I, Masālik A xix A vi Ai A ix A xvii I, A xix A xi A xv

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b b a b bc b a bc a a b ab b a b ab

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Bid‘a, pupil/jāriya of ‘Arīb al-Bakriyya Danānīr of Muhammad b. Kunāsa al-Dhalfā’ Dumn, of Ishāq al-Mawsilī Duqāq Fadl, ‘the Poet’ Farīda, of al-Wāthiq Funūn, of Yahyā b. Mu‘ādh Ghusn, of Ibn al-Ahdab the slave merchant Hasnā’ Haylāna, of a slave merchant Humayda, of Ibn Tuffāha ‘Inān al-Nātifiyya ‘Irfān Jullanār, slave-girl of sister of Rāshid b. Ishāq al-Kūfī ab Khansā’, of the Barmakīs bc Khishf, of Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī b Khunuth ab Mahā, slave-girl of ‘Arīb, trained by her a b c Mahbūba, of al-Mutawakkil b Mathal, of Ibrāhīm b. al-Mudabbir b Mihrujān, jāriya of the jāriya Shāriya a Murād, of ‘Alī b. Hishām a b c Mutayyam al-Hishāmiyya b Mutrib, jāriya of the jāriya Shāriya ab Nabat, of Mukhfarānah al-Mukhannath b Namra b Nabt, jāriya of the jāriya al-Bukriyya ab Nasīm, of Ahmad b. Yūsuf al-Kātib b Nazm al-‘Amyā’ b Qadīb, of Yahyā b. Khālid bc Qalam al-Sālihiyya, pupil of the Mawsilīs a Qamar, ended her career in Andalusia b Qumriyya, jāriya of the jāriya Shāriya a Qāsim, of Ibn Tarkhān

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I, Masālik A xxii I, A xiii A ii Av A xii I, A xviii A iv I, Masālik I, A xix A xiii I, A xix A ix I, A xxiii A xiv I, Masālik I, A xx Ax A xvi I, Masālik I, A xxii I, Masālik A xvi I, A vii I, A vii A xvi I, Nisā’–kh A vi A xxii I, Mustazraf A vi A xi Av Nisā’–sh A xvi I, Masālik

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A PPENDIX III: SOME 3RD/9TH-CENTURY JAWĀRĪ Rābi‘a, of Ishāq b. Ibrāhīm b. Mus‘ab Raqtā’ al-Habtiyya Rawnaq Rayyā, of a Yamāma slave merchant Rayyā, of Ishāq al-Mawsilī Rayyiq Riyād, of Abī Hammād Rubayha, of Ibn Rāmīn Sa‘da, of Ibn Rāmīn Safrā’ al-‘Alqamatayn Sāhib, of slave merchant Ibn Tarkhān Sājiya, of ‘Ubayd Allāh b. ‘Abdallāh b. Tāhir Sakan of Tāhir b. al-Husayn Sallāma al-Zarqā’, of Ibn Rāmīn Salma al-Māmiyya, of Abū ‘Ubād Samrā’, of a slave merchant Sarf, of b. Khudayr, mawlāt of Ja‘far b. Sulaymān b Shahiyya b Shajā, of Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī, who trained her bc Shājī, of ‘Ubayd Allāh b.‘Abdallāh b. Tahir b Shanīn b Shāriya, of Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī, who trained her b Tatrīf, of al-Ma’mūn ac Tuhfa al-Zāhida, of a Baghdadi merchant a Taymā’, of Khuzayma b. Khāzim bc ‘Ubayda al-Tunbūriyya b Wāthiqiyya, connected to Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī a b c Zalūm, of Muhammad b. Muslim al-Kātib a Zamyā’, of a Yamāma slave merchant b Ziryāb, connected to Ibrahīm b. al-Mahdī

a b b a b b bc b b b ab b ab b a ab ac

277

I, Masālik Ai A vi I, Masālik I, Masālik I, A xv A vii A xv A xv Ai I, Masālik A xviii I, Wafiyāt A xv I, Masālik I, A xiv I, Masālik A vi A xv Aix, Nisā’–‘Ara A xx A xv Mustazraf Nisā’–sh I, Mustazraf A xiv Ax I, Masālik I, Masālik Ax

(Others appearing in appendix iv are unclassified)

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APPENDIX IV: SOME QIYĀN TRADE SLOGANS (derived from al-Ghuzūlī, Matāli‘ al-budūr i, 278) Farha, of ‘Alī b. Jahm, on her headband in feathers: ‘He who perseveres wins.’ Hājir, of Muhammad b. ‘Alī, on her yashmak: ‘If she looked towards me her wink spoke and my wink answered while we were both mute. Thus, one glance of hers raises hope while another is almost dying of bashfulness.’ Hassāna al-Badawiyya, of al-Mu‘tazz, in gold on her yashmak in gold: ‘For fear of the watchman I cast a glance on her for an instant and let my wink plead for my passion: She acknowledges in the same instant the intensity of my passion and signals back with a wink, and I assent.’ ‘Inān, of al-Nātif, in pearls on her headband: ‘If you are bold, do what you will!’ Khalf, of Ibn Hamdān, on her brocade: ‘He who desires and does not persevere shall die in his ignorance.’ Kunūz, of Ibrāhīm b. Ishāq, in musk on her forehead: ‘Passion and restraint are irreconcilable opposites.’ Malā‘ib, in musk on her forehead: ‘Bear the greatest wrong from one you love so that sinned against you say I am the sinner. For if you bear not the wrong, O lad, then the one that you love will leave you whether you like it or not.’ Muhaj of Ibrāhīm al-Mawsilī, in ghāliya on her cheek: ‘He who is ardent and true shall have my reins in his hand’; and on the other cheek: ‘Take my reins, my master – I shall not disobey’. Mushtahā, of al-Qāsim, on her bonnet: ‘One at one with one’s lover makes light of the watchman.’

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al-Mustahsana, of al-Lāhiqī, in gold on the right side of her brocade: ‘To be kind to one’s friend is to be a cure for one’s patient’; and on the left side: ‘Whoever lifts the veil is worthy of the prize.’ Nashwān, of Zalzal, on her headband: ‘The narcisus has a beauty and eyes that I desire. I look at it and see in it the eyes of the one I love.’ Nasīm, of Jamīla, in ghāliya on her forehead: ‘Dodging the watchman is good for lovers.’ Nazīfa, of Yahyā b. Khālid, on her collar: ‘He who has never loved has not tasted life’s misery and bliss, for in love are sweetness and bitterness, go and ask whom you feed or taste it.’ Nuzha of al-Khassās, on her headband: ‘The generous is master, the stingy base’; and on the stone of her ring: ‘To desire is to moan.’ Sallāma, favourite of ‘Abd Allāh b. Tāhir: ‘The heart is unruly.’ Tarāshuf, of Hārūn b. Ishāq, on her headband: ‘Is it not a wonder that you and I are together in one house, yet you are neither intimate nor do you converse?’ Tawfīq of Ibn Hamdān, on her yashmak: ‘The shunning of inhibitions makes for a perfect character.’ Turfa, of al-Nattāf, in gold on her headband: ‘There is no counselling in love.’ Washshāh, al-Mu’ayyida, in gold on the brocade of her bonnet: ‘To do is pleasing, to make excuses is repugnant.’ Zājir, of al-Mutawakkil, on her headband: ‘If we feared the watchman one day the eyes shall speak for the hearts: the wink sings the needs of the lover to the beloved.’ And written on musical instruments:1 Daw’ al-Sabāh, in gold on her ‘ūd in gold: ‘He who is not with us is against us”. Muzna, on her rattles: ‘He who looks at others is not seeking our love.’ Tuhfa: ‘He who desires us shall not tire of us.’ Zabyā’ of Ibn Muzdād, on her instrument: ‘Keep your secret from others.’ Zawāfir, on her instrument: ‘Agree with your companion and be close to your friend.’

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Primary sources (Arabic medieval texts) closely related to the topic al-Azdī, Ibn Zāfir, Badā’i‘ al-badā’ih ed. Muhammad Abū l-Fadl Ibrāhīm, Cairo, 1970. Ibn al-Mu‘tazz, Tabaqāt al-shu‘arā’, ed. ‘Abd al-Sattār Ahmad Farrāj, Cairo, 1956. al-Isfahānī, Abū l-Faraj, Kitāb al-Aghānī, Cairo, 1927–74. —— al-Imā’ al-shawā‘ir, ed. Jalīl al-‘Atiyya, Beirut, 1984. —— al-Imā’ al-shawā‘ir, eds. l-Qaysī and l-Sāmirrā’i, Beirut, 1984. —— al-Imā’ al-shawā‘ ir, ed. Jalīl al-‘Atiyya, (2nd edn.), Sūsa, Tunisia, 1998. al-Jāhiz, al-Bayān wa-l-tabyīn, ed. ‘Abd al-Salām Muhammad Hārūn, Cairo, 1968. —— al-Hayawān, ed. ‘Abd al-Salām Muhammad Hārūn, Cairo, 1965–69. —— al-Mahā sin wa-l-addād (attributed), ed. ‘Alī Fā‘ūr et al, Beirut, 1991. —— al-Qiyān: The Epistle on Singing-Girls of Jāhiz, ed. with tr. and comm. A.F.L. Beeston, Warminster, 1980. —— al-Rasā’il, ed. ‘Abd al-Salām Muhammad Hārūn, Cairo, 1964–79. al-Mas‘ūdi, Murūj al-Dhahab (Les prairies d’or), ed. Ch. Pellat, Beirut, 1966–79. al-Sūlī, Abū Bakr, Ash‘ār awlād al-khulafā’, Cairo. al-Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf min akhbār al-jawārī, Beirut, 1963. —— Nuzhat al-julasā’ fī ash‘ār al-nisā’, ed. Salāh al-Dīn al-Munajjid, Beirut, 1958–1993. —— Tārīkh al-khulafā’, ed. Muhammad Muhyī l-Dīn ‘Abd al-Hamīd, Beirut, 1988. al-Washshā’, Abū l-Tayyib Muhammad b. Ishāq b. Yahyā, Kitāb al-zarf wa-lzurafā’ (also known as Kitāb al-Muwashshā), Cairo, 1906; repr. Beirut, 1965.

Secondary literature (including modern studies) al-‘Abbās b. al-Ahnaf, Dīwān, Beirut, 1985. ‘Ātika al-Khazrajī (ed.), Cairo, 1954.

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‘Abbūd, Khāzin, Nisā’ shā‘irāt, Beirut, 2000. ‘Abd al-Nūr, Jabbūr, al-Jawārī, Cairo, 1947. ‘Abū al-‘Atāhiya, Dīwān, ed. Shukrī Faysal, Damascus, 1965 Abu Haidar, Jareer, ‘Qifā nabkī: the dual form of address in Arabic poetry in a new light’, JAL, 19 (1988) Pt. 1, 40–8. Abū Hiffān, Akhbār Abī Nuwās, ed. ‘Abd al-Sattār Ahmad Farrāj, Cairo, 1954. Abū Nuwās, Dīwān, ed. Mahmūd Wasīf, Cairo, 1898. —— ed. Ahmad Ghazālī, Cairo, 1953, repr. 1980. —— ed. Ewald Wagner and Gregor Schoeler, 5 vols., 1958–2003. (Note: the edition used in the text is Wagner and Schoeler’s unless otherwise stated). —— al-Nusūs al-muharrama, ed. Jamāl Jum‘a, Beirut, 1998. al-‘Adnānī, al-Khatīb, al-Nikāh wa- usūl al-zawāj fī al-Islam, London and Beirut, 2000. Ahsan, M.M., Social Life under the Abbasids, London, 1979. Alf layla wa-layla, Maktabat Muhammad ‘Alī Subayh, Cairo, n.d. —— ed. Muhsin Mahdī, Leiden, 1984. —— ed. Noblesse (publishers), Damascus, n.d. ‘Allāf, ‘Abd al-Karīm, Baghdād al-qadīma, Beirut, 1999. ‘Allāf, Samīr, Qiyān Baghdād fī al-‘asr al-‘abbāsī wa-l-‘uthmānī al-akhīr, Baghdad, 1969. ‘Amrūsī, Fāyid, al-Jawārī al-mughanniyāt, Cairo, 1945. al-Antākī, Dāwūd, Tazyīn al-aswāq bi-tafsīl ashwāq al-‘ushshāq (Vol. 2, ‘Ishq al-jawārī), Beirut, 1957. Arazi, A., ‘Abū Nuwās: fut-il Šu‘ūbite?’, Arabica, 26 (1979), 1–61. Arberry, A.J., Poems of al-Mutanabbī, Cambridge, 1967. al-Asad, Nāsir al-Dīn, al-Qiyān wa-l-ghinā’ fī al-‘asr al-jāhilī, Cairo, 1968. Ashtiany, Julia et al. (eds.), Abbasid Belles-Lettres, The Cambridge History of Arabic Literature, Cambridge, 1990. al-Atraqjī, Wājida, al-Mar’a fī adab al-‘asr al-‘abbāsī, Baghdad, 1981. al-Bakrī, Abū ‘Ubayd, Simt al-la’ālī fī sharh Amālī al-Qālī , ed. ‘Abd al-‘Azīz al-Maymanī, Cairo, 1970. Baalbaki, Munir and Baalbaki, Rohi, al-Mawrid, (Arabic-English/EnglishArabic dictionary), 3rd edn., Beirut, 1998. Badger, G.P., English Arabic Lexicon, London, 1881. Barthold, W. [Sourdel, D.], ‘Al-Barāmika’, EI-2 i, 1033. —— and Gibb, H.A.R., ‘Afshīn’, EI-2 i, 241. Bashshār b. Burd, Dīwān, ed. Muhammad al-Tāhir b.‘Āshūr, Cairo, 1950. Bayhum, Muhammad Jamīl, al-Mar’a fī hadārat al-‘Arab wa-l-‘Arab fī tārīk almar’a, Beirut, 1969. de Beauvoir, Simone, The Second Sex, Parshley, H.M. (ed. and tr.), London, 1997. Beeston, A.F.L. (ed. and tr.) The Epistle of the Singing Girls of Jāhiz, London, 1980. —— Selections from the Poetry of Baššār, Cambridge, 1977. Bencheikh, Jamel Eddine, ‘Les musiciens et la poésie: les écoles d’Ishāq al-Mawsili et d’Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mahdī’ (m224H), Arabica 22 (1975) 114–52.

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NOTES Introduction 1. Mernissi, Women’s Rebellion and Islamic Memory, 84; and see Chelhod, ‘Kayn’, EI-2 iv, 819. 2. al-Isfahānī, Kitāb al-Aghānī xv, 39–40. 3. Farmer, ‘Ghinā’’, EI-2 ii, 1073. 4. al-Atraqjī, al-Mar’a fī adab al-‘asr al-‘abbāsī, 46. 5. Parker, Derek, Love Confessed, 67. 6. See the section on Sakan in Ch. Three. 7. al-Furayh [A. Al-Furaih], Creativity & Exuberance in Arab Women’s Poetry, 19, 23–7. 8. al-Heitty, ‘The contrasting spheres of free women and jawārī’, 39. 9. al-Furayh, al-Jawārī wa-l-shi‘r fī al-‘asr al-‘abbāsī al-awwal, 7. 10. al-Shak‘a, al-Shi‘r wa-l-shu‘arā’ fī al-‘asr al-‘abbāsī, 455. 11. al-Heitty, ‘The contrasting spheres’, 40. 12. Bouhdiba, Sexuality in Islam, 36. 13. Humphreys, Islamic History, A Framework for Inquiry, 36.

Chapter One

The social scene

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Qur’ān, 4: 35. al-Bukhārī, Sharh al-Sahīh, iv, 32. Ibid. Gaudefroy-Demombynes, Les institutions musulmanes, 142. al-Furayh, al-Jawārī wa-l-shi‘r fī al-‘asr al-‘abbāsī al-awwal, 15. Ibid., 41. al-Tahāwī, Sharh al-Tahāwī, 377. al-Mas‘ūdī, Murūj al-dhahab (Les prairies d’or) ii, 129–30; Ya‘qūb, al-Kharāj, 23. 9. Kharāj, 58. 10. Ibid., 64.

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NOTES 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47.

281

Ibid., 78. Cf. Lewis, Race and Slavery in the Middle East, 77. al-Mas‘ūdī, Murūj ii, 29–30. al-Asad, al-Qiyān wa-l-ghinā’ fī al-‘asr al-jāhilī, 34, 5. Lewis, Race and slavery, 57–9. al-Isfahānī, Kitāb al-Aghānī, x 182. Aghānī, xxii, 217. Ibid. xv, 326. Ibid. v, 254. Davidson, ‘Making spectacle of her(self)’, 8. Ibn Butlān, Risāla jāmi‘a li-funūn nāfi‘a fī shirā’ al-raqīq, 374. al-Tijānī, Tuhfat al-‘arūs wa-nuzhat al-nufūs, 4. Ibid., 174. Ibn Butlān, Risāla jāmi‘a, 333–89. Sub-Saharan blacks arriving via Zanzibar (zanj-i-bar). Ibn Butlān, Risāla jāmi‘a, 379. al-Tijānī, Tuhfat, 129–30. al-Jāhiz, al-Qiyān ii, 162–3. Ibid., 288–9. al-Jāhiz, al-Hayawān iii, 750. Ibid, 212. Aghānī, Kitāb al-Aghānī ii, 27. Duhmān (d. 166/782) was a singer in the early part of the Abbasid period; he learned singing from Ma‘bad, and became a favourite of al-Mahdī. Yazīd Hawrā, a mawlā of Medina, sang for the caliph al-Mahdī; he was of the conservative school of singing. Aghānī, iii, 251. Davidson, The Courtesan’s Arts, 42. Aghānī, iv, 163. al-Mansūr (90/709–158/775), second Abbasid caliph; see Watt, ‘Al-Mansur’, Enc. Brit. xiv, 827. al-Heitty, ‘The contrasting spheres of free women and jawārī’, 32–3. Kennedy, The Court of the Caliphs, 183–4. al-Tijānī, Tuhfat, 68–9. al-Mubarrad, al-Kāmil fī al-lugha wa-l-adab i, 313. Buhl, ‘Muhammad b. ‘Abd Allāh’, EI-2 vii, 388–9. For a list of Abbasid caliphs, see Appendix I. For mothers of caliphs, see Appendix II. Watt, William Montgomery, Enc. Brit. xiv, 827. Barthold, W. [Sourdel], ‘al-Barāmika’, EI-2 i, 1033.

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48. Bosworth, ‘Khurāsān’, EI-2 v, 55–9. 49. Abū Nuwās, al-Hasan b. Hānī, born in Ahwāz in the year 130/747 (or according to others in 145/762), one of the greatest Arab poets. See Wagner, ‘Abū Nuwās’, EI-2 i, 143–4. 50. al-Shak‘a, al-Shi‘r wa-l-shu‘arā’ fī al-‘asr al-‘abbāsī, 171–2. 51. Abū Nuwās, Dīwān v, 235; Shak‘a, al-Shi‘r wa-l-shu‘arā’, 173; Abū Hiffān, Akhbār Abī Nuwās, 37 (jabru). 52. Abū Nuwās, Diwān ii, 173–4; Ibn Qutayba,‘Uyūn al-akhbār i, 303. 53. Muhammad b. Munādhir (d. 198/813), a satirical poet from Aden, studied in Basra and was expelled for scandalous conduct; praised al-Mahdī, al-Rashīd and al-Barmakīs; was accused of zandaqa; and notable chiefly for satire, thanks to a lively malicious wit. See Pellat, ‘Ibn Munādhir’, EI-2 iii, 890. 54. Aghānī xviii, 182 (takhfī). 55. al-Shak‘a, al-Shi‘r wa-l-shu‘arā’, 172. 56. Bashshār b. Burd, a celebrated blind poet of the 2nd/8th century, a mukhadram al-dawlatayn (one who straddled the Umayyad and the Abbasid dynasties). See Blachère, ‘Bashshār b. Burd’, EI-2 i, 1080–2. 57. Aghānī iii, 138. 58. Lewis, Race and Slavery in the Middle East, 32. 59. Abū Nuwās, Dīwān iii, 44–6 (jadībū). 60. Ibid., 109–11 (al-baladi). 61. Wagner, ‘Abū Nuwās’, EI-2 i, 143–4. 62. Kennedy, The Wine Song in Classical Arabic Poetry, 37. 63. Arazi, ‘Abū Nuwās: fut-il Šu‘ubite?’, Arabica 26 (1979), 1–16. 64. Aghānī xv, 57. 65. Aghānī xvi, 310 (al-jidāri); ‘on tick’: marking each cup by a ‘tick’ on a slate or wall. 66. Aghānī xi, 271. 67. Ibid., 96. 68. Ibid., 364 (wa-l-abadi). 69. Ibid. xv, 61–2; xi, 365–7 (al-barāthīni). 70. ‘Imrān b. Mūsa b. Tālib b.‘Ubaydallāh, Aghānī xv, 62. 71. Aghānī xv, 58 (manīhi). 72. Aghānī xxiii, 195 with one further verse omitted (al-qarātīsi). 73. Ibid. xi, 367 (al-masākīni). 74. Ibid., 364. 75. Aghānī xviii, 249–50 (al-qulbi). 76. ‘Alī b. al-Jahm (188/804–249/863), a poet and man of letters with philosophical interests, a boon ompanion of al-Mutawakkil, noted for virulent

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NOTES

77.

78.

79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84.

85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96.

283

anti-‘Alīd sentiments and acerbic satire. A chapter is devoted to him in Aghānī x, 203–34; and see Kennedy, ‘`Alī ibn al-Jahm’, EAL, 79. Ahmad b. Hanbal (d. 241/855) was the founder of one of the principal Islamic schools of theology, law and ethics. His principal works, the Musnad and the Response, had begun to be codified even in his lifetime. Persecuted by al-Ma’mūn, who had his works suppressed under the mihna (inquisition), Ibn Hanbal came into his own under the Sunnī reactionary movement of al-Mutawakkil (222–47/847–61). See also Laoust, ‘Ahmad b. Hanbal’, EI-2 i, 272–7. For the topography of Abbasid Baghdad (the ‘Round City’ of al-Mansūr), Madīnat al-salām (city of peace), see Oates ‘Baghdad’, Enc. Brit. ii, 1034; also Kennedy, The Court of the Caliphs, map, xii. Aghānī x, 219–22 (al-mufaddali). Meaning that in the house of al-Mufaddal one can take liberties. Meaning the desired one, bright and white like the lamp. Farmer, ‘G.harīd’, EI-2 ii, 1011; Farmer [Neubauer], ‘Ma‘bad b.Wahb’, EI-2 v, 936–7. The rain is a portent of prosperity as well as being welcome in itself. The house of Waddāh was built for al-Mahdī near the Rusāfa in Baghdad. According to one version, its cost was funded by one of the Anbār, by the name of al-Waddāh. Zalzal was the celebrated lutist, brother-in-law of Ibrāhīm al-Mawsilī, whose house was in the Karkh quarter; see Shak‘a, alShi‘r wa-l-shu‘arā’, 190 (note). The reference in these last three verses is to the famous mu‘allaqa poem of Imru’ al-Qays; see Qumayha, Sharh al-mu‘allaqāt al-sab‘, 59, v.14. Ibn al-Mu‘tazz, Tabaqāt al-shu‘arā’, 138 (ziyān). The last verse may be construed as blasphemous. Abū Nuwās, Dīwān iii, 334 (bi-l-sāhī). A place name near Kufa, Yāqūt, Mu‘jam al-buldān i, 242. Abū Nuwās, Dīwān iii, 334 (basātīnihi). Kennedy, The Wine Song, 26ff.; Meisami, Structure and Meaning’ 332ff. Abū Nuwās, Dīwān iii, 183 (dārisu). An alternative meaning of ‘friendship newly made’ or ‘making new friends’ is suggested in the next verse. A Persian town near Madā’in (Ctesiphon); Yāqūt, Mu‘jam al-buldān iii, 166–7. Muslim b. al-Walīd, Dīwān, 179 (muharram). i.e. meat not ritually slaughtered according to Islamic rules, and therefore forbidden. Ibn al-Mu‘tazz, Tabaqāt, 238 (ma‘sara).

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97. Ibn al-Mu‘tazz, Tabaqāt, 238 (tashfīnī). 98. al-Tawhīdī, Abū Hayyān, an eminent 4th/10th century man of letters, author of al-Imtā‘ wa-l-mu’ānasa and of al-Basā’ir wa-l-dhakhā’ir, Rowson, Everett K., EAL ii, 760. 99. al-Tawhīdī al-Imtā‘ ii, 183.

Chapter Two Imā’ shawā‘ir and qiyán 1. al-Isfahānī, Kitāb al-Aghānī v, 160–2. 2. al-Heitty, ‘The contrasting spheres of free women and jawārī’, 34. 3. Kilpatrick, ‘Women as poets and chattels: Abū l-Farağ al-Isbahānī’s ‘al-Imā’ al-Šawā‘ir’, 171. 4. al-Tawhīdī, al-Imtā‘ wa-l-mu’ānasa ii, 56. 5. al-Jāhiz , Kitāb al-Qiyān ii, 149. 6. Bouhdiba, Abdelwahab, Sexuality in Islam, 36. 7. al-Jāhiz, al-Qiyān ii, 171–2; cf. Beeston’s edition p.18 and his translation pp. 31–2. 8. Ishāq b. Yahyā (al-Washshā’) (255/869–325/937), author of Kitāb al-zarf wa-l-zurafā’ (also known as Kitāb al-Muwashshā); a distinguished man of letters, well-versed in grammar and lexicography, widely read and an authority on good manners: Raven, W., ‘Al-Washshā’’, EI-2 xi, 160. The quotation is from Kitāb al-Muwashshā, 74–5. 9. Bloom, Paper before Print, 48–9. 10. Aghānī xxiii, 220–1 (mutashākilāti). 11. The allusion in the last line is to the practice at the dawn of Islam of ihyā’ al-mawāt (reviving the dead). See Chapter One. 12. Aghānī xxiii, 221. 13. al-Isfahānī, al- Imā’ al-shawā‘ir, 76 (al-tarabi). A variant is to be found in Washshā’: wayhaka in the first verse shortened to wayk, while yarmuqa (‘look for’) in the second is given instead of yatlubna (‘seek’). 14. al-Washshā’, Kitāb al-zarf’, 82 (mukhādi‘u). 15. Ibid., 77 (malaqi). 16. Ibid., 81 (al-bughūli). 17. Qur’ān 2:61. 18. Abū Nuwās, Dīwān iv, 75 (‘āmi). 19. al-‘Abbās b. al-Ahnaf, Dīwān, 106 (jāfi). 20. See Chapter Nine. 21. al-Washshā’, Kitāb al-zarf , 87 (al-qatlu). 22. Ibid., 87 (al-alwānā). 23. al-Jāhiz, Kitāb al-qiyān ii, 171–2.

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24. Bon, The Sultan’s Seraglio, 88. 25. Mernissi, Women’s Rebellion and Islamic Memory, 84–5. 26. This citation from al-Jāhiz appears in a French translation by Charles Pellat as ‘Les esclaves chanteuses’, Arabica, Vols. 10–11 (1963); and cf. Beeston’s edition and translation (p. 8 in Arabic text, p. 20 in English version). 27. Mernissi, Women’s Rebellion, 87. 28. Aghānī xv, 61–2; xi, 365–7; full text in Chapter One (al-barāthīni). 29. Cited by Davidson, from Llewellyn-Jones Aphrodite’s Tortoise, in ‘Making a spectacle of her(self)’, 33. 30. Frayling, Strange Landscape, 115. 31. Caron, A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and Siam; and cf. Downer, ‘The city geisha and their role in modern Japan’, 228. 32. The Married Women’s Property Act 1882 came into effect on 1 January 1883. 33. Aghānī, xxiii, 220 (al-asāwira). 34. Persian mounted archers, ibid., 330. 35. van Gelder, Geert Jan, Close Relationships, 115. 36. al-Jāhiz, Mufākharāt al-jawārī wa-l-ghilmān, in Rasā’il. 37. Bouhdiba, Sexuality in Islam, 36. 38. Aghānī xviii, 65 ff. 39. Ibid., 68 (ya‘udi). 40. Ibid. iv, 115 (yughādī) in the chapter ‘Yawmiyyāt Muhammad b. al-Hārith’; and see the further reference to Farīda in Chapter Eleven below. 41. Ibid. vii, 227. 42. Aghānī xxii, 202; Imā’, 127 (ja‘farā); cf. Kilpatrick, ‘Women as poets and chattels’, 63 43. Stigelbauer, Die Sängerinnen, 39. 44. Aghānī xviii, 235 (tatūlu). 45. I.e. four days. 46. Rauch, ‘Nightingales across the winds of time’, 293. 47. Davidson, ‘Making a spectacle of her(self)’, 6–7. 48. de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 581.

Chapter Three

Four slave-women poets

1. Zettersteen [Bosworth], ‘al-Muhallabī’, EI-2 vii, 358. 2. Mu‘izz al-Dawla, the youngest of the three Buyids of the first generation, founder of the Buyid rule in Baghdad; see Zettersteen [Busse], ‘Mu‘izz alDawla’, EI-2 vii, 484-5. 3. al-Isfahānī, al-Imā’ al-shawā‘ir, 21–2.

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4. ‘Abbasid poet, (148/765–246/860), pro-Shī‘ite, famous for his poem praising ‘Alī al-Ridā; see Zolondek, ‘Di‘bil’, EI-2, 248–9. 5. A member of the Abū Hafsa family, which included six poets. Marwān was a great classical poet, ‘a panegyrist who carefully sought formulae which would appear striking to his audiences’ minds’; see Bencheikh, ‘Marwān b. Abī Hafsa’, EI-2 vi, 625–6. 6. Amatory poet of Iraq, died, it seems, after 193/808; see Blachère, ‘Abbās b. al-Ahnaf, EI-2 i, 9–10. 7. Gruendler, Medieval Arabic Praise Poetry, 4. 8. al-Isfahānī, Kitāb al-Aghānī xxiii, 86–7; al-Imā’ al-shawā‘ir, 26, where ahabbahā (‘he loved her’) is substituted for yuhibbuhā (‘he loves her’) (habash). 9. In Aghānī the word is rubbamā (‘perchance’); in Imā’ it is innamā (‘but’, ‘yet’). 10. Aghānī xxiii, 87; Imā’, 27; Ibn al-Jarrāh, Waraqa, 42; al-Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf min akhbār al-jawāri, 39; Ibn al-Sā‘ī, Nisā’ al-khulafā’, 49 (takallamā). 11. Aghānī xxiii, 87; Imā’, 26; al- Azdī, Badā’i‘ al-badā’ih, 93; Ibn al-Sā‘ī, Nisā’ al-khulafā’, 48. 12. Abū Nuwās, Dīwān i, 80 (khaytihi). 13. Aghānī xi, 286–7 (al-awsābi). 14. Ibn ‘Abd Rabbihi, al-‘Iqd al-farīd vi, 57ff (shaqīnā). 15. al-Iṣfahānī, al-Imā’ al-shawā‘ir, 32 (‘ulūqu). 16. See on the topic Abu-Haidar, Jarīr, ‘Qifā nabki: . . .’ 17. Aghānī xxiii, 84; Imā’, 30, with Qātūl replacing Baghdad; Abū Nuwās, Dīwān i, 81 (yashbahuhā) 18. Aghānī xxiii, 87; Imā’, 30–1; Azdī, Badā’i‘ al-badā’ih, 194; Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf, 44. 19. ‘Abbūd, Nisā’ Shā‘irāt, 181–2. Cf. Azdī, Badā’i‘ al-badā’ih, 220–21 (with variants of the poem) (zuffat). 20. Imā’, 40. The lyrics are attributed to al-‘Abbās b. Ahnaf, Dīwān (ed. al-Khazrajī), 50–1 (dhunūbu). 21. Abū Nuwās, Dīwān i, 85 (qibla). 22. Ibid., Dīwān i, 86 (narjusi). 23. al- Azdi, Badā’i‘ al-badā’ih 92; ‘Abbūd, Nisā’ shā‘irāt, 181 (al-samā’i). 24. Abū Nuwās, Dīwān i, 81–2 (khālisu) 25. Ibid., Dīwān i, 81 (al-mudā‘aqa). 26. Aghānī xxiii, 88; Imā’, 29; Azdī, Badā’i‘ al-badā’ih, 193–4; Ibn al-Sā‘ī, Nisā’ al-khulafā’, 49 (bi-mā). 27. Qur’ān ii, 285. 28. Aghānī xxiii, 92; Imā’, 31 (talūmīnā).

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29. Abū Nuwās, Dīwān ii, 86; iv, 120 (‘Inān). 30. Abū Nuwās, Dīwān i, 79; Aghānī xxiii, 85; Imā’, 37; Azdī, Badā’i‘ al-badā’ih, 41–2; Abū Hiffān, Akhbār Abū Nuwās, 110–11; Ibn al-Manzūr, Akhbār Abī Nuwas i, 34–5 (falūtā). 31. Literally, ‘it would turn into a big fish’. 32. Imā’, 38. There are variants of that exchange in Aghānī xxiii, 86; Abū Nuwās, Dīwān i, 80; al-Azdī, Badā’i‘ al-badā’ih, 41; Ibn Manzūr, Akhbār Abī Nuwās i, 35-6 (qutayra). 33. Abū Nuwās, Dīwān i, 84–5; Imā’, 36–7 in which the fourth line is missing (‘annā). 34. Imā’, 39 (hallaqanī). 35. Abū Nuwās, Dīwān i, 83 (al-liwāti). 36. Imā’, 39; Abū Nuwās i, 84 (yukhādi‘uha). 37. Aghānī xxiii, 93; Imā’, 38 (with a minor variation in the first verse); Abū Nuwās, Dīwān i, 83 (with some minor variation); Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf, 46 (maydānā). 38. Aghānī xxiii, 93. 39. Imā’, 39–40; Abū Nuwās, Dīwān i, 82; Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf, 40–1 (fakhrā). 40. Cf. also the version of Suyūtī in al-Mustazraf, 40. Of the three Imā’ editions (see bibliography):‘urrah (evil) (in Dār al-Nizāl, Beirut), 44; ‘izzan (prestige) (in ‘Ālam al-kutub, Beirut), 38, also ‘izzan (in Susa) 39. 41. In Imā’, 39–40 what was left in the cup is said to be hibrā (‘ink’). In the Dīwān it is ja‘rā (dung), which is adopted in the translation here. 42. i.e. the opposite of doing so openly. 43. Thus in the Dīwān, i, 82–3. Cf. also Ibn al-Jarrāh, Waraqa, 44; Ibn Qutayba,‘Uyūn al-akhbār iv, 62 (attributed to Muslim!); Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf, 40. 44. Dīwān i, 83. 45. Miles, ‘Dīnār’, EI-2 ii, 297–9. 46. Gruendler, Medieval Arabic Praise Poetry, 9. 47. Imā’, 44–5 (yasbiru). 48. Aghānī x, 174. 49. Jamil, ‘Caliph and Qutb’, 11–57. 50. Ibid., 41. 51. Dīwān, 691–5, 699–704. 52. Alf layla wa-layla (ed. Noblesse), 185–9. 53. Ibn al-Mu‘tazz, Tabaqāt al-shu‘ara’, 421–2 (nāfidi). 54. Khulayyif, al-Shi‘r al-nisā’ī fī adabinā al-qadīm, 157; Sajdi, ‘Trespassing the male domain’, 122. 55. Sourdel, ‘al-Fadl b.al-Rabī‘’, EI-2 ii, 730–1.

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56. The hiyād are the water basins or cisterns in the desert; sudūr and wurūd originally denote coming from or to the watering places. 57. Imā’, 45. 58. Ibn ‘Abd Rabbihi,‘Iqd, vi, 58 (jafākā). 59. Imā’, 43. A different, and somewhat confused, version of the bidding is given in Aghānīi xxiii, 91. 60. Ibid., 91. According to another source a nick in the nail of her little toe, Imā’, 43. 61. Imā’, 43. 62. Imā’, 53; Aghānī, xix, 301. 63. Ibn al-Mu‘tazz, Tabaqāt al-shu‘ara’, 426. 64. Imā’, 54. 65. Heinrichs, ‘Sa‘īd b. Humayd’, EI-2 viii, 856; and cf. Aghānī xviii, 155; Ibn al-Mu‘tazz, Tabaqāt, 426. 66. Aghānī, xix, 302; Imā’, 55 (thalāthīnā). 67. Note the references to her house, Aghānī xix, 307; Imā’, 68–9. 68. Aghānī, xix, 304; Imā’, 58 (habīb). 69. Aghānī xix, 304–5 (taghdabu). 70. Ibid., 307–8; Imā’, 59 (the latter patently corrupt) (zalāmi). 71. Aghānī, xix, 312–3; Imā’, 58; al-Tawhīdī, al-Basā’ir wa-l-dhakhāi’r v, 127; Ibn al-Sā‘ī, Nisā’ al-khulafā’, 87 (malādhā). 72. Aghānī x, 215; Washshā’, Kitāb al-zarf , 53 (al-nāsu). 73. Bosworth, ‘Nayrūz’, EAL, 585. 74. Meisami, Structure and Meaning in Medieval Arabic and Persian Poetry, 351–2, 366. 75. A tributary of the Tigris near Samarra; Yāqūt, Mu‘jam al-buldān iv, 297–8. 76. Imā’, 64–5 (mawlānā). 77. Aghānī xix, 302–3; Imā’, 56; Tawhidī, al-Basā’ir v, 127 (‘alam). 78. Aghānī xix, 305; Imā’, 56–7 (‘alam). 79. Imā’, 54–5; Aghānī xix, 301; Abū Nuwās, Dīwān i, 37 (yurkab). 80. Aghānī, xix, 305–6; Tawhīdī, al-Basā’ir, 17; Azdī, Badā’i‘ al-badā’ih, 50 (gharaduh). 81. Aghānī xix, 303; Imā’, 57 (al-shakli). 82. Aghānī xviii, 165. 83. Ibid, 160. 84. Imā’, 61; Aghānī xix, 311 (bi-yāsi) . 85. Aghānī xix, 306; Imā’, 71 (wa-l-jaddi). 86. Imā’, 66 (al-khuluf). 87. Aghānī xviii, 165; Imā’, 67 (tamūtīnā). 88. Imā’, 68; Aghānī xviii, 158 in which only Sa‘īd’s response is given (al-fi‘āli). 89. Aghānī xviii; Imā’, 65 (madā).

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NOTES 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100. 101. 102. 103. 104. 105. 106. 107. 108. 109. 110. 111. 112. 113. 114. 115. 116. 117. 118. 119. 120. 121. 122. 123. 124. 125. 126.

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‘Abbūd, Nisā’ shā‘irāt, 199 (madā). Blachère, ‘Ghazal’, EI-2 ii, 1028–33. Aghānī xviii, 167 (tanaffusi). Imā’, 72–3. Imā’, 74-5; Ibn al-Jahm, Dīwān, 185 (al-zā’inīnā). Aghānī xviii, 166; Imā’, 76; Ibn al-Mu‘tazz, Tabaqāt, 426; Washshā’, Kitāb al-zarf , 96 (tarabi). Aghānī xxi,59–60. Ibid., 54. Khulayyif, al-Shi‘r al-nisā’ī fī adabinā al-qadīm ,157. See Appendix i for list of Abbāsid caliphs. ‘A thousand’ is given in the note as a variant. Aghānī xxi, 59–60. Ibid., 60. Ibid., 60–1 (yakūnu). Ibn al-Mu‘tazz, Tabaqāt, 426 (imrāru). Aghānī xxi, 64 (ashqari). Ibid., 62–3 (‘ajībā) Ibid., 63 (hurūbi). Rauch, ‘Nightingales across the wind of time’, 293–4. Aghānī xxi, 63. Ibid., 66 (al-malā’ihi). Ibid., 66. Ibid., 67. Ibid., 67 Ibid., 75–6 (yadayhi). Aghānī xxi, 79; Imā’, 108; Ibn al-Sā‘ī, Nisā’ al-khulafā’, 57; al-Nuwayrī, Nihāyat al-arab fī funūn al-adab v, 103 (al-araqu). Imā’, 110 (tajsuru); Aghānī xxi, 86. Aghānī xxi, 80–1. Ibid., 68–9 (yuhjabu). Ibid., 69 (shakkā). Ibid., 87; Imā’, 110 (tash‘uru). Aghānī xxi, 77 (ahadi). Ibid., 72–3. Ibid., 71–2; Imā’ 109. Imā’ 109; Aghānī xxi, 72 (the first two lines) (al-ridā). Ibid. Kilpatrick, ‘Women as poets and chattels: Abū l-Farağ al-Isbahānī’s “al-Imā’ al-Šawā‘ir” ’, 174.

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290 127. 128. 129. 130. 131. 132. 133. 134. 135. 136. 137. 138. 139. 140. 141. 142. 143. 144. 145. 146. 147. 148. 149. 150. 151. 152. 153. 154. 155. 156. 157. 158. 159. 160. 161. 162. 163.

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Aghānī xxii, 162–4, 177. A chapter is devoted to Ibrāhīm b. al-Mudabbir in Aghānī xx. Ibid. xxii, 173. Ibid., 181 (yashkulu). Ibid., 181–2. Ibid. xxi, 64 (durūbā). Ibid., 71. Ibid., 74. Ibid, 77–8. Ibid., 78. Imā’, 111 (sadri). Ibid., 109–10. Meisami, Structure and Meaning in Medieval Arabic and Persian Poetry: Orient Pearls, 351–2. Imā’ 112–3 (i‘jāz). Munn-Rankin, Enc .Brit. vii, 76–7. Meisami, ‘The palace complex as emblem’. On praise of gardens and buildings, cf. Schoeler, Arabische Naturdichtung. See Yāqūt, Mu‘jam al-buldān s.v. ‘Shabdāz’ (quoting Abū Dulaf al-Khazrajī); see also Ibn al-Faqīh, Muntakhab al-buldān, 214–7). Another palace name;Yāqūt, Mu‘jam al-buldān iii, 159 (lisa‘īdi). Imā’, 115; al-Sā‘ī, Nisā’ al-khulafā’, 60; al- Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf, 38 (al-dahri). Imā’, 113 (araqā). Aghānī xxi, 81. Ibid., 80. Ibid. (ahadu). Ibid., 77. Ibid., 55. Ibid., 83. See the reference to him in Kilpatrick, Making the Great Book of Songs, 37. Aghānī xxi, 55. Ibid., 56. Ibid. x, 70. Ibid. iv, 114. Ibid. x, 173–4. Imā’, 116–7 (al-ibtikāri). al-Mas‘ūdī, Murūj al-dhahab v, 59 (bughā). For Bughas, father and son, see Sourdel, ‘Bughā al-Kabīr’, EI-2 i, 1287. Meisami, Structure and Meaning, 352.

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164. Lewis, Race and Color in Islam, 22. 165. See the reference to the perfumed garden in Chapter Five. 166. Ibn al-Mu‘tazz, Tabaqāt, 366. The following qasīda, by which she is best known, is also found in Safadī’s al-Wāfi bi-l-wafayāt xv, 290-1, and in Ibn Aydamir, al-Durr al-farīd (facsimile edition) iv, 86, where the poem is attributed to ‘Inān al-Nātifiyya (and see Ullmann, Das Motiv der Kreuzigung, 52), and also in Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf ’, 29–30. 167. Ibn al-Mu‘tazz, Tabaqāt, 367. 168. Ibid., 422 (al-qāsī). 169. Stetkevych, The Mute Immortals Speak, 164 ; Sajdi, ‘Trespassing the male domain’, 122. 170. The tearing-up of the note on top of the rejection of the offer. 171. Fāhisha has also connotations of indecency or obscenity; Lane, ArabicEnglish Lexicon i, 2344. 172. See Kennedy, The Court of the Caliphs, Map 3. 173. Ibid., 220–1. 174. Bābak and his brother. 175. Tabarī, iii, 1029, 1102. 176. See Gibb, ‘Afshīn’, EI-2 i, 241. 177. Ullmann, Das Motiv der Kreuzigung in der arabischen Poesie des Mittelalters, 47–54. 178. Ullmann, Das Motif, 54–5, taken from al-Rāghib al-Isbahānī, Muhā darāt al-udabā’ ii, 115; iii, 199. 179. See a translation and discussion in Stetkevych, The Poetics of Islamic Legitimacy, 152ff. 180. See discussion in Meisami, Structure and Meaning, 221ff. 181. Ibn al-Mu‘ tazz, Tabaqāt, 367. 182. See Bosworth, ‘Tāhirids’, EI-2 x, 104-5. 183. van Gelder, Slave-Girl Lost and Regained, 201–7. 184. Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-a‘yān wa anbā’ abnā’ al-zamān vii, 56–7; Shak‘a, Mustafa, al-Shi‘r wa-l- shu‘arā’ fī al-‘asr al-‘abbāsī, 482. 185. For a general study of ‘Arīb cf. also Samarrai, Die Macht der Darsellung, 62–89, 105–20; Gordon, ‘The place of competition’, 61–81; also his more recent ‘’Arīb’, 85–90.

Chapter Four Some other slave-girl poets: short biographical notes 1. Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-a‘yān vii, 58.

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2. al-Khatīb al-Baghdādī, al-Hāfiz Abū Bakr Ahmad b. ‘Alī, Tārīkh Baghdad xiii, 273. 3. ‘Abbūd, Nisā’ shā‘irāt, 62 (sāhī). 4. al-Suyūtī, al- Mustazraf min akhbār al-jawārī, 13 (nā‘īhi). 5. Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf , 13 (arwānā). 6. On the Khāzims, see Gibb, ‘‘Abd Allāh b. Khāzim’, EI-2 i, 47. 7. al-Isfahānī, al-Imā’ al-shawā‘ir, 77; Suyūtī, al-Mustzraf, 12 (al-basaru). 8. al-Isfahānī, Abū al-Faraj, Kitāb al-Aghānīī xviii, 65. 9. Ibid. 68 (ya‘udī). 10. Kilpatrick, Making the Great Book of Songs, 328. 11. Imā’, 47. 12. Aghānī xx, 202. 13. Imā’, 85–6; Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf, 271; al-Safadī, al-Wāfī bi-l-wafayāt viii, 181–2 (taghduru). 14. Imā’, 86; Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf, 271 (mātū). 15. On him, see Ibn al-Jarrāh, al-Waraqa, 61–3; Ibn al-Mu‘tazz, Tabaqāt, 306–7. 16. Imā’, 87–8 (khalfī). 17. al-Hātimi, Hilyat al-Muhā dara ii, 216. 18. And see the further reference to her in chapter 12. 19. Pérès, La Poésie Andalouse en Arabe Classique ii, 97; ‘Abbūd, Nisā’ shā‘irāt, 203 (ahdāqihā). 20. Aghānī xx, 343; Imā’, 153–5 (al-shi‘ri). 21. Kilpatrick, ‘Women as poets and chattels’, 167. 22. In Imā’, abīnī lī (‘explain to me’); in 1984 editions, uhājīkī (‘riddle me this’) (Dār al-Nizal and ‘Ālam al-kutub). 23. A different version is given in Aghānī xx, 343 for the second half of the last line viz. laha hazzun min al-zajri (‘having or meriting a measure of criticism’). The Imā’ version seems more appropriate. 24. Qur’ān 89:3. 25. A pen made from a reed. 26. Aghānī x, 284–5 (khamru). 27. Implying, probably, a mixed message. 28. Aghānī xiv, 199; Imā’, 99–100. 29. The city had a symbolic importance as the birthplace of the Byzantine emperor Theophilos. Its capture was the subject of a famous poem by Abū Tammām; see Canard, ‘‘Ammūriya’, EI-2 i, 449 (‘ammuriya). 30. A djellaba is a long hooded cloak, usually woollen. 31. As robes of honour. 32. Imā’, 157–9; cf. also Ibn ‘Abd Rabbihi, al-‘Iqd al-farīd iii, 397; al-Azdī, Badā’i‘ al-badā’ih, 43–4 (inqibādu) .

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293

33. Aghānī xix, 47–9. 34. Son of the celebrated Shī‘ite poet “Di‘bil (148/765–246/860); see the reference to the house of ‘Inān in Chapter 3. 35. (inqibādu). 36. Literally ‘armour’, but in the context ‘shift’ or ‘chemise’; cf. Qumayha, Sharh al-mu‘allaqāt al-sab‘, Imru’ al-Qays’s Mu‘allaqa, 63, v. 41. 37. Aghānī xxii, 200. 38. Ibid., 202. 39. Ibid., 200. 40. Ibid., xxii, 200–1; Imā’, 127, in which the second half of the last verse is given as saqā Allāhu ‘adhban min thanāyāki (‘may God give to drink a delicious drink from your mouth’, lit. ‘teeth’); al-Mas‘ūdī, Murūj al-dhahab (Les prairies d’or) v, 42–3; Ibn al-Sā‘ī, Nisā’ al-khulafā’, 94–5; Nuwayrī, Nihāyat al-arab v, 109 (atharā). 41. I.e. the obedience which is openly professed and inwardly is truly felt. 42. al- Washshā’, Kitāb al-zarf wa-l-zurafā’ 207, 249; al-Heitty, ‘The contrasting spheres of women and jawārī’, 39. 43. Imā’, 126; Aghānī xxii, 201 (with the third line missing); Ibn al-Sā‘ī, Nisā’ al-khulafā’, 93; Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf, 64 (kabadī). 44. Aghānī xxii, 203; Imā’, 128 (yukallimunī). 45. Aghānī xxii, 201–2; Imā’, 127–8; Mas‘ūdī, Murūj al-dhahab v, 43–4; Suyūtī, raf, 67; Ibn al-Sā‘ī, Nisā’ al-khulafā’, 97; al-Nuwayrī, Nihāyat al-arab fī funūn al-adab v, 110; Suyūtī, Tārīkh al-khulafā’, 351 (ja‘farā). 46. Aghānī xx, 82–3 (tady‘uki) 47. Abū Nuwās, Dīwān i, 92 (al-bāridi).

Chapter Five Al-Imā’ al-shawā‘ir as eulogists 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Khulayyif, al-Shi‘r al-nisā’ī fī adabinā al-qadīm, 136. al-Isfahānī, al-Imā’ al-shawā‘ir, 115. Wickens, ‘Madīh’, EI-2 v, 955. Sajdi, ‘Trespassing the male domain’, 137. Stetkevych, The Poetics of Islamic Legitimacy, 180–240. Gruendler, Medieval Arab Praise Poetry, 3. Bonebakker, ‘Kudāma’, EI-2 v, 318–22. Ibn Rashīq, al-‘Umda fī mahāsin al-shi‘r wa-ādābihi, 773; Qudāma, Naqd al-shi‘r, 96. 9. On panegyric epigrams, see van Gelder, ‘Pointed and well-rounded’. 10. Gruendler, Medieval Arabic praise poetry, 4. 11. Ibn Rashīq,‘Umda, 772. On brevity generally, see van Gelder: ‘The long and the short of it in classical Arabic literary theory’.

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12. al-Isfahānī, Kitāb al-Aghānī xii, 93; ‘Abbūd, Khāzin, Nisā’ shā‘irāt, 61; alShak‘a, al-Shi‘r wa-l- shu‘arā’ fī al-‘asr al-‘abbāsī, 462. 13. Stetkevytch, The Mute Immortals Speak, 164; and cf. “Trespassing the Male Domain”, 122. 14. Wickens, ‘Madīh’, EI-2 v, 955. 15. Gruendler, Medieval Arabic Praise Poetry, 8. 16. For Bashshār b. Burd see Chapter One. Muslim b. al-Walīd (b. ca. 130– 40/747–57), was an Arab poet of the early Abbasid period, nicknamed sarī‘ al-ghawānī (‘he who is laid low by fair maidens’); see Kratchkowsky, ‘Muslim b. Walīd’, EI-2 vii, 694–5. 17. Imā’ , 111 (al-saqami). 18. Ibid., 139–40 (al-munani). 19. Ishāq b. Ibrāhīm b. Mus‘ab (d. 235/850), Chief of Police of Baghdad in the reign of al-Ma’mūn, Imā’ 139; he was related to the Tāhirids. 20. ‘Imā’, 120 (al-sadūqi). 21. Aghānī xii, 165; Imā’, 67 (ba‘īdu). 22. Bosworth, ‘Tāhir b. al-Husayn’, EI-2 x, 103. 23. Imā’, 79. 24. Ibid., 80 (al-Husayn). 25. Ibid. (dhimāmū). 26. Meisami and Starkey (eds.), EAL, 744–5. 27. Imā’, 122; Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf, 31; Yāqūt, Mu‘jam al-udabā’, 176–7 (nathiqu). Note that in al-Mustazraf and Yaqūt, Mu‘jam al-udabā’ the jāriya is called Sāmir and Sāhir respectively. 28. See Chapter Four. 29. Aghānī xiii, 345; Imā’, 48–9 (li-l-muttahimi). 30. In Aghānī, the word is bātin (‘concealed’). In Imā’ the corresponding word is zāhir (‘apparent’). The former appears the more apposite. 31. Qudāma 41. 32. Aghānī x, 192–3 where the man is said to be Mūsā Shahawāt; Mas‘ūdī, Murūj al-dhahab iv, 8–9; Ibn ‘Abd Rabbihi,‘Iqd iv, 425 (li-l-insāni). 33. Aghānī xix, 307; Imā’, 59; al-Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf , 53; Ibn al-Sā‘‘ī, Nisā’ al-khulafā’, 90 (bi-l-zalāmi). 34. Imā’, 111 (karami). 35. Ibid., 115 (nūruhā). 36. Imā’, 115; Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf, 38 (nūruhā). 37. Ibid. 116 (al-sifāti). 38. Qumayha, Sharh al-Mu‘allaqāt, p. 64, v. 47. 39. al-Mutanabbī, Dīwān 380. 40. Imā’, 45 (tazharu).

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NOTES 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67.

295

Ibid., 111 (al-badri). Ibid. (al-sadri). Ibid., 118 (al-qamaru). Ibid., 120 (al-balwā). Ibid., 124 (yusafu). Abū Nuwās, Dīwān iv, 15 (atrābi). Imā’, 124 (al-bashari). Meisami, Structure and Meaning, 368; and cf. Jamil, ‘Caliph and Qutb’. Ibid., 30. Meisami, Structure and Meaning, 368ff. Ibid., 347–88. Aghānī xviii, 166–7; Imā’, 73; Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf, 55–6 (al-narjisi). Imā’, 152 (khaddihi). Ibid., 113 (‘abaqā). Ibid., 111 (wa-l-karami). Aghānī xiii, 276; and cf. Pellat, ‘Mutī‘ b. Iyās’, EI-2 vii, 297–9. Aghānī xiii, 313 (al-mushtahira). van Gelder, ‘Beautifying the ugly and uglifying the beautiful’. Ibn al-Rashīq,‘Umda 777. Imā’, 138; Ibn al-Sā‘ī, Nisā’ al-khulafā’, 101–3; al-Azdī, Badā’i‘ al-badā’ih, i, 82–3 (li-sa‘īdi). Kennedy, ‘al-Mu‘tadid Bi’llāh’, EI-2 vii, 759–60. Imā’, 147 (jamālā). Ibid., 92 (jabalā). Aghānī xxiii, 15–7; and see the reference to her in Chapter Nine. Al-Suyūtī, Nuzhat al-julasā’ fī ash‘ār al-nisā’, 57–8. Atraqjī, al-Mar’a fī adab al-‘asr al-‘abbāsī, citing al-Tanūkhī, Nishwār al-muhā dara v, 267. Aghānī v, 202–3. Ibid. xix, 31–1; Imā’, 60.

Chapter Six

Al-Imā’ al-shawā‘ir as mourners

1. See the Introduction for the origin of the term. 2. Schneider, ‘Primitive music’. 3. See also Vadet, Jean-Claude, L’esprit courtois. The link is also made in Koehler, L. and Baumgartner, W. (eds.) Lexicon in veteris testamenti libros, s.v. QYN. 4. Farmer, ‘Ghinā’’, EI-2 ii, 1073. 5. al-Suyūtī, Nuzhat al-julasā’ fī ash‘āral-nisā’, 25 (qaynā). 6. Khulayyif, al-Shi‘r al-nisā’ī, 122. 7. Pellat, Charles, “Marthiya”, EI-2 vi, 602-8.

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296 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24.

25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32.

33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38.

THE SLAVE-GIRLS

OF

BAGHDAD

Ibn al-Rashīq, al-‘Umda fī mahā sin al-shi‘r wa-ādābihi ii, 805. Boustany, ‘Ibn al-Rūmī’, EI-2 iii, 907–9. Aghānī, xiii, 345; Imā’, 49 (yakun). Qur’ān 6:163 and 17:111. Aghānī ix, 40–1. Ibid., 41 (al-nuksi). al-Mutanabbī, Dīwān, pp. 388–95. Imā’, 93; in Aghānī vii, 306 (al-tulūli) ‘and before him al-Khalīl’. Imā’, 92 (dimā’i). Kilpatrick, Hilary, “ Women as Poets and Chattels”. See the discussion of atlāl in relayion to nasīb in Montgomery, J.E., “The Deserted Encampment in Ancient Arabic Poetry”.. Ibn Rashīq,‘Umda ii, 812. Aghānī vii, 293 (footnote). Kennedy, The Court of the Caliphs, 76. Aghānī vii, 304 (nujabā’i). Ibid. xvii, 120. Imā’, 43 (al-nattāfā); the last line was not in Imā’ originally, but is added by the editor from Ibn al-Jarrāh’s al-Waraqa, 43 (note also the variant in v. 1: hatta saqayta bi-ka’sika al-Nattā fī (‘until you had al-Nattā fi drink from your cup’). Pellat, ‘Marthiya’, EI-2 vi, 602–8. Imā’, 48 (‘Alī). Imā’, 86; al- Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf min akhbār al-jawārī, 27; al- Safadī, al-Wāfī bi-l-wafayāt viii, 282 (mātū). Imā’, 85 (hayūbu). Also mentioned under other names, including Tazayyuf , ‘Abbūd, Khāzin, Nisā’ shā‘irāt 63. And see Chapter Four. Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf, 13 (afdīhi). These are words of exclamation, not of address. Aghānī xxii, 202; Imā’, 127–8; Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf, 67; Ibn al-Sā‘ī, Nisā’ al-khulafā’, 97; al-Nuwayrī, Nihāyat al-arab fī funūn al-adab v, 110–11 (ja‘farā). Imā’, 63 n. 2. Ibid. (as-hānā). Ibid, 96; Aghānī vii, 301–3; Nuwayrī, Nihāyat al-arab v, 64–5 (tablā). See Eisenstein, ‘Al-Walīd b. Tarīf’, EI-2 xi, 129–30. Aghānī xii, 93; ‘Abbūd, Nisā’ shā‘irāt 61; Shak‘a, al-Shi‘r wa-l-shu‘arā’ fī al-‘asr al-‘abbasī, 462 (munīfi). al-Khansā’ (‘the snub-nosed one’), an Arab poetess of the pre-Islamic and early Islamic period. Famed for her poetic work, and above all for her elegies

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NOTES

39. 40. 41. 42. 43.

44.

297

to her two brothers, Mu‘āwiya and Sakhr; see Gabrieli, ‘Al-Khansā’’, EI-2 iv, 1027. And see Pellat, ‘Marthiya’, EI-2 vi, 603. Aghānī vii, 299. See on this topic van Gelder’s Close Relationships. al-Shamy, ‘The brother-sister syndrome in Arab family life’; also his ‘Siblings in Alf Layla wa-Layla’. In Ibn ‘Abd Rabbihi’s ‘Iqd she is identified as Lubāna bt. ‘Alī b. Rayta, Mas‘ūdī, Murūj al-dhahab (Les prairies d’or) iv, 297 (old edition vi, 485); ‘Abbūd, Nisā’ shā‘irāt, 206. Also (vv. 1–2) Suyūtī, Nuzhat al-julasā’, 67 (al-turusi). Imā’, 108 (al-dahri).

Chapter Seven

Al-Imā’ al-shawā‘ ir as satirists and lampoonists

1. Pellat, ‘Hidjā’’, quoting Goldziher, EI-2 iii, 352–5. For the German original cf. his Abhandlungen zur arabischen Philologie, 27. 2. Ibid. 3. Jarīr, Dīwān, 821. 4. al-Sajdi, ‘Trespassing the male domain’, 140. 5. al-Azdī, Badā’i‘ al-badā’ih, 124–5. 6. Gaudefroy-Demombynes, Ibn Qotayba, Introduction , 57–8. 7. Pellat, ‘Hidjā’’, EI-2 iii, 352–5. 8. See the section on ‘Inān in Chapter Three. 9. Ibid. 10. Ibid. 11. A chapter is devoted to him in Kitāb al-Aghānī xiv, 193–210. On him see also Bencheikh, ‘Le cénacle poétique du calife al-Mutawakkil’, BEO 29 (1977) 47–8. 12. al-Isfahānī, Kitāb al-Aghānī xix, 308 (nadhlayni). 13. Aghānī xiv, 202. 14. Ibid. xix, 309 (mawlāhā). 15. The point of the mention of al-Kassār is unclear from the context. It would have been understood perhaps as a contemporary reference. 16. Aghānī xix, 309 (wasli). 17. Qur’ānic allusion, Qur‘ān 16:15, 21:31, 31:10. 18. Ibid., 18:29, 44:45 and especially 70:8. 19. Aghānī xix, 309 (al-lithāmī). 20. A general metaphor for shamelessness.

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Notable free women

1. al-Isfahānī, Kitāb al- Aghānī xii, 100; Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-a‘yān wa anbā’ abnā’ al-zamān vi, 32 (munīfi). 2. In Ibn ‘Abd Rabbihi’s Iqd: faqadnāhu – ‘we lost him’. 3. Thus in al-Buhturī’s Hamāsa; in Aghānī, dahmā’ina (‘our crowd’); in Ibn ‘Abd Rabbihi’s ‘Iqd, sādāt. 4. Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-a‘yān vi, 33 (balqa‘u). 5. See Lane, Lexicon s.v. jad‘. 6. al-Karkhi, Dīwān ii, 67. 7. Aghānī x, 198. 8. Ibid. xviii,226, 232; xix, 279. 9. Aghānī iv, 66. Cf. also Abū l-‘Atāhiya’s Dīwān, 413 (tathanuhu). 10. al-Mas‘udi, Murūj al-dhahab (Les prairies d’or) vi, 430. (rev. ed. iv, 268) (khalafu). 11. Ibid. iv, 296–7; vi, 484–5 (al-bāsā). 12. I.e. he became the foundation of her hopes. 13. al-Mas‘ūdī, Murūj al-dhahab iv, 297–8 (al-muqhiru). 14. Le Strange, Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate, 199. 15. Aghānī x, 162. 16. Ibid., 163. 17. Ibid., 174. 18. al-Sūlī, Ash‘ār awlād al-khulafā’, 72 (u‘ātīhā). 19. al-Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf min akhbār al-jawārī, 61 (mudāmā). 20. Aghānī x, 174–5; al-Sūlī, Ash‘ār awlād al-khulafā’, 66 (muzij). 21. al-Isfahānī, al-Imā’ al-shawā‘ir, 44; al-Nashshābī, al-Mudhākara fī alqāb alshu‘ara’, 240 (yasbur). 22. Imā’, 44, and see the the references to ‘mixing of passions’ and ‘standards of love [fluttering] above me’ in ‘Inān’s poem quoted in Chapter Three. 23. Aghānī x, 176 (al-qurbi). 24. al-‘Abbās b. Ahnaf, Dīwān (ed. al-Khazrajī), pp. 62–3. 25. Aghānī x, 173 (huzunu). 26. al-Tabarī, The History of al-Tabarī iii, 1256. 27. Rauch, ‘Nightingales across the winds of time’, 299. 28. See the section on ‘Arīb in Chapter Three. 29. al-Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf, 61 (al-hudqu). 30. al-Sūlī, Ash‘ār awlād al-khulafā’, 65 (fu’ādī). 31. For this and the following verses cf. Aghānī x, 163–6; Sūlī, Ash‘ār awlād al-khulafā’ 56–62. 32. (sabīlu). 33. (yakfī).

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34. (katharā). 35. (mut‘ibā). Al-Isfahānī says that the poem is in fact by a certain Ibn Ruhayma al-Madanī: Aghānī iv, 402, where the same poem is cited. 36. Ibid. x, 173 (al-hasanu). 37. Ibid., 167; Sūlī, Ash‘ār al-khulafā’, 62 (yataharraqu). 38. Aghānī x, 166; Sūlī, Ash‘ār awlād al-khulafā’, 62 (al-‘a ybi). However, ‘Abbūd, Nisā’ shā‘irāt, 173 suggests that three letters of rayb (suspicion) were used as a cover for Rashā’; so the first hemistich would translate as ‘The heart desires Rayb’. 39. ‘Ulayya says (in al-Sūlī, preceding note: ‘I shall now “hide a cover” i.e. in a cipher, that people will not guess.’ Sūlī postulates that the RYBY of raybi stands for ‘Rashā’ since three ‘tooth letters’ (RYB together can stand for one SHĪN, which has three teeth)! Another possibility is that the R in RYB is read as Z (by the assumed addition of a dot) and the inclusion of N after the Y so as to produce ZYNB (Zaynab). 40. Kennedy, The Court of the Caliphs, 180. 41. Wensinck, ‘Khadim’, EI-2 iv, 899. 42. Sūlī, Ash‘ār awlād al-khulafā’, 66 (talāqī). 43. Aghānī x, 174 (and 175 identical); Sūlī, Ash‘ār awlād al-khulafā’, 66 (vv. 1–2, 4) (lasamuj). 44. Ibid., 65 (khabīru); Aghānī x, 185. 45. Aghānī x, 164; Sūlī, Ash‘ār awlād al-khulafā’, 57-8 (rabbāh). Al-Isfahānī gives a variant of that poem in Aghānī x, 164, where he casts doubt on the attribution to ‘Ulayya. 46. al-Sūlī has Zill and says that ‘Ulayya alludes to Tall and pretends to make a poem about a girl. The reading zill (‘shade’) is more compatible with the feminine -ha in vv. 1–2. 47. Aghānī vi, 161; x, 164. 48. Ibid., 169. 49. Ibid. v, 282. 50. Ibid. x, 170 (nāhiya). The first two lines (with the addition of two other lines) are also attributed to ‘Ulayya by al-Sūlī, Ash‘ār awlād al-khulafā’, 78. 51. I.e. being stared at disrespectfully. 52. Aghānīi v, 178. 53. Ibid xxii, 44. 54. Kennedy, Court of the Caliphs, 163–4. 55. Ibid., 181. 56. Aghānī x, 164. 57. At least that was so before he ‘came out’ as a semi-professional singer during the reign of al-Ma’mūn; cf. ibid, 98ff. 58. al-Heitty, ‘The contrasting spheres of free women and jawārī’, 41

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59. Aghānī xvi, 15–16; Suyūtī, Nizhat al-julasā’, 15; ‘Abbūd, Nisā’ shā‘irāt, 90 (al-hashā). 60. Aghānī xx, 132–3; Suyūtī, Ash‘ār al- nisā’, 28; Kahhāla, ‘Umar Ridā, A‘lām al-nisā’ i, 209 (kabīru). 61. To the metaphorical is probably added an allusion to their dark (Abyssinian) colouring. 62. al-Heitty, ‘The contrasting spheres of free women and jawārī’, 41–2. 63. al-Furaih, Creativity and Exuberance, 159. 64. Mernissi, Women’s Rebellion and Islamic Memory. 65. al-Shak‘a, al-Shi‘r wa-l-shu‘arā’, 461.

Chapter Nine

Amatory poetry

1. al-‘Arjī (c.68/687–124/741), a love poet of the middle Umayyad period, and a great-grandson of the third caliph ‘Uthmān; see Seidenstricker, ‘al-‘Arjī, ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Umar’, EAL i, 104–5. 2. al-Ahwas (c.40/660–105/724), known as al-Ahwas al-Ansārī, a poet of the middle Umayyad period; he composed love poetry in addition to panegyrics and satires; see Seidenstricker, ‘al-Ahwas’, EAL i, 65. 3. ‘Umar ibn Abī Rabī‘a (23/644–93/712), a famous love poet and the foremost representative of the Hijazi school. His contemporary Jarīr called him ‘the best poet of love’; see Jacobi, ‘’Umar ibn Abī Rabī‘a’, EAL ii, 791. 4. Aghānī i, 397, 408. 5. Aghānī i, 139 (kawā‘ibi). 6. Furayh, Creativity and Exuberance in Arab Women’s Poetry, 126. 7. Jacobi, ‘Theme and variations in Umayyad Ghazal Poetry’, JAL, 16 (1985), 1–16. 8. bū Nuwās, Dīwān, Cairo, 1898. 9. Abū Nuwās, Dīwān iv, 75 (ijtama‘ā). 10. In the Cairo 1898 Dīwān the slave-girl is identified as Samij (‘ugly’). 11. Abū Nuwās, Dīwān iv, 76 (turī‘u). 12. Ibid., 11 (mumsā’i). 13. Ibid., 25 (al-gharīb) . 14. For Abū Nuwās’s biography, see Chapter One. 15. Khālid al-Kātib, Dīwān, 21 (samiji). 16. Abū Nuwās, Dīwān iv, 44 (dāwūdi). 17. The reference is to Dāwūd’s (King David’s) reputation as maker of weaponry, see Qur’ān 34:10; 21:80. 18. Ma‘mūd has the alternative meaning of “baptised”. 19. Ibn al-Mu‘tazz, Tabaqāt al-shu‘arā’, 161 (dāhi).

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NOTES 20. 21. 22. 23. 24.

25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52.

301

Ibn al-Mu‘tazz, Tabaqāt, 167 (muqtasamu). Aghānī vi, 242–53. See also Roman, Baššār et son experience courtoise. Bashshār b. Burd, Dīwān i, 163 (muqāribi). Ibid., 192 (al-rihāba). ‘Night visitor’: a dream. Alternatively, the night visitor, khayāl, is an allusion to a ‘wakeful apparition’. See Jacobi, “The khayāl motif in early Arabic poetry”, Oriens 32: 50–64. Bashshār, Dīwān i, 204 (tību). Ibid., 193 (mahbūbu). Ibid., 271 (talābī). Ibid. iii, 90 (su‘ād). Nasba ‘aynī, literally ‘that which is raised before my eye’, such as a standard or a target – hence metaphoricallya purpose. Bashshār, Dīwān iii, 90. See Appendix iv. Aghānī iii, 171 (al-durrar). Young, ‘Pearl’, Enc. Brit., xvii, 421; Ruska, ‘al-Durr’, EI-2 ii, 628–9. al-Husrī, Zahr al-ādāb, 193; Tijānī, Tuhfat al-‘arūs, 195 (al-basar). Aghānī iii, 193 (tīni). Aghānī vi, 296; xxii, 49; al-Tijānī, Tuhfat al-‘arūs wa-mut‘at al-nufūs, 230; Ibn Qutayba,‘Uyūn al-akhbār iv, 42 (qā‘ida). Qumayha, al-Mu‘allaqāt al-sab‘, 58, v. 8 (al-qaranfulī). Ullmann, Der neger in der Bildersprache der arabischen Dichter, 163–4 (aswadā). al-Ghuzūlī, Matāli‘ al-budūr fī manāzil al-surūr i, 262–3 (kāfūru). This nisba (thus in al-Ghuzūlī) is probably a mistake for ‘al-Tulaytulī’ (‘from Toledo’). Ghuzūlī, Matāli‘ al-budūr, i, 263 (ahdāqu). Aghānī xiii, 301 (dunifā). Ibid, 312–3 (mughram). Ibn al-Ahnaf, Dīwān, 88, 312 (makānī) Ibn ‘Abd Rabbihi, ‘Iqd vii, 50 (khunuth); Aghānī xvi, 345; and see Matthew Caswell “A Slave Girl’s Tale” in Menashi’s Boy, 14. Aghānī xvi, 345 (al-yawmā). Ibn ‘Abd Rabbihi, ‘Iqd vii, 68 (ghadbānu). ‘Iqd vii, 68 (turīdu). Ibid, viii, 114 (al-salāmu). Aghānī xxii, 46 (mukta’ib). Aghānī xiv, 354 (qubla). See the reference to Jawhar in Chapter Five.

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53. Abū Nuwās, Dīwān iv, 42 (al-aswadi). 54. Ibid., 56, in which the word dammanī in the last line is replaced by dummiya (apparently alluding to deflowering. 55. Bashshār, Dīwān iii, 169–72. In Aghānī the word dajara is substituted for qadara; and cf. Beeston, Selections from the Poetry of Baššār, no. xvii (trans.), 38–40 (qadru). 56. Cf. Aghānī iii, 164; vi, 231.

Chapter Ten

Singing

1. Ibn al-Mu‘tazz, Tabaqāt al-shu‘arā’, 286–7. 2. al-Jāhiz, Kitāb al-qiyān, 158; and see Beeston’s edition, 10, and translation of Risāla, 22–3. 3. Charbier and Farmer, ‘Ūd’, EI-2 x,770-73 (Charbier’s) 767–8 (Farmer’s). 4. Vadet, L’esprit courtois en Orient dans les cinq premiers siècles de l’Hégire, 71. 5. ‘Amrūsī, al-Jawārī al-mughanniyāt, 13. 6. Farmer, ‘Ghinā’’, EI-2 ii, 1073. 7. Aghānī iii, 27. 8. al-Isfahānī, Kitāb al-Aghānī vi, 21; Vadet, L’esprit courtois, 82; Rowson, ‘The effeminates of early Medina’, 673. 9. Ibn Rashīq, al-‘Umda fī mahā sin al-shi‘r wa-ādābihi ii, 314. 10. Aghānī i, 254. 11. Ibid., 252. 12. Aghānī v, 326–7, 403; Fück, ‘Ishāk. al-Mawsilī”, EI-2 iv, 110–11. 13. Aghānī i, 250. 14. Eldest son of Yahyā al-Barmakī, born in 144/762, held office as provincial governor under Hārūn al-Rashīd; a tutor to the crown prince al-Amīn. Imprisoned at the same time as his father in 187/803, he died at Raqqa in 193/808. Sourdel, ‘Al-Fadl b. Yahyā al-Barmakī’, EI-2 ii, 732. 15. Aghānī i, 309. 16. Ibid. viii, 321. 17. Aghānī viii, 322. 18. Aghānī viii, 193; Vadet, L’esprit courtois, 90. 19. Aghānī xv, 122–4. 20. Ibid. viii, 186, 334. 21. al-Mas‘ūdī, Murūj al-dhahab (Les prairies d’or) viii, 99. 22. Ibn ‘Abd Rabbihi,‘Iqd vii, 29. 23. al-Ghuzūlī, Matāli‘ al-budūr fī manāzil al-surūr, 233. 24. Vadet, L’esprit courtois, 84. 25. Aghānī xxiii, 81. 26. Vadet, L’esprit courtois, 84.

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NOTES 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42.

43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54.

55.

303

Ibid., 85. Ibid., 95. Aghānī i, 330; viii, 343. Ibn ‘Abd Rabbihi, ‘Iqd vii, 5. Ibid., 10. Ghuzūlī, Matāli‘ al-budūr i, 230–2. Ibn ‘Abd Rabbihi, ‘Iqd vii, 190. Aghānī viii, 323. Vadet, L’esprit courtois, 95. Aghānī vi, 284. Kennedy, The Court of the Caliphs, 126. al-Tawhīdī, al-Risāla al-Baghdādiyya, 62, 189. The attribution to al-Tawhīdī is made by the editor ‘Abbūd al-Shāljī. Aghānī v, 243. Ibid., 285. Aghānī v, 218–9; Ghuzūlī, Matāli‘ al-budūr, 238. Motoyoshi, ‘Sensibility and Synaesthesia’, 3. A revised version of the latter is included in ibid, Description in Classical Arabic Poetry, ch. iv; and see further n. 45 below. (The author is now known as Akiko Motoyoshi Sumi.) al-Jāhiz, Kitāb al-qiyān, 171. Ibid., 176. Motoyoshi, Sensibility & Synaesthesia; see n. 42 above. Vadet, L’esprit courtois, 79. Aghānī v, 231–6. Ibid. x, 104. Aghānī xiv, 119; Jāhiz, Kitāb l-qiyān, 152. Vadet, L’esprit courtois, 92. Aghānī x, 69. Ibid., 96. Ibid. An eminent singer, a mawlā of al-Rashīd. He had been brought up by Ibrāhīm al-Mawsilī, who presented him as a gift to Yahyā al-Barmakī. He was later taken by al-Rashīd, who manumitted him; he was a follower of the innovative school of singing led by Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī; Farmer, ‘Mukhārik.’, EI-2 vii, 518. Aghānī xviii, 346; Abū al-‘Atāhiya, Dīwān, 317 (khalīlu).

Chapter Eleven

The singing slave girls

1. al-Isfahānī, al-Imā’ al-shawa’ir, 123; Tanūkhī, Nishwār al-muhā dara vi, 164.

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2. al-Isfahānī, Kitāb al-Aghānī xix, 302; Imā’, 55; al-Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf min akhbār al-jawārī, 52; al-Suyūtī, Tārīkh al-khulafā’, 353; Ibn al-Sā‘ī, Nisā’ l-khulafā’, 86–7. 3. Aghānī vii, 308; Imā’, 95 (she ‘toyed’ with poetry); Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf, 62–3; al-Nuwayrī, Nihāyat al-arab v, 62–96; al-Jāhiz, Kitāb al-qiyān, 103–4. 4. Aghānī iv, 114. 5. Imā’, 78. 6. Ibid., 75. 7. Ibid., 47. 8. See also the list of shawā‘ir and mughanniyāt in Index iii. 9. Farmer, Ghinā’, EI-2 ii, 1074. 10. Aghānī vii, 301 (al-takallumi). 11. Ibid xix, 242 (‘aduwwuti). 12. Ibid vii, 298. A chapter is devoted to ‘Abdallāh b. al-‘Abbās in Aghānī xix, 219–59. 13. Aghānī iv, 41 (hilwu). 14. In Abū l-‘Atāhiya, Dīwān, wa-quwwatī (‘my strength’) instead of wa-mafsilī (‘my joint’), 672–3. 15. ‘Allāf, Baghdād al-Qadīma, 113. 16. Aghānī x, 69–70. 17. Ibid., 70. 18. Aghānī xvii, 75–80. 19. Sourdel, ‘Al-Hādī ila ’l-Hak.k’, EI-2 iii, 22–3. 20. Aghānī xvii, 76. 21. Ibid. vii, 298. 22. Ibid. xvii, 78. 23. Ibid. 79 (wa-l-hazani). 24. Ibid., 78–9. 25. Ibid. xvii, 78 (takhisu). 26. Ibid. vii, 293. 27. Ibid. xix, 241. 28. Ibid. xvii, 79–80 (al-wa‘di). 29. Ibid. vii, 293–308; see also Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf, 63–4. 30. Imā’, 95-7. 31. Aghānī vii, 299. 32. Ibid., 298 (sā‘idu). 33. Nothing is known about them. 34. Aghānī vii, 298 (yustatiru). 35. See Chapter Six. 36. al-Heitty, ‘The contrasting spheres of free women and jawārī’, 40.

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NOTES 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58.

Aghānī xiii, 249 (Mutayyamā). Bosworth, ‘Yahyā b. al-Aktham’. Aghānī vii,: 297. Ibid., 301. Ibid. iv, 114. Ibid. i: 60–1 (yatakallamā). Ibid. vii, 296–7. Ibid., 300. Ibid., 295–6 (lawāhiquh). Ibid., 302. Ibid., 306. See Chapter Six. Aghānī vii, 303–4. See Chapter Six (dimā’i) . Aghānī vii, 306–7. Ibid. x, 96. Aghānī x, 113 (ajūdu). Ibid. xviii, 360. Ibid. iv, 114. Ibid. Aghānī iv, 118 (thimādi). Ibid. (fn).

Chapter Twelve 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

305

Decline and fall

Gutas, Greek Thought, Arabic Culture, 54–60. Kennedy, Court of the Caliphs, 253. For a fuller review, see Kennedy, Court of the Caliphs, 261–96. al-Isfahānī, al-Imā’al-shawā‘ir, 115; al-Suyūtī, al-Mustazraf min akhbār al0jawārī, 38; Ibn al-Sā‘ī, Nisā’ al-khulafā’, 60. Imā’, 116. See the section on ‘Arīb, Chapter Three. Tabarī iii, 1670–1; Kennedy, Court of the Caliphs, 285. Court of the Caliphs, 286; Tabarī iii, 1687–8. Tabarī, 1694–7; Kennedy, Court of the Caliphs, 286. Court of the Caliphs, 190–1; Tabarī iii, 1718–20. Imā’, 109 (al-mawlā). Ibid., 114 (Ahmadi). Ibid., 63 (‘ahānā).

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14. Apparently, after she was manumitted ‘Inān moved to Egypt, where she spent her last years: Imā’, 43. 15. ‘Abd al-Rahmān (II) b. al Hakam, the fourth Umayyad Emir of Cordoba (r. 206/822–238/852), ‘a zealous patron of all arts and sciences’: Seybold, EI-2 i, 53. 16. al-Maqqari (d. 432/1041), Nafh al-tīb min ghusn al- Andalus al-ratīb iv, 136; Shak‘a,Mustafa, al-Adab al-andalusī, 44. 17. See the reference to her in Chapter Four. 18. al-Tilmisānī, Nafh al-tīb min ghusn al-andalus al-ratīb iv, 136. On this topic, see Pellat, ‘Kayna’, EI-2 iv, 820–4.

Chapter Thirteen 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Epilogue

al-Isfahānī, Kitāb al-Aghānī xix, 138. al-Tabarī iii, 1720; Kennedy, Court of the Caliphs, 288. al-Isfahānī, al-Imā’ al-shawā ‘ir, 43. Aghānī xv, 61–2; xi, 365–7. al-Atraqjī, al-Mar’a fī adab al-‘asr al-‘abbāsī, 39. And see Appendix iv. Aghānī x, 169; and see Chapter Eight. Aghānī v, 190. Iwasakai, Geisha: A Life.

Appendix IV: Some qiyān’s trade slogans 1. al-Ghuzūlī, Matāli‘ al-budūr, 261–2.

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INDEX al-‘Abbās b. al-Ahnaf 43–4 Abbasid dynasty 20, 37–8 Abbasid qiyān 1, 5, 8–9 Abbasid society administration 264 amatory poetry 210 ‘Arīb 112–18 attitudes to qiyān 44–5 conflicts 52 culture 5–6 female slaves 267 homosexuality 51 influences 4 licentious poetry 226–8 metropolitan 20 morality 35–6 new civilisation 20–4 passion 238–9 poetry 208–9 publicity poetry 212–20 qiyān 54, 258 ‘Abd al-Malik, Sulaymān b. 158–9 Abī Rabī’a, ‘Umar b. 211 Abī Tāhir, Ahmad b. 88 Abī Tālib, ‘Alī b. 12 Abū Ahmad 200 Abū al-Sha‘thā’ 157–8 Abū al-Shibl 188–90 Abū l-‘Atāhiya 27, 104, 194–5, 205, 239, 243 Abū l-Hindī 31, 35 Abū Nādir 59 Abū Nuwās erotic-elegaic poetry 212 houses of pleasure 27

Caswell_Index.indd 319

imagery 162, 164 ‘Inān 57, 62, 64–73 monasteries 31–2 poetry 146–7 publicity poetry 213–15, 216–17 religious subversion 226–7 satire 187 sexual predators 43 shu‘ūbiyya (challenge to Arabism) 23–4 wine 33–5 zandaqa (heresy) 21–2 Abū Zakkār 53 abuse of slaves 59 ‘Adī, Hātim b. 101–2 adultery 238 affection 83–4 Ahnaf, al-‘Abbās b. 199 al-Akhyailiyya, Layla 152 al-Imā al-shawā‘ ir 55, 241, 263 ‘Allawayh 103–4, 243 allegories 77, 159 ama see female slaves amatory poetry 210 amatory relationships 154 ambiguity 3, 91 ambivalence 45 ‘Āmil 156–7 al-Amīn see Zubayda, Muhammad b. Amīn, Ahmad 47 ‘Ammār, Ismā‘īl b. 26 al-‘Amrūsī 230 Andalusia 48, 137 Arab poetry 57, 147 Arab society 1

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320

THE SLAVE-GIRLS

Arabic literature 168, 169–70, 185–6 Arabic poetry 75–6, 183 Arazi, A. 24, 34 arguments 69–71 ‘Arīb Barmakī connection 98–101 composer 97 court and society 112–18 female slaves 17 influence 96 lamentation 182–3 lovers 103–7 al-Mahdī, ‘Ulayya bt 198 manumission 106 married 107 odes 86–7 as poet 119–23 poet 241 poetry 82, 153–4 praise poetry 114–16 public image 269 public tribute 148–9 publicity poetry 215–16 qasīda 152 reproach-praise 155 songs 104–6, 132 status 261–3 ‘Ārim 136–7 army 20–1 al-Ash‘ath, Muhammad Ibn 25, 26–7 Ashja‘ 28, 53 attribution 204–6, 223, 242, 252–3 auction catalogues 15–16 bacchic verse (khamriyya) 151 Badhl 17, 244–8 Baghdad dissolute behaviour 25 foundation 20 ‘Inān 61–2 Karkh 29 metropolitan 37

Caswell_Index.indd 320

OF

BAGHDAD

qiyān 48 singing 243–4 state power 5 Banān 84, 94–5, 104–5 Barmakī connection 98–101 al-Barmakī, Ja‘far b. Yahyā b. Khālid 53, 74–5, 77–80 al-Barmakī, Yahyā b. Kālid 52, 74, 77–8, 96 Bashshār 218–19, 220, 227–8 Basra 48 Bayt al-Hikma 258–9 Bedouin Arabs 24, 238 Bid‘a 166–7 billet doux 41, 59–63 black women 221–3 bleeding 93–4 bravery 150 brothels 31–2 Būrān 169 Burd, Bashshār b. 153 Buskhunnar, Muhammad b. l-Hārith 255, 256 caliphate 19, 258, 259–60 caliphs attitude to music 234–6 conflicts 52 ghazal 223–5 legitimacy 149 mothers 17 qayna 46 rule 262 cardinal virtues 150 Caron, François 50 catamites 50–1 celebrations 233 celestial bodies 160–3 colour 16–18, 221–3 commercialism 271 commissions 214 companionship 32 complexity of poetry 126 composers 97, 118–9 concubines

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INDEX female slaves 14 influence 17 lamentation 170 as mothers 19 number 268 publicity poetry 225 qiyān 270 Sakan 123 Tatrīf 134 conflicts 52 contract (mukātaba) 10–11 control 260–1 correspondence 108–9 corruption 260–1 court and society 112–18 court poet 83–5 courtesans 1, 14, 46, 49, 54–5, 271 culture 1, 4, 5–6 al-Dallāl, Abū ‘Uthmān 14–15 Damascus 20 Danānīr colour 16 lamentation 171, 176–7 poet 52, 241 publicity poetry 214–15 reproach-praise 157–8 singing slave girls 135 decline of qiyān 7 dedications 212 Dhāt-al-khāl 210 diplomacy 117–18, 196–7 dissolute behaviour 25–6 double entendre 67, 138 drinking 25, 237 duty 176–7 education ’Arīb 98, 108 Mahbūba 143 qayna 4, 41 qiyān 5, 6, 14, 270 emancipation see manumission emotions 124–5, 174 empire 20

Caswell_Index.indd 321

321

entertainers 240 entertainment 14, 54, 236, 238 epigrams (qit‘a) 88, 93, 119, 151, 152, 153–8 erotic-elegaic poetry Abū Nuwās 147 black women 221–3 development 210–11, 228 Fadl 90 al-Mahdī, ‘Ulayya bt. 198 praise poetry 159 salon culture 4 simplicity 217–18 erotic symbols 220–1 erudition 66–7 eulogy epigrams 153–8 fatalism 177–8 lamentation 170 light and darkness 159–60 madīh (panegyric) 151 mourners 169 praise poetry 75, 78–9, 149 study 150 excess 37–8, 185 Fadl court poet 83–5 feast days 168 female slaves 41–2 Humayd, Sa‘īd b. 90–4 imagery 163–4 insecurity 179 odes 85–90 parentage 81 poet 241 poetry 82, 132 politics 264 public image 269 repartee 85 reproach-praise 155 satire 188–90 Farīda 52, 243, 256–7 fashion 253–4 fatalism 176, 177–8

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THE SLAVE-GIRLS

Fawz 43–4 feast days 167 felicitation (tahni’a) 151 female slaves 12–15, 54, 168, 178, 238, 267 feminine imagery 33 feminist views 46–8 filial love 181 flattery 89–90, 125, 146, 214 flute (zammāra) 232 formality 236–7 fortunes 52 free women Abbasid qiyān 5–6 lamentation 180–3 al-Mahdī, ‘Ulayya bt 197–206 al-Ma’mūn, Khadīja bt 206–7 al-Mansūr, Zubayda bt Ja‘far 194–7 Mutayyam 249 panegyric 149 poetry 191 qayna 269–70 social condition 39 status 6–7 Tarīf, Fāri‘a bt. 191–4 veils 7, 48 al-Furayyih, Sihām 209 geisha 1, 271–2 generosity 32, 150 ghazal 210–12, 223–5 Ghusn 141–3 al-Ghuzūlī 232, 234 gifts 40 Goldziher, Ignaz 184 gross discourse 63 al-Hādī, Ja‘far b. Mūsā 245 al-Hajnā’ 207–9 Hāmid, Muhammad b. 105–7 Hasnā 138–9, 188–90 Hawrā’, Yazīd 17 Haylāna 140–1

Caswell_Index.indd 322

OF

BAGHDAD

hedonism 25–6 al-Heitty, ‘Abd al-Kareem 209 heresy see zandaqa (heresy) hetaira 1, 54–5 hijā’ 184 hijāb 48–50 see also veils Hijaz 4, 13 Hishām, ‘Alī b. 174–5, 242, 245, 246–7, 248–51 homosexuality 31, 51, 71 honour 192 hospitality 32, 214 houses of pleasure 26–31 Humayd, Sa‘īd b. 82, 90–4, 155, 163–4 humiliation 185, 193–4 Husayn, Tāhir b. 155–6 al-Husrī, Abū Ishāq 220–1 Iberia 265–6 Ibn ‘Abd Rabbihi 232, 234 Ibn al Ahnaf 223 Ibn al-Rūmī 151 Ibn Butlān 15–16 Ibn l-Mu‘adhdhal, ‘Abd l-Samad 250 Ibn Manzur 1–2 Ibn Munādhir 22 Ibn Rāmīn 25, 26, 27–8 Ibn Rashīq 151, 158, 170, 172, 174, 231 Ibn Surayj 231, 235 al-‘Ijlī, Abū Dulaf al-Qāsim 88–9 illness 113–14 al-Imā’ al-shawā‘ ir 38, 154–5 imagery 33, 128–30, 133–4, 160–2, 163–5, 198–9 immorality 237–8 ‘Inān Abū Nuwās 64–73 insecurity 178–9 lamentation 176 al-Mahdī, ‘Ulayya bt. 198–9 al-Nātifī 56, 132, 176 praise poetry 74–80

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INDEX immorality – continued promiscuity 63 publicity material 270–1 qasīda 152 al-Rashīd, Hārūn 73–81 satire 187 slave poet 56–9 value 54 infidelity 43–4 influence 17, 82, 96, 112 insincerity 213 institutional weakness 259–60 integration 20 intelligence 150 international trade 13 invective 184–90 al-Isfahānī, Abū l-Faraj al-Imā’ al-shawā‘ ir 38, 55, 241 ‘Arīb 97, 99 attribution 204–5 authorship 252 Danānīr 52 Fadl 82 feast days 167 hedonism 25 Khāthir, Sā’ib 235 Kitāb al-Aghānī 38 Mutayyam 248 schools of singing 244 singing 230 Islam 1, 10–13, 20, 212–13, 229 Islamic law 12 Iyās, Mutī‘ b. 164–5, 222–3, 226 Jacobi, Renate 212–13 Ja‘far, ‘Abdallāh b. 234 al-Jāhiz 16–17, 39, 45, 51, 229 al-Jahm, ‘Alī b. 29–31, 85, 89, 143 Jamīla 232 Janān 216–17 Jarīr 60–1, 151, 171, 189 jariya 1 jawārī caliphs 46–7

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323

economic burden 268 entertainers 240 epigrams 153 erotic-elegaic poetry 210 female slaves 272 free women 270 multi-national 267 poetry 152 publicity material 220 veils 7 justice 150 Karkh 29–30, 36, 44, 140 al-Kātib, Ibn Ja‘far see Qudāma al-Kāzim, Mūsā 15 Khadīja bt al-Mahdi, see al-Mahdī, Khadīja bt Khansā’ see Hasnā’ al-Khārakī, Muhammad b. Ziyād 22 al-Khashin, Muhammad b. Hāmid al-Khāqānī 99–100 Khasīb, Ahmad b. 82 Khāthir, Sā’ib 231–2, 234–5 Khayzurān 18 Khuzāmā 139 al-Kilābī, ‘Ubayd 19 kinship 207 Kitāb al-Aghānī 38 Kufa 25 l-‘Abbās, ‘Abdallāh b. 242–3 l-Hāni’, Hasan see Abū Nuwās l-Lakhmī, Ibrāhīm b. Hajjāj 266 l-Shibl, Abū 140–1 l-Washshā’ 39–40, 42, 44–5 labour 13 Lamach 232 lamentation 169–70, 171–4, 176–7, 178–80, 181–3, 191–3 lesbianism 247–8 Lewis, Bernard 121 licentious poetry 226–8 literacy 41 literary forms 151

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324

THE SLAVE-GIRLS

literary games 65 literature 8–9 love 67, 90–4, 130–1 love affairs 111–12 love poems 204–6 lovers 103–7 loyalty 130–1 lust 103 lute see ‘ūd lyrics 242 madīh (panegyric) 148, 149–52 al-Madīniyya, Fadl 265 al-Madīniyya,‘Alam 265 Mahbūba 53, 143–5, 178 al-Mahdī, Ibrāhīm b. attitude to music 37, 235 musician 198, 199–200 plagiarism 253 Shāriya 255–6 songwriter 239 al-Mahdī, Lubāba bt ‘Alī b. 182 al-Mahdī, ‘Ulayya bt 5, 197–206, 210 majlis 236–7, 267 al-Ma’mūn, al-Fadl b. al-‘Abbās b. 108, 195–7, 224–5, 258–9 al-Ma’mūn, Khadīja bt 206–7 Manicheism see zandaqa (heresy) Manīh, Zurayq b. 26–7 al-Mansūr, Zubayda bt Ja‘far 18, 19, 37, 194–7 manumission 10, 18, 106, 131, 134, 267 al-Marākibī, ‘Abdallāh b. Ismā‘īl 98, 102 marriage 268 Marwān, ‘Abd al-Malik b. 15 al-Mas‘ūdī 232 mawālī 20, 229–30 al-Mawsilī, Hammād b Ishāq 17, 97, 102–3, 164 al-Mawsilī, Ibrāhīm Abbasid society 271 Ibn Surayj 231

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OF

BAGHDAD

professional singer 239 school of singing 244 singing 238 singing slave girls 236 slave trader 17 songs 210 al-Mawsilī, Ishāq ‘Arīb 118 attitude to music 234 Badhl 246 feast days 168 Ibn Surayj 231 music 236 plagiarism 252 school of singing 244 ūd 232 Medina 19 men’s lamentations 170–2 Mernissi, Fatima 46–8, 49, 50 message poems 154 metaphors 101, 159 Middle East 10 Misjah, Sa‘īd b. 231 misogyny 152 modernism 22 monasteries 25, 31–2 moon 161–2 moral qualities 150, 151, 153–4, 184–5, 187 morality Abbasid society 6–7, 35–6 catamites 51 ‘Inān 71–2 physical features 158 poetry 209 Sakan 123 mourners 169, 191 Mu‘āwiya, Ahmad b. 57–8, 234–5 al-Mudabbir, Ibrāhīm b. 108–12 mukhannath style 230–2 al-Munajjim, ‘Alī b. Yahyā 104 music 233–4 musical instruments 229–30 Muslim 27, 35

5/24/2011 10:50:28 AM

INDEX al-Mu‘tamid 87–8 al-Mu‘tasim 131, 245, 253–4 al-Mutawakkil abolished Inquisition 113 decline of caliphate 259 Fadl 82, 95–6 Farīda 256–7 imagery 162–3, 164 lamentation 178 Mahbūba 53, 143 palace of Shabdāz 114 poetry 84–6, 153–4 praise poetry 148–9 Qabīha 85–6 Rayyā 241 Mutayyam Badhl 247 female slaves 17 filial love 181 insecurity 179–80 love songs 242 singing slave girls 248–53 songwriter 243 Mu‘tazilism 259 al-Mu‘tazz, Ibn 82, 205 Nabat 166 Nasīm 135–6, 157, 177 al-Nātifī, Abū Khālid 56–7, 58–9, 73, 81, 132, 176 nationalities of qiyān 4 networking 97, 104, 118–19 Nīrān 145–6 obedience 46, 47–8 odes 85–90 palace of Shabdāz 114 panegyric 122, 148, 163–5, 170, 263 parentage 18–20, 98 paronomasia 217–18 parsimony 37–8 passion 181, 238 patronage 149, 194, 238

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325

pearls 220–1 performance 200 perfumed garden 163–5 Persia 5, 20–1, 33–4, 48–9 Persians 22–4 plagiarism 252–3, 271 poetic themes 159–60, 165–7 poetry affection 83–4 ’Arīb 97, 112–14, 119–23 attitudes to qiyān 45 Danānīr 135 Fadl 82 fatalism 176 Ghusn 141–3 Hasnā’ 138 ‘Inān 56–9, 60–1 intercession poem 208 Karkh 30–1 Khuzāmā 139 lamentation 170 love poems 108, 110 love poetry 199–205 Mahbūba 143 al-Mahdī, ‘Ulayya bt 197 al-Mansūr, Zubayda bt Ja‘far 195 message poems 154 Nīrān 145–6 odes 85–90 panegyric 148 poetic licence 64 publicity material 65 puns 77 qiyān 140–1 repartee 57 Sakan 123–30 sexual desire 206 slave women 38 stereotyped 168 Tatrīf 134 wealth 66 women slaves 55 al-Zāhida, Tuhfa 133 poets 3, 5–6, 21, 153, 186–7

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326

THE SLAVE-GIRLS

political statements 113, 119, 122 politics 261–5 popularity 97 pornography 226 praise poetry ‘Arīb 114–16 erotic-elegaic poetry 159 festivals 86 imagery 161–2 ‘Inān 74–6 lamentation 177, 180, 182 light and darkness 159–60 Mahbūba 144 moral qualities 154 physical features 158–9 political statements 119 propaganda 183 public celebrations 167–8 qayna/qiyān 4, 51–2 reproach-praise 154–8 Sakan 123, 125–6 study 150 Tarīf, al-Fāri‘a bt. 192 professional entertainers 39, 272 professional mourners 173–4 professional poets 153 progeny of slaves 11 promiscuity 63, 187 propaganda 183 proportionality 151 public celebrations 167–8 public image 268–9 publicity 66–73, 102 publicity material 4, 65, 68, 270–1 publicity poetry 212–20, 225 Qabīha 85–6, 164 Qamar 137, 265–6 al-Qarātīsī 27 qasīda (formal poems) 119–22, 123–30, 151, 152 qayna, qiyān Abbasid society 258 attitudes to 44–5

Caswell_Index.indd 326

OF

BAGHDAD

billet doux 59–63 catamites 50–1 courtesans 14 decline 7, 261–5 defined 2, 169 education 5, 54 entrapment 39 epigrams 152 erotic-elegaic poetry 212–13, 228 excess 37 female slaves 14 hedonism 25 hetaira 54–5 hijā’ 186 houses of pleasure 27, 29 Iberia 265–6 imagery 164 jawārī 240 lamentation 173–4, 176, 178–80 love poems 200–5 lust 90 al-Mahdī, ‘Ulayya bt 197 majlis 237 multi-national 230 obedience 46 persona 268–9 poetry 210 praise poetry 4 rewards 271 rivals 188 sexual predators 43–4 status 6, 51–4, 261–5 as temptress 39–43 value 263 wealth 42–3 al-Qays, Imru’ 61, 160–1, 232 qina 1–2 qualifications 82 Qudāma 150–2, 158, 159 al-Rab‘ī, ‘Abdallāh b. l-‘Abbās 251 al-Rabī‘, al-Fadl b. 79 al-Raqqī, Rabī‘a 217–18

6/7/2011 11:39:40 AM

INDEX al-Rashīd, Hārūn Danānīr 52 ghazal 223–4, 225 glory 259 ‘Inān 57, 60, 72, 73–81 al-Mansūr, Zubayda bt Ja‘far 194 moral attitudes 238 perfumed garden 163 reputation 258 singing slave girls 236 Rayyā 162–3, 241 Rayyiq 175 rebellion 127–8 relationships 172, 179 religious subversion 226 repartee Fadl 85, 88 ‘Inān 57, 60 qayna 3, 4 satire 186–7 reproach-praise 154–8 reputation 60, 72 revenues 230, 264–5 al-Rūmī, Ibn 171 Sa‘īd, Hasan b. Wahb b. 63 Sakan 3, 123–31, 152, 155–6 salacious exchanges 66–73 salon culture 3–4 al-Salūlī 62–3 Samrā’ 140–1 satire 184–6 al-Sayqal, Yūsuf b.al-Hajjāj 41, 51 self-promotion 102, 115 sexual excesses 38 sexual orientation 107–8 sexual predators 43–4 sexual services 141 Shājī 171–2 Shāriya 17, 255–6 al-Shatranjī, Abū Hafs 199, 205, 210 shu‘ūbiyya (challenge to Arabism) 22–4, 34

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327

singers 97, 238–9, 251–2 singing 230–2, 234–6, 237–8, 243–4 singing slave girls 1, 118–19, 133, 144–5, 244–8 slander 185 slave-girl poets 1, 186 slave trade 13, 17 slave women 38, 51–4, 57–8, 91 slavery 10–13, 49, 55, 267–8 slaves Abbasid qiyān 1 lamentation 172 names 18 qayna 14 status 11 supply 12 as tribute 12 war booty 13 women 47 social mobility 2 social skills 132 songs 99, 116–17, 135, 237, 242 songwriters 246–7 spontaneity 180–1 state celebrations 167 state power 5 status eulogy 173 female slaves 268 qayna/qiyān 6, 51–4, 54 singers 238–9 slave-girl poets 186 slaves 11 women 152 Stigelbauer, Michael 53 succession to the caliphate 260 symbolism 32–6, 121–2, 220–1 Tāhir, ‘Abdallāh b. 143 Tāhir, ‘Ubaydallāh b. ‘Abdallāh b. 171–2 Tarīf, Fāri‘a bt 152, 180–1, 191–4 Tatrīf 134, 177–8

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328

THE SLAVE-GIRLS

al-Tawhīdī, Abū Hayyān 36, 38, 236 Taymā’ 134–5, 241 Tazayyuf see Tatrīf temptresses 39–43 titillation 67 training 14, 240 trustworthiness 67 Turkish Guards 260–1, 264 Turkish military 259 Tuways 230–1 ‘ūd 229, 232–3 ‘Ulayya bt al-Mahdī, see al-Madī, ‘Ulayya bt Umayyad dynasty 20, 234 value female slaves 59 ‘Inān 73–4 professional singers 233 qayna/qiyān 2–3, 54, 240, 263 Shāriya 255 vanity 158–9 veils 7, 39, 48–9, 249–50 al-Wādi, Hukm 235 Wagner, E. 24, 34, 71 al-Walīd, Muslim b. 35, 153

Caswell_Index.indd 328

OF

BAGHDAD

al-Walīd, Yazīd b. 233–4 war booty 12 al-Warrāq, Mahmūd 123, 131 al-Wāthiq 52, 256–7 wealth 42–3 wine 32–6 wish poetry 166 wish prayers 122–3 women courtesans 46 imagery 162 lamentation 171, 172–3 obedience 47–8 physical features 159 poetry 38 status 49–50, 152 women slaves 55 al-Zāhida, Tuhfa 133–4 al-Zakiyya, al-Nafs 19 zammāra (flute) 232 Zamyā’ 162 zandaqa (heresy) 21–2 al-Zarqā’, Sallāma 25, 27–8 Zaynab, ‘Īsa b. 100–1 Zubayda 19–20, 72, 80, 182 see also al-Mansūr, Zubayda bt Ja‘far Zubayda, Muhammad b. 195–6, 245

6/7/2011 8:56:59 PM