Akhbar al-Wafidat min al-Nisa ala Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan

Akhbar al-Wafidat min al-Nisa ala Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan (Arabic: أخبار الوافدات من النساء على معاوية بن أبي سفيان, lit. 'Accounts of the Women Delegates to Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan') is an early Arabic historical and literary treatise attributed to the Basra-born historian al-Abbas ibn Bakkar al-Dabbi (129–222 AH / 746–837 CE) Mujam Tarikh al-Turath al…+1. The work records dialogues, confrontations, and rhetorical exchanges between the Umayyad caliph Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan and prominent Arab women who visited his court or were summoned before him Akhbar al-Wafidat min al-…+1.

Background and Authorship

The text was compiled by Abu al-Walid al-Abbas ibn Bakkar al-Dabbi al-Basri (also referred to as al-Abbas ibn al-Walid ibn Bakkar), an early historian from Basra who lived between 129 AH (746 CE) and 222 AH (837 CE) Mujam Tarikh al-Turath al…+1. He composed it alongside a companion work devoted to male delegates, titled Akhbar al-Wafidin min al-Rijal min Ahl al-Kufa wa-al-Basra ala Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan ("Accounts of the Men Delegates from the People of Kufa and Basra to Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan") Mujam Tarikh al-Turath al…+1.

Content and Themes

The work consists of narrative accounts detailing audiences granted by Muawiya to various Arab women, many of whom were renowned for their eloquence, tribal stature, and staunch partisan allegiance to Ali ibn Abi Talib during the Battle of Siffin Akhbar al-Wafidat min al-…+1.

The accounts feature bold oral and poetic exchanges, often in the presence of Muawiya's courtiers and advisers such as Amr ibn al-As, Marwan ibn al-Hakam, Said ibn al-As, and al-Dahhak ibn Qays Akhbar al-Wafidat min al-…+1. Notable episodes include:

• The audience of al-Zarqa bint Adi ibn Qays al-Hamdaniyya, who was brought from Kufa to the caliph's court and questioned about her public rallying speeches on a red camel at Siffin; she acknowledged her past support for Ali while exchanging sharp, witty answers with Muawiya Akhbar al-Wafidat min al-….
• The delegation of Jarwa bint Murra ibn Ghalib al-Tamimiyya, who was summoned by Muawiya in Medina and provided detailed rhetorical characterizations of the sub-tribes of Banu Tamim Akhbar al-Wafidat min al-….
• The confrontation involving the sister of Abd Allah ibn Amir ibn Rabia, who intercepted Muawiya's procession, demanding justice and rebuffing al-Dahhak ibn Qays and Marwan ibn al-Hakam with sharp retorts Akhbar al-Wafidat min al-….
• The discourse of Umama bint Yazid ibn al-Sa'iq regarding the standing and traits of the branches of the tribal confederation of Mudar Mawsuat al-Qabail al-Arab….

Transmission and Reception

The narratives in the work are prefaced with chains of transmission (isnads) tracing back through figures such as al-Shabi, Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, Abu Bakr al-Hudhali, and Suhayl ibn Abi Suhayl al-Tamimi, transmitted down via the narrator Muhammad ibn Zakariyya al-Ghalabi al-Mustadrak ala al-Sahih…+1. While the episodes became popular source material in classical adab (literary and anthology) collections, hadith scholars and biographical critics viewed the author al-Abbas ibn Bakkar with severe suspicion, explicitly designating him as an untrustworthy narrator and a liar (kadhdhab) in critical evaluation works al-Mustadrak ala al-Sahih…+1.

Manuscripts and Publication

A manuscript of Akhbar al-Wafidat min al-Nisa ala Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan is preserved in the El Escorial library (MS 467/6, comprising 4 folios) Mujam Tarikh al-Turath al…+1. The text was published in Beirut in 1403 AH / 1983 CE Mujam Tarikh al-Turath al….