al-Ima al-Shawa'ir
- Author died
- 356 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Nidal lil-Tiba'ah wal-Nashr wal-Tawzi'
al-Ima al-Shawa'ir (The Slave-Girl Poetesses) is a biographical anthology compiled by the historian and man of letters Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani (284–356 AH / 897–967 CE), collecting the verses, anecdotes, and literary reports of enslaved female poets of the early Islamic and Abbasid eras.
Scope and Content
The work belongs to the thematic genre of Arabic anthological literature focused on women's poetry and courtiers, alongside related compilations by Abu al-Faraj such as his books on singing slave-girls (al-Qiyan) and slave poets (al-Mamalik al-Shu'ara'). The book is structured around individual biographical notices dedicated to renowned enslaved poetesses, documenting their literary output, wit, and interactions with patrons, caliphs, and leading contemporary poets.
Among the figures profiled in the extant work are:
- 'Inan, the slave-girl of al-Natafi, noted for her poetic exchanges with Abu Nuwas and poems addressed to the Barmakid vizier Yahya ibn Khalid.
- Mutayyam al-Hashimiyya, the slave-girl of Ali ibn Hisham, recording her verses composed to intercede with the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun during her master's imprisonment.
- Other prominent poetesses such as Fadl, Dananir, and Sakan.
Method and Sources
Following his standard historiographical method seen in Kitab al-Aghani, Abu al-Faraj transmits historical and literary reports equipped with their chains of transmission (isnads). His accounts draw directly from leading narrators and literati of Baghdad and Iraq, including al-Harami ibn Abi al-'Ala' and Jahzah al-Barmaki, transmitting eyewitness recollections, poetic improvisations, and musical contexts behind the verses.
Modern Editions
The text was edited and published jointly by Nuri Hammudi al-Qaysi and Yunus Ahmad al-Samarra'i (Beirut, 1984; 2nd ed., 1406 AH / 1986 CE).
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